That is, they actually get out of their beds, and they start walking in a state of sleep. This practice of sleep walking is called Somnambulism
We are told by the experts that this occurs during the first 3 hours of sleep, and is characterized by the following things:
• Eyes are open but stare is blank
• Speech is mumbled, slurred and unintelligible
• Not well coordinated, but can do semi-purposeful acts, such as:
1. Dressing
2. Open and close doors
3. Turn on and off lights
• Lasts for 30 seconds to 30 minutes
• Unable to awaken during episode
Illus: One young teenage girl in Columbia, South Carolina, had such a problem with sleep walking. Her parents had to almost literally sleep with one eye open each night, because their daughter would actually get up out of bed and start walking. On several occasions, they caught her walking in the yard in the middle of the night.
Humor: But on a more cheerful note - Do you know what you call a sleep walking Nun? You call her a “Roaming Catholic”.
Humor: The only cure for sleep walking they have discovered so far, is to put roofing tacks around the bed of the sleep walker.
Sleep walking is a big problem for many folks. But in the spiritual realm, it is a serious problem for the Church.
That is, there are folks who can sit in church with their eyes wide open, and the Word of God can be preached, and they sit there with this spiritual stare.
Illus: It is obvious that their front porch light is on, but no one is home!
The Psalmist wanted the Lord to open his eyes, so he could see the WONDROUS THINGS OF GOD.
When the Psalmist talked about the Law in this verse of Scripture, he was talking about the Word of God. He wanted God to open his eyes to the TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD!
In order for our eyes to be open, we have to be exposed to the TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD.
The reason that many have not had their eyes opened to the TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD, is because of the liberal churches they attend, where so very little emphasis is placed on the preaching of God’s Word. Because of that:
• You can go to many churches today, and you will find people attending church without even a Bible in their hand
• You can go to many liberal churches today, and they may read a verse of Scripture from the Bible, then they take off on some social issue or political issue
• You can go to many churches today, and they will read from perverted translations that leave out the deity of Christ, and the virgin birth, and no one in the church will open their mouth about it
One of the great needs for Christians today, is for them to pray what the Psalmist prayed, “GOD OPEN OUR EYES TO THE TRUTH OF THY WORD.”
WHY DO WE NEED OUR EYES OPEN TO THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD?
Because God gave us the Bible for a very special reason, because it SHAPES and MOLDS our lives for Christ.
Illus: In Columbia, South Carolina, a man is on death row because he kidnapped a young woman from the convenience store where she worked. He brought her into the woods and raped her, and when he was through with her, he brutally tortured her and killed her.
WHAT COULD MAKE A MAN DO SUCH AN EVIL THING?
After he was captured, they invaded his home and discovered he was into violent pornography. He had read this sinful stuff, and it had gotten into his mind and his heart, and motivated him to do such an evil thing. This filthy literature had SHAPED HIM AND MOLDED him into the beast he had become.
But the Word of God, the Bible, has done more to shape and to mold lives in a positive way than all other books put together.
Illus: Martin Luther, the reformer, said, "For several years I have read the Bible through twice in 12 months. It is a great and powerful tree, each word of which is a mighty branch. Each of these branches have I well shaken, so desirous was I to know what each one bore and what it would give me. And the shaking of them has never disappointed me."
When we open this Bible, we are opening the pages of TRUTH.
Let us look at THREE THINGS the Psalmist has to say in this portion of Scripture. We see:
I. A PRAYER
Look at Ps. 119:18, we read, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."
This is a prayer that he is praying to God. Notice, he is not praying for a brand new car, he is praying for something that can bring more delight in his life than a brand new car.
He is praying for God to open His eyes to the TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD.
Notice, the Psalmist had a reason for wanting his eyes open to the TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD, he said, “…That I may behold wondrous things…”
Look at the word “Wondrous” this is the word “Pala” (Pronounced as Paw-law) which means to make great, or to take the hidden things of God’s Word and have them revealed.
The Bible is different from any book that you will ever find. For example:
• An unbelieving scientist can read a science book and comprehend everything the author said.
• An unbelieving historian can read a history book and comprehend everything that the author said.
But an unbeliever can read the Word of God, and he can not fully comprehend what is before his eyes.
WHY CAN’T HE COMPREHEND THE WORD OF GOD?
The Bible tells us. Look at 2 Cor. 2:14 “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
During the days of Paul, the Greeks were the intellectuals of that day and time.
But notice what Paul says about these unsaved Jews and Greeks in 1 Cor. 1:23. Paul said, “But we preach Christ crucified, But notice how unsaved man reacted to it:
• Unto the Jews a stumblingblock.
• And unto the Greeks foolishness.”
They thought they were wise, but the Bible said they were foolish.
Illus: Did you hear about the redneck who reported for her university final examination, which consisted of "True or False" type questions. She took her seat in the examination hall, stared at the question paper for five minutes, and then in a fit of inspiration took out her purse, removed a coin and started tossing the coin and marking the answer sheet "True" for heads and “False" for tails. Within half an hour she was finished, although the rest of the class was still sweating it out.
During the last few minutes, she was seen desperately throwing the coin, muttering and sweating. The moderator, alarmed, approached her and asked, "What is going on?" "I finished the exam in half an hour ... but I'm trying to recheck my answers."
The smartest people of that time heard one of God’s greatest servants (Paul) preach the gospel, and they thought it was a bunch of foolishness.
Again, I remind you that the Bible is different from any other book. It contains the most WONDERFUL THINGS that can be imagined. But the natural man (physical) can read it from cover to cover, and still not be able to see what God has for him!
The Psalmist had a great desire to SEE WHAT GOD’S WORD had to say to him, and he PRAYED THAT GOD WOULD OPEN HIS EYES SO HE COULD SEE THESE WONDROUS THINGS.
It takes the Spirit of God to open our spiritual eyes and show us these things.
When Christ was here on earth, He taught those around Him about the glorious things of God. He said over and over again, “The Kingdom of heaven is like unto…”
The LIVING CHRIST is not here today, but the good news is, the LIVING WORD OF CHRIST is here. When He ascended back to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit to teach us the WONDROUS THINGS OF GOD.
Look at John 16:13-15, we read, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.”
Listen, the Holy Spirit of God can show us glorious things that we can comprehend, that the smartest professor at Harvard could not comprehend.
This explains why some Christians are so excited about the Word of God, and others are not. Some have had their spiritual eyes opened to the wonderful things of God’s Word, and others have not!
Illus: They make us think of Elisha, in the Old Testament, when he and his servant were surrounded by the Syrian army.
Get this, they were SURROUNDED BY THE SYRIAN ARMY. But look at what happened, in 2 Kings 6:15-17, “And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha..”
The servant was scared to death, because they were so greatly outnumbered by the Syrian army. He turned to Elisha and said, “WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?”
Elisha said, “No, problem”, he said, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.”
I am sure that the servant took a look at the Syrian army, and took a look at Eisha, and said to himself, “This fellow might be a man of God, but he does not know a thing about math, because they certainly outnumber us by a great deal.
WHAT WAS ELISHA TALKING ABOUT? Elisha’s eyes had been opened, and spiritually he saw things that this servant did not see. He saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire that God had sent from heaven.
But notice, Elisha prayed this prayer on his behalf, “And ELISHA PRAYED, AND SAID, LORD, I PRAY THEE, OPEN HIS EYES, that he may see. And THE LORD OPENED THE EYES of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”
Only after God opened his eyes, could he see the protecting hand of God on their lives.
And it is only when God opens our eyes, that we can see the WONDERFUL TRUTHS OF GOD’S WORD! We should always open our Bible with this prayer, “Open my eyes that I might see the wondrous things within your Word!”
When it comes to the spiritual truths in the Word of God, we need the Lord to open our eyes so we may see the wonders of His Word.
We saw A PRAYER, now look at...
II. A PROBLEM
When we first get saved, we become born-again. But just because we are born-again and have this new nature, we have to remember we have lived in a flesh of sin, and we still live in a flesh of sin.
For example, suppose a man is fifty years old when he gives his heart to the Lord. This means for fifty years he has lived a certain way, and has become set in his ways.
But now as a Christian, the Holy Spirit goes to work on this new Christian who saw things through the eyes of sin. That takes some changing.
Illus: (humor) This changing that takes place after our conversion is somewhat like marriage. I have been married to my wife for forty years. Getting her straightened out hasn’t been easy these forty years. She is just now beginning to see the light.
But the fact is, when we become the bride of Christ at conversion, God the Holy Spirit immediately begins to open our eyes so we can start to see the REAL TRUTH.
All those years we walked in sin, we walked in blindness.
Look at 2 Cor. 4:4, "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."
Christians can talk to lost people about their condition, and their need to accept the Lord as their Savior, and they cannot see the WONDERFUL THINGS OF GOD that are MISSING IN THEIR LIVES! Why? Because Satan has blinded their eyes.
The most we can do for them in this condition, is set a good example before them, and pray that the Lord will open their eyes to their lost condition, and to their need to accept the Lord as their Savior.
We saw A PRAYER and A PROBLEM, now look at...
III. A POWER
Every time I see a blind person, I wish I had the power to walk up to them, touch them, and enable them to see.
I know there are some television preachers who claim to have such power, but what is so amazing about all the miracles they claim to perform, is NONE OF THEM ARE DOCUMENTED. And the reason they are not documented is because they do not have such power either.
Sometimes it is the will of God for some folks to be blind.
Illus: Fanny Crosby wrote over two thousands hymns that we sing today in our churches. I do not know why she was blind, but God had a purpose in it, and it could be that if she had her eyesight, she would have been doing something other than writing these old hymns of the faith.
God has a purpose in some people being physically blind. But when it comes to SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS, it is the will of God for everyone’s eyes to be open to the TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD.
Once your eyes are open to the truth of God’s Word:
• You will know TRUTH from ERROR
• You will know what you must do to have eternal life
• You will know how to make decisions each day that will please Him
We need our eyes open to the TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD!
It is God’s will, and the Lord has the POWER to open those blind eyes.
Conclusion:
In Mark 10:51, we read, "And Jesus answered and said unto him, WHAT WILT THOU THAT I SHOULD DO UNTO THEE? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight."
Do you want to receive your SIGHT TODAY?
If you were to ask a blind person if they would like to receive sight, they would say - YES!
The same should be true for those who are spiritually blind. They should want their eyes opened to the WONDERFUL TRUTHS OF GOD’S WORD.
I. A PRAYER
II. A PROBLEM
III. A POWER
