THE CURE FOR BLURED VISION
by C H SpurgeonFROM SWORD & TROWEL 1999 No 4
‘And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales’ (Acts 9.18).
In different people sin manifests its chief power in different parts of their nature. In
the case of many, sin is most apparent in their eyes. That is to say it is active in the ignorance, error, and
prejudice which injure their mental sight.
There are many who hear the Gospel without understanding, because they are blind. This
was Saul’s condition.
Even as an unconverted man he was true to his mistaken convictions. He followed what he
believed in with all his might; for lukewarmness was alien to his nature. He fought with all his strength
against the doctrine of the Cross, because he thought it to be an imposition. His fault lay in his eyes, and
so, when the eyes were set right, Saul could be set right. When the blinding film on Saul’s eyes was
removed, light broke into his darkness.
First, we will speak of scales which people fail to perceive, because they are on the
inside of the eyes. Although Saul had scales upon his eyes when he was on the road
to Damascus, had you looked at his face he would have appeared to have as bright an eye as anyone.
Scales on Saul’s eyes? Why, he was a sharp-sighted philosopher, a Pharisee, and a teacher of others. He
would not have believed you for a minute if you had said to him, ‘Saul, you are blind.’ Yet blind he was,
for his eyes were coated from the inside - the worst sort of scales.
The inward blinding scales of self darkened his eyes. He had a high idea of
Saul of Tarsus. If he had written down his own character it would have begun - ‘An Hebrew of the
Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee,’ and then would have gone on to tell of countless good works
and fastings and prayers.
He was far too great in his own estimation to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. How could
the rabbi who sat at the feet of Gamaliel become a follower of the despised Galilean? Poor peasants
might follow the man of Nazareth, but Doctor Saul of Tarsus, a man educated in Hebrew literature and
Greek philosophy, it was not likely that he would mingle with fishermen and peasants in adoring the
Nazarene.
This is the reason why a great many people cannot see the beauties of Christ, and cannot
come to Him that they might have life - because they are so significant in their own esteem. Great ‘I’
must fall before the great Saviour will be seen. Self is an effectual darkener of the windows of the soul.
How can men see the Gospel while they see so much of themselves?
Another scale on Saul’s inner eye was ignorance, and learned
ignorance too, which is by far the worst kind. Saul knew everything except what he ought to have
known. He had never studied the Lord’s claims and character, but had merely picked up the popular
rumours, accepting them as sterling truth. Had he known that Jesus of Nazareth really was the Christ, he
would never have hauled men and women to prison, but the scale of ignorance was over his eyes.
With ignorance goes another scale, namely, prejudice. The man who knows
nothing about Truth is usually the man who despises it most. He does not know, and does not want to
know. He has nothing but a sneer for you when you have told him the Truth because he has made up his
mind.
O prejudice, prejudice, how many have you destroyed! Many have decided for themselves
what the Gospel ought to be, but do not actually enquire what it is. They are not open to the
honest force of Truth, and therefore are not saved by it. O that this scale would fall from every eye
which it now closes.
Saul’s soul was also darkened by the scale of unbelief. He had seen Stephen
die. If he saw the martyr’s heavenly face he must have noticed the wonderful peace of his countenance
when he fell asleep amid a shower of stones; but Saul did not believe.
Perhaps he had heard about the Saviour more than he cared to remember, but he did not
believe it. He counted these things to be idle tales, and cast them under his feet. Some are believers in
the head but unbelievers in the heart, not really putting their trust in Jesus Christ. Who can see if he
refuses the light? Who shall find salvation if he will not trust the Saviour for it?
Then the scale of habit, too, had formed over Saul’s inner eye, for he had been
what he was for a long time. Can the leopard change his spots? Some people have been so accustomed
to refusing the Gospel and following after the pleasures and vices of the world, that they seem unable to
follow Christ. Habits of secret sin are peculiarly blinding to the soul.
Another scale was worldliness; and Saul had that upon his inner eye, for he
loved the praise of men. He had his reputation to maintain, for he had soared higher than his
contemporaries, and was reckoned to be a rising teacher of Israel. It was not likely that Saul would
believe in Jesus Christ because then he would have to lose the esteem of his fellow countrymen.
The fear of man, and the love of man’s applause prevent people from seeing the truth about
Jesus and recognising Him as the Son of God. ‘How can ye believe, which receive honour one of
another?’ How shall men bow themselves before Christ when all the while they are bidding for the
homage of their fellow sinners? The love of adulation, which is a form of worldliness, blinds the eye;
and so will love of other things. Let but the heart be set upon this blinding world and there will be little
sight for things divine.
These scales were upon the inside of Saul’s eyes when he was on the way to Damascus, but
now we notice them brought to the outside, so that he became aware of their presence.
What brought those scales to the outside, and made Paul realise that he was blind?
First, it was the exceeding glory of Christ. He says, ‘About noon, suddenly
there shone from heaven a great light round about me,’ and he adds, ‘I could not see for the glory of that
light.’ Let my Lord Jesus Christ only manifest Himself to people and they will become aware of their
blindness and will say to themselves, ‘What a strangely blind being I must have been not to have loved
such beauty as this, not to have yielded myself to such grace as this, not to have trusted myself to so
complete a Saviour as this.’
Another thing which made the scales pass to the outside of Paul’s eyes was that
unanswerable question, ‘Why persecutest thou me?’ That brought home to him a sense of sin. That was
a ‘why’ for which Saul of Tarsus could not find a ‘because’. As soon as he discovered that the man of
Nazareth was the glorious Christ, then, indeed, he was ‘confounded’. He could make no reply.
Similarly when the Lord by the Spirit puts into our hearts that demand for an explanation
we begin to think. He challenges us, asking - Why should you live in sin? Why are you choosing the
wages of unrighteousness? Why are you hardening your hearts against the Gospel? Why are you
ridiculing it? Why do you sneer at the servants of God?
If the Holy Spirit drives that ‘why’ home to the heart we will begin to say, ‘What a blind
fool I am to have acted as I have done, to go kicking against conscience, fighting against my best Friend,
and pouring scorn on those whom most of all I ought to admire.’ The why from the lips of
Christ shows us our blindness.
The scales were on the outside of Saul’s eyes now, because his soul had been cast
into terrible bewilderment. We read that when his eyes were opened he saw no man, but
trembling and astonished, he asked what he must do. Some of us know what that means. We have been
brought under the hand of God till we have been utterly astonished that there should be hope remaining
for us, and astonished that we should have rejected that hope so long. With this amazement there was
mixed trembling lest, after all, the next word from the Lord should be, ‘You have kicked against this so
long that the gates of mercy are shut against you.’
I have no doubt the scales became all the more apparent to Paul when he came to
those three days and nights of prayer, for when you get a man on his knees and he begins
crying for mercy, he becomes more fully aware of his need of it. If relief does not come at once, then the
penitent cries more intensely, his heart aches more, and he perceives how blind he must have been to
bring himself into such a condition.
It is sometimes a good thing that the Lord keeps a seeker in prayer pleading on and on for
mercy until he perceives how great his need of that mercy is. When he has really felt the darkness of his
soul he will be much more bold later, in bearing light to his fellow men.
Now I should like to stir up the people of God to a little practical business. Saul now knows
that he is blind, though he can see a great deal better than he could previously, when he thought he could
see. But still we long for the scales to be removed. What instrumentality did the Lord use to get
those scales away?
It was not an angel, nor was it an apostle, but it was a plain man named
Ananias who was the means of bringing sight to blind Saul. We do not know much about this useful
brother. We know his name, and that is enough; but Ananias was the only person whom the Lord used
in taking off the scales from His apostle’s eyes.
Dear brethren and sisters, there are some of you, if you were but alive to it, whom God will
bless in like work. Perhaps this very night, though you are unknown and obscure Christian people, He
may bless you to be the means of taking the scales from the eyes of somebody who will be eminently
useful in future years.
Ananias was a plain man, but a good man. He knew His Lord and recognised
His voice when He said, ‘Ananias,’ and he was a man whom the Lord knew, for He called him by his
name. The Lord will not send you on His errands unless you are sound and sincere and living near to
Him. But, if this is true of you, no matter how inadequate you may feel, be looking out for some blind
soul to whom you may be as eyes.
Notice that this Ananias was a ready man, for when the Lord spoke to him, he
said, ‘Behold, I am here, Lord.’ I know many professors who would have to answer, ‘Behold, I am
anywhere else, Lord, but certainly not here.’ Their heart is away after something else. It is well to say,
‘Behold, I am here, Lord, ready for the needy awakened one. If he wants a word of comfort, I am ready
to say it to him. If he wants a word of direction, here am I, as Thou shalt help me, to speak it to him.’ Be
as Ananias was, a ready person.
Also, Ananias was an understanding man, for when the Lord said to him,
‘Behold, he prayeth,’ he knew what that meant. He well understood the first indication of grace in the
soul.
At the same time he was a discerning man - an enquiring, discriminating man
- for he began to say, ‘Lord, I have heard by many of this man.’ He wanted to know a little about Saul,
and enquired about his character, and whether it was a genuine work of grace in his soul.
It will not do to pat everybody on the back and give them comfort without first considering
their state. Indiscriminate consolation does more hurt than good. Certain seekers need no consolation,
but rather require reproof. They want wounding before they can be healed; and so it is a good thing to
know your person, that you may know how to deal with him when you do come to him. Use all
diligence to know the case, as Ananias did.
Once Ananias had made his enquiry, he was an obedient man. He was told to
go into a house where he had never been, but he did not stop for an introduction. He went off at once to
the house of Judas, and enquired for one called Saul, of Tarsus. He had divine authority; the Lord had
given him a warrant and so he entered the house.
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