Christ's Prophetic Ministry of Inward Illumination

The outer ear received the form of Christ's words; the auditory nerve registered them; the disciples could have repeated them back two minutes later. Yet Luke says they understood none of it. Pictures hearing without inward illumination.

Understood not, it was hid and they perceived not. Now what happened? The outer ear received the form and the substance of the words. It registered on the auditory nerve.

9:55 - 10:09 Read in full sermon

The two disciples on the Emmaus road had perfectly good physical vision and saw the man walking with them, but their eyes were held that they should not recognize who was in that form — a parallel for spiritual sight of the truth.

Now what happened? Did God strike them with blindness so that when they looked upon that form, there was no passage of light through the cornea registering on the retina? No, no. There was nothing wrong with their vision.

16:09 - 16:22 Read in full sermon

Matthew Henry: 'The understanding is opened to receive the divine light; the will to receive the divine law; the affections to receive the divine love. When the heart is thus open to Christ, the ear is open to His Word, the lips to prayer, the hand to charity, the steps enlarged in gospel obedience.'

The word in the original for this act of opening is precisely the same word as we have in Luke 24. Matthew Henry in his quaint way has commented on this passage saying, The understanding is opened to receive the divine light. The will is opened to receive the divine law. The affections are opened to receive the divine love.

23:53 - 24:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Unconverted hearer, cry out like blind Bartimaeus — 'Son of David, have mercy on me' — until Jesus stands still and opens the eyes of your heart.

Blind Bartimaeus, told to shut up by the crowd, cries the louder — and the most beautiful words follow: 'And Jesus stood still.' Pictures the desperate cry that arrests the Son of God to give spiritual sight.

It says he cried the louder. He cried the louder. Son of David, have mercy upon me. And some of the most beautiful words in all of the Bible, it says, And Jesus stood still.

36:46 - 37:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Unconverted hearer, cry out like blind Bartimaeus — 'Son of David, have mercy on me' — until Jesus stands still and opens the eyes of your heart.

When believers say 'Christ,' it is not just C-H-R-I-S-T as six letters — it is the living Lord whose head is crowned with glory, whose cross is glorious with attractiveness, seen only because the eyes of the heart are opened.

Oh, dear unconverted man, woman, boy, or girl, do you wonder why some of us get so excited when we speak of our Lord? Why Christ and the gospel and the blood of the everlasting covenant And all of the things that surround the Christian life Are our meat and our drink Why? Because we see things you don't see We've not had visions We've not heard the flutter of angels' wings But the Lord Jesus has opened the eyes of our heart And when we say Christ That's not just C-H-R-I-S-T a six-letter word. He's our living Lord, whose head is crowned with glory, whose person is filled with majesty,

37:19 - 38:08 Read in full sermon