BLESSED ARE YOUR EYES
[p. 33] BLESSED ARE YOUR EYES
John 3:3; John 9:1 - 7; Luke 9:27 - 35; Luke 10:23,24
I have in mind, dear brethren, to speak about sight; not at first of the organ of sight, but rather the power to use it. The organ is not formally referred to in the first scripture; what is alluded to by the Lord is the inability in the natural man to use it aright. Not that the organ was defective exactly, but the general condition was; as is often the case in regard to defective organs, the source of the trouble is constitutional.
The conversation between the Lord and Nicodemus obviously arises from what the Lord had found in Jerusalem — Jerusalem being, religiously at least, the place where you would expect people to see, but the Lord had already diagnosed the state of things there, and His conversation with this remarkable man was to unfold to him the truth as to man’s state: this state alas! characterising the city. Thus the Lord did not trust the Jews. There were certain who were affected by His signs, even as in the circumstances current around us — there are those who are affected to a point by the testimony of the gospel, but they are not trustworthy. This extends particularly to those who, whilst professed believers, are critical of the truth — not constructively so, but destructively so; men moving about with hammers and hatchets and implements of all kinds, to break to pieces, if they can, what the gospel presents. Their statements, although laboured and very pretentious, are not to be trusted.
I speak just briefly of this, because the youth, the very youngest, indeed, are exposed — terribly exposed, in the schools — to statements legalised but utterly unreliable. It is this feature that is stamped on the whole movement, and accompanying it is the element of pride. The Lord later says to the Jews, “ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth”(John 9:41). They claimed [p. 34] to see things, to have reached conclusions too by careful investigations, but the Lord deals with the matter at its root, and the Spirit of God tells us in chapter 2 that He did not trust them. Although there was professed faith, He did not trust them, for the reason that He “knew what was in man”.
The statements of current critics do not agree; indeed are often self-contradictory, as is said in the gospels of the accusers of Christ; and these men of modern times are in truth attackers of Christ. The accusers of Christ before His tribunal were found guilty on the same principle — their evidence did not agree. So that we may thank God for the Holy Spirit, who, in this gospel, is significantly designated as “the Spirit of truth” (chapter 14:17). We not only require statements of truth — the Scriptures afford these, they are called the Scriptures of truth; every scripture is inspired of God and is profitable in this respect — but we require also the Spirit of truth. We are enjoined to try the spirits, and see whether they are of God; and we shall soon find out in these pretentious elaborations that, not only have they not the statements of the truth, but they have not the Spirit of truth.
I believe that a very extended counsel has been taken in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12) in view of what is current in modern times, in order to undermine the whole fabric of truth. Hence the importance of knowing the truth; we are to know the truth. The Lord says, “If ye abide in my word, ye are truly my disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:31,32). I believe there has been extended counsel as to this modern attack on the truth, even as they took counsel in the high priest’s palace to put Jesus to death. This has been the case, and men sworn to defend the truth have had part in it, and the nefarious procedure has gone on for years. But the Spirit of the Lord has lifted up a standard against the enemy — let there be no question about [p. 35] that! And there is a call to rally to that standard; that is the position, and it raises the question as to whether we are marked by the love of the truth. It is said that a strong delusion is to be sent presently (is being sent, in a certain sense) that certain ones should believe a lie, because, we are told, they received not the love of the truth. To this end I would commend an enquiry into the special place the Spirit has in the epistles which deal with the apostasy. We shall understand as we look into this subject, how to meet the current evil, the current attack.
Well now, the Lord is lifting up a standard in John 3, and it is a question of seeing. He has found a man worthy of being spoken to about this matter. There are many that are utterly unworthy of attention at all, unworthy of being spoken to; yea, it is incumbent upon us not to speak to them, to turn away from them — “from such, turn away”, we are told (2 Timothy 3:5). Yet there are Nicodemuses, and the Lord has one of them before Him here, not one of these untrustworthy persons. Although slow in coming round to the truth, he is genuine; that is to say, he affords material for the Lord, material through which to raise up a standard against unreality, against unreliableness. The Lord asserts the plain unvarnished exclusion of man after the flesh from the whole matter: he is utterly incapable of having to say to the things of God — not only unreliable, but incapable of having to say to the things of God! Not that his responsibility is shelved — surely not! As I said before, the Lord says, “ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth”. Their sin remains, piled up to heaven! Every week brings its own quota of their nefarious stuff that comes up from the pit, to deceive, if possible, the very elect, but particularly to damage the youth, including the children.
So the Lord raises the question of seeing, and makes it a constitutional matter, that is, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”. Now [p. 36] that is the point, that is the great issue. He may see many other things, he may look into the heavens with his telescope and see great things; they are physical things. His conclusions may be very erroneous, but he sees things wonderful in themselves, but with no moral consequence at all. He may dig into the earth and see striking things there, too; he may enquire into all the kingdoms of creation, animal and otherwise; but he cannot see the kingdom of God! That is the issue.
I do not speak of men entering into the kingdom now, I am speaking of sight, whether the natural man can see the kingdom of God. The Lord emphatically states he cannot. In this sense he is simply ruled out of the whole matter. “Except a man”, He says — anyone it is, whoever he is, great or small, rich or poor, learned or unlearned — be “born anew”, meaning throughout, he cannot see the kingdom of God. It is not simply that one organ must be affected, but the whole man, the whole being is affected, otherwise he cannot use his eye aright. And yet the kingdom of God exists, as I hope to show as I proceed, by the Lord’s help. I hope to show how it may be seen by us, not only in a theoretical way, but in a practical sense, in persons, in persons who are characteristic of it. The Lord when here said “the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17:21), referring to its presence in Himself: now it is here through the presence of the Holy Spirit in the assembly; thus it is seen in persons.
I go on to John 9 to show how the organs must come under the touch of Christ — the organs themselves, the eyes. It is what puts us intelligently in touch with the whole environment in which we are set, and the Lord in passing on, we are told, sees this man. We are told immediately that the Lord Himself saw him, and that he was born blind: not simply that he was a blind man, but he was born blind. It is a question now of the organs of sight. The sequel would [p. 37] show that there was something of God in that man; for the operations of God underneath are going on; are current all the time. It is for us to be observant, and be aware of what is happening in this sense. The Lord was passing and He saw this man, one “blind from his birth”.
I only wish to touch on it briefly, as I want to go on to Luke 9, so as to occupy you with the real thing — the kingdom of God in expression. We have arrived at the time of reality; the situation is urgent, the concrete side of things is what God is calling attention to, and John’s ministry is for that very purpose. John gives us the constitution, and he gives us the divine knowledge of everything. This was a selected man in the Lord’s mind, not any blind man. Without the principle of sovereign selection, John’s ministry is not to be understood. This passage assumes chapter 3. The principle is that persons selected are such as are needed; it is a question of the “works of God”, and these are in relation to His sovereignty. Here it is not simply the work of God, but the works. Moses asked, “Let thy work appear unto thy servants” (Psalm 90:16). A very important prayer! He knew how to pray for good things; he is an excellent example; he prayed that God should show him His glory; and he prayed, as I said, that God would make His work manifest to His servants — which would encourage them. The Lord Jesus here is speaking of the “works of God”. God is not narrowed down to very small limits. He is working in a very wide field. He has chosen it; He has rights in it; and He is not reduced to one kind of work either, nor are those who love Him reduced to any particular line of work, they are thinking of the “works of God”. It is a question of God.
Then later the disciples are brought into what He is doing. I want to be brought into every movement of Christ, every work of Christ, to observe why He does a thing, what is in His mind. Do not think I am speaking [p. 38] theoretically, I am not; the Lord is active, and we need to see how He is moving: as it were, His gestures — “his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men” (Psalm 11:4). “Doth not the ear try words?” (Job 12:11). In hearing ministry we are to try the words and to understand what is being said, what impressions are to be conveyed. All true ministry is from Christ, and by it His people are brought into what He is doing.
But what about this man? Have his parents sinned? No, the Lord says, they had not. Do not bring in here, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) — the Lord knows what He is speaking about. Let us judge ourselves for any tendency to be like Martha, to criticise the Lord and assume to know better than He. The Lord is impressing us that He knows all about this man, that his blindness is not a governmental penalty; He is taking him up to display the works of God in him. Now the result is, that the disciples are brought into this; and that is what the Lord is seeking now, to bring us into what He is doing. He tells us, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him”.
Then, moreover, He says, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day”. Let nobody let his hands hang down. The Lord says, “the night cometh, when no man can work”. He is calling us into the work of God. And having said these things He spat on the ground. The Lord is drawing us into what He is doing, and drawing us into it intelligently that we should know what He is doing. One may say, I do not understand that. Well, if you do not understand, ask the Lord; do not be indifferent. You may say, I did not hear what was said. Well, you are obligated to hear what is said, the Lord may call you to account for it, if you do not hear. Sometimes we do not hear what we do not want to hear; but we must hear what the Lord has to say to us. Our passage says,
“[p. 39] he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle”. He did that Himself, and anointed the man’s eyes with the clay. There was that which was coming out of Christ, His own essence, as I might say reverently. Think of the marvel of it. The incarnation — how real it is! And such as can be applied as ointment, for that is the word — a dignified word! You might say, clay (”mud”, New Translation) is not a distinguished word, but “anoint” is an important word, and here the Lord is said to have anointed the man’s eyes. He is dealing with the organ of sight. The sequel shows that the man is equal to this; the Lord knew the man.
I hardly know of a man who tests me more as an example than this man in John 9. What a man he was, as he had his eyes opened! In the operation of new birth, the Lord mentions no human action whatever in the subject of it. The operation is purely divine; it is inscrutable, too, but in this matter, the man has to do with the thing; that is, faith is supposed to be in him. He is already constitutionally equal to the operation on the eyes, it is not being done without him. It has no reference to the constitution of the man; it is the organs of sight that are in mind, and the Lord dealing with them, but the man is brought into it, and that tends to make men out of us; to be brought into and to have part in the divine operation; thus, in principle, we become workers with God immediately. This man is working with Christ, he is not rebellious.
The word sent dominates this man. The secret of the whole position publicly today is rebellion against God, there is no idea of being sent — whereas the truth is that everything must emanate from God. The principle is sent. Christ is sent; the Spirit is sent; this man is sent; the characteristic believer moves as sent, and hence does not fail of the benefits of the works of God. We shall fail in being the manifestation of the works of God, save as we are in subjection to Him. This man comes into it immediately. As sent, he went [p. 40] and washed and came seeing. The Lord had gone away, as much as to say, I can trust this man, I can leave this man on the ground. Nicodemus was not honoured like this! The Lord rather conveys a mixed state of things in him, notwithstanding that he comes out well at the end. We do not want to be like Nicodemus, dear brethren. We are thankful for such, but this is the man: the man in John 9 is trustworthy. The Lord says to Nicodemus, “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” (John 3:12) He did not know! But this man knew. The moral element was shining out in him. He went to Siloam, and we are told here what Siloam means.
It all enters into the death of the Lord Jesus, for the word sent implies that He would go the whole length required by the will of God; and He has gone that length, to lay down His life. He came “by water and blood”, involving Siloam — “not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth” (1 John 5:6). So that we have the whole truth in the sacrificial coming of Christ and the Spirit here; the water and the blood being effective, and the Spirit here to bear witness. Siloam involves the death of Christ; it involves the word “sent”, and christianity involves the word “sent” The Son is sent, the Spirit is sent, the believer is sent. Heaven calls us into this great divine movement — instead of being independent, assuming to be something ourselves in the pride of our hearts, we are simply sent! There is a beautiful reference to John the baptist in that connection: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John” (John 1:6).
Well now, this is the moral side of the matter, and I could say much more about it, but I must go on to Luke. What I have said about this man leads us to the mountain; it is a question of the kingdom of God. So the Lord says here, “there be some standing here,
[p. 41] which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God”. We have here the amplification of the Lord’s remark in John 3 — it is a question of the kingdom of God. Matthew 16:28 recording this same wonderful event says, “The Son of man coming in his kingdom”. That is a great and glorious thought involving display, literal display; so that Peter refers to it saying, We “were eye-witnesses of his majesty ... when we were with him in the holy mount” (2 Peter 1:16,18). Mark 9:1 quotes the Lord saying, “the kingdom of God come with power”. That is specially needed for the service of God. We need the majesty, we need the power, but then we need the thing that the Lord has in mind in its moral significance and bearing, that is, the kingdom of God, and the kind of persons in whom it is displayed.
So He takes up His selected ones, Peter and John and James; He takes them up after about “eight days”, and the Lord is going up to pray. Now notice this: in taking them up, He is going up to pray. Now I am speaking of the kind of persons in whom the kingdom of God is displayed. It is a moral question, what exists now: not the coming glory, but the present features that are to be discerned, and discerned in men, and I want to be one of them! I want everybody here to aspire to be one of those in whom this great moral constitution is seen down here. The first thing is that the Lord went up to pray. You might say, There is no need to go up to pray; but the Lord did it. Let us not quarrel with anything He did. There is a reason for it. If we understand the Lord’s movements here, we shall attend all the meetings for prayer, if we can. It may be a tax, it was a tax to go up this mountain; in this sense we get very little without being taxed. We are to “buy” the truth. The Lord says to Laodicea, I am ready to sell you anything that you need spiritually. He went up to pray; every step up indicated a dependent Man.
[p. 42] A dependent Man! Think of Him as compared with the rulers of the world at the present time, or at any time! How they are symbolised in Scripture! What self-assertion often, what independence, what disregard of God, what disregard of the rights of God, and the rights of men, too! But not so with Jesus! He went up to pray, He who made the worlds is going up to pray — think of that! Think of the moral lesson in that for every one of us! The whole position depends upon it. It is a question of the kingdom of God: not here the kingdom of the Son of man, but of God. The moral sway of God is to be manifest here. He “went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered” — it became different. That is the point — like the red heifer, it is different; you see, it is not man’s kingdom, there is nothing in it at all like man’s kingdom, it is the kingdom of God, shining out in a dependent Man in prayer — changed because of this. The fashion of His countenance became different, and His raiment white and effulgent. It alludes to moral glory, such as you see in a Stephen or a Paul, or any true witness of Jesus, that is the principle; they saw Stephen’s face as the face of an angel — he took on glory! Whoever it be, there is always a change in the countenance and in the raiment too — he is not conformed to this world: “but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). The kingdom of God is in view in Romans; it is “not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (chapter 14:17). A very attractive description!
Now there appeared with Him “two men”. The stress is not on who they were as persons of distinction, but that they were men. How God is shining today in men different from the ordinary! We know how young people have ideals, and aspire to be something like them; but the Lord would draw us into the heavenly [p. 43] current as to what is really glorious, morally so, for that is the point now. The exceeding weight of glory that is to be displayed in us cannot be put into words! But now it is a question of moral glory, and it shines in Jesus going up to pray, and while He is thus on the mount these two join Him. Two men appearing in glory talked with Him. Peter, James, and John are there, they are there to see, and they saw, as they were fully awake. May God awaken us, if some are asleep! “Having fully awoke”, for they did go to sleep even in such a place, showing what our capabilities are, if we fail to judge ourselves. But being fully awake, they see His glory. They see the men too. What a scene!
It is the kingdom of God they are seeing, stripped of all the infirmities that attach to man here — Moses and Elias in glory! What histories centred in these men! What could be said about Moses and Elijah, whose ministries stand out as part of the kingdom of God! Think of Elijah, how he prayed! He is one of the outstanding praying men; he prayed for a drought, and then he prayed for rain, and he got both. He “prayed with prayer” (James 5:17). And now here he is, shining in the kingdom of God. Then Moses: as I said, he could ask for great things, and one of the greatest things was that Jehovah should show him His glory. “I beseech thee, shew me thy glory” (Exodus 33:18). Other men prayed: a great praying man was Solomon, he prayed that he might have wisdom — that surely was a bit of moral glory. And then again, Daniel: see how he prayed! He is called “one greatly beloved” as he prayed (Daniel 9:23). He was engaged in prayer and confession on behalf of God’s people and the city called by His name. He knew his Bible, too, he knew the dates and what would happen to God’s people, and prayed accordingly. That is to say, Daniel is a praying man according to the facts of Scripture. Our prayers must have some real basis, or of what good are they? Scripture is the basis.
[p. 44] Now all these men cumulatively come into this great system of things, as I am saying, that we are brought into, for it is a question of persons, and we all would, I am sure, seek to be among them. Every saint should have in his mind to be one of the persons in whom the kingdom of God is seen. The Lord said, when one enquired of Him, that the kingdom of God does not come by observation, it is not “Lo here, or Lo there”. It is, He said, in the midst of you; and so it is here now, in this room, thank God! Not only here, but as we disperse and go to our several places of abode, our businesses; that is the idea. The kingdom of God is seen in that blessed Man — a praying Man. His face reflects it, His clothes reflect it — the last having reference to associations. And then two men can come in and talk with Him; he is not too great a Man to be talked with. Some of us may sit in our chairs in our offices, and be so august, that persons are almost afraid to speak to us. It should not be so.
These two men come in, and they speak to Him. He is the Lord of glory. They speak to Him, not He to them. The kingdom of God requires that I listen to the brethren, my ear is open to them, I am here for them. If I am in the kingdom of God, I am to serve, I am to be in accord with it, to be in my measure a representation of it. Thus people will see it in me. If they have eyes opened, they will. I am to be a guide to them. They will say, I want to go where that man goes; to pray as he prays; to read the Bible as he; to understand as he does. I want to be a husband with a spirit like his, a master like him, a servant like him — that is the idea. It is a question of the kingdom of God. Even a slave is to “adorn the doctrine” (Titus 2:10), it is a question of the kingdom, so that men may see it.
Then heaven’s appreciation comes in here. Heaven is opened on Jesus. “This is my beloved Son: hear him”. Here it is not “In whom I am well pleased”, as in Matthew 17:5, but “hear him”. Applied to the saints,
[p. 45] the point is, that men like this, in whatever measure they may come up to it, are pleasing to heaven, and they are to be heard. “Hear him”. Of course it refers supremely to Jesus, but you want to pay attention to men like this; men like Jesus: hear them! They have something to say to help us. The Lord opened Lydia’s heart “to attend to the things spoken by Paul” (Acts 16:14).
I now call attention to the eyes that the Lord speaks of in Luke 10. “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see”. He is calling attention not to blind eyes, but to eyes that are blessed; the believer’s organs are all blessed; his “members” are to be presented as instruments of righteousness to God, and as used by the Spirit they are blessed; and now the Lord is speaking about our eyes. It is a remarkable passage. “He turned him”, it says, “unto his disciples”, as much as to say, You are the ones that are in My mind. What a thought, dear brethren, that heaven is turned towards us! Heaven is complacent in the people of God as they take on these traits of Jesus, these heavenly traits that we have been considering.
And this would include the themes and manner of our conversations. Think of the holy converse on the mount! Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus about what He was going to do, about His departure which He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem — were talking to Him! He was not talking to them about it; it was a question of His listening to them — showing the Man that is presented to us here in the kingdom of God. On the one hand, He is the Man to listen to, and on the other hand, He is listening to others. As an example, the Lord shows us here that we should be ready to listen to others.
But what a great matter it was — His exodus which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. Moses would understand that word; he knew all about the exodus in the Old Testament, but now the word had application to Jesus. Later the Lord began “from Moses” in [p. 46] speaking to two about Himself (Luke 24:27). In the types, in which he had so much part, Moses spoke of the outgoing of Christ through death. Now he is speaking to the Lord, on the mount, of the actual thing — what He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem! What a subject! How suitable! It is a question of what is suitable to be brought in at any given time, and it was suitable to bring this subject in at such a time! It is a question of the kingdom of God, for there could be no kingdom of God available to men save by the death of Jesus. He had to go out that way. As to personal right, He might have gone out from the mount where He was; they were not talking of that possibility, but of His going down, going out by death at Jerusalem; to suffer at the hands of wicked men, and die to accomplish redemption. The kingdom of God required that.
But as I was saying, He turned to His disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see”. As the saints today are occupied with the things of God, He is, as it were, turned towards them, and He wishes us to understand that our eyes, and all our organs, are blessed. It is a question of what we see, and that is another thing worthy of mention, what is visible now, what the Lord is bringing to our attention: the great and glorious things that have been unfolded to us, through the ministry of the last hundred years, thank God! “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see”, He says, “For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them”. Let us allow ourselves to be drawn into the divine current about these matters. What there is to be seen as we have eyes! The Lord would assure us that we are blessed in seeing them and in hearing them, too, for ears are spoken of here as well; and in Matthew 13:16 ears that hear are said to be blessed also.
May the Lord bless what I have said tonight, according to what there is in it by the Spirit, to every one of us.