Illumination: Eyes to see, Ears to Hear, & Hearts to Understand.

Jesus tells parables to hide truth… not from us, but for us.

Luke 10:21 (KJV)

²¹ In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

Matthew 13:10-18 (KJV)

¹⁰ And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

¹¹ He answered and said unto them, because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

¹² For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

¹³ Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

¹⁴ And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

¹⁵ For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

¹⁷ For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.¹⁸ Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

Isaiah 6:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰ “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.”

Jeremiah 5:21 (NKJV)²¹ ‘Hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not:

Ezekiel 12:2 (NKJV) ² “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house.

Matthew 13:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’

Acts 28:27 (NKJV)

²⁷ For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.”

Romans 11:8 (NKJV)

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.”

2 Thessalonians 2:11 (KJV)

¹¹ And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

HOPE FOR THE DULL OF HEARING

Acts 26:17-18 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

Isaiah 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

Isaiah 42:7 To open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.

2 Corinthians 4:3-5 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.…

2 Corinthians 3:14

But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4:6  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Following is what Our Lord Jesus Christ stated, through the Holy Gospels, about this subject matter:

• Matthew 13:11-13   He answered and said unto them, because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.Luke 8:9-10 and his disciples asked him, saying, what might this parable be?  And he said, unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.Mark 4:11-12   And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:  That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.John 16:12-14   I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.  How be it 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 shew you things to come.  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

In His mortal ministry, Jesus worked such mighty miracles of healing and taught with such authority and power that the scripture says, “His fame went throughout all Syria … and there followed him great multitudes of people.”

Some who saw Him heal and heard Him teach rejected Him. Others followed Him for a season but then walked with Him no more. The Lord Jesus Christ was there in front of them, but they did not see who He really was. They were blind, and they chose to turn away. Of them, Jesus said:

“I came unto my own, and my own received me not.”

“Their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed.”

However, there were many men and women, including His faithful Apostles, who centered their lives on Him.

Though they struggled with worldly distractions, with confusion about what He taught, and even with fear, they believed in Him, loved Him, and followed Him.

Of them, Jesus said, “Blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.”

Just before His suffering in Gethsemane and on Calvary, Jesus made His disciples this remarkable promise: “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

The Holy Ghost enlightened their understanding, and they heard the voice of the Lord more clearly.

We too live in a time when the Lord Jesus Christ works miracles among us–including healing the sick, cleansing us from sin, changing our hearts, and opening salvation to God’s children on both sides of the veil.

Our time is a time of great evil and temptation, a time of confusion and commotion.

We do not have to be perfect except in our faith faith in Jesus Christ, yet we should be good and getting better. We need to strive to live the plain and simple truths of the gospel.

Simple obedience brings the Spirit into our hearts. (JOHN 14)

In our homes,

• We pray in faith,
• We Search the scriptures,
• And we keep the Sabbath day holy.
• In our chapel, we partake of the sacrament
• We make sacred promises to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ.

I know that if we all continue to do these things, the Holy Ghost will come and make His abode in all of us.

We will hear the Savior’s voice in the scriptures we read, in the whisperings of His Spirit, and in the words of the living prophets.

We will have eyes to see and ears to hear, and we will build the kingdom of God.