Monday, October 5, 2015

Spiritual Sight # 29

The Cause and Ground of Blindness (continued)

The Cause of Blindness (continued)

If we did but know it, a very great deal of the conflict which arises in our lives is because God is seeking to bring us further on the road, to open our eyes to Himself, to bring us into the light of His Son. God is seeking to broaden out spiritual horizon, and the enemy is out against that, and he is not going to have it if he can help it. Conflict arises. We may not understand it, but very, very often, more often than not, it is just that, namely, that the Lord is after something, and satan says, 'They shall not see that if I can help it!' So there arises a mighty warfare. This blindness is supernatural, just as enlightenment is supernatural.

"The god of this age!" That designation may mean more than just a period in time. It may mean all of time, because satan gained kingship over man right at the beginning. That is what he was after, to take the place of God and to get the worth-ship of man's life; to be god, to be worshiped; which simply means to take what man has of worth to himself. God made man with a view to his being a vehicle of bringing something to God for God's pleasure and glory, something worthy of God, that God should have a worth-ship out of man, and satan said: I am going to have that worth-ship; God has something vested in that creation,something He is going to get for Himself; I am going to have it! So the whole of what took place in the Garden was satan's way of supplanting God in man's heart, in man's mind, and getting from man that which was God's right - the worship. Thus, by man's consent and fall, satan gained godship in this worbld, and has held it ever since. "This age" just means the course of this world. "The god of this age!"

Now, the greatest peril to satan's godship is spiritual illumination. He will not hold that ground long once your eyes are opened. Oh, once a heart is enlightened, satan's power is at once broken. So the Lord, consistently with that fact, said to Paul on the Damascus road - "...unto whom I send thee, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of satan unto God" (Acts 26:17, 18). The two things go together: From darkness to light; from the power of satan unto God. I repeat that the greatest menace and peril to satan and his position is spiritual illumination. Hence he must find ground on which to perpetuate and maintain his position, his godship, in this age. And what groound will satisfy him in that matter? The answer is, the ground of nature. You get on to the ground of nature and you have given satan right of possession. Every time we do that, satan's hold is strengthened.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 30)

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.