Seeing the Invisible
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
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Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
LIGHT = sight; vision, salvation
DARKNESS = blindness; lost
Blindness: The Unsaved Cannot See the Things of God
Blindness: The Unsaved Cannot See the Things of God
When Jesus came to earth, people were sitting in spiritual darkness and unable to find the light (Matt. 4:13–16; Isa. 9:1–2).
The Lord sent John the Baptist to prepare them to receive the glorious life-changing light that Jesus is and gives (John 8:12).
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.
He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
That was the true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world” (John 1:6–9).
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
The only people who must be told that the light is shining are blind people, and our world today is spiritually blind!
As you read through John’s Gospel, you meet spiritually blind people who did not understand what Jesus was teaching.
In chapter 2, the crowd thought He was talking about their temple (vv. 13–22).
In chapter 3, Nicodemus thought our Lord was speaking about physical birth (vv. 1–4).
In chapter 4, the Samaritan woman thought of physical water, not spiritual water (vv. 1–15).
The Jewish crowd in chapter 6 had no understanding of spiritual bread come down from heaven or what it meant to eat His flesh and drink His blood (vv. 22–58).
When He spoke of spiritual freedom, the Jews thought of political freedom (8:31–36).
I could go on, but I am sure you get the point.
If lost sinners are truly seeking salvation, it is the Holy Spirit who will open their eyes and their hearts and they will understand spiritual truth.
Jesus called the Pharisees “blind leaders of the blind” (Matt. 15:14; 23:16–26).
Satan is the prince of darkness (Luke 22:53) and he blinds the eyes of unbelievers (2 Cor. 4:1–6).
When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
As we witness to the lost, share the Scriptures with them, and pray for them, the Holy Spirit works to convict them and lead them to the Savior.
1. Light = Sight; Vision and Salvation
2. Darkness = Blindness and Lost
3. Who blinds the mind of unbelievers? Satan
Sight: When You Trust Jesus, You Can See the Truth
Sight: When You Trust Jesus, You Can See the Truth
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Sight even understands that half truths are not truth
I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
Seed can be planted in the heart, and may not come to fruition until days later.
When I believed God’s Word and Gospel of His Son as my Savior and Lord, and my life was radically changed.
When I obeyed it, I could see!
To begin with, my eyes were opened to myself.
You can be religious but not a child of God.
We need to be born again.
This does not mean that Preachers, Sunday school teachers, family, and friends had failed all those years, they planted the seed and prayed for the seed to bear fruit.
My eyes were opened to the Bible and I had an insatiable appetite for reading and studying God’s truth. But as I read and studied the Bible, my eyes were opened to the will of God.
Sight = Obedience and Truth
Self seeking and unrighteousness are not signs of sight or being WOKE
but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
We can lose our way, or get distracted...
You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
First Timothy 2:2 is still in the Bible and should be obeyed. All believers—young and old—must spend time daily in the Scriptures at home and also find a niche in a local church where they can worship and be taught and learn how to share the gospel with others.
for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
4. What sets men free and gives them sight? Truth
5. Sight = Obedience and Truth
Insight: As You Grow in Grace, You Can See Deeper
Insight: As You Grow in Grace, You Can See Deeper
Insight is the ability to penetrate the inner nature of circumstances, people, concepts, and things.
It is also the ability to grasp the hidden meaning of words, images, and teachings in the Bible.
Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.
Our teacher and guide is the Holy Spirit which is the word of God
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
God’s Word is Spirit
and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
To gain insight one must take up the word of God pray and meditate on it constantly.
Do you want insight to life? Then study and read God’s Word.
6. It is also the ability to grasp the hidden meaning of words, images, and teachings in the Bible.
7. The sword of the Spirit, is the Word of God.
Vision: We See the Invisible
Vision: We See the Invisible
If we could ask the believers we meet in the Bible and in church history, “How did you accomplish what you did?” they would probably reply, “The Lord gave us a vision, we trusted and obeyed, and He did the rest.”
Hebrews 11 makes it very clear that it was “by faith” that the heroes mentioned won their victories.
“by faith” 21x’s in 20 verses ESV
The Lord gave Abraham and Sarah the vision of a mighty nation, starting with Isaac, their only son.
Isaac shared the vision with Jacob, and God gave Jacob twelve sons who fathered the twelve tribes of Israel, God’s people.
Before Jacob died, he gave a special message to each of his sons (Gen. 49).
Jacob’s vision of God’s calling sustained the Jewish people during centuries of suffering, and Joseph made them promise to bury him with his ancestors in the Promised Land (Gen. 50:22–26; Exod. 13:19).
The Jewish patriarchs had a vision of a great nation dwelling in a great land, and God fulfilled every word of His covenant with His people.
God gave Moses the vision of a nation of pilgrims that would be delivered from Egypt and travel to the Promised Land, and by faith he led them out.
Joshua had a vision of conquering the land, subduing its inhabitants, and establishing the nation of Israel; and the Lord honored his faith.
After years of political and religious ups and downs, the nation progressed as a kingdom under the leadership of David, ancestor of our Lord Jesus Christ, the “son of David.”
One of the most encouraging chapters in the Bible is 2 Samuel 7, God’s covenant with David.
Yes, David had his hours of temptation and defeat, but you find his name over a thousand times in the Bible 1,141x’s in the ESV to be exact and in the very first verse of the New Testament (Matt. 1:1).
In fact, Jesus is called “the son of David.” David had Vision
Vision comes by Faith
Most if not all creative work done here on earth begins with vision.
The artist “sees” the picture in his mind, makes a sketch to get him started, and a picture eventually is painted.
The picture grows both in his mind and on the canvas.
The architect imagines a building and draws what he sees in his mind, and soon you have blueprints.
The composer hears the melody in his mind and sees the notes on the staff, jots them down, and has the beginning of a symphony.
The author has a vision of some characters in a unique location involved in unusual circumstances, and he eventually writes a novel.
The pastor meditates on a portion of Scripture and with the help of the Holy Spirit begins to “see” and “feel” a sermon.
Whether it is cooking, decorating a room, preparing a speech, writing a poem, or planning a vacation, there is no way to avoid vision.
When Jesus wanted to focus the hearts of His disciples on evangelism, He said to them,
Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
“Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35).
Was He directing their vision toward the woman He had brought to salvation as she was bringing her friends from the city to the well?
The apostles might have seen only Samaritan “enemies” coming, but Jesus saw a harvest of souls.
Believers with keen spiritual vision see people, circumstances, and problems as God sees them, which simply means opportunity to bring blessing to needy people and glory to God.
Sometimes we use the word “visionaries” to mean “dreamers,” but in the Christian vocabulary, visionaries are “doers” and not “dreamers.”
If missionaries are not visionaries in the best sense, they will not accomplish much.
Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,
but blessed is he who keeps the law.
KJV puts it this way... Pr. 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish:
But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
8. Vision comes how? By Faith
9. Jesus wants us to see that the fields are white for harvest.
10. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ESV
The Lord saves sinners and moves them from blindness to sight.
Then He moves His people from sight to insight,
from insight to vision,
and from vision to ministry reality.
Like Moses, we see the invisible and eventually do the impossible!
People tell us that it cannot be done, but the Bible and church history reply, “It has been done and will be done again!”