[Mark Welch] I just said, "Good morning" to our deaf members, and "Happy Feast." It's really been a wonderful opportunity to work with our deaf brethren for 14 years now. This is our 14th Feast together. In terms of official, this is our designated Feast site for the deaf. So it's really been a wonderful opportunity for my wife and I to be working with them that long, a great bunch of people. Let's practice this so you can go say hello to them, okay? Okay. So we're going to do good morning. This is good, good morning. Good morning. And then happy Feast is like this. This is the F sign Feast, happy Feast. Good morning, and happy Feast. So you can go up and meet our deaf brethren and talk to them at least a little bit. They would love that.

Well, I certainly enjoyed the special music. It really has been very, very special here at this Feast. It's just awesome. I think they've done just a marvelous job. It's fantastic, so really appreciate the special music from everyone. and all of those who are serving in a number of different ways. I certainly appreciate those who are serving on parking this year, and they're doing a great job as well. And I'm sure that's true in every aspect, in every area of our Feast services.

Yesterday I had an opportunity to go fishing. I do like to fish, and we caught some large king fish. And I'm not exaggerating. They were this big. We caught about a dozen of them. There were four of us along with the guide. Unfortunately, one one of the men decided to chum the fish instead of actually fish. Chumming… well, I better not go into that. Some of you probably know what I'm talking about. But he got sick, to say the least. It was not good for him. We felt very badly about that.

But it was a little rough out there yesterday in some ways, although it was a gorgeous day and beautiful in almost every other way. So we did catch a lot of fish. There was some controversy as to whether or not they were clean fish. The guide told us that they had no scales. So obviously, I went to the internet for the, you know, for the truth. Plus I did scrape. I did scrape them, and they looked like scales to me. So king fish, I think they're also king mackerel, but I believe they are clean. I hope so because I have about 20 pounds in my freezer. And some of the other guys had fish as well.

Well, brethren, on April 30th, 1955, a handsome little baby boy was born. Actually, my grandmother told me I was the ugliest baby, the ugliest baby she had ever seen, that was my grandmother. And then my great grandmother, told her mom, my grandmother, that I was the ugliest baby that she had ever seen since my grandmother had been born. So I guess, I had the kind of face that only a mother could love. Thankfully I blossomed into what you see today. But, you know, that's not really part of our story today. It's really not about me at all.

But on April 30th, 1906, 49 years earlier to the day, a beautiful baby girl was born. No, it's not my wife. She's not that much older than I am. No, there's a lady named… little baby, a girl named Nellie Zimmerman, Nellie Zimmerman. And I doubt that very many of you have heard that name even, and you certainly don't know who she is.

But Nellie Zimmerman's first trauma in a lifetime of trials began that day when she was born because her mother died giving her birth. Now, without a wife, Nellie's father was totally devoted to his daughter. Nellie was bright and inquisitive. She loved to learn, but Nellie's formal education ended in the second grade when she became totally deaf. It was because of a number of sinus infections and childhood illnesses that she went through at an early age. So around age 7, her loving father and also the caretakers that he would hire to stay with her while he was working, he had a good job so he could afford it, they became her sole companions and teachers.

They took her to museums and on field trips. And through fingerspelling, they explained everything to her. She was provided with an excellent education. She had a zest for learning and life at an early age. And although Nellie had the love of her father, no one else in her family ever learned to communicate with her or cared to develop a relationship with her, including her older sister. I think her older sister was embarrassed and also perhaps a little jealous of her father's care toward Nellie. So she was even neglected by her older sister.

Now, as a young teenager, Nellie was vivacious. She was attractive. She was witty. She was deaf, of course, but still a very fine young teenager. But it was then that tragedy struck again. Nellie began to go blind. Before her teen years ended, Nellie was living in a world of darkness. Nellie largely overcame that obstacle too because she learned to read braille, and she learned to write braille, so she was still able to communicate to some degree but with a very limited a number of people.

Now, at the age of 45, the worst tragedy of all devastated Nellie, her beloved father died when she was 45 years old. And surprisingly, Nellie had no idea that her father was dead for a number of weeks. She wondered where he was. No one tried to communicate with her in her family. Her caretaker had been dismissed right after her father died, and her family provided only her basic needs. Finally, someone entered her bedroom after a couple of weeks and awkwardly fingerspelled into her hand the words "your father is dead." And then quickly they left the room. Not wanting to be bothered with Nellie, her family then sent her to a nursing home.

Confused and bewildered, Nellie was shuffled between nursing homes for six years, almost totally neglected with no one to communicate with. Nellie kept her mind sharp by reading and memorizing large portions of her only braille book. The only Braille book that she had at that time in the nursing home was the Bible. She also played math games in her head because she was quite intelligent.

Unfortunately, Nellie's bright mind was not obvious to anyone else. She was eventually placed in a mental hospital for the insane. She remained there alone and isolated for another 19 years. Bullied and somewhat abused by other patients, Nellie resorted to covering her head with a sheet. She put the sheet over her as a means of protection from the other inmates. She found that if the patients couldn't see her so easily, they would leave her alone, so she did that. She put the sheet over her head for many years. So, for 25 years since she entered the nursing homes and then also in the insane asylum, the mental hospital, she lived in a prison of isolation and abuse. She had no visitors and very little communication with anyone except those who were there working for the mental hospital.

But at the age of 71, Nellie didn't know that things were happening behind the scenes to change her life forever and release her from her prison of darkness. Unknown to Nellie, Carrie Dixon, a young deaf woman had been a volunteer at the mental hospital for 10 years. Off and on, she would volunteer there. She was fluent in American Sign Language. She was also a very active member of the deaf community in the Canton, Ohio, area where Nellie was then living or that's where she grew up in Ohio.

So Carrie worked with several deaf people in the hospital. And she worked for the release of many who had been misdiagnosed, you know, they should not have been in the mental hospital in the first place. Carrie had heard rumors that there were deaf and blind people at the mental hospital, but due to overcrowded conditions, no one at the hospital seemed to be able to help her locate them. She wasn't getting much cooperation. They were not really interested in helping her search for these ones that were misdiagnosed.

Oftentimes, the mental hospitals, they like to keep their patients. So Carrie would come to the hospital. One day she was wandering around, and she spotted a person who was covered by a sheet, a sheet over her head. Only the hands were visible, and Carrie noticed that they were moving in what seemed to be the letters of the manual alphabet.

Upon closer observation, Carrie recognized the words that Nellie was fingerspelling, hallowed be thy name, hallowed be thy name. So chills went through Carrie as she recognized the words of Matthew 6. So Carrie removed the sheet that was covering Nellie's eyes, and she waited until Nellie was finished with her prayer. And Carrie then finger spelled into Nellie's hand. She put her hand up against her hand, and she put in the letter H and I, "Hi."

So after 25 years of silence, the isolation was finally over, and Nellie Zimmerman came face-to-face, hand-to-hand, and heart-to-heart with her deliverer, one who delivered her from the mental hospital, from darkness, a deaf woman by the name of Carrie Dixon. So Nellie experienced a rebirth on that day. It took much work from Carrie and others, but eventually, at the age of 71, Nellie was living in an apartment with a companion. In fact, it was a companion that wrote a book about Nellie, the story of Nellie Zimmerman. You can find it on Amazon. It's like $3.50 if you'd like to order a copy.

She blossomed and led a very active life. Nellie was now filled with purpose. At the age of 72, Nellie went to college. After being in a mental hospital for 19 years, she went to college. She took classes such as history, literature, philosophy, and the Bible. Later working full-time as a life skills instructor at a home for deaf and blind boys, Nellie was awarded many civic honors from her community and from the state of Ohio for her community service.

She became a popular lecturer, and she became an advocate for human rights. And in her 70s, Nellie met Richard, also a deaf, blind person, a man who became the love of her life. And Richard and Nellie were together for 14 years until his death. Several months after that, Nellie died at the age of 89, quite a story.

Nellie was deaf and blind and this world overlooked her, and even imprisoned her to a large degree, and abused her in many respects. But because of her deliverer, because of Carrie Dixon, Nellie's life changed forever. She had some others that helped her a lot, too. Again the writer of the book about her life, also a man named Jim, who advocated and got her out of the mental hospital, much of what he did. That's what the books of 250 pages long, so it goes into her story in quite a bit of depth.

Well, brethren, what does the Bible say about the healing of the physically deaf and blind in God's Kingdom? What does the Bible say about that? And also, even more importantly, what lessons can we learn from considering those who are spiritually deaf and blind today and the spiritual healing that God will bring in His glorious Kingdom?

Today I'd like to share with you seven lessons that we need to understand regarding the deaf and the blind, both physically and spiritually. We all know that Satan is the lord of darkness. Satan is a god of this world. So there's much that can be learned by considering this topic.

So let's go into the first lesson that we should learn, the first principle, and that is God is ultimately responsible for those who are deaf and blind, both physically and spiritually. He is ultimately responsible. Notice in Exodus 4:11. "So the Lord said to him," said to Moses… Remember, Moses was quite reluctant to be God's mouthpiece. He was reluctant to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, to begin with. "So the Lord said to him," in Exodus 4:11, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute," those who are not able to speak, "the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?"

God is our Creator. Now, that doesn't mean that God specifically wanted everyone to be deaf and blind that are deaf and blind today. I'm not saying that at all. But God certainly allowed that to happen, and God is ultimately in charge. God told Moses in verse 12 that He would instruct him on what he needed to say. Thankfully, Moses listened and followed God's lead. God was ready to bring the children of Israel out of a certain amount of darkness in Egypt, to bring them out of bondage, to bring them out of slavery.

Now, let's go to Romans 11, and let's consider what God says here in regard to Him being responsible for the spiritually deaf and blind today. Romans 11:1, "I say then, has God cast away His people?" the children of Israel? Paul says, "Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin."

Now, going down to verse 7, "What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks: but the elect…" those who are called now. The chosen of God at this time who have responded to God, who have yielded to God, "…the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded." The elect know the truth of God. God has revealed the truth to them. Not that we know it all, but we are learning the truth, and God has opened our minds to a large extent. "The elect have obtained it, but the rest were blinded."

Verse 8, "Just as it is written: 'God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.’ And David says, ‘Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a recompense to them. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down their back always.’"

Now, notice verse 11, "I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not!" Paul says, "Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness?" So that's verse 12.

Let's go down to verse 25 now, verse 25. Unfortunately, I don't have time to cover all this. Verse 25, "For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: 'The Deliverer…’" someone like Carrie Dixon to Nellie Zimmerman, "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins."

Is through Jesus Christ our Savior, our Deliverer, our Lord that we are forgiven our sins through the sacrifice of Christ, through His shed blood. "Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the father's." So God has not cast away His people Israel, the children of Israel. He's called some. Not all of them are blinded but certainly, part of them are blinded.

Many are blinded today that are of the children of Israel, and certainly many Gentiles. Most Gentiles… Most Israelites, frankly, are blinded today. Spiritually, they don't understand God's truth. They don't have the Spirit of God dwelling in them to give them full understanding, to guide them, to direct them, to know and understand God's truth. They are blinded. But God has called the elect. He's called some who are Jewish, some of the children of Israel. He's called some Gentiles. He's called a small number, frankly, to understand His truth.

So brethren, the first point, the first lesson is God is ultimately responsible for the deaf and blind. God is the one who does the calling out of blindness. People do have to respond. Many are called but few are chosen because they won't respond to God. They won't obey Him. Many are called but few are chosen, and even then it's only the called, chosen, and faithful who will be in the first resurrection. So God has blinded most people on the earth today spiritually, both Jew and Gentile. Some Israelites, Jews, and Gentiles are among the elects today but again most are blind spiritually. That leads us to a second point.

A second lesson that we need to understand is that God cares for and loves those who are deaf and blind. God cares for and deeply loves those who are deaf and blind. Now, of course, that's true both physically and spiritually. We're all familiar with John 3:16-17, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but should have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

For God so loved the entire world. That certainly includes those who are both physically and spiritually deaf and blind. God loves all people made in His image, no exceptions. So that is the second thing that we need to always keep in mind that God cares for and loves those who are deaf and blind, both physically and spiritually.

Thirdly, God expects everyone to help and support those who are deaf and blind. We are not to be mean-spirited or take advantage of people in their struggles. Whatever struggles they have, we are to become God's servants, and we are to be known by our love one for another. So God expects everyone to help and support those who are blind and deaf.

Notice Leviticus 19:14, God says, "You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord." So the implication is that God is the protector of those who are deaf and or blind. And He instructs us on what He expects. We should not look down upon those who are spiritually blind, spiritually deaf. We should not look down on anyone in that condition or state. We should certainly be grateful that God has opened our minds and our ears that we understand that God expects us to help and support those who are deaf and blind as much as we possibly can in a godly and proper way.

Also, in Deuteronomy 27:18, notice what God says, "Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’" This was during the time of the blessing and the cursing chapters, Deuteronomy 27, 28. "Cursed it is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road." And notice in Job 29:15. In Job's defense, He says, "I was eyes to the blind." Remember, Job was the most righteous man on earth. That's why he was being the example because he was such a godly person. He was a righteous man.

He says, "I was eyes to the blind, I was feet to the lame." In other words, Job cared for the blind and the deaf, and he looked out for them. And we are to do the same thing. We're to be the same type of people. Righteous Job was doing his part to care for the blind and the crippled of the world. We should help each other. We should not hinder each other's journey in life. We as God's people are to learn to love as God loves, sacrificial love, humble love. So that is the third, the third principle. God expects everyone to help and support those who are deaf and blind, both physically and spiritually.

Point number four, Jesus Christ healed many who are blind and deaf… deaf when He first came to this earth. It was a type of what He would come to do, a second time when He comes… when He returns. Let's notice Matthew 9. Matthew 9:27, "When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, 'Son of David, have mercy on us!’" These men were blind. They wanted to be able to see. "And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him."

They pursued Him, "And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I'm able to do this?’" "Do you believe that I can heal you?" "They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then He touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith let it be to you.’ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them saying, ‘See that no one knows it.’" Of course, what did they do? They were so excited. They went out. "When they departed, they spread the news about Him in all the land."

Notice verse 32, "As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man mute and demon-possessed," a man who was not able to speak. He was demon-possessed in this case. Now, that's not normally the case. Those who are deaf and blind are not normally demon-possessed. Generally, they're fine. They're just like you and me. They just can't hear, and they can't see. But in some cases, a few cases like this one, there was an evil spirit involved as well.

Verse 33, "And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, 'It was never seen like this in Israel!’" This was unique. This was unbelievable. If anyone here could heal people, could heal the blind or could heal the sick, they would be thronged, just as Jesus was. If we had that kind of power of healing, then we would draw great multitudes as well.

"But the Pharisees said," the religious leaders of the day said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons." So that says a lot about spiritual leaders that aren't truly led by the Spirit of God, that are blind themselves. That was the problem. They were blind themselves. They could not see. They could not hear spiritually. So that was their conclusion, that Jesus cast out demons by the ruler of the demons, the lord of darkness. Very interesting.

Notice verse 35, "Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." People were coming, every sickness, every disease was being healed by Christ. These miracles were a sign of who Jesus is. Christ is a great deliverer. Christ is a great healer.

We are here to worship the King. That's why we're here at the Feast of Tabernacles, is to worship the King. And I couldn't help but think about that as I was listening to the special music, how pleased God is as we praise Him, and as we worship Him, and as we obey Him, keeping His Feast days. These are signs between God and His people. The weekly Sabbath, the annual holy days, they are signs between God and His people, just as love is sign, too. We have to have it all. We have to be doing it all. That's what God wants from us.

Now, John the baptist questioned who Jesus was. Let's go to Matthew 11:5, just across the page. John the baptist questioned Jesus about who He was. He sent his disciples. He had been imprisoned for speaking the truth. Christ reply was, to those who came, "Go tell him that the blind receive their sight," Matthew 11:5, "The blind receive their sight, the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear…" fantastic miracles!

Wherever Jesus went, fantastic miracles happened, "…the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them." There is great power in Christ, and Christ is here with us today. We should know that. We should believe that with our whole heart, with our entire minds as we worship Him in spirit and in truth. Christ is here today to guide us, to direct us to the power of God's Holy Spirit.

Let's go to Matthew 12:22, "Then one was brought to Him" to Christ, "who was demon-possessed." Verse 22, "he was blind and also mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and the mute man both spoke and saw." And again, what about the religious leaders?

Notice what they said in verse 28. Well, Christ says, "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God..." That's what Christ claimed. Christ claimed He had the power through the Spirit of God, the Spirit that dwelled within Him. He said, "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." Christ was there in their midst. He was the King of the Kingdom, and He was right there with them, and He was casting out demons and healing people through the power of the Spirit of God Almighty.

In Matthew 15:30, "Then great multitudes came to Him," Christ was thronged by great multitudes. Wherever He went, they "…came to Him, having with them the lame, the blind, the mute, the maimed, and many others," sick with all kinds of diseases, "and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them." Christ healed them. "So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel." We are here to glorify the God of Israel. We are here worshiping God this day.

In Matthew 20:30, they were near Jericho at the time. Matthew 20:30, "Then the multitude warned that..." I'm sorry, verse 30, "And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, 'Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!’ Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more…" Of course, they cried out all the more. They wanted to be healed. They wanted to be whole, so they cried out to Christ, "'Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!’ So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, ‘What do you want me to do?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, that our eyes may be open that we may see.’ So Jesus had compassion, He touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and…" what did they do? "They followed Him." They followed Him. Of course, they followed Him. We're going to see more of that in the future. When Christ returns, when He begins to open up everyone's eyes and ears spiritually, they will begin to follow Him. So that's Matthew 20.

Let's go to Mark 7. Mark 7, Mark 7, in this case, there was a deaf person who had a speech impediment who was not able to speak well. Let's look at chapter 7, verse 31. He was near Decapolis, in the region of the Decapolis, 10 cities near the Sea of Galilee. "They brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in speech, they begged Him to put His hand on him." So that he would be healed. Verse 37, "And they were astonished beyond measure," when that person was healed. "He has done all things well," they said. Christ has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. Christ healed them.

Now, in Luke 4, Matthew, Mark, Luke, I'm skipping over quite a few instances where Christ healed, but I did want to cover a number. Luke 4:18-19, Luke 4:18, Christ was reading from the book of Isaiah in the synagogue as was His custom on the Sabbath day. He's Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath again is a sign between God and His people. "And the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me," Christ says as He quotes Isaiah, "Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted…" the Father sent the Son to change the world. Christ came to heal the brokenhearted, "…to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." So they marveled at what He said, and He spoke of Himself that day as He read from the book of Isaiah.

Now, John 9. John 9. We see again a man who was born blind this time, a man who was born blind, never was there a man who had born blind who was healed, but notice in John 9, "Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’" It kind of underscores the rationale of some people, assuming that some sin had to be the reason for this. "Jesus answered, 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned.’"

Not to cause this… you know, they were all sinners, of course, but they did not sin to the extent that they caused this particular blindness. "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Satan is the lord of darkness, Christ the Lord of light. "When He had said these things, He spat on the ground, He made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, 'Go and wash in the pool of Siloam."' And so that's what he did, and he was healed.

In verse 10, "'How were your eyes opened?’ He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes, told me to go to the pool of Siloam. I did so, and I received my sight.’" A wonderful miracle. "Then they said to him, ‘Where is He?’ He said, ‘I don't know. I don't know.’ And they brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees." To the religious leaders of the day. And I don't have time to read all this, but the bottom line is they excommunicated him. They excommunicated this man who had been healed, who is no longer blind but could now see.

Notice in John 9:32, “‘Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.’ They answered and said to him, 'You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?’” They didn't appreciate what this man was saying, so they cast him out. They excommunicated him, cast him out of the synagogue.

Verse 35, “Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, 'Do you believe in the Son of God?' The one who had formerly been blind answered and said, 'Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?' Jesus said to him, 'You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.' Then he said, 'Lord I believe!’ And he worshiped Him. And Jesus said, 'For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.' Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, 'Are we blind also?' Jesus said to them, 'If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, “We see.” Therefore your sin remains.’”

They will be held accountable."' Those who allow themselves to be blinded to this extent will certainly be… they will be held accountable. So here again we see that Jesus Christ healed the deaf and the blind who came to Him physically when He was here on this earth, the first time when He came. Of course, primarily He came to die, to lay down His life for all of us, those who are spiritually deaf and blind and have been. We've all been deaf and blind, haven't we, before our conversion? All of us have been deaf and blind. He came to die for all of us. Christ healed all who were deaf and blind. The physical ones who came to Him, who cried out to Him for healing, He healed them. That's principle number four.

Now, number five, most people today are spiritually blind and deaf to a large degree. To greater and lesser degrees, most people today are spiritually blind and deaf. I'm going to go through a number of scriptures, and let's consider them carefully. Let's begin in Isaiah 56. Isaiah 56. By the way, I would like to say hello to those who are listening in on the webcast. I understand there's probably quite a few of you. It's certainly nice to have you with us here on this day, the Feast of Tabernacles.

Isaiah 56:10, speaking of Israel's leaders and God's leaders, you might say, the children of Israel. It says, "His Watchmen are blind, they're all ignorant; they're all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, they are greedy dogs which never have enough. And they are shepherds who cannot understand; they all look to their own way, every one for his own gain, from his own territory.” They did not respond at all to God. If God was calling them, they weren't responding. They were blind. Verse 12, “‘Come,' one says, ‘I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant.’" That was their attitude. That was their approach, very blind spiritually.

Now, Isaiah 59:9, Isaiah 59:9, "Therefore justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us; we look for light, but there is darkness!” “We look for light, but there is darkness!” The world has been in darkness for the most part, for nearly 6,000 years. So, “We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness! We grope for the wall like the blind…” imagine if you were blind, you would be groping for the walls. You would want to have some idea of where you were. You would grope for the walls like the blind, “…and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as at twilight.” It doesn't matter whether it's bright sunshine or darkness. If we're blind, we're blind, so we stumble at noonday.

“We are as dead men in desolate places. We all growl like bears, and moan sadly like doves; we look for justice, but there is none.” Isn't that true in this earth today? Largely true, there's not a lot of justice in this world. “We look for salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before You,” before God. “And our sins testify against us, for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them: in transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.” Lies. No, there's tremendous darkness in the world today. We stumble at noonday. As at twilight, we are as dead men in desolate places.

Now, consider for a moment the apostle Paul. When he was known as Saul, what did he do? He persecuted the people of God. In fact, he was there cheering basically for those who were stoning Stephen. He was totally blind spiritually. He was intelligent. He understood a whole lot, but he was very blinded. So God struck him down on the road to Damascus. He struck him blind.

He was blind for three days. During that time, he fasted. God gave him his eyesight. Now he could see again physically, but more importantly, he could see spiritually. And he began to preach powerfully the gospel of the Kingdom of God. What a difference God's intervention can make. What healing can take place when God determines to intervene. The apostle Paul, we know a great deal because of Paul's writings in the New Testament. God used Paul as a vessel, as His instrument. He struck him blind but then He gave him spiritual vision.

In Romans 2:19, it says, "We are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind," speaking to the children of Israel that they were a guide to the blind, to the Gentiles, “a light to those who are in darkness.” Of course, Jesus considered the Gentiles to be blind, but many, of course, have rejected Jesus Christ. From the children of Israel, the vast majority rejected Christ as their Messiah, as their Savior. They're still waiting for a Messiah. There's tremendous darkness and blackness spiritually upon the earth.

Now, let's go to 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1:5, "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue…” it's talking about how we should be as true Christians, as true followers of Christ, as those who have their eyes open. The elect at this time, we are to be diligent. We are to be faithful, “…add to your faith virtue,” be virtuous, “to virtue add knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness,” brotherly love, “to brotherly kindness, we add the love.” The love of God.

“For if these things are yours,” all these virtues, the character of God, “if these things are yours and abound in you…” if you are producing the fruit of God's Holy Spirit in abundance, love and joy and peace, patience, kindness, goodness, meekness, gentleness, self-control, faithfulness, these are the fruit of God's Holy Spirit. He says, "If these things are yours and they abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." You will understand, you will see spiritually, and you will be producing the fruit of God's Holy Spirit. “For he who lacks these things is shortsighted.”

Brethren, we must be shortsighted no longer. We must stir up the Spirit of God in us, no longer grieving God's Holy Spirit that has been so graciously granted to us. We need to be stirring it up, and we need to be the children of God with the character of God. “For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” Have any of us forgotten? Have we become weary in well-doing? Have we forgotten our awesome calling, what God is doing for us? No matter if we've been in the church a month or two or 50 or 60 years, we must stir up the Spirit of God and the character of God within us.

“So, therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things…” if you produce the fruit of God's Spirit, “…you will never stumble.” You're not going to stumble. You don't have to worry about that. Christ will never leave you. He will never forsake you. The Father will never leave you nor forsake you, “For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Our future is secure in Christ Jesus. If we've accepted Him as our Savior, our future is secure. If we've accepted Him in every sense of the word, which means we're faithful and obedient, following His law, keeping His Commandments, doing those things that are pleasing and right and good in His sight, and perhaps most importantly, having love, one for another. The love of God, true genuine, godly love for each other. We must not be shortsighted. We must not be blinded.

But notice Revelation 3, as we look at a prophecy here in regard to the Church of God. Revelation 3 envision the apostle John on the Island of Patmos. Notice what he says. In verse 14 it says, "To the angel of the Church of the Laodicea write, ‘These things say the Amen, the Faithful and True Witnesses, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you're neither cold nor hot. I could wish that you were cold or hot, not lukewarm. So then, because you're lukewarm, you're neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, I've become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ — and do not know that you are spiritually wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.”'"

He says, "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich,” rich spiritually, “and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes… anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.” That you will not be spiritually blind. Brethren, we need to stir up the Spirit of God every day, every single day in our lives that we might follow Him more faithfully and more perfectly. That is our high and holy calling. It cannot be minimized. It should never be taken for granted. We are among the elect of God. It makes us no better than people. It's just that we're greatly blessed to know the truth of God, to understand and be spiritually able to see the truth and to be led by the Spirit of God.

So, let's talk about spiritual blindness a bit. The Bible tells us that in the church at the end time, there will be Christians who are spiritually blind. They don't know that they can't see. They don't understand how weak they are spiritually. Now, it's pretty bad when a blind person doesn't know he's blind. I'm talking about a physically deaf person. I mean, they know they're blind, don't they? They know they can't see. They have evidence all the time. They bump into walls. They fall over things. But those who are spiritually blind, it's not quite so blunt. It's more subtle. Satan is a subtle being. He's very deceptive. The god of this world is powerful and deceptive.

A blind person again knows that he's blind. Of course, there are different types of blindness. Some people are blind from birth. Some gradually become blind. They lose their sight in later years. They lose it so gradually that they don't even know that they're becoming blind. Some are still trying to drive when their macular degeneration is so bad they can't see in front of their own face because their eyes fill in with peripheral vision. They can't see clearly. Some people have had strokes. They can't see clearly. So we have to admit the truth, come to realize that and be able to see ourselves spiritually. Some people think they can see the complete picture, and they're driving down the road, physically, and they're a danger to themselves and to everyone they meet on the road.

What about you? Do you have 20/20 spiritual vision? Is your vision 20/20? Can you see very, very well or are you gradually losing your vision? And have you been compensating for it by making excuses of one kind or another? Spiritual blindness and blindness of the heart are the worst kinds of blindness that we can have, spiritual blindness and blindness of the heart. Because God looks on the heart and one who is deceived doesn't know they're deceived. So we all have to seek God diligently and faithfully that we are not deceived.

Brethren, a root of bitterness can blind us spiritually, a root of bitterness can do that. Be careful. An unthankful heart can blind us spiritually. Be careful. Hatred can blind us spiritually. Being unwilling to forgive can blind us spiritually. Pride can blind us spiritually. Lust can blind us spiritually. All these things can blind us. The works of the flesh can blind us spiritually. Again there are many ways that Satan can deceive us.

In Ephesians 4, let's see what Paul says here. Ephesians 4:17, "This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their minds, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Christ… in Jesus: then you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." It goes on to say that we are not to grieve God's Holy Spirit, instead, we're to stir the Spirit of God up within us.

Now, spiritually speaking, this world is imprisoned. They're blind. They're naked. They're deceived. The world with Satan as its god, like Nellie that we talked about earlier, she was deaf and she was blind, and she got stuck in a mental institution. She stumbled in the darkness. She lost hope. She sat there in a sightless silent world with a sheet over her head. That's largely the way the world is today spiritually. They don't see. They don't understand spiritually. They're cut off from their Heavenly Father. Nellie was cut off from her father who loved her, took care of her. Without the love and the one-on-one relationship with her father, Nellie was thrust into a world of insanity, you might say. She was there with many who were insane. She had no one to really connect to.

The spiritual Nellie's of this world cut off from our Heavenly Father are set adrift in Satan's insane asylums. Look at the world as one giant insane asylum, you know, within reason, of course, you know. This society is going down. This isn't God's world. Satan is the god of this world. Many people are isolated and alone and they're going to become even more so as time goes on. They're going to need God's deliverance from the abuse of this crazy world that we live in.

They have only a sheet over their heads for protection, you might say. We can be thankful that God has taken the sheet away from us. He's taken away the scales from our eyes that we might see spiritually. So are we learning to speak God's language? The key is God's Holy Spirit and yielding to the Spirit of God.

The first deaf president of Gallaudet University... Gallaudet University is the only liberal arts college in the world for the deaf. I. King Jordan was the first deaf president of Gallaudet University, and he said, "Deaf people can do anything except hear." That's true about the deaf people over here. They can do what you can do. They just can't hear. But they know sign language, and I'm somewhat lost because I'm somewhat sign language challenged. I know some signs. I took some classes, but I'm not all that great. And they communicate very well together. They know their language. They communicate quite well together. They're very intelligent people.

“Deaf people can do anything except hear.” The people in the world, many many, fine, fine people, we all know that. We have brothers and sisters, parents, neighbors, relatives, very, very fine people, wonderful people, talented people, skilled people, and they are deaf and blind in varying degrees, in varying degrees, because God's Spirit is powerful. God's Spirit is everywhere. It's powerful. It's an unbelievable force for good in the world. God is there, God is good, God is great.

People are blinded, but that doesn't mean they don't have some understanding. I mean, what about you before you were baptized? God's Spirit was working with you. We don't know who God's Spirit is working with in the world. God begins to work with a person. He may be calling them. He may be drawing them. He may intend to open their minds completely like He has ours to give us understanding. I mean, we still have a lot to learn, no doubt, but God has been very gracious to us. So we have to be careful how we treat people in the world. We have to be very careful. God loves all people. We all need to speak God's language. We need to allow the Spirit of God to be stirred up and to flow from us, flow as rivers of righteousness. It was mentioned earlier in the Feast. That's the way we're supposed to be. We need to emulate God's example in our lives.

Now, let's just briefly talk about the healing of the deaf and blind in God's kingdom. In order to lead the spiritually blind, we have to be able to see spiritually ourselves. In order to teach the spiritually deaf, we have to be able to hear and speak the language of God. So are we listening to God ourselves? Are you listening to God? Are you an instrument? A vessel in His hands as Paul became a tremendous vessel in His hands? Once he was blind, but now he could see, and he was filled with power through God's Holy Spirit.

So the sixth principle is there shall be healing of the deaf and blind in God's Kingdom, both physically and spiritually. Notice Isaiah 29. Isaiah 29:18, Isaiah 29:18, “In that day…” that's prophetic. “In that day” is speaking about the days that are coming, Christ return and those days to follow. "In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,” they shall hear the words of the book, “and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.” God's book, His Holy Word will be opened at that time.

“The deaf will hear the words of the book… the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel." Notice verse 24, "These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding.” They will “come to understanding, and those who complained will learn doctrine.” Those who did not understand will come to know the true doctrine. They may have argued doctrine. One day they'll realize how foolish they were when they see the truth. God will open their mind, their eyes and their ears, their minds.

Isaiah 35:5. Isaiah 35:5, here it says, "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the eyes [ears] of the deaf shall be unstopped. And the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb” or the mute “shall sing. For water shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.” And there will be tremendous healing in God's Kingdom. All the spiritually deaf and blind are going to be healed eventually if they will respond to the Holy Spirit, if they will allow the Spirit of God to work in them, to guide and direct them. It's a powerful force. There are many other scriptures that we could go to in Isaiah 42, for example. Let's go to Isaiah 42:16, did want to read that.

Isaiah 42:16, He says, "I will bring the blind by a way they did not know. I will lead them in paths they have not known.” The blind people who stumble and fall, “I will lead them in paths they haven't known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places I will make straight. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them. They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed.”

Yes, they will have to repent of all their sins. Everyone will have to come to repentance, and then they will be forgiven their sins, and they will be healed. So brethren, we should all long for that day. Again there are other scriptures that we could go to, but for sake of time, let's go to the seventh principle. The sixth one again, God is going to heal those who are spiritually deaf and blind in His Kingdom. Both physically and spiritually, He's going to heal them.

Number seven, we — you and I shall aid in the healing of the deaf and the blind in the world tomorrow. Beyond today, we are going to help heal people, both physically and spiritually. We're going to be kings and priests along with Christ's ruling and reigning for a thousand years. We will truly be His instruments and His vessels. As Mr. Zimmerman said, we need to be teachers. We need to learn. We need to apply ourselves now. Now is your day of salvation. Now is your time to repent and obey and follow God.

Christ has healed many of the blind already, spiritually, all of us we've been healed. Our eyes have been opened. God is working with us. He's healed us. He's healed us so that we might see spiritually. We are to become the visionaries today. We are to have vision, spiritual vision. Christ is the ultimate Deliverer. He is returning to this earth. Christ is coming again. And just as Carrie Dixon, the deaf woman who could speak Nellie's language, delivered her out of her world of darkness. Christ is going to deliver all people who will respond and yield to Him. He will give them eyesight. Spiritually, they will be able to see. They will be able to hear.

Nellie came out of her prison because someone was willing to go find her, to look for her, to help her. We should be striving as well. Be ready to give an answer for the reason and the hope that lies within you. If God is calling someone, certainly be there to help them along, to guide and direct them, to be their deliverers, even now if God grants it, if God allows it.

We will be deliverers with power in God's Kingdom who will understand the language of the sinner because we've all been sinners, haven't we? No, we've all sinned. We understand what it's like to repent, to change. We know how difficult it is. It isn't easy to obey and follow God. It's difficult. It's hard. We understand. We will know. We will be able to relate to their trauma. We will be able to help those who are suffering find the way to the true light, to have true vision.

So brethren, the world that we live in today it's still Satan's world. It's still filled with spiritual darkness, with spiritual blindness, and spiritual deafness. But even today, God has spiritually opened the eyes and ears of some who are physically blind or deaf. The people over here that are physically blind and deaf, they see spiritually. They're called of God like all of us are.

One day God is going to call all people to acknowledge of its truth and understanding. He will not only open the eyes and ears of those who are physically blind and deaf in His Kingdom, but more importantly, He is going to open their eyes and ears spiritually. All will come to know God and His saving truth in His coming glorious Kingdom. Brethren, let's pray fervently, “Thy Kingdom come.” May God speed that day.