0:10 A resistive temptation of straining it. But if, if that means anything for you, just lean in a little bit more. And I trust that the Lord will use it because he promises us that his power is made perfect in our weakness. So we give him glory for that. My prayer for you today, for all of us today, is that the result of what you would hear from the word is that you would have a sincere cry from the depths of your soul, and that cry would simply be, oh, god, open the eyes of my heart.
0:43 Please, I see, but I wanna see more. I perceive, but I wanna perceive more. Please, lord, if this is available, I need you to touch me again. So I'm telling you in advance that that is the aim, that is the goal for all of us today is that we each individually would be able to have that sincere petition before the prince of peace. Lord, please open my eyes again.
1:11 So we come to Mark eight where we get that truth, where we get that exhortation. In Mark eight verse 22, Mark eight twenty two. And they came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, do you see anything?
1:51 And he looked up and said, I I see people, but they look like trees walking. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he opened his eyes. His sight was restored. And he saw everything clearly, and he sent him to his home saying, do not even enter the village. Lord, we revere you here.
2:22 We fear you. Lord, even reading these verses, we tremble realizing that this is the voice of almighty God. And, Lord, we pray that you would grant us the grace to know what your heart is for this passage, and what we can do so that we can honor you through it. And so, Lord, may there be a special touch upon the delivery of this word, and Lord also a touch on our hearts so that we may receive it receive it the way you intended us to receive it. We give you honor in advance, and we trust that you will guide us in thought and in affection to make that heart cry.
3:01 Open my eyes. I want to see more. In Jesus' name. Amen. Whenever Jesus performed a healing miracle, it was always instantaneous.
3:14 It was always immediate. Whether it was a fever or whether it was leprosy, every kind and any kind of disease was helplessly subject to the demands of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the highlight reel of the master's compassion and power throughout the gospels testifies of that consistency. No infirmity was ever able to resist the authority of Christ. But for the first and only time, we come to this passage and we read something quite interesting.
3:45 We look here and we learned that there is a healing that is taking place, but the results are not what we are used to. This is unusual. This is a healing that takes place in stages. It's progressive. It's not something that happens right at the moment.
4:04 It's not something that happens right when the command was given. You and I are used to seeing a single touch or even a brief word bring about the complete result of a man's restoration. That's all it took for the impossible to be made possible, but this time, we read about the Lord reaching out and touching a man not once, but twice. And for the quick reader, he might be tempted to make this mistake, and that mistake is this, to perhaps be persuaded that okay. For the first time now, Jesus has finally met his match.
4:41 Here is a component of our fallen world that was capable of resisting the will of God. Or maybe you're not thinking that, maybe the thought is, well, here's Jesus and his humanity. Yes. At this moment, doing something supernatural, but because of the complexity of his nature, he was perhaps unprepared for the challenge that awaited him in Bethsaida. And now he is taken by surprise that there is something that's actually putting up a fight.
5:10 Any speculation, please be careful, any speculation that attempts to undermine the character and the capability of the Lord Jesus Christ is off base. It's to be dismissed completely. What we need to understand here is that you know Christ enough. The Bible testifies enough to be confident that the Lord is always able and that there is no rival in any dimension, whether that dimension is physical or spiritual, that can resist him. He is irresistible.
5:45 But the question still stands when we look at this text. Right? What is happening here? Why is it that the Lord didn't achieve his goal from the first attempt? And we can be spared from much confusion when you establish the simple fact that Christ's method here, not just the healing, but his method including the progression is totally intentional.
6:12 This is not being done unknowingly. This is being done purposefully. This is being done with a different goal in mind, a a deeper goal in Christ's mind. So understand that the Lord is just as much as control and control here with this process as he would be with any kind of miracle where things happen right there. And if that's true, then I wanna know, okay, then what's his intention?
6:37 What why is the Lord doing this in stages instead of doing it right there and then? Why waste the time? Why give people the idea or the possible temptation to question you concerning your ability? And the Lord's not intimidated by our questions. The best way to understand, the best way to find clues is to do something that you should always be doing when you read something that seems challenging.
7:00 Look at the context. Look at the surrounding terrain. Pull up the rearview mirrors and say, okay. What is it that happened maybe before? Maybe what happens next that might give me some indication and give me some answers here?
7:14 Because when you get the answer to the question that I just presented to you, there you will find gold. Golden revelation. The beauty of Christ's mind and his wisdom and his power. And so you were here in the past two weeks, but just in case you weren't or you forgot, let's look back. Look here in verse 14 down to verse 21 of the same chapter.
7:36 Jesus feeds the 4,000, and he and his disciples get into a boat and they are headed for their desired location. And while they're in the boat, Jesus cautioned them saying, watch out, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the of Herod. We talked about that last week. So here's Christ warning his his own disciples about the influence and the impact that the false teachings of these parties can bring about in their own faith. And what did the disciples do?
8:02 What did the disciples do best? They don't even engage with it. They don't inquire further. The the idea of leaven springs up and what comes up in their conversation with one another? Bread.
8:13 They're talking about bread in verse 16. They begin discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. Yeah, Andrew, you forgot bread? Did you freak Peter, where'd you where then they begin to just talk and here's the Lord saying like, you just completely missed what I'm saying. And as they're discussing and as they're arguing maybe, here the Lord, aware of this in verse 17, does what he needed to do and what a good teacher will do from time to time.
8:35 He rebukes them. And this is what I wanna bring to your attention. Look here in verse 17. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand?
8:49 Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember When I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? They said to him, 12.
9:03 And the seven for the 4,000, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? And they said to him, seven. And he said to them, do you not yet understand? The last question Jesus asks before we are introduced to this blind man is, do you not yet understand? Now you you just scroll back and reexamine his his diagnosis here.
9:31 Reexamine what he is saying. Notice especially verse 18. Having eyes, do you not see? Which means the same thing as verse 21. Do you not yet understand?
9:47 The eyes are often a metaphor for understanding, and Christ is drilling that into the hearts of his disciples. He's saying here, you're not getting it yet, are you? He's communicating that although the disciples had their eyes opened to an extent, they did not have it completely opened. And and to what extent were their eyes opened? The disciples at this point in Jesus' ministry understood enough about Christ to love him and to abandon everything to follow him.
10:15 And yet, their perception of deeper truths was still unclear. And so Jesus here, in other words, is giving an honest diagnosis of the spiritual perception of his closest followers at this point and assesses this very boldly and courageously, but honestly and lovingly, that they suffered from partial blindness Concerning two main things, his teachings and his character. His teachings and his character. And from there, this is the this is the flow of thought. This is what the Holy Spirit is trying to do.
10:48 From there after establishing the impairment of his own, we now come to a man who is physically blind. And being physically blind, he receives a unique kind of healing, not the one that we're used to. Glorious connection. Praise be to his name for the simple discipline of honoring the context. Here is the link.
11:11 Think about it. What is taking place with this miracle is meant to compliment and elaborate the truths that we've already discovered from the previous conversation. Have you eyes but do not see? Do you not yet understand? And then we transition and here's a man man who can't see, but when he receives the touch from the Lord, it's gradual.
11:37 When he grows in his perception, it's progressive. It's not immediate. There are many messages behind the miracles of Jesus, and there is a parable with this miracle especially. And this is the message. In the same way that this man had partial vision, the disciples also had limited spiritual understanding.
11:57 And yet, in the same way that this man with his physical eyes receiving healing gradually, check this out, the disciples could also expect greater clarity as Christ would continue to work in them. Not only are you like this man who cannot see completely though he should, but I also will work with you as I did with this man. That's the object lesson. And many people come to the miracles of Jesus and appropriately parallel the experience of the miracle with the experience that you and I gain at salvation. But this is not a miracle about salvation.
12:36 It's not dealing with what happens to you when you become born again. No. This illustrates what happens after you get saved. This is a miracle that points and illustrates your sanctification. Christ doesn't just open your eyes when you repent and believe.
12:52 Christ longs to open your eyes to see as he sees more and more and more. And that process is not instantaneous work. It takes time. Now if we're honest, we can all admit that that's a miracle that we each need every single day. I'm talking to you born again believer.
13:13 I'm not talking to the person who still needs his his eyes to be open at the beginning of all things. I'm talking about you who've had your eyes open enough to say, this Jesus, he is who he says he is, and I wanna follow him. Praise God for your eyes being open to that. But you and I are fully aware that there is more to see, more to behold, more to comprehend. And we need the Lord to be able to touch us, but that's not the main point of this miracle.
13:39 The main point is not that. The main point is that the disciples should have known. They should have had the knowledge of certain things by now, but they suffered from seeing as Christ would want them to see. Christ has your growth in mind, and more than that, he expects us to be at certain places as we walk with him. I know we're a grace people.
14:02 I know we love grace, and I know we we should love grace. But Christ has, through his grace, a growth in mind. And just like his disciples, when we don't reach a certain place, when we stagnate spiritually, we're not in the will of God. We're not in the will of God. And here we see that the disciples should have been somewhere by now and they weren't.
14:25 And where were they where were they off place? Where were they not where Christ wanted to be? Again, I said it, but let me say it again. Concerning their knowledge of the truth and concerning the person of Jesus Christ. Think about it.
14:38 When he brought up the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod, they start talking about bread. Their biblical understanding, Right? Their their simple knowledge of truth, they they could not grasp it. So they were shallow in their understanding of the word of God. But more than that, we have the character of Christ.
14:57 Not only were they talking about bread when they should be talking about the spiritual leaven, they now begin to talk about the bread because they were fearful. They were anxious. We don't have food for this trip. And so that is indirectly an affront to who Christ is. Christ who not only warned about leaven, but Christ who earlier materialized food out of thin air, and they witnessed that with their own eyes, and yet they could not hold on to that truth long enough to believe it in a time of need.
15:26 K. Are we any different? Have things changed with disciples of Jesus Christ today? Is it possible for a Christian to walk in a certain length of time and not grasp certain truths yet from the word of God? Absolutely.
15:39 Is it possible to walk with Christ and even experience testimonies, personal stories of him intervening and yet still in a time of crisis or need or uncertainty, we begin to discuss as though he's not in our midst and he hasn't come through before. Those are evidences that you see, but you see men as trees. You see the silhouette of Christ, but not the substance of Christ. You have a a a glaring understanding of his promises and of his doctrine, but not enough to cause you to know that this is true, this is applicable, this is a warning, this is an encouragement. This is a miracle not for the unsaved, but for the saved.
16:25 And it's a miracle that's desperately needed. Instead of seeing things clearly, they saw men as tree walkings themselves. And I wanna just look. I'm not gonna take too much time with this message. I want us just to walk through to give you an idea just to challenge you.
16:41 Just challenge me just to look at Paul's language concerning some of the truths that not pastors, not theologians, but believers who have access to the word of God should know or at least strive to know. So let's just do a little survey here. Go to Romans eleven twenty five quickly. Let's go to Romans eleven twenty five. I I'm not trying to elaborate on these verses.
17:01 I'm trying to bring you bullet point bullet point form exhortation. So we go to Romans eleven twenty five together. Notice what Paul says. Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
17:34 Keep in mind that phrase, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery. Now come to first Corinthians chapter 10. First Corinthians chapter 10 and look at verse one. For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea. There's that phrase again.
18:06 I do not want you to be unaware. Go to chapter 12 of the same book. First Corinthians 12 verse one. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. Interesting.
18:23 Now skip over a few books. Go to first Thessalonians chapter four. First Thessalonians chapter four. Chapter four verse 13. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
18:49 Okay. I'm just trying to show you by way of example how Paul is speaking to these different Christians from different churches, and he's saying something similar. I don't want you to be ignorant. I don't want you to remain in ignorance. I want you to be equipped.
19:04 I want you to be fully familiar with these truths. And what truths? I mean, think about these different truths, the different shades of truth. When he speaks to the Romans, it says here that he wants them to not be uninformed about what? Not generally uninformed.
19:16 No. Specifically, I don't want you to be uninformed, Romans, about God's sovereign plan for the ethnic people of Israel. I don't want you to be uninformed about that. I want you to be fully informed. I want you to be educated about that certain doctrine.
19:29 Okay. Then first Corinthians 10. I I don't want you to be unaware brothers. And then what does Paul do in first Corinthians 10? He uses the old testament as an illustration book for new covenant principles.
19:40 He talks about the wilderness journey. He talks about the the plagues that they experienced while they were in rebellion for unbelief. So what is Paul saying there? I don't want you to be unaware of how the old covenant speaks to new covenant realities. I want your eyes to see that.
19:55 Those are not just stories. Those are God's way of exhorting you and encouraging you. Okay. What is he saying first Corinthians 12? This is a controversial one.
20:03 I don't want you to be unaware or uninformed about what? The gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now come on. How how many of us are familiar with this stuff? I don't want you to be uninformed about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
20:15 How you can identify them and understand how they are to be utilized. What about first Thessalonians chapter four verse 13? I don't want you to be uninformed about what? The event of the return of the Lord. The event of the return of the Lord and what?
20:30 The hope of eternal life to come. Now, just just gather those exhortations. Gather those topics and reel them in and ask yourself. I mean, I have to ask myself, how familiar am I about the sovereign plan of God for Israel? Am I still ignorant in that?
20:46 How uninformed I am about the gifts of the Holy Spirit? How uninformed I am about my Old Testament, two thirds of my bible. Can I look at the old That's why what we do, what we do on Fridays? We want people to be informed about how the old testament ties in with the new covenant. But how many of us know it?
21:02 How many of us are confident to go to the old testament? How many of us see the value of that? What about the event of the return of Christ? What about that? Can we can we explain that?
21:12 Can we can we give people an understanding of what to expect concerning the event of the return of Christ? What about the life to come? So even from those verses that we just kinda scaled through. Right? There we're being even informed, Don't remain ignorant in that.
21:27 Grow. Advance. Be challenged. So even in those examples in the epistles, we can tie it in with what is happening in Mark chapter eight. The disciples at that point should have been somewhere, but they weren't.
21:44 And in like manner, we can come to these truths and remain ignorant. And here's the scary part, be content with our ignorance. Be content with our ignorance when God's saying, no, I want you to graduate. I hope you never read those verses ever the same way again. I don't want you to be uninformed.
22:04 Wow. That's not Paul speaking. That's the spirit speaking through Paul. I want you to know. What an invitation.
22:13 And we think of this and we can now give you examples not just concerning doctrine, but concerning the person of God. His character. How he actually intervenes and supervises your existence. Am I growing less and less anxious? Am I growing more and more confident?
22:32 Am I actually allowing these testimonies that I see in prayer with my church, with my family, with these trials? And do I, like Joshua, when that generation established stone memorials, permanent testimonies and journal entries in my heart to say, I can trust him for tomorrow. I can trust him for let me give you one example of that in first John. I gotta better hurry up here. But let's go to first John quickly for you for you to see an example of that.
23:01 Do you wanna know if you really, really see the love of God the way you see you should see the love of God? If you wanna know if you see the love of God the way God wants you to see it, here's a great test in first John. In first John chapter four, to measure my experience of the love of God, I can take this test. We read here in chapter four verse 16. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.
23:32 God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us. Meaning, the word perfected is matured, achieved the it has achieved its goal in you, perfected with us so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love cast out fear for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. If I hear a teaching, a sermon about the judgment to come, and I am fearful concerning that judgment, I know one thing, God's love has not been matured in me.
24:12 It's not. I I I see men walking as trees. I have a blurred understanding. My my vision of the love of God is fuzzy. You see, you you know it, you know he loves you, you understand he died for you, but deeper than that okay.
24:29 So when it comes to the judgment, how confident are you? What's your vision of the throne? What's your vision of him being your advocate? And if there's fear in there, I'm not seeing right. I'm not seeing right.
24:42 So so even in that concerning the nature and the character of God, we can be partially blind like the disciples were. But what does this miracle really teach more than that? It doesn't just challenge you, it encourages you and encourages you in this way. Yes. Disciples, this man you see right here, and it could be that the the men that this the the the blind man saw were were actually the disciples.
25:08 It could be very well that the people that he saw in that in that moment were the followers of Christ who were witnessing this miracle. Disciples indirectly, what a master teacher, this this right here, this is you. This is you. And yet, watch. He lays hands on them again.
25:26 He sees and he sees clearly and he goes, this can also be you. This can also be you. The point is more than just a rebuke, it's an invitation. An invitation to see more clearly, to open your eyes more and more, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing required of us. Us.
25:43 Go back to Mark chapter eight. I want you to see what Jesus does in verse 23. And he took the blind man by the hand and let him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked what a what a question. Do you see anything? Do you think Jesus knew?
26:06 Whenever Jesus asks a question, it's not because he's looking for an answer. Never. He knows, but he wants the man to answer honestly. Think about this. He heals him partially, though he could have done it fully, and then he steps back.
26:27 Do you see anything? And you know what the man could have said? Because he answers in a very important way, but he could have said, I see. Yeah. I can see.
26:42 It's a little hazy, but this is good. This is good. Thank you so much. You are where they say they are. Thank you.
26:49 Thank you. Thank I can live like this. I can live like this. This is awesome. Praise be to your name.
26:54 And he could have walked on his merry way. He doesn't say that. He says, I see people but they look like trees walking. And there is something about that where he expressed the need for more. There is a there is a an attitude of faith in this confession that drew Christ in to do a deeper work.
27:22 Here's the truth. If we want our inner eyes to be touched by the healer, the demand is no different for you and I. We must be transparent, and you and I must be willing to come before the presence of the Lord with humility and desperation and say, I need you to touch me again. I see and I'm thankful that I can see, but, Lord, I'm ignorant here. I'm ignorant here.
27:46 I'm still fearful. I'm still anxious. Okay. Let let's make it more personal. Right?
27:51 Just like this man, how do you see people? How do you see your wife? How do you see your children? How do you see your parents? How do you see your local church?
28:01 Do you see clearly? Do you perceive the way God wants you to perceive or is it blurry? Are you misinterpreting things? Are you failing to give it the value that it deserves? Are you acting in a certain way because you don't see the way God wants you to see?
28:16 I mean, if I see people as trees, I'm gonna treat them drift differently than if I see them as people. I'm not seeing the way I'm supposed to be seeing it. My heart testifies of that. My attitude testifies of that. My behavior testifies of that.
28:32 Lord, you need to touch me again. I'm not satisfied seeing this way. And if there's more, then please let there be more. And I will tell you the means by which he will touch you. I will show you how it is that God extends his hand upon the eyes of your heart and is able to peel off more layers so that you can understand the way he wants you to understand.
28:56 It's very simple. Two verses, two different places, you combine them together and you will know miracles in your life. The first one is in Psalm 19. In Psalm 19 verse eight, we were given a promise about the eyes of our heart. Psalm nineteen eight reads, the precepts of the Lord are right to rejoicing the heart.
29:27 The commandment of the Lord is pure, doing what? Enlightening the eyes. You can't see better if you don't know the word of God. If you don't come to the word of God. This word has power to heal your blindness.
29:46 I remember personally when there was a defining moment where I was able to see the power of the the word of God enlightening the eyes. When I first got saved, I had no grid for anything. No grid for church, no grid for sermons, no grid for denominations. I had no grid for anything. And I remember when I was first introduced to a church service, it was questionable in their approach, and it was very much like the megachurch kinda seeker sensitive thing.
30:11 But I had no grid, and so when I was there, I didn't have anything to really discern. I had nothing to work with in my own heart. So I was just absorbing whatever was there. I was content to some extent. As as a person who who had his eyes open but not seeing fully.
30:27 And a and a few weeks would go by and by God's grace was able to read the word and but something began to happen as I begin to read just read the word. Just day after day coming to the word, not understanding everything, but just reading it and coming to and asking God for me to understand it. I began to see things differently. Wait a minute. That's wait a minute.
30:47 You probably shouldn't be saying that in a sermon. What's going on here? What's happening here? Enlightening the eyes more and more and more to see what things should really be. And that saved me from a lot of trouble.
31:05 A lot of trouble. Credit, the word. Credit, just come to the Bible. Credit, just trust that this thing vibrates with a force that can rescue you from seeing men as trees walking. From seeing a sermon that is not really a sermon that's laced with heresy, laced with different motives.
31:25 Believers who claim to be believers but are actually wolves in sheep's clothing. Convictions and ideas and arguments that are not based from the word of God, but because your eyes have been opened. Why? Because this word this word heals. It heals your vision.
31:43 And I I praise God that over the years, this book is what has kept me and this book is what will keep you. I know people that are believing things that you would not even fathom to believe in their walk with the Lord and it's because of one thing, they didn't trust that this can enlighten their eyes. But more than that, there's another thing and it's in Ephesians one verse 16. In Ephesians one verse 16, Paul prays for this church and he says something quite amazing. Some of you know where I'm going with this.
32:18 Look what he says in verse 16. I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. And now he's gonna tell him what he's praying for. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened. Oh, what a man of God he was.
32:46 When Paul prayed for this church, he asked that there would be the spirit of wisdom and revelation for one goal, that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened, opened further. Is he talking to the world or is he talking to the church? He's talking to the church. That your eyes, oh church, would have greater understanding, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened in three things. In three things.
33:07 Look at this. That you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. Two, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. Three, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might. Oh, I'm begging God non stop that you Ephesians would know the hope, that you would see.
33:29 Right? Many of us are asking God to bless us and that's great. We should be asking God for that. But what Paul here is saying is, I want you to see the blessings God has already given you. You don't feel this way and it could be not because it's lacking, but because you don't see it.
33:44 So I'm asking that you would know the hope. I'm asking that you would know the the wealth that you have inherited because of Christ. The spiritual riches that are yours because of Christ. I want you to see it. And lastly, the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.
34:01 Look at this. According to the work of his great might that he worked in Christ. Hope, spiritual riches, power. I want you to see it. And the only way it's gonna come through is not just when you come to the word, it's when you pray and ask God for it because that's what I'm doing for you.
34:18 And so what does this require for me? How do I how can I know Christ giving me a second touch, a third touch, a fifth touch when you come before the word of God, the spirit of prayer, and you say, Lord, open the eyes of my heart? I don't wanna stay where I was. I'm not content seeing men walking as trees. I'm not being I'm not content looking at you with an elementary understanding of you.
34:41 I wanna come to the word and actually get the word, and live the word, and I wanna trust you in this world. You need to help me and you need to touch me. Honesty, transparency, but also the willingness to let the hand of Christ lead you where it needs to be led, and that's through his word and through seeking him. And what begins to happen? Here's what will happen.
35:03 You look at the world, you see all its toys and all its promises and all its vain glory and it begins to lose its color and lose its shine. And something begins to happen to your soul where now you actually know satisfaction in God. Not just storing up information, satisfaction in God. You look at your suffering and now you are comforted and caressed by the sovereign care of your master. You look at people.
35:31 You look at people and and they're not just people for your benefit, people that are to be used for your good. No. You look at people the way Jesus wants you to look at people and you begin to treat them as such. You look at life through the lens of eternity and you realize that this is not it. I'm just traveling through and you begin to feel lighter in this world and you begin to feel like you're floating through this world and you begin to realize my address is being prepared for me and I'm just borrowing some things here.
36:00 And the best thing, you begin to see Christ as more beautiful than he was yesterday, as more precious, as more near than anybody else in your own existence. Closer than your wife, closer than your husband, closer than your children, you begin to know something of the manifestation of his presence because you've come to the conclusion, I'm not satisfied seeing partially Open the eyes of my heart. Amazingly, we learned here what happened before this miracle took place, but do you remember what happened after? Go back to Mark eight. This is amazing.
36:40 I love the Bible. I love the word of God. Look at verse 27. Right? This is the verse that we have in right.
36:46 Immediately after when he tells tells them not to enter to the village, and Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he asked his disciples, who do people say that I am? And they told him, John the Baptist and others say Elijah and others, one of the prophets, and he asked them, but who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, you are the Christ. You are the Christ. Is that ironic that right after the person receives his full healing, Peter is asked the question about the identity of Christ and he gets it.
37:21 And Jesus, Matthew says, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but this came from the father. The fact that you have this insight, the fact that you have this perception is the result of a supernatural touch from God. So before they could not understand, a miracle takes place and right after, we have Peter being asked a question and he asked, who do people say to them? And and they are partially blind. They are blind.
37:49 Misidentifying him, misunderstanding him, not seeing what the scriptures prophesied concerning him. And then Peter speaks up and he says, no, no, no. I see you for who you are. You're the Christ. And Jesus says, this is supernatural.
38:00 This is supernatural. And you need the same power as I to know greater revelations of Christ. Has to be a work of God in us. And he's given us a supernatural word. He's given us supernatural access and prayer.
38:16 And, oh, you know what's amazing about this miracle? It's only found in Mark. You won't find it in Luke. You won't find it in John. You won't find it in Matthew.
38:25 I'm sure there are different reasons for that, but I just wonder, meditatively thinking about it, what Mark felt when he wrote this down. When Peter gave him this account, I wonder what Mark felt when he was learning about the need for believers to have their eyes open further and further. Remember, Mark wasn't perfect. Here's Mark starting on ministry And very early on, he says, I wanna go back home. I didn't sign up for this.
38:51 And then Paul is given the idea from Barnabas to have Mark again. And Paul's saying, I'm not interested. I'm not interested in people just jumping off ship when they don't like it. I want guys that are in it for life. And they get into an argument and they and they split, and then you read later in second Timothy where Mark is summoned by Paul.
39:10 Something happened between acts and second Timothy. And I wonder I just wonder if Mark loved this miracle, to know the patience of Christ and willing to work with us. That as long as we are willing to acknowledge our need and our condition, the Lord is able to take us places where we never thought we would go. And so if you felt challenged, be immediately comforted to to to know that if you if you see yourself lacking I mean, we all do. I get it.
39:35 We all do. But if you see yourself severely lacking and more importantly, content in your ignorance, content in your immaturity, then let this miracle provoke you to come to the master and say, Lord, you touched me once. I need you to touch me again. Please don't let me stay here. I wanna see more.
39:57 I wanna see more. Lord, we ask that you would help us see you more. Oh, Lord, we pray that the Holy Spirit would bring this goal about in our lives, that we would be stirred to cry. I'm not satisfied. I don't wanna be ignorant.
40:19 I don't wanna be sporadic in my trust in you. And so, Lord, you know precisely what it is that we need a touch in. It could be a particular truth. It could be about you and your practical leadership. Or whatever it is that you need to do in us, we just humble ourselves before you in your presence, and we say, Lord, open the eyes of my heart.
40:40 I wanna fall deeper in love with you. I wanna love the church more. I wanna love my spouse the way you want me to love my spouse. I want you to I want you to help me see my suffering the way you want me to see my suffering. I want you to help me see money the way I should see money.
40:57 Oh, Lord, please, if you don't touch us, there is no strength in flesh and blood. There is no remedy. There is no hope in ourselves and in another man. It must come from the Father. And so, Lord, let there be this insatiable hunger to come to the word and to trust the process of healing our eyes.
41:15 And when we come, Lord, in prayer, as we drive, as we walk, as we fold our laundry saying, Lord, I want more. Touch me again. And we believe that you will. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
