Close Your Eyes for a moment.. What Do you see?
Darkness? Images ? Thoughts ? Nothing ?
Question?
- Have you ever lived in Darkness?
- Have you had Cloudy thoughts
- Have you been plagued with dark images?
- Ever seen nothing when there was something there to see.
- Ever seen something when there was nothing?
All of us have at some point have experienced Blindness in one way or the other.
The song writer writes, Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me I once was lost but Now I’m found was blind but Now I See..
Notice the words to this song…
God’s Amazing Grace…. Sweet … so sweet it saves a wretch like me..
This wretch was lost, This wretch was blind….
Oh how there are millions that are out there who are lost… even Billions who are Blind….
Yet, they cannot sing of God’s Marvelous Amazing Grace!!!
Why, because although many are lost they don’t know it,
Because they are blind they don’t realize it…
They live each day..
Eat God’s Food
Drink God’s Juice
Get warm with God’s Sun
Breathe in God’s Air
Rise out of Bed on God’s Strength ….
Yet many dare to say there is no God!!!
Oh How the Devil is a liar.
He’ll allow you to see all of God’s Blessings Partake in them and yet convince you there is no God!!!
The Devil is a liar… He is the Father of Lies.. and the two greatest lies he can convince us of is
#1 – There is no God …. Notice 2 Cor. 4:3-4
2Cr 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Cr 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.
So #1 in his arsenal is to convince you that there is no God ----- And if that doesn’t get you
#2 – What he’ll do is give you a distorted view of God..
In Matt 15 – The Pharisees added man made tradition to God’s word and tried to pass it off to the people as truth.
Jesus said… The fact they added to God’s word .. cancelled out God’s word entirely..
Jesus called them Hypocrites. Called their worship Vain Worship..
They talk and look so religiously yet they are just following themselves.
And when the disciples came to Jesus and told him that the Pharisees got mad.. Look at what Jesus said….
Mat 15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Oh, many people in and out of religion are Blind. Blind Because they can not see God clearly…
This morning I want to talk to you about…
The Need to see Clearly
Mar 8:22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
This Verse is filled with so much..
1. Firstly, I want you to notice where they were Bethsaida. - accrding to Matt 11:20 it was A Wicked City .. Unrepentant City…
2. Secondly, I want you to notice the fact that someone loved him enough to bring him to see Jesus.
Note: When your eyes are open.. You have to give back…
3. They took him directly to Jesus. They took him to the source of his healing.
Many want to circumvent Jesus. Circumvent the Word. IF you are going to have success take them to see Jesus..
Mar 8:23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
Mar 8:24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
Oh, what a mighty God we serve!!!
Look… He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of town..
Now this man is not in his hometown. .Maybe he was here specifically to see Jesus. Maybe he was staying with friends.. Whatever the reason he wasn’t home….
Now what happens when a blind man is in a foreign place and told to walk… He might fall, Go Astray, So Jesus takes him by the hand and leads him out of the town.
Now this is important..
He leads him out of the town…
What town was he currently in? What was wrong with Bethsaida?
So, he was surrounded by unrepentant, unbelieving people. Jesus took him by the hand and had to remove him from those folks.
Oh how God sometimes has to takes us away from certain people to show us who he is…
• Abram had to leave Ur
• Noah had to leave behind an unbelieving world
• Lot had to leave a wicked Sodom and Gomorrah
• Jonah had to get off that Ship.
• Moses had to leave Pharaoh’s household
• The Israelites had to leave an oppressing Egypt
• David had to leave his wife and best friend to go to a cave
• The disciples had to leave their families and trades to follow Jesus
• Paul had to leave his Status as a Pharisee
And how could we leave out Jesus..
Jesus had to leave his place in Glory, Humble himself to come down and dwell with folk like us.
I’ll tell you God has a way of taking us away from people, places and things in order to give us something greater!!
So he leads him out of town by the hand and spits in his face, touches him, and asks him… Can you see anything? Now.. I want to suggest to you that Jesus did not ask this for himself..
A lot of debate has been made as to this miracle. Why is it that this miracle is the only progressive miracle. Scholars and Theologians have debated this for centuries..
- Was Jesus weakening?
- Did he have a miracle malfunction? And many other theories exist…
Well truthfully I don’t know? And no one knows exactly..
Yet, I think there is a spiritual message behind this.
See, Sometimes we get a touch.. Only a touch of Jesus…
- enough to change our view a little
- But not enough to truly allow us to See him clearly
What do I mean?
Well Jesus spoke a parable in
Mat 13:3-8
Now The two that apply to this partial seeing of God to me are the two middle ones..
Seeds sown in the Rocky Soil … and Seed sown among the Thorns…
Wayside = Unbeliever.. still blind!!
Good Ground = Eyes wide open!! Productive
But the middle two = Unclear image of God
Rocky Ground = See God for a little while But a dark cloud called problems comes and distorts his/her view of God. Eventually a Total Eclipse takes Place and Blocks God out all together.
Then there is the seed that fell among thorns.
Thorns = See God a little but then he hits the Lotto.. Powerball and he goes crazy… $$ will overshadow God..
These two believers have had their view of God muddied.
Now I need to ask you a Question? Which one are you?
What image do you have of God? Do you see him clearly? If not, he might need to touch you again…
Mar 8:25 After that he put [his] hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
He put his hand on his eyes again and made him look up… In order for him to look up .. He had to be down…
Mar 8:26 And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell [it] to any in the town.
Go away and stay away from that evil place..
Don’t go back to even tell..
When your eyes are open… Don’t Go Back to evil, ungodly places!
Some use Excuses… I’ll go back to get my buddies.
You’ll see them outside the club, bar, strip joint, etc. Stay away!!
There is a great Need to see God Clearly
Remember I state that the Devil wants to trick us in two ways..
1.) He doesn’t want you believing in the Gospel of Jesus
Paul says to the Jews The Gospel is a Stumbling block and to the Greeks its Foolishness.
That’s the way the devil wants us to view the Gospel.. as foolishness..
2.) But If that doesn’t work.. He wants to give you a distorted view of the Gospel.
Just like we discussed regarding the Pharisees.. He wants to add to God’s word and distort it to make it say something it doesn’t say..
For example..
Have you ever wondered…
1. Why are there so many "Christian" Churches? When in the bible there was only one church.
2. Why so many faith’s when in the bible there is only one Faith.
3. Why so many head, Rulers of the Church. When in the bible there is only one?
Now this is a kicker. .Why so many different ways to God. When in the bible there is only one?
Some will say the sinners prayer= Saved
Some will say ask Jesus into your heart and as we get you so excited to the point you speak in utter gibberish (which they call tongues) … Then you are saved…
Some will say Just keep the ten commandments..
……………………………
Obeying the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that saves..
