“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.” II Cor. 4:4
After soul-winning for more than 36 years, I still wish there was something I could say or do that would instantly get someone saved and on the way to Heaven. Unfortunately, there is no such way!
One can give the clearest Bible verses one knows to show another the way to Heaven, but the unsaved listener often politely stares back at the soul-winner and does not appear to be stirred. The best stories of how the Lord has changed the soul-winner’s life also often result with empty stares. Even sharing the Bible’s scariest verses about the eternal home for the lost in a tormenting Hell often does not even raise an eyebrow. Scripture about standing before the final judgment for the lost at the Great White Throne Judgment does not even seem to concern them. They just do not seem to understand.
The soul winners may have to deal with hardened hearts, not-ready-yet souls, and those ignorant of God’s truths. Many times, without knowing the reason, it seems the Holy Spirit is not involved, and He is the only One that wins a soul to Christ.
There is another very serious obstacle that keeps many from being saved. That reason may be the root cause of previously mentioned excuses for one’s not getting saved. It is that they are spiritually blinded. Often the blindness is caused by Satanic intervention. All other excuses may just have been the device that Satan used to keep a soul from being born-again.
Spiritual blindness has always been a stumbling block for one to get saved, and it is especially a barrier in these days. Perhaps a person has heard so much negativity about being saved, that they have not sought it out honestly for themselves. They heard that “salvation is forced down one’s throat” without experiencing someone aggressively showing them the way to Heaven. Others are turned off to being born-again as they fear they will not have a mind or will of their own and will have to do things they do not like or believe in. Some fear their freedoms will be stripped from them. Many have been so entrenched and addicted to sin that they have no interest or concern for anything that would change their lifestyle.
Talking to so many spiritually blinded people can be frustrating to a soul-winner. We and the Holy Spirit seem to do everything we can to alter their eternal destination from Hell with seemingly no results. Then, when we least expect it, we have the honor to lead one “easily” to salvation. What is the difference?
When somebody readily accepts Christ as Saviour, we do not know all the work, trials, and tribulations the Holy Spirit had done previously in their lives. It is His work that prepares them for when a soul-winner can talk to them. When their heart is ready, it is only the Holy Spirit that can remove their spiritual blinders.
With this in mind, we should see the importance of “sowing the seeds” of the Gospel. One day those thoughts, verses, and biblical principles Christians planted may grow. On that day, the Holy Spirit may open the eyes of the sinner, and he will no longer be blind to the things of God. It may be the day he gets saved. It may be the beginning when He understands more of the things of God. That is why we must keep on sowing God’s truth, because one day the “seeds” may sprout.
“Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.” Isa. 6:10
“Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, 40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.” John 12:39
“When men surrender themselves to the Spirit of God, they will learn more concerning God and Christ and the atonement and immortality in a week, than they would learn in a lifetime, apart from the Spirit.” — Brown
