“Govern Our Sight”
By Brother Kenneth Ray
February 5th,
2012
Click here to download printable sermon
notes in pdf format.
Vision—Something
seen by other than normal sight.
It is possible
for two people to look at the same thing and not agree on what they see. Art comes to mind: It is one of those things that, when people
look at it, what is seen can vary from person to person.
In today’s world
we can honestly say that not everyone looks at everything the same way. Take a piece of fruit, for instance.
Genesis 2:9 …the tree of knowledge of good and evil…
Genesis 2:16-17 …thou shalt not eat of it…
People say it as
an apple, but the Bible doesn’t say that.
Let’s stop here
for a moment. Would someone car to tell
me, if you had just heard this, how would you look at it? How do you see it? Anyone?
“Why did You put
it right here, if You don’t want me to eat it?”
“He’ll forgive me.” “What’s
death?” “How does it taste?” “What’s good and evil?”
You see? We don’t all see the same picture.
Okay, pressing
on… Who was it that was speaking? God spoke to the men that He created.
Genesis 3:1-24 …I was afraid, because I was naked;
and I hid myself…
Why? because
God, the man, the woman, and the serpent didn’t see the fruit the same
way. Today, we see the same key
players: God, the man, the woman, and the
serpent.
Do you believe
that you can improve your sight by your hearing?
Genesis 3:1-5 …ye shall not
surely die…
When the serpent
asked the woman if God said they could eat of every tree, she said, “Yes, but
of the one in the midst of the garden.”
And in verse 5, the serpent said, “Ye shall not surely die.” Now, when they ere following God’s word, they
looked at the fruit one way, but now there are two voices. One voice keeps me on track, but, suddenly
they hear another voice. When the voice
that was listened to changed, then that changed how they looked at the
fruit.
When you are
baptized in Jesus name, you look at things one way, but if you walk away, then
you see things differently.
I work as an
electrician. The other day we were doing
some work at Building 110 (Ross Auditorium).
They remodeled the restrooms, and we had to put new cover plates on the
outlets and light switches. Now, we were
being safe, so we had the power tagged out, so we were working in the
dark. My co-worker dropped a screw. The floor is grey, and the screw is stainless
steel, so it kind of blends in. I didn’t
bother to look for it; I listened to it, and I reached to the last place I
heard it, and picked it up. Sometimes it
is better to hear than to see.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
We walk by
faith; we trust God unconditionally.
Where I am taken is where I need to be, and He who leads me will get me
there safely. Do you have to see the
nail scars to know that He saved you? Do
you see Jesus? Does He lead you? We call that trust; we call that faith; we
call that belief.
Do you know what
else will help your eyesight? speaking. When we take things that we need direction or
understanding on to God, Jesus will reveal to us answers that change how we
look at each other and ourselves.
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask
of God, that giveth to all men…
You’ve got to
talk to Jesus, and you’ve got to listen to Jesus if you ant clear vision. What is it I’m supposed to see?
Romans 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver
me…
Our
righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).
I have to have God working through me to do any good. That includes rebukes and advice.
When we allow
God to work through us, we’ll see past the flesh, and the natural man, to the
spiritual man and his needs. When you
see that you own nothing (it’s all God’s), and recognize that we are unprofitable
servants (Luke 17:10), then our actions will not focus on our own well being
only, but the well being of others. We
will see that others have needs, and that their needs are significant.
James 2:1 …have
not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ … with respect of persons.
If Pastor Paine
asked you to do something, would you do it?
If I asked you the same thing, would you do it? What if Tom asked you? If you’re not just as willing to do it, no
matter which brother asked you, then that’s respect of persons. Oh, you can tell me that it has to do with
giving honor where honor is due, but really, that’s just semantics. Semantics is a word that lawyers use to mean
justification. You know about lawyers in
the Bible, right? They didn’t see things
the same way that Jesus did.
James 2:4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves…
James 2:8 …Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself.
You are
able to see past your own nose.
James 2:9 But if ye have respect of persons, ye
commit sin…
Govern yourself. Corrective vision doesn’t require laser
surgery.
There
is no new thing under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). You don’t want to be stiff-necked.
Psalms 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
You
want the Word to be a light unto your feet.
Matthew 15:14 …if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Luke 11:34 The light of the body is the eye…
The Lord tells us to take heed that
the light which is in us be not darkness (Matthew 6:23).
Peter rebuked Jesus once (Matthew
16:22).
Matthew 16:23 …said
unto Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan…
Jesus wasn’t looking at Peter, He
was looking at the spirit that as on Peter.
If you want to be the head rat in
the barn, serve all of the other rats (Matthew 20:27). Our King is not self-serving.
Matthew 25:35-40 …inasmuch as ye have done it
unto one of the least of these…
How can you do these things if you don’t see people’s
needs? May God give us eyes to see, and
set the vision and tone of where we need to go.
I pray that He will reveal His vision to every one of us.
Sermon
notes by Pete Shepherd
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