What Do You See?

He held up some fingers and asked you, “How many fingers do you see?”

If he holds up four fingers and you see four of them, then he says you are OK. But if he holds up two and you see four of them, you have a problem.

In Mark 8, this is similar to what happened. Look at verses 22-25, we read, “And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. 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. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.”

When the Lord placed His hands on the blind man’s eyes, He asked him what he saw, and he said, “…I see men as trees, walking…” The Lord knew this was not right, so He put his hands on his eyes again, and this time the Bible says he, “…saw every man clearly.”

Today the church needs the Lord to put His hands on our eyes spiritually so that we can see men clearly.

What do you see when you look at people that surround you each day? Do you see them as:

• Rich people

• Poor people

• Sons

• Daughters

• Parents

• Sports fans

• Employees

• Employers

• Class mates

• Insurance men

• Waitresses

• Bank Tellers

• Truck Drivers

• Teachers

• Garbage men

• Mail men

God want us to see them for what they are…LOST SOULS THAT NEED TO BE SAVED!

The Lord says, in Matt. 28:19-20, “Go ye therefore, and TEACH ALL NATIONS, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: TEACHING THEM to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

The world is filled with lost souls.

Illus: In the mountains of North Carolina, some men took a fellow named Clarence, who was not the smartest man who ever lived, into the woods to go bear hunting. They took him to a cabin in the woods and told him to go out in the woods and find a bear and when he did, run back toward the cabin. Once he got to the door, they would open the door and let him in.

Clarence was gone for a long time, and the men in the cabin were laughing about Clarence out in the woods trying to find a bear. Then they heard the voice of Clarence coming over the hill screaming, “Open the door!”

They looked and Clarence was coming over the hill at top speed with a bear steadily gaining on him. When he got right to the door, they opened the door to let Clarence in, but he stepped aside, and the bear went flying into the cabin. Clarence pulled the door closed behind the bear.

As Clarence left, he was heard saying, “I am going to get another one, the woods are full of them!”

The world is full of sinners. We might see them as bank tellers, waitresses, or mechanics, but the fact is, they are SINNERS THAT NEED THE LORD. They are EVERYWHERE! Some folks can’t recognize that.

Illus: A shoe salesman went to Africa to sell some shoes.

• When he got there, he wrote back, “I am wasting my time, these people do not wear shoes!’

• They sent another salesman. He wrote back, “Send shoes, none of these people have any!”

The world is truly full of lost souls. When you look at all these people, WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Illus: Have you ever sat in a football stadium and looked at the thousands of people and wondered if the rapture of the church was to take place, how many would be taken and how many would be left behind? I am sure that it would be devastating to see the number that would be left behind.

That is why Jesus said, “The harvest truly is plenteous.” The world is full of sinners!

We can learn a very valuable lesson from the Lord on soul winning:

• He was concerned about the physically sick

• He was concerned about the poor and the hungry

He never took his eyes off reaching the lost.

The Bible tells us that Jesus was moved with compassion for them. These words literally mean, “to be moved in the heart.”

He wants us to be moved in the heart just as He was. We see -