"SATAN HAS BLINDED THE MINDS OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE NOT"
Those who have been converted will tell you that they never understood the Gospel until they where saved and filled with the holy spirit, They will tell you that they didn’t really understand salvation until they were spirit filled– and then the whole thing seemed so simple that they wondered why they did not understand it before.
The Gospel is not hidden because of anything complicated about it. It is really as simple as two plus two equals four! Christ died on the Cross to pay for your sin. Christ rose from the dead to give you life. Christ is now in Heaven at the right hand of God. What could be more simple? No education is needed to understand it. And yet it remains all fuzzy and unclear. Why is that? It is because
“the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (II Corinthians 4:4).
Matthew Henry said,
They are under the power of the devil, who is here called ‘the god of this world,’ and elsewhere ‘the prince of this world,’ because of the great interest he has in this world, the homage that is paid to him by multitudes in this world, and the great sway [power] that…he bears in the world, and in the hearts of his subjects, or rather slaves. And as he is the prince of darkness, and the ruler of the darkness of this world, so he darkens the understanding of men, and increases their prejudices, and supports his interest by keeping them in the dark, blinding their minds with ignorance, and error, and prejudices, that they should not behold the ‘light of the glorious gospel of Christ’ (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, note on II Corinthians 4:4).
The Gospel of Christ is hidden by the work of Satan in a lost person’s mind and heart.
Also, the Gospel is hidden from those who have never felt guilty of sin. They wonder why we keep preaching that God punished His Son in our place. They do not understand why we constantly preach about the vicarious atonement of Christ – Christ dying in the place of sinners. We preach that Christ
“bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (I Peter 2:24).
We preach that
“Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God” (I Peter 3:18).
But this makes no sense to them because they have never felt guilty of sin. And without a sense of sin,
“The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness”
(I Corinthians 1:18).
The word “foolishness” there means “silly” or “absurd.” As Dr. J. Gresham Machen put it, “Without the consciousness of sin, the whole gospel will seem to be an idle tale [silly, absurd]” (J. Gresham Machen, Ph.D., Christianity and Liberalism, Eerdmans, 1983 reprint, p. 66). Dr. John R. Rice also made this point clear when he said,
In the very nature of the case, people do not repent of their sins until they are conscious and convicted of their sins… or drawn by God the holy spirit,Until a man knows he is sick, he does not feel the need of a physician. ” Why would a sinner want Christ if he were not conscious of sin, did not feel the need of a Saviour? (John R. Rice, D.D., Why Preach Against Sin?, Sword of the Lord, 1946, pp. 17-20).
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost”
(II Corinthians 4:3)
because they have never felt their sin to be as evil as it really is. May God open your eyes to see your sin as God sees it. Then you will see your need for Christ, and the Gospel will no longer be hidden from you.
Thus they say in their hearts, “Why is this the only way of salvation?” Their wicked wills will not submit to God, and they can't submit, unless God draws them and convicts them, so, “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them” (II Corinthians 4:3).
the Gospel is hidden from them. the gospel is hidden to the lost.
Notice the last word of the text,
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost”
(II Corinthians 4:3)
Unfortunately the word “lost” is not heard much in modern preaching, but it is a good Bible word. Jesus spoke of
“the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6).
He said,
“The Son of man is come to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11).
Again He said,
“Go after that which is lost” (Luke 15:4).
“I have found my sheep which was lost” (Luke 15:6).
“He was lost” (Luke 15:24).
“Thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:32).
When is a person lost? You may think you will be lost if you die without Christ, but the Bible teaches that you are lost right now. Jesus said,
“He that believeth not is condemned already” (John 3:18).
we are born in need of a savior, and there is only one savior, and one way back to God his name is Jesus, he alone is the way back to God.
no other religion,or belief or man can bring us back to God but Christ Jesus.
God Bless
The Gospel is not hidden because of anything complicated about it. It is really as simple as two plus two equals four! Christ died on the Cross to pay for your sin. Christ rose from the dead to give you life. Christ is now in Heaven at the right hand of God. What could be more simple? No education is needed to understand it. And yet it remains all fuzzy and unclear. Why is that? It is because
“the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (II Corinthians 4:4).
Matthew Henry said,
They are under the power of the devil, who is here called ‘the god of this world,’ and elsewhere ‘the prince of this world,’ because of the great interest he has in this world, the homage that is paid to him by multitudes in this world, and the great sway [power] that…he bears in the world, and in the hearts of his subjects, or rather slaves. And as he is the prince of darkness, and the ruler of the darkness of this world, so he darkens the understanding of men, and increases their prejudices, and supports his interest by keeping them in the dark, blinding their minds with ignorance, and error, and prejudices, that they should not behold the ‘light of the glorious gospel of Christ’ (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, note on II Corinthians 4:4).
The Gospel of Christ is hidden by the work of Satan in a lost person’s mind and heart.
Also, the Gospel is hidden from those who have never felt guilty of sin. They wonder why we keep preaching that God punished His Son in our place. They do not understand why we constantly preach about the vicarious atonement of Christ – Christ dying in the place of sinners. We preach that Christ
“bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (I Peter 2:24).
We preach that
“Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God” (I Peter 3:18).
But this makes no sense to them because they have never felt guilty of sin. And without a sense of sin,
“The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness”
(I Corinthians 1:18).
The word “foolishness” there means “silly” or “absurd.” As Dr. J. Gresham Machen put it, “Without the consciousness of sin, the whole gospel will seem to be an idle tale [silly, absurd]” (J. Gresham Machen, Ph.D., Christianity and Liberalism, Eerdmans, 1983 reprint, p. 66). Dr. John R. Rice also made this point clear when he said,
In the very nature of the case, people do not repent of their sins until they are conscious and convicted of their sins… or drawn by God the holy spirit,Until a man knows he is sick, he does not feel the need of a physician. ” Why would a sinner want Christ if he were not conscious of sin, did not feel the need of a Saviour? (John R. Rice, D.D., Why Preach Against Sin?, Sword of the Lord, 1946, pp. 17-20).
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost”
(II Corinthians 4:3)
because they have never felt their sin to be as evil as it really is. May God open your eyes to see your sin as God sees it. Then you will see your need for Christ, and the Gospel will no longer be hidden from you.
Thus they say in their hearts, “Why is this the only way of salvation?” Their wicked wills will not submit to God, and they can't submit, unless God draws them and convicts them, so, “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them” (II Corinthians 4:3).
the Gospel is hidden from them. the gospel is hidden to the lost.
Notice the last word of the text,
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost”
(II Corinthians 4:3)
Unfortunately the word “lost” is not heard much in modern preaching, but it is a good Bible word. Jesus spoke of
“the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6).
He said,
“The Son of man is come to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11).
Again He said,
“Go after that which is lost” (Luke 15:4).
“I have found my sheep which was lost” (Luke 15:6).
“He was lost” (Luke 15:24).
“Thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:32).
When is a person lost? You may think you will be lost if you die without Christ, but the Bible teaches that you are lost right now. Jesus said,
“He that believeth not is condemned already” (John 3:18).
we are born in need of a savior, and there is only one savior, and one way back to God his name is Jesus, he alone is the way back to God.
no other religion,or belief or man can bring us back to God but Christ Jesus.
God Bless
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