WE NEED NEW EYES...
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
I. INTRODUCTION:
MANY TIMES ALL A CRYING BABY NEEDS---- IS A CHANGE...
A. Root bound: I was in Springfield, Illinois visiting my in-laws. Red my father-in-law
said: Come on lets go to a friend of mine's orchard. There were 5,000 red apple trees
and 5,000 yellow apple trees. I looked for some huge talk trees.
There was not one tree over 15 feet talk.
The trees were full of apples, millions of apples. We found Red's friend and a few men
under a beautiful tree, but this tree had no apples at all growing from it.
I asked: Are you cutting it down?
Oh, no! He replied: This is still a good tree! A good apple tree with no apples?
A good tree?
He explained the tree had become ROOT BOUND...
the soil was very hard and impacted around the tree...
They had a little hand drill and they drilled several holes around the tree...
then place a small amount of explosives in the holes.
We stood there and watched as they set the little explosion off.
The owner said: NOW NEXT YEAR THIS TREE WILL BEAR MUCH FRUIT...
IF WE HAD LEFT THE TREE ROOT BOUND IT WOULD DIE IN A FEW YEARS...without ever bearing
another apple.
B. I ponder: How many of us is the love of God going to extend mercy and is God going to shake the very
foundation on which we exist to try to bring about a FRUITFUL CHANGE.... ???
C. John Wooden: FAILURE IS NOT FATAL,
BUT FAILURE TO CHANGE MIGHT BE.
D. WE CHANGE THE WORLD BY CHANGING PEOPLE... ONE PERSON AT A TIME...
II. LET US TALK ABOUT CHANGE... BECOME A NEW MAN WITH A NEW OUTLOOK?
SPENDING TIME WITH GOD CAN MAKE A HUGE DIFFERNANCE IN A PERSON...
A NOTICABLE DIFFERENCE IN A MAN... TO LIVE IS TO CHANGE...
A. There was a very special man...
his live was forever changed when he recognized the burning bush...
he took off his shoes for he was standing on HOLY GROUND...
B. WAS THE GROUND CHANGED? IS IT ANY DIFFERENT TODAY THAN YESTERDAY...
OR DID MOSES FINALLY SEE THE PERSON EXPERIENCE WITH GOD...
C. MOSES KNEW ALL ABOUT GOD...
THIS DAY WILL CHANGE EYES BALLS OF A MAN...
MOSES WILL SEE DIFFERENT THAN EVER BEFORE...
Exodus 34:35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone:
and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.
D. MOSES CHANGE WAS VISIBLE TO OTHER PEOPLE...
His attitudes, what he looked at as important....
E. PEOPLE WILL NOTICE THE CHANGE OF THOSE THAT SPEND TIME WITH GOD...
MEN WITH GOD HAVE A NEW ATTITUDE AND A NEW OUTLOOK...
Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned
and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
III. THERE IS A FOG... THE VEIL...
DO WE HAVE EYES OF UNDERSTANDING? HOW DO YOU LOOK AT THAT?
GOD WOULD LOVE TO PUT NEW EYES IN YOUR EYE SOCKET
A. THE CHURCH BEFORE JESUS WAS MUCH DIFFERENT....
1. There was a place for the women.
2. There was a place where the men gathered.
3. There was a place where the PRIEST washed and performed their duties
4. There was the Holy of Holies where once a year the High Priest entered...
B. The Holy of Holies was behind a THICK VEIL... THE CURTAIN OR VEIL WAS BELIEVED TO
HAVE BEEN A FOOT THICK...
C. Today some suggest it would have taken two strong bulldozers to have torn this veil...
Matthew 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the
earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Mark 15:38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
Luke 23:45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
IV. THE VEIL IS GONE... WE HAVE AN INVITATION TO COME INTO THE HOLY PPRESENCE OF
GOD ON A DAILY BASIS. THIS IS HOLY GROUND...
WE NEED FRESH EYES... NEW EYES... NEW OUTLOOK...
A. THERE IS A NEW HOPE... A NEW SENSE OF DIRECTION...
Hebrews 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which
entereth into that within the veil;
B. YOU HAVE AN INVITATION TO COME AND LET GOD MAKE YOU NEW...
Matthew 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
C. SOME SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE AND SAY WHY?
WHY DON'T WE SEE SEE THINGS AS THEY COULD BE AND SAY WHY NOT?
THE VEIL IS GONE.
Hebrews 9:3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
D. GOD HAS A NEW WAY... THE CHARGE IS SET AT YOUR ROOTS...
Hebrews 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is
to say, his flesh;
V. THE NEW WAY IS HIGH ABOVE THE REACH OF HUMAN HANDS BUT IS VERY REACHABLE
BY A HUNGRY HEART...
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
A. A friend of mine was turning up a beer bottle and he told me:
I CAN UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE JUST
AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. And he opened the Bible to a page and began reading...
I said: Of course you can understand the words as well as I can...
But the Bible is like LOVE LETTERS, if a young girl writes a love letter to her boyfriend, he understands
the love letters in a different light than some else reading them.
LOVE LETTERS ARE PERSONAL AND CAN REALLY ONLY BE APPRECIATED BY THE PERSON IT
IS WRITTEN TO...
B. COMING TO KNOW JESUS AS YOUR PERSONAL SAVIOR OPENS A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING
THAN JUST READING WORDS.
C. MENTAL PERCEPTION vs a SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION...
May the Author of the BOOK... God open our eyes of understanding to LIFT THE FOG...
JESUS CHRIST TAKES THE FOG, THE CLOUD, THE VISION AND MAKES NEW EYES THAT PERCEIVE
AND UNDERSTAND TRUTH MUCH DEEPER...
VI. SPENDING TIME WITH GOD WILL NOT ONLY CHANGE YOUR VISION, IT WILL CHANGE HOW YOU
LOOK AT YOURSELF AND LOOK AT PEOPLE AND HOW PEOPLE WILL LOOK AT YOU...
A. MANY PEOPLE ARE NOT WILLING TO CHANGE WHEN THEY SEE THE LIIGHT...
THEY NEED TO FEEL THE HEAT UNDER THEIR FEET...
2 Corinthians 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not
stedfastly look
to the end of that which is abolished:
B. We need to come into a holy presence...
VII. GOD CAN GIVE EACH BELIEVE NEW EYES...
TENDER MERCIES... WE NEED A SPIRITUAL ENCOUNTER TO CHANGE US TO A NEW SPIRITUAL
PERCEPTION.
A. SAMSON SAW MORE OF GOD'S HOLINESS BLIND THAN WHEN HE HAD SIGHT...
B. GOD GIVE US SPIIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING...
Ephesians 1:15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his
calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of
his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in
the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only
in this world, but also in that which is to come:
C. THAT WE MAY KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE ...
VIII. GOD HAS A PLAN FOR BETTER... FOR NEW... A NEW OUTLOOK
COME AND LET GOD BRING GLORY THROUGH HIS NAME IN OUR DAILY LIFE...
Psalm 98:1 O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his
holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
I
saiah 42:9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring
forth I tell you of them.
Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make
a way in the wilderness, and
rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered,
nor come into mind.
Lamentations 3:22 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions
fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that
ye also love one another.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become new.
Revelation 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said
unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
CONCLUSION: WE NEED NEW EYES... Remove the nearsightedness! Remove the far-sightedness!
Remove the tunnel vision! Remove the cataracts! Come let us see the NEW THING GOD HAS
PLANNED FOR HIS PEOPLE. DO NOT STAY ROOT BOUND. Life is a process, LET US SEE CLEARLY
GOD'S WORD RELEASED IN OUR FAMILIES.
Proverbs 29:18 18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Proverbs 29:18 (MSG) If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But
when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
