Sight

It's God's Word that changes people. It's not my illustrations.

It's not my applications. This is why I put so much scripture in my messages, because God's Word is the only thing that will heal you. When I first began to see spiritual types and shadows and symbols and things like that in the Word, I can remember I went in a church and the pastor was a part of a theological thought persuasion that believed that the gifts had passed away and that God doesn't heal today and things like that. But he was beginning to see some things in scripture. And he invited me for that purpose to kind of help his church along that path. So I wasn't out of order in preaching things.

He was wanting me to. And one night he said to me, or during the day before the night, he said, would you preach on healing tonight, physical healing? And I know God still heals today. And there again, some people think God doesn't heal today, but he does heal today. And so because God is the same yesterday, today and forever. I mean, one verse, Hebrews 13, will blow that doctrine away. It's not a doctrine.

It's a dogma. It will blow that away because if Jesus healed when he was on this earth, he still heals today. He couldn't stop healing. So I went to the scriptures that I had on healing and I thought, these are so good. And it really doesn't matter what I say about healing.

It matters what the Bible says. So I think I'll just read scripture tonight during the service. So I just got up and began to read, starting at Exodus 26, that I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians. For I am Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals you.

And I just started reading scriptures and I even went all just all through the New Testament, where it says that they brought many sick people to him and Jesus laid his hands on every one of them and healed them all. And I just kept saying that. But the word all kept popping up. But it was the Bible.

I wasn't just adding it to it. It was the Bible. And so anyway, the next day at lunch when I met the pastor, I think he might have gotten chewed out, you know, by some of his members or something.

But he was upset. And so he said to me, I need to talk to you. And so I said, OK. And he said, do you believe that God heals all diseases? And so immediately I just thought of Psalm 103, verse three. That says that God heals all diseases. By the way, it says that he forgives all iniquities. Do you believe that part of the verse? You better.

Or you're in trouble. So one, it says, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases. So he asked me, do you believe God heals all diseases? So I said, well, Psalm 103, verse three says that he heals all your diseases. And he said, yeah, but do you believe he heals all of them? And so I said, well, Psalm 103, verse three says that he heals all your diseases.

He said, yeah, but do you believe he heals all of them? Now, let me just remind you of something. I never even told him if I believed it. I never even said, well, I believe I never even said that, which I do, but I never even said that. I simply quoted a scripture.

I want you to think about this. If someone quotes a scripture to you and you get mad. You have a problem. You have grown up in some systematic theology thought. That has caused you to disbelieve God's word. So he said, yeah, but you believe he heals all of them.

Kind of like that to me. And I said, well, Psalm 103. And he said to me, you're close minded.

I thought, no, you're close minded. So my point is, I then I just I actually opened my Bible to Psalm 103, verse three. And I said to him, I said, look, look, look, look, I said, look right here, look, look.

Who heals all your diseases? This is what he did. He went like this, he said. I just don't see it. Now, what he meant was, I don't agree with that.

But what an interesting choice of words. He looks right at it and he says. I don't see that. I want to talk to you about spiritual blindness. And spiritual sight. Because it takes spiritual eyes to understand this book. And you can be spiritually blind to this book. So let me tell you some things about sight. OK, spiritual sight.

Here's number one. Spiritual blindness steals our understanding. Spiritual blindness steals our understanding. In other words, you will not understand the Bible. If you're spiritually blind. And then next point, I'm going to tell you what causes spiritual blindness. But let me show you this spiritual blindness that the Bible talks about a lot.

All right, I'll get to Mark Chapter eight a long time from now. So, OK, Isaiah 42, verse 18. Hear you deaf and look you blind that you may see. Who is blind but my servant or deaf as my messenger whom I sin? Who is blind as he who is perfect? Now we're going to talk about what causes blindness, but that right there gives you a little bit of a hint.

Let me just get a little bit ahead of myself. If you think that you're already there. Then you're blind. If you think you already know everything this book has to offer, you are blind. OK, so who is blind but he who is perfect and blind is the Lord's servant.

Watch. Seeing many things, but you do not observe. Opening the eyes, the ears, but he does not hear. Isaiah 43, verse eight. Bring out the blind people who have eyes and the deaf who have ears. Again, I'm just giving the verses.

You go back and read the context. He is talking about spiritual blindness and spiritual deafness, not physical blindness or physical deafness. Jeremiah 521. Hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding. Let me just remind you that my point is blindness steals our understanding.

You'll never be able to understand the Bible if you're spiritually blind to it. Hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding, who have eyes and see not and who have ears and hear not. Ezekiel 12, verse two. Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house. That also causes spiritual blindness, rebellion, which has eyes to see but does not see and ears to hear but does not hear.

For they are a rebellious house. Zephaniah 1 17. I will bring disaster upon this people and they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against the Lord. Another cause of spiritual blindness, walking in known sin. Matthew 13. Now hear Jesus quotes from the Old Testament and watch how he ties spiritual blindness into a lack of understanding.

Matthew 13, verse 14. And in the end, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, hearing, you will hear and shall not understand. See, you will see and not perceive. For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing.

Their eyes they have closed. Now watch, lest they should see with their eyes. Please watch this progression and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them.

Please watch that. Jesus said they have to be able to see with their eyes and hear with their ears, spiritual eyes and ears. So that they can understand God's word. So that they can turn. So that I can heal them.

Please hear me, please, please, please. The reason many people are not spiritually healed. Is because they don't turn from their sin. The reason they don't turn from their sin is because they don't understand what it's doing to them. The reason they don't understand what it's doing to them is because they're spiritually blind and deaf.

It causes you to remain physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally sick. It's God's word that changes people. It's not my illustrations.

It's not my applications. It's God's word. This is why I put so much scripture in my messages because God's word is the only thing that will heal you. It's the only thing that will heal you. He sent his word and healed them. I quoted the scripture there and you were clapping, but it's Psalm 107 verse 20.

He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions. It's his word. So there's a spiritual blindness that's caused. Now, let me just say this.

This blindness, it's possible even in the natural to be looking at something and not see it. For instance, I mean, when we're talking about spiritual blindness, let me just ask you a question, just every campus. And why don't you just go and raise your hands? And if you don't, then we have a freedom ministry for you for lying. But have you ever read a chapter in the Bible? And after reading that chapter, you had no idea what you just read.

Can I just see? Okay. That happens because this is a spiritual book.

It's a spiritual book or you had your mind somewhere else. Okay. All right. So there's spiritual blindness. Okay.

Here's number two. Pride causes spiritual blindness. We talked about rebellion. We talked about the continued sin. The only reason you would continue to sin is because you're an arrogant person. That's the only reason.

And I've been there too. The only reason we would continue sin is because of pride. It's the only reason. The only reason we'd have a rebellious heart is because of pride. Pride is at the root.

Okay. So Jesus heals a blind man in John chapter nine. He's blind from birth. No one had ever healed a man blind from birth.

You can read it. Since it says, since the beginning of time, it's never been heard of a man was healed blind from birth. He heals this man blind from birth and the Pharisees get mad about it. Isn't that amazing?

That is shocking. So this man gets healed and the Pharisees were mad at him. He got dead. He got healed. And so they said, who did this?

So he says, I don't know. Jesus, I think God named Jesus. So they tracked Jesus down. Now I want you to watch what Jesus says in John chapter nine, verse 39. Jesus said, for judgment, I've come into this world.

Now watch closely. He's so much spiritual sight that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind. And then some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these words and said to him, are we blind also?

And Jesus said, bingo. Listen to what he said. He's so much spiritual sight. Remember, this is a spiritual book.

If you were blind, listen to what he says. You would have no sin, but now, or the word here could be translated, sense. But since you say, we see, therefore your sin remains. Okay, let me tell you again how spiritual this is. Jesus said, I came into this world that those who are spiritually blind could receive their sight. Do you remember what happened when Paul got saved?

Ananias prayed for him and what happened? Scales fell off his eyes. Think about that.

Think about that. Scales fell off his eyes. So Jesus said, I came in this world that those who cannot see spiritually will be able to see. And those of you who say that you can see without me, that you don't need me, you'll just be made blind. And the Pharisees said, so you're saying we're blind? And Jesus said, oh, yeah, you're blind. You're blind as bats. That's what you are. You're blind.

But here's another way. He said, if you would admit to me that you couldn't see without me, listen to what he says. You would have no sin. In other words, I would forgive your sin. I would erase your sin.

If you would just admit to me that you're blind without me, I'd take care. I'd remove all your sin. I'm telling you, this is an amazing verse. This is a spiritual book. And then he said, but since you say that you can see without me, your sin remains.

Is that amazing? This is a spiritual book. OK, so when I was younger, I traveled with James Robinson. James is seated down here on the front row. James and Betty, members of our church. James Robinson's one of our apostolic elders.

Most of you see James and Betty on television. You may not know James Robinson used to do great big citywide crusades like Billy Graham did and break all the conference records in cities, you know, the attendance records. When he was doing that, I was traveling with him as a young man and I would do school assemblies.

And I went with him to Louisville, Kentucky, southern seminaries there. And one of the professors had been listening to James talk about how we could be blind to the Bible. And he thought, I've been studying the Bible my whole life. As a matter of fact, he had taught New Testament theology, New Testament theology for over 20 years. 13 of those years, he taught the book of Mark.

13 years. So he said to the Lord, Lord, I'm going to go hear James. And he's talking about how we can read this book and we still have spiritual blindness.

So if I have spiritual blindness, will you show me? Will you show me a scripture that I've never seen? So James gets up that night and decides to preach, and one of the verses he uses is this Mark six, 12 and 13. So they went out and preached that people should repent and they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

This professor came back to the green room after service. I will never forget this. He said, James, I've taught the book of Mark for 13 years verse by verse, and I have never seen that verse in my life. I've never seen that the disciples anointed people with oil. And I've taught it verse by verse. That's spiritual blindness.

All right. So here's the last point. Jesus opens blind eyes.

Here's the good news. Jesus opens blind eyes. Now, Mark Chapter eight told you I'd get there. It says, Then he came to Bethsaida and they brought a blind man to him and they begged him to touch him. So he took the blind man by the hand and let him out of the town, let him out of the town, because you remember Bethsaida was one of in the evangelical triangle and it became one of the cursed cities. And when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands on him, he asked him, he asked him, he wanted him to say something. He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and he said, I see men like trees walking. Then he put his hand. I hope you all just picked up right there. Spiritual symbols and spiritual sight.

I see men like trees walking. Then he put his hands on his eyes again and made him look up and he was restored and saw everyone clearly. So one night I preach a crusade.

I'm in a hotel room afterwards. I turned the TV on. There's a TV preacher on. I thought I'd listen. And he preached on this passage.

And this is what he said. He said, You see, even with Jesus, it doesn't always work the first time. I couldn't believe it. I thought with God, it doesn't always work the first time. And so I thought, well, I know that's not right. So I remember thinking, Lord, I'm going to figure this out. There's something else here.

There's something. There's some reason he saw men like trees and you put your hands on again. So I read it. I read other scriptures. I read everything I could read.

Three hours later. I had no clue what it meant. And it stayed all of a sudden seemed like the Lord was standing beside me, just standing there.

Not literally, not naturally. It just seemed like that, you know. And he said, I felt like he just said to me, what are you doing? And I said, well, I'm trying to figure this out with no help from you, I might add. And he said to me, do you think I know what that means? I said, well, of course, you know what it means. He said, why don't you just ask? So I said, OK, what? And before I could say, what does this mean? When I said what?

When I started like that, he downloaded it only just like that. Here's what the man said. Jesus puts his hands on Jesus, the son of God, the creator and sustainer of the universe, who spoke the worlds into existence.

Put his hands on him and said. What do you say? He said, I see men like trees walking. Think about the symbols in the Bible. Can I read you a few scriptures? Psalm one, verse one through three. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of ungodly, nor stands in the paths of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

His delight is in the law of the Lord and his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree. Planted by the water, I saw men like trees. Psalm 52, verse eight, but I am like a green olive tree in the house of the God. Psalm 92, 12, the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree.

Jeremiah 17, seven and eight. Blessed is the man who trusts the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord, for he shall be like a tree planted by the water. Isaiah 55, 12, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. That's all my people. You've never seen a bunch of oak trees clapping their hands.

That's people. Matthew seven, verse 17. Even so, Jesus said, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears forever. He's not teaching us to be arborist. He is not teaching about trees. He's teaching about people. And Jesus called them trees. Are you following me? I just got to read this.

I'm getting out of time, but I'm going to read it anyway. Zechariah four, verse 11. Then I answered and said, what are these two olive trees at the right of the lampstand and at its left?

Verse 14. So he said, these are the two anointed ones. These are the two witnesses in Revelation who stand beside the Lord of the. OK, so Zechariah saw trees.

He saw trees. What are these two trees? The angel said, these are two men. These are the two anointed ones. These are the two witnesses in the end.

Are you all following me? So trees represent people in the Bible. Jesus puts his hands on him and says, what do you see? He said, I see men like trees. Then he put his hands on him again. He restored everything. Here's how simple it is. When he put his hands on him the first time, he opened his spiritual eyes.

When he put his hands on him the second time, he opened his natural eyes. Just like that. And by the way, you can't you can't just go on my opinion. You might say, well, Robert, really smart for figuring that out.

No, the Bible has to define itself. I told you that hundreds of times. So the Lord said to me, back up.

Just back up and watch what happens. OK, so at the beginning of the chapter, Jesus feeds 4000. One time he feeds 5000, one times 4000. And then right after he feeds the 4000, watch Mark 8.

Watch spiritual blindness and spiritual deafness. This is right before what we just read. Mark 8, verse 13. And he left them and getting into the boat again, departed the other side.

Watch. Now, the disciples had forgotten to take bread and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. Then he charged them. Jesus charged them, saying, take heed. Beware of the leaven, the yeast, the bread of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.

Watch this. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, he's mad because we didn't bring any bread. It's because we have no bread. Told you we should bring more bread. Talk about spiritual blindness. When Jesus said, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, he wasn't talking about natural bread. Well, he was talking about teachings, words, right? Now, watch. I love this.

But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, oh, man, I just love this. Why do you reason? Because you have no bread. Do you not yet perceive nor understand?

Is your heart still hardened? Watch. Having eyes, but you do not see.

And having ears, but you do not hear. Then listen what he says here. I like this. Then do you not remember when I broke the five lows for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you tell you? They said twelve. Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you tell you? They said seven. So he said, how is it you still do not understand?

Here's what he was saying. Fellas, if I wanted bread, I just whip a thumb up. I am not talking about bread.

Five lows and I fed five thousand. There's one loaf in this boat and 13 dudes. Bread is not the problem.

I am not talking about bread. I am talking about something in the spiritual realm. But you have eyes, but you can't see. And you have ears, but you can't hear. And I'm telling you, if you do not read this book with spiritual eyes, you won't get one thing out of it.

And here's the problem. If you don't read with spiritual eyes, then you can't understand it. And if you can't understand it, you will not turn from what is keeping you from getting healed. Remember, this book is a spiritual book written to spiritual beings by a spiritual being. The Bible even tells us that the natural man, the natural mind cannot understand this book. The way we understand this book is we approach it as little children. We don't read this book like, well, I've read it before or I'm a Sunday school teacher or I'm a pastor.

We come to God saying, Lord, I'm just a little child and I cannot understand this book unless you open my spiritual eyes. And I want to encourage you to get this series, get the whole series, maybe DVR my program so that you can watch it other times when you know it's more comfortable for you to watch. But I want to encourage you to get the series because I believe this series, More Than Words is one of the most important series that I've ever preached before. I want to remind you that sin will keep you from this book, but this book will keep you from sin. Hey, I've got one more message in this series.

I'll see you next time. Sixty six books, one thousand one hundred eighty nine chapters written over the course of fifteen hundred years. The Bible is so much more than a big old book. Its pages include life giving revelation and power. If we know how to read it in this series, Pastor Robert dives into how you can read the Bible, experience the miracles within it and refresh your hunger for the word of God. We would like to send you this seven part teaching series on CD for your gift of any amount today.

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