Hearing and Seeing the Lord

The sights and sounds of heaven.

“I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee; wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).

“They answered and said unto him: Thou wast altogether born in sin and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.

“Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found Him, He said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

“He answered Him and said: Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him?

“And Jesus said unto him: Thou hast both seen Him and it is He that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped Him” (Jn. 9:34-38).

Two blind men. The one was morally blind; the other physically and also probably spiritually blind. Both got their eyes opened, producing two distinctly opposite results. Listen to Job: “I have heard of Thee, but now mine eye seeth Thee.” I believe you can put all the emphasis on the second part of Job’s speech, on that word “Thee.” Till then, Job had been looking at himself almost all the time. In two chapters of this book (chapters 30 and 31) he says I, me and my some 200 times. It certainly did not make him very happy, for he pours out a lot of gall throughout those days. Self-occupation never produces any joy. But at the end he lifted his eyes higher and could say: “I only heard about you till now, Lord, but now I see you. My blind eyes are open.”

Shall we say in a manner it pictures his new birth, for except a man be born again, he cannot see (Jn. 3:3). Oh, to see Him; that brings peace, joy, life, light, to see the glory of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.

The blind man of John 9 heard the Lord speaking to him, telling him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash. He did, and his blind eyes were opened. But as yet he had not seen the One who had healed him.

When he was cast out for his faithful witness, Jesus found him and asked him: “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?”

Instantly this previously blind man recognized the voice of the One who had healed him. So he said: “Lord, I’ll believe anything you say; tell me who is this Son of God and I’ll believe on Him.”

And Jesus said to him, as it were, in so many words: “You have heard Him; now you are seeing Him.” And he believed.

We, too, have heard His voice in God’s Word and thus were saved; and by faith we have also seen Him, the One once crucified, now seated on the throne of God.
Note the revolutionary results in these two cases:

Job said, “I see Thee and so I abhor myself.”

The blind man responded, “I see Thee; so I worship Thee.”

These are the two blessed results of seeing the Lord:

1. Abhorrence of self
2. Adoration of Christ

The Old Testament has much to say about self; the New Testament teaches us that a vision of Christ blots self out of the picture, and fills the soul with adoring worship. I abhor myself as a sinner; I worship Him as a saint.