0:00 I found that one of the most effective ways to memorize scripture and have it written on my mind is to see if the Lord can, if I allow the Lord to write it on my heart. 0:23 The best way to memorize scripture is to obey it. So, let's look at this. I thought, as I was saying, we could look at it. Now, as you know, we have shortened the memory, the passage of memory. Are you able to pull up my slides, Matt? 0:42 We shortened the passage of memory just to make it easier for all of us. It's on the desktop if you need it. And just to help us all, you know, I think rather than biting off something that's too much for us to chew, we thought we'd start small. 1:01 And the purpose is not that we can only live with the shortened passage of scripture, but that we would pay attention to the whole thing. But our goal with it, as we shared at the beginning, was so that all of us would get in the habit of looking at the passage itself 1:19 and say, Lord, what can I learn from this? And so, as a helpful tool with memorizing it, it's good to look at the passage itself sometime during the week. Maybe, you know, a good way to do it is Sunday afternoon when you know, you know, we've 1 John 4.4. 1:35 That's our verse for this coming week. Sometime in the next day or two before it gets too late in the week, go to 1 John 4.4 by yourself or even pull it up on your phone. All of us have Bibles on our phone and look at it. 1:45 And let that ruminate in your mind as you read it to see how the Lord wants to apply 1 John 4.4 in your life. Now, Isaiah 1, 16 and 17, look at something very interesting here. It's a progression. Wash yourselves. The part we memorized was wash yourselves, cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice. 2:10 And I believe, this is how the Lord spoke this to me this week, is that you can't skip a step here. I think there's a progression here. And I don't want to get too analytical or anything like that. But I do believe that it confirms a spiritual principle that are... 2:27 Now, what is the justice that he's speaking about? For example, he says, after he says, seek justice, what justice? Reprove the ruthless. Defend the orphan. Plead for the widow. Now, this is a justice. In fact, the world that we live in is taken up with justice. 2:48 Justice is a very popular word, especially now. Pay attention to the media and you'll see they're all talking about social justice, economic justice, all kinds of justice. Even Supreme Court justices. But you realize that this seeking justice, which I think if all you said was, 3:07 hey, let's be a people who reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. That's a popular message. Fill the pews with that message. But you can't get to this seek justice without following the steps that he begins in. 3:23 Verse 16 by saying, wash yourselves. And any justice that we see in the world that does not come first from a people that have washed themselves in the blood of Jesus Christ from sin and ceased to do evil. He clarifies that by saying, remove the evil of your deeds from my sight. 3:47 Cease to do evil. And learn to do good. The goodness that I'm talking about. Learn what my goodness is. And then the justice you seek in pleading for the widow, in defending the orphan, and reproving the ruthless will be the right justice. 4:04 Others you'll end up with an earthly form of justice. And you know, all of you here, I think, have been here long enough and know us as a church, that that's been our vision. We care about the practical needs of people around us, the widows and the orphans and the ruthless, you know, reproving them. 4:22 But we're not going to do that before we have learned to wash ourselves and to cease to do evil and to learn to do good. And then and then to seek that justice. So keep that in mind, you know, because there is a message in Christendom that says, well, look at all the needs around you. 4:39 And we don't want to forget that. We're not going to skip step four either. All of these steps, if you can think of them like that, wash yourselves, cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice. All four of them are important. 4:51 But we can't jump a step, neither can we omit one. So that's just the way the Lord spoke it to me. And that helped me memorize it, honestly, because I thought, OK, what's the order in which he's listed at this? I think that makes sense. 5:05 Matthew chapter 12. Matthew 12, I'd like to read from verse 38 through the end of the chapter. Matthew 12, verse 38. After Jesus had just said what we've heard on in the last couple of weeks. 5:32 If you're not gathering, you're scattering. And then on down through, by your words you shall be justified. By your words you shall be condemned. Then, verse 38, some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we want to see a sign from you. 5:50 But he answered and said to them, an evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign. And yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 6:13 The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment. It's kind of like we heard about Tyre and Sidon also. The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. 6:29 And behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south shall rise up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. 6:43 And behold, something greater than Solomon is here. Now, when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, I will return to my house from which I came. 7:05 And when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits, more wicked than itself. And they go in and live there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. 7:30 That is the way it will also be with this evil generation. While he was still speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and brothers were standing outside seeking to speak to him. And someone said to him, behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to you. 7:51 But he answered the one who was telling him and said, who is my mother and who are my brothers? And stretching out his hand towards his disciples, he said, behold, my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother. 8:15 This phrase I want to read again. That is how, that is the way it will also be with this evil generation. That the last state has become worse than the first. That's towards the end of verse 43. The last state of this evil generation will be worse than the first. 8:39 This is the way it will be. Think about that for a moment. Now, in verse 39, we read what Jesus said about this evil and adulterous generation, that it seeks a sign. What does it mean to have, when Jesus said, an adulterous generation? 8:57 I want to show you a verse in James chapter 4, a verse you're probably familiar with. James uses the same words, the same word, adultery. Adultery is a very serious sin. If somebody came to you and says, I've just committed adultery, I can almost see what the look on your face would look like. 9:17 And that's the seriousness. In fact, a greater seriousness that we must have when Jesus uses the word adultery towards our spiritual life. If Jesus was to say to you or I or to anyone, you've committed adultery. Would we just, ah, yeah. 9:34 This is what it means to commit adultery. Verse 4 of James chapter 4. Well, let's begin reading in verse 1. What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? 9:52 You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 10:12 You adulteresses, you who are committing adultery. How, James? How, Holy Spirit? Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 10:33 What Jesus was saying is that it is that the root of this desire to seek a sign, like the Pharisees were asking him in Matthew 12, comes out of this spirit of spiritual adultery, the spirit of adultery that was in them. 10:49 It is the spirit of adultery that seeks a sign. It is the spirit of adultery that seeks a sign. And I find that we live in a Christendom that is very, very taken up with signs. Very taken up with signs. In fact, I've heard people ask me this very question. 11:08 What signs are there in your church that you are full of the Holy Spirit? Exactly like these Pharisees asked them. What can I come and see in your midst that will be a proof for me that you are full of the Holy Spirit? Give me some sign. 11:22 Now, they're usually thinking that there will be somebody up here pretending to lay hands on people and they'll fall down, what they call being slain in the spirit. And that will be a sign. And there are churches that will cater to an evil and an adulterous generation that seeks a sign. 11:39 Oh, you want a sign? Sure, come. We'll give you a sign. Come, you'll see this and you'll see that. And Jesus refused to cater to a sign. No, could Jesus have given them a sign? Absolutely, he could have. I mean, he did lots of signs. 11:53 We're going to talk about that today. He did signs. But when they asked him for a sign, he says, I'm not going to give you a sign except this message. I'm not going to do a mighty work. Do you think they left disappointed from that church service? 12:06 Jesus said, yeah, you want a sign? Come. The sign of Jonah. The sign of the Queen of Sheba. They left disappointed because they were looking for something, something spectacular. So it's the spirit of adultery that causes people to seek for a sign. 12:24 Now a sign, I looked up the definition of sign, just of curiosity. I know what it means. I think you know what it means easily also. We see signs all over the place. If you're driving down the road, you'll see signs. But the definition of sign that I read was this, that it's something that points to the existence of something else. 12:44 A sign is not intended to draw attention to itself. A sign is something that points to something else. Say, that is what you should be focused on. So, for example, if you're driving towards Estes Park, you might see a sign, and you do. 13:02 I think it's right there on Lincoln and Eisenhower. A sign that says, if you want to go to Estes Park, go this way, with an arrow pointing west. The purpose of the sign is not that you sit there and make a big deal out of the sign. 13:14 See, there's a big difference between that green sign that says, Estes Park, this way, and those little red hearts that we have now in Loughlin. The purpose of the red heart is that you look at the heart, and you think about the person, and, oh, wow, that's beautiful. 13:27 Now, you don't look at the sign that's saying, Estes Park, and think, oh, that's beautiful. Little green sign, Estes Park. No. You look at it and think, okay, now I know how to get to Estes Park. What captivates you about that sign is not how beautiful it is and the beautiful etching of the sign. 13:44 I mean, it's the same. They use a stencil, I think, to create those signs. And you're not taken up with that and thinking, wow, that's great. I love the font they use. No. I want to get to Estes Park, and I'm thankful for that sign that points me in the direction of Estes Park because of its beauty. 14:01 Imagine if I had a sign that says, this is the way to my house. Let's say sometimes you'll see signs saying, here's the wedding, or here's a birthday party, balloons, or garage sale sign this way. Now, if I put a sign up at the corner of my road saying, you want to come to my house? 14:14 Let's go this way. Santosh's house. This way. And I'm excited that you're going to come. And you didn't know the way. And so you followed the sign and came to my house. But let's say that on the way you saw the sign and you were so excited by how beautifully Megan had written up the sign with the pink and the purple. 14:29 And you camped out there at the sign post. You know, it seems silly to us, but that's the reality of what a lot of Christians are living and experiencing today. Church at the sign. Party at the sign. And meanwhile, in the father's house where he has prepared the banquet and he says, where are they? 14:51 They stopped at the sign. And you see them gather there at the sign saying, Lord, show me prophecies. Lord, show me somebody who's raised from the dead. Lord, show me somebody whose eyes are open. Show me somebody who's lame, who's walking again. 15:04 Whatever it might be. And does God want to do those things? Absolutely. But it's just a sign. It doesn't matter if it's a beautiful sign or a big sign or a little sign. If you find that when the Lord allows these signs in your life, that you're more taken up with those things. 15:24 Or if he doesn't allow a sign in your life. Have you thought about why God doesn't allow signs in your life? How many of you, let me ask you this, need a sign to tell you how to get to my house? Most of you, these days you have Google Maps. 15:39 But even then, most of you, if not all of you, have been to my house. And so you know your way there. And this is the reality of what the Lord is speaking to my own heart. If you still need a sign to the father's house, even after two years of knowing him, 15:55 what does that say about what you know about God? And the Lord says, you know what, I'm worried about giving you another sign. I'm concerned that if I give you another sign, you'll be taken up with that. And you'll never come and realize the joy of dwelling in my presence. 16:13 My dear brother, my dear sister, if you and I are going into the presence of God every day, yes, we need signs now and then. I need a sign for somebody who's never been to my house, a stranger, or even a friend of mine who's never been to my house. 16:25 Yes, they need a sign. I'll give them directions. That's another form of a sign, really. I'll tell them the address and you can look it up on maps and find your way to my house. But after a while of coming to my house, in other words, I would put it this way. 16:38 If you still need directions to my house, I'm sorry, I haven't invited you to my house enough. And that's how the father says to us as well. If you still need signs that tell you how you can get to my house, come, you've missed the message. 16:51 Maybe you took a sign and you made it into the father's presence, but then you found joy in the sign more than anything else. And that's why Jesus was saying an evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign. Because it's the spirit of adultery that causes me to find a resting place at the corner where the sign is. 17:12 Where there's lots of other things that will capture my attention. Like the cars that are whizzing by and the scenery around and all that other stuff that captures my attention around the sign. And I build a little shrine at the sign. 17:25 You know, in India, it's common to see these shrines at the corners. Usually it'll be like a little snake hole or a tree. And there's a little shrine there that the Hindus will erect to honor that thing they worship. You'll see those often. 17:41 And you know, in Christianity, there's a lot of people doing that. Setting up little shrines at the corners where God has done a sign for them. Or at a corner where they're waiting for God to do a sign for them. And I tell you this, the greatest tragedy would be, I think a great tragedy would be for somebody who sat at a corner saying, 17:59 Lord, you're going to heal me, you're going to heal me, you're going to heal me, you're going to heal me. And they camped at that corner expecting God to do a physical miracle or a physical sign that he knew that if he did it, 18:12 it would be the worst possible thing for them. Because the sign would cause them to be taken up with that experience that they had. And those experiences that God loves us and wants to do things for us, if he knows that that experience or that sign would be a greater hindrance to us actually coming into his presence, 18:33 he will say, I'm not going to answer that prayer of yours. In fact, I'm going to answer it and say no. Now, does God heal? Absolutely. Do we pray for healing? Absolutely. We must. But it must never be at the expense of coming into the presence of the Father where I learn the joy of dwelling in his presence. 18:53 This is the sign that we must be seeking for. And that's what Jesus goes on to say, I believe, if you think about it. So, like I said, a sign is something that points to something else. And the beauty and a really good sign, no matter what it looks like, no matter how beautiful the signpost is, 19:12 no matter how, you know, articulate or what's the right word? I think how beautiful the design of the sign is, that's not as important as whether it's pointing in the right direction and whether you actually follow the sign to its destination. 19:27 That's the purpose of the sign. So, it doesn't matter even if they misspell Estes Park, if they spell it E-S-T-E-S-P-A-K, as long as I get there. So, don't be taken up with the sign. Don't be taken up, you know, we live in a Christendom. 19:42 I hear this often. You know the sad thing? Phil and I were talking about this early this week. We find that there's a lot of young people that have come out of conservative circles, that have come out of places where maybe they came out of legalism, 19:55 but are drawn into this false seeking of signs. A false application of signs and a false signs period, where there's really no sign at all, but an evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, so they're establishing so-called churches. 20:13 Based on this, come, let's have a sign, church. Don't make the sign your destination. And like Jesus said, the last state of this generation that gathers around seeking for signs is this. It's worse. What does that mean? 20:31 He told an interesting story there, a parable really, but not a very popular parable, of a man, let's say, who was oppressed by the devil, whether he was possessed by it or oppressed by it, either way. He was under the power of the forces of darkness, 20:47 and he cried out to God, said, set me free, please. And God did. And this demon that was oppressing him or possessing him left. And he thought, ah, what a sign. I mean, is there a greater sign than a demon-possessed man being set free from his demon possession? 21:04 I think that's one of the most powerful things. I mean, this is spiritual warfare. This is even greater, in my mind, than raising a person back from the dead, because that's still just a physical thing. When a demon, when somebody has the authority to cast out a demon from inside somebody else, 21:20 knowing that they have spiritual power, and this is true casting out of demons I'm talking about, is there a greater sign than that? I think that's one of the greatest, in my opinion, at least. But this person who started out so bad was demon-possessed or demon-oppressed, 21:38 and Jesus delivered this person from one demon, and he went about saying, ah, I can't wait to tell you this story. And his life became about the fact that he used to have one, and Jesus took it out, but he did nothing more with it. 21:53 He left his house empty. What does it mean, empty? What does it mean to leave one's house empty? It means not to follow Jesus, not to be filled with the resurrection power of Jesus, with the divine nature. The only way that our hearts and our lives can be filled, 22:11 having been emptied, see, first they were full of wickedness, full of sin, and then Jesus comes and cleanses it out, and gets rid of that bad thing, that one demon that Jesus uses as an example here, representing evil. But then I leave my house empty, nice and clean. 22:28 It's a wonderful state. And my life becomes about what God did for me back then, that sign. And I hope maybe in the back of my mind that he might do another sign, something miraculous that I can talk about, but it's empty. 22:41 The love of God is not there. The holiness of God is not there. The peace of God is not there. The joy of God is not there. It's about this experience, about writing a biography, about getting in front of the camera, let's say, 22:54 and talking about how I used to have a demon, and I don't now. And Jesus says about this person, who it was, it could be said, he used to have a demon, but he doesn't now. What will happen to such a person? Eight times. 23:09 This one will come back with seven others. And the last state of this evil, adulterous generation that seeks a sign will be worse than the first. Is it possible for Jesus to do a powerful, powerful, true miracle in our lives? 23:25 And for the last state of my life to be worse? Let me state it again very plainly. Is it possible to encounter Jesus and end up in a worse condition than when I, before I met Jesus? This is exactly what he's saying. If you read it literally and carefully, 23:41 he's saying, it's possible for me, the almighty son of God, the redeemer, the savior of mankind, to interact with you. And your condition will be worse than before I interacted with you. That's a pretty serious statement. 23:54 Because you and I know, if we're born again, when Jesus came into my life, oh, what a transformation it made. My life is night and day different, day and night different, after I met Jesus than before. But Jesus says, coming out of the kingdom of darkness, 24:08 into the kingdom of his marvelous light, if you stay there empty, you will end up in a far worse darkness. And the Pharisees did. Before they met Jesus, they had never crucified the son of God. After they met Jesus, they did. 24:24 It would have been better, like it says about Judas, for that man to not even have been born. It would have been better for Jesus never even to have interacted with Jesus, because perhaps he wouldn't have betrayed him. It would have been better for the Pharisees 24:37 never to even have interacted with Jesus so that they wouldn't have betrayed him. And their last condition, with all their tithing, and with all their preaching, and their phylacteries, and their reciting of verses, and memorizing scripture, 24:54 and praying, and praying, you know, we like to make fun of the Pharisees, and call them Pharisees, but I think many of them were sincere in their long prayers. I think some of them just prayed, and prayed, and prayed, and prayed, 25:03 and they phylacteries. There are some very, very sincere Pharisees, and I'm sure there were. Nicodemus was one. Paul the Apostle was one. I think many of them were sincere, but when that became the focus, and that evil spirit of adultery 25:18 wasn't dealt with in their life, and they were taken up with how religious they were because of how long they prayed, and they were taken up with how God was pleased with them because of how much they put in the offering box, 25:29 and everybody else saw how much they put in the offering box, and all of these signs, the seeking of signs, and they came, maybe they went abroad. It says they traveled land and sea to make a disciple. They came back and told stories 25:41 of how they laid hands on people, or they did this and did that, and so many more people were told the gospel, and so many more people came to know, believe in the God of our God, and all these things, and the last condition 25:54 of these Pharisees was worse after they met Jesus. A very stern warning for us. Turn with me to John chapter 9. John chapter 9. What I'm speaking about today is the journey of the God-seekers, the journey of those who seek God, 26:15 because it says in Hebrews 11, verse 6, that God, he who comes to God, he who comes to God, he who comes to Jesus, must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek those things that he wants to give them. 26:36 Right? We say that again. Well, let's turn to Hebrews chapter 11. Look at that verse carefully. Hebrews 11, verse 6. I'm going to read it in the Bible of this evil and adulterous generation, if you will. They have a Bible too. 26:55 Otherwise, it's not adultery. It's just living in sin. Adultery is when you're married to somebody and you're sleeping around with somebody else. That's adultery. And spiritual adultery is when you read the Bible, but you seek for a sign. 27:07 You're not reading, you know, evil books. You're not worshiping Satan. You're reading the Bible, taking the name of Jesus, coming to the prayer meetings, coming early, and you're serving God, and you're an evangelist, and all these wonderful things, 27:18 but you seek for a sign. Because Hebrews 11, verse 6. Without faith, it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek those things that God wants to give him. 27:34 Is that how your Bible reads? I hope it's not there in any of your Bibles. This is how it reads. That God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. This is how my Bible reads it. This is the proof that I am not, I don't have this spirit of adultery. 27:53 It's that I'm diligently seeking him. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And this journey, this is the journey I want us to look at in this example of the man who was blind. And the journey that Jesus took him on 28:08 to see if he would be one who had faith. One who was going to diligently seek Jesus. Not even the sign that Jesus did for him. You know the story. Let me summarize it and then we'll tear into the story a little bit. There was a man who was blind. 28:23 He was born blind. And of course, the evil and adulterous generation says, oh, we're the experts in analyzing this, so we'll figure out what happened here. I mean, he was born blind. How can you blame him for that? Who should we blame for it? 28:37 This is another characteristic of the evil and adulterous generation that seeks to blame somebody. So they're the experts on the law and so they figure out, yeah, we've got to figure out a reason for why this man was born blind. 28:48 His parents must have sinned or he must have sinned. There's only two possible reasons. So they come to Jesus with this question. Did this man sin or did his parents sin because he was born blind? Jesus says, you're looking for a sign, 28:59 aren't you? You're looking for a magical answer. You're looking, you know, a lot of times when the Pharisees came to Jesus, they, I think, if they weren't trying to trick him, they were trying to ask him for some sort of magical answer. 29:10 And I've seen people try to ask me that question as well. or I've observed it. But the reason they're asking it is either they want to trap you to make you seem like a fool or they're looking for some magical answer that they can then use. 29:25 Some wonderfully put statement that just, aha, I got it now. You see how that's a sign as well? When there's that desire to understand with my mind an intellectual sign, if you will. There are intellectual signs, physical signs, 29:41 emotional signs. An intellectual sign is a sign that wants to understand everything and grasp it in a way that now I can say, I got it. And the Pharisees wanted that sign. What's the correct answer here? Let's analyze it. 29:54 Jesus says, I'm not going to give you a sign. Neither. So this man Jesus heals him and he opens his eyes and then Jesus disappears. After Jesus opens his eyes, he disappears and this man is now harassed 30:15 by his relatives and by the religious people in the synagogue. And then Jesus finds him later on. And after Jesus finds him, there's an experience that he has that's going to be the essence of what we look at. And the end result is 30:27 that this man's condition was actually far better than what he started out with. So he started out blind. He had his eyes opened physically. If he was like the Pharisees and the evil adulterous generation around him, his latter condition 30:46 would have ended up worse than before. This is what Jesus said, that the evil and adulterous generation, their latter condition will be worse. That's what happened to the Pharisees. And Judas Iscariot and all the others. 30:57 So here was the man born blind. Pretty bad condition. Let's start here. Then he had his eyes open. That's an improvement on his life. Like the man who had the one demon cast out of him. His eyes were open. Physical healing. 31:09 Now that was a pretty powerful sign. None of those Pharisees could do that. But after that, that's where we come into the picture. Whether God has done a sign for us or not like he did for that man, what happens afterwards? 31:21 Afterwards, does my latter condition end up being worse? That's how it was for the Pharisees. The latter condition of this man however, and that's why it's a good example for us, the latter condition was even better. He saw Jesus in a new light. 31:34 He got what we call revelation. He became a worshiper. And the journey of God's seekers is that we will become worshipers of Jesus. Whether God has actually opened, now whether you needed your eyes to be opened or not, all that Jesus did for him 31:51 was bring him to the place where now he had to decide whether he was going to be taken up with a sign and be part of that evil adulterous generation and end up with two eyes in hell. Or was he going to be who he became and see Jesus? 32:08 And I'd like to think he's in heaven today because of the experience he had with Jesus. We're not told otherwise, so we'll assume the best of him. Now, I'll divide this up into five stages here that I see. It's not like analytical 32:19 or anything like that. It's just what I've seen here. The first condition that Jesus looked for in this journey, the first step of this journey was like I have on there, becoming a nobody. See, Jesus could have healed this person. 32:32 God who spoke from heaven saying, let there be light and there was light and spoke and there were animals. I think he created animals out of the mud actually, but he spoke. It would have been plenty sufficient for Jesus to speak 32:46 to that man and says, be healed. His eyes would have been opened. Absolutely, he could have done it. But he did something very interesting with this man. He went up to him, it says in verse 6, John 9 verse 6, when he had said this, 33:00 he spat on the ground and made clay of the spit. It's very interesting. I want to ask Jesus, what was the real reason why you did this? I think there's one aspect of it that we'll see here. But he spat on the ground. I mean, 33:17 it's kind of rude to spit on the ground in front of somebody, right? I mean, if I just all of a sudden just dropped the loogie right here, you'd be like, what's going on? Jesus spat on the ground and then mixes it with clay 33:31 and applies it to his eyes after that. I mean, imagine you come to Jesus and says, Lord, I have a problem. He tells you, here's how I'm going to solve your problem. I'm going to spit on the ground. I'm going to take that spit, 33:45 mix it with some mud where everybody else's shoes have just wiped the dirt off of it and then I'm going to put it on your eyes. You think it was humiliating for him? Oh, it was. Here's this man. I'm sure he was thinking, 33:56 Lord, I'm already blind. People already make fun of me how I'm always stumbling around and I can't get by. Do you want to humiliate me even more? What was the Lord testing in his life? Are you relying to become a nobody? 34:10 You know, all of us are somebodies. That's the reality of it. The only one who was perfectly a nobody was who? Jesus. Jesus was the perfect nobody while he was on this earth. That's what it means when he says he humbled himself 34:22 even to the point of death on the cross. He humbled himself. He was the perfect nobody and he says, do you want this or do you want something, being a somebody? This is the spirit of adultery. The spirit of adultery says you can be a somebody 34:37 even if it's, you know, maybe you're not that important but yeah, you're a somebody. They shouldn't treat you like that. Being blind and then spitting on you, spitting on the ground, rubbing the dirt in your eyes. I mean, 34:48 talk about rubbing the dirt in your eyes. Jesus literally did it to this man to see. Are you willing to be an absolute nobody? And then he says, okay, now with this clay on your eyes, I want you to walk over there. I know you can't see. 35:01 You've got clay on your eyes and everybody saw in front of everybody. He didn't take him over privately and says, let me spit and all this. This is public humiliation. I've never had it happen to me but I wonder how would I deal 35:15 with it if God himself publicly humiliated me in front of people. How would I deal with it? Now, he may use an agent. He may use somebody in the church. He may use some circumstance to humiliate me. Not to humiliate me in order to destroy me 35:33 but to see am I willing to come to him as a true nobody? Somebody who's willing to even be spat upon and have that dirt rubbed in my eyes and says, but Lord, please, I want you to be a nobody. I look around at Christians 35:51 and I see people vying to be somebodies. Who's got more likes on Facebook or Instagram? Who's got the bigger church or whose videos are more popular? This is vying to be somebody and Jesus is saying, come away from that evil 36:06 spirit of adultery. Seek to be a nobody where if they think something of you, you may be in danger because they actually think something of you if you attach any value to what they think of you. But when you come to the place 36:19 of whether they think something of you or think nothing of you, you say, well Lord, I'm a nobody. And if my experience with you involves you're spitting on the ground, taking that clay, rubbing in my eyes and telling me 36:30 to go to Siloam and wash my eyes, I'll do it. Willing to be a nobody. First of all, faith. Remember the story of Naaman when he came to Elisha. This was the important general Naaman. It was a humiliation for him first of all 36:44 to come to Israel because the Syrians thought of themselves as better than the Israelites. And here's the superior nation going to the poor nation, the third world country, Israel, and saying, hey, I need some help from you. 36:56 You know, that would be like Americans who like to think of ourselves as first world going to a third world country and says, can you lend us some money? Can you give us some help? That's exactly what Naaman had to do, humiliating. 37:06 And he goes to Elisha. And guess what? This third world prophet doesn't even come to the door. He sends his servant. Gehazi answers the door and says, hey, Elisha's not going to come talk to you. He's got other things to do, 37:20 but he's going to tell you. Go dip in the Jordan and you'll be healed. And the important Naaman said, ah, I knew I couldn't expect anything out of this third world nation. And he goes away. But then his servant, one of his servants is wide 37:34 and says, man, it's a simple thing. The Jordan, the Jordan's not a swimming pool. There's no chlorine in it. It's a pretty mucky, dirty river. And I know you're the general and all that. And it's going to be a little embarrassing for you 37:44 when people around you are watching, hey, is that Naaman? What's he doing in the Jordan? But it's faith. God has planted a seed in your heart that says, perhaps Lord, and I'll do it. How low do you want me to go? What is it that you, 37:56 what experience are you going to take me through that's going to be so humiliating and embarrassing perhaps, but I'll do it because I have faith in you. I've heard your word and I do it. And he did. You know the story of Naaman. 38:07 He dipped and he was cleansed. I think of other Naamans, other lepers who heard that word and says, ah, no, not for me. They were too proud to receive God's work in their life the way they wanted it. You know, I see a lot of young people, 38:23 a lot of people, I guess, in general, who it's difficult for them to receive counsel and help and advice from certain people. They'll take advice from the elders. They'll take advice from men of God. But you ask them to take advice 38:37 from their wives or their husbands or their brother or their, just an ordinary brother who's not the big shot. Ah, you don't give me advice. And God sees you have the evil spirit of adultery. You value what is valued in the world. 38:51 But when God speaks to you through your children, perhaps, through your child, you think, eh, that's like dipping in the Jordan River. Ah, no, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to receive it from that person. He couldn't possibly 39:03 be speaking about me because look at him. He's only been a Christian for two months. How could he tell me? How could God speak through him? And God passes by such people and they miss out. The other thing God looks for is honesty. 39:17 I have that there but I won't show it to you. Look it up. In a similar passage where God healed one man who was blind, he opened one eye. This man was also blind. I think it's a different story but he opened one of the eyes. 39:28 And, or I don't know, anyway, he was opened partially. I don't know if it was one eye but it was partial opening and he was kind of blurry. So he says, you know, I used to have complete black, complete darkness but now I can see gray. 39:42 I can see, you know, I can make out there's an object there but I can't tell if it's a tree or a human being. And I go to shake hands with that person and I realize it was a tree. And I go to talk to that person and I realize 39:53 oh, that's a car. This is the reality of his life. And Jesus asked him, hey, at least you're not bumping into stuff. You can see that there's something there so you're avoiding it. He says, no, I'm not satisfied with that. 40:05 And that's the other thing God looks for. Are you satisfied with the knowledge and the revelation of God that he's given to you up to this point? He says, Lord, I see you vaguely. I hear your voice kind of, it's real soft. 40:18 I don't know if it's your voice or not. I'm just kind of unsure. I'm always walking with uncertainty. Is this the voice of God or not? God says, you want to remain that way all your life or not? And says, no. What if Jesus, 40:29 having left this man with this partial vision started to walk away? What do you think he would have done? I think he would have like those, like blind Bartimaeus, son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus would have said, 40:40 but I did. I cleansed you from your sin. He says, no, Lord, if you leave me like this, my last condition will be worse than the first. I'll be worse off with a partial opening of my eyes than if you had never opened my eyes at all. 40:53 I think that's what he would have said. Jesus said, ah, that's what I was looking for. Without that kind of faith, it is impossible to please me. Because if you come to me, you must know that I am, I am powerful, not just for a partial 41:08 opening of your eyes, but for a complete opening of your eyes. Is there a need in your life? Is there a sin in your life that God has partially set you free from? Maybe he's forgiven it. Maybe you're in victory, walking in victory 41:22 once a month. Or you fall into it once a month. Are you satisfied with that, my dear brother, dear sister? This is what Jesus is testing you. And you look at your life and think, ah, you know, I used to lust with my eyes every day. 41:35 I used to lose my temper with my wife every day, but now once a month, on a really bad month when it's her time of the month and my time of the month, I just lose it. I'm sorry. My boss yelled at me, so I'm going to take it 41:44 out on you. And I look and say, at least it's better than that. You know what Jesus says to me, if that's my attitude? You evil, adulterous generation. They're not coming to be seeking for me. And it's possible, and I'm convicted, 42:00 my dear brothers and sisters, it's possible to seek for a better life more than to seek for God himself. It's possible to seek to treat my wife and my husband in my sincerity in a better way more than to seek for God himself. 42:15 and if my motivation in being kind to my wife and to my children and to loving my brothers and sisters in the church is because I'm seeking God, that's the prayer he will answer. That's the love that will be without hypocrisy 42:28 because I'm seeking God diligently and says, the reason, Lord, I acted out that way towards my wife or towards my husband was because I'm not diligently seeking you enough. And oh, you don't have to be embarrassed. You don't have to be 42:42 condemned about it. It's like God jumps out of his throne saying, oh, thank you for asking me for that. Could you imagine the delight? Read that story sometime in Mark 8. Imagine the delight in Jesus' eyes when this man 42:57 whom he had given a partial miracle to said, I am not done. So God looks for those who are willing to become a nobody through their faith and their honesty. What happens later on, if you read the story in John 9, is that this man 43:10 is now oppressed by religious people and by his family. God is looking. The next step on that journey, I believe, is this, is that he will test us on whether we're willing to compromise and that compromise will come through 43:23 our relatives and through religious people. People who will try to apply religious boundaries around us, legalists. People who will try to draw us back and hold us back from a simple, pure devotion to Jesus and to his kingdom 43:39 and to his body on this earth through, oh, don't take it that radical, man. You know, look at my life. I'm a Christian too. Do you see anything wrong with me? And that compromise, that spirit of compromise is the spirit 43:52 of an evil and adulterous generation. A spirit that's not sold out to Jesus. We heard about this a few weeks ago. If you want this to be a diligent seeker of God is to say, God, I love you diligently at the expense of my father, 44:10 my mother, my brother, my sister, my wife, my children, and even my own self. That's exactly what Jesus said, Luke 9 and Luke 14. And Jesus proved it. You know, if you later on in the same passage, his own mother, his mother who loved him, 44:25 his mother who loved God, his mother who was a follower of his, who is a part of the body of Christ, I believe, because we read about her in the book of Acts. How she was there with the 120, with the 119 others. Jesus' mother was there too. 44:39 But this same mother, Jesus said, who are my mother and brothers and sisters? Yeah, they're coming, expecting to see me. But he points to his disciples and says this, these are my mother and my brothers. So the test will be of compromise 44:54 will come through these two areas, I believe. Through fear of our relatives and fear of religious people. And you see, as you look around Christians, there's a lot of people stuck in religious environments, stuck in religious systems 45:06 because they fear their religious leaders. And the Pharisees came to this young man, to this man whose eyes had been opened and they tried to harass him and says, we're going to kick you out of the church. And then they tried 45:19 to attack him through his parents and his parents said, they're going to kick you out of the church. And then they confronted his parents and the parents were so afraid of the Pharisees that they said, he's an adult, go talk to him, 45:29 leave us out of it. Kind of like, hey, we've got our little comfortable membership, we want to retire and die easily, don't mess with us but deal with him. No compromise. That's the next step of that journey of seeking for God. 45:46 Third step is Jesus goes finding him, he goes looking for him. Here's this man cast out. He says he couldn't find Jesus. They asked him, where is this man? He says, I don't know. I don't know where Jesus is. And you'll find, 45:59 and I found in my own life, dear brothers and sisters, that along this journey where God has been able to bring me to a place of becoming a nobody and I come to him in faith and honesty and I take a stand against my relatives 46:10 and I'm not going to compromise and then I feel alone. Then I feel like it's just me by myself and I feel like everybody else around me has deserted me and those people that I thought loved me so much have left me all alone. 46:23 Jesus comes and finds this man while he's alone, him. Jesus heard that this person was going through that difficult time who was struggling in some way and Jesus found him. And I want you to know, my dear brother, dear sister, 46:35 if you're in that phase in life where you feel isolated, if you feel confused or perplexed about God's dealing in your life, what he's allowing you or your family to go through, I want you to know, Jesus is looking for you. 46:47 Man, this blind man was diligently seeking Jesus, he didn't know how to find him. And if you're in those areas in your life where you're not, that stage in your life where you're unsure about how to find Jesus, you diligently seek him, 46:59 you cry to him. We were talking last night at our dinner table about how do we reach out to those in the cultures in which we live especially who know about God but they don't know what it means to be a true Christian and this is the way 47:14 the Lord has spoken this to me at times in this regard and that is that there's something powerful about the name of Jesus and when people pray just to God or to being good or to make me better and there's a lot of people 47:26 in this country that grew up in environments where that's all they were taught and I found that one thing that really transforms their lives and transformed my own is when they start to pray to Jesus. When they take the name of Jesus 47:39 and they're saying Lord Jesus you show me what it means to be good Lord Jesus the name of Jesus the name of Jesus and you'll read story after story after story this is true about Sadhu Sundar Singh a Hindu man I think he was a Sikh man 47:53 grown up in northern India about to commit suicide and he had heard the name of Jesus he says Jesus if you're really there I don't know what you're like or who you are you must show yourself to me else I'm going to go commit suicide 48:05 and he did and God used him and made him one of the most powerful instruments of his kingdom in India Sadhu Sundar Singh to Jesus our intercessor this is the next stage of what we see on this journey of seeking God verse 36 48:21 of John chapter 9 the man answered and said who is he Jesus asked him do you believe in the son of man and he answered and said who is he Lord that I may believe in him Jesus said to him you have both seen him and he is the one 48:36 who is talking with you what happened in that moment it says and he said Lord I believe what happened in verses 36 37 and 38 that was different from what happened in verse 6 and 7 what changed I mean this man's eyes 48:58 were already opened did he need anything else oh he did this is what Jesus was determined to give him a revelation of Jesus I think what happened to this man was similar to what happened to Peter where flesh and blood didn't reveal this 49:13 to him but the father in heaven revealed to this man who was born blind whose eyes had been opened this is Jesus this is the Messiah and the Pharisees with all their two eyedness who'd walked around their whole life studying the Torah 49:30 and studying the law had missed it and they looked and they looked right at Jesus and put him to death and this man who was born blind had his physical eyes opened and went through that test of compromise and passed it and Jesus found him 49:45 and says I want to give you something more than just the physical opening of your eyes I want to give you revelation of who I am my dear brothers and dear sisters more than memorizing scripture more than understanding doctrine 49:56 our greatest need is a revelation of Jesus this is why we study the word this is why we memorize scripture is to get revelation but we can't do it we can't earn it I can't study the scripture I can't go to seminary long enough 50:11 to ever get revelation of Jesus in fact in some ways those are a hindrance to him but when I come to God in faith and honesty and I say I'm not going to compromise I don't care if none go with me still I will follow the world behind me 50:24 the cross before me still I will follow and then I come to Jesus and I realize he was looking for me this whole time and he opens my eyes my spiritual eyes the eyes of my heart are enlightened to see Jesus a second work of opening 50:41 you know who Jesus gives this to there was one time where Jesus says I praise thee father I thank thee father why because all these Pharisees he didn't know name them by name but all these experts with their two eyes don't see it 50:57 but blind people the ones who have become nobodies the babies when he says you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent Matthew 11 verse 25 and reveal them to babes what does it mean to be revealed to a babe 51:11 a baby is a nobody if I left my youngest daughter Catalina here and left home without her she couldn't even fend for herself that's what it means to be a nobody I can do nothing of my own initiative now she can actually 51:25 do some things now she's becoming more of a somebody but when she was born oh you should have seen her she could do absolutely nothing couldn't eat couldn't even take care of herself just if we if we had left her to herself 51:37 she would be dead and that's the mentality that God is looking for that if God leaves me to myself I will die I say that again if God leaves me to myself I won't be able to fend for myself oh I'll have a good job I'll have a good marriage 51:55 even perhaps I can go to plenty of marriage counseling seminars and I'll make a little bit more money and I'll make the right financial moves so that I save up for myself I'll have all of those things but I will have died spiritually 52:05 because I can do something on my own initiative and then there was Jesus who says I can do nothing the ultimate nobody these are the ones whom God gives revelation to and this man born blind kicked out spat on by Jesus himself 52:22 it seemed like despised and you know I bet part of the reason that he was afraid maybe he was afraid to see Jesus I don't know what else he's going to do to me last time I saw him he spat on my face now what but he says 52:33 I can't go on living like this something in that man told him I must find Jesus and he did and he got revelation of who Jesus was a knowledge of God himself beyond his works it says in Psalm 103 verse 7 that God revealed 52:50 his works to the people of Israel his ways to Moses Moses had a revelation of God read that verse sometimes it's powerful there was a distinction between Moses and God's people why was it that Moses was the leader of the people 53:03 is it because God put him there why did God put him there because Moses was after something Moses was a man of faith who was saying God I want you if you go if you don't go with us but you give us plenty of water and plenty of man 53:16 and plenty of of quail and all that I'm not going because I'm not after the quail and the man and the water I'm after you if your presence does not go with us we shall not move Exodus 33 and this God says oh I'll show you 53:32 my glory I can't show you my face because it'll kill you but I'll let you see my back after I pass by and Moses got a glimpse of it and you and I in the new covenant get to be partakers of this glory this glory in us Christ in me 53:46 the hope of glory to who to the babes to the ones who are after God who says Lord I don't care if you never if you allow everybody else to eat the quail and the manna and the water but I don't get any I don't care about that 53:59 Lord because I don't want the sign I want you John 9 verse 38 and he said Lord I believed and he worshipped him this is worship this is our destination where Jesus becomes preeminent and he saw Jesus 54:20 what do you think happened in that moment when it says he worshipped him what caused this man it says I don't read that he worshipped after his eyes were opened physically you know I don't read that it says his eyes were opened 54:31 he went to the pool of Siloam he didn't come back and worship Jesus no it says that he came back and found Jesus and Jesus did a second opening of his eyes the worship that comes out of seeing Jesus as preeminent this is the only worship 54:45 at all there is let me say that again the the choice we put it that way the life the response that comes out of truly seeing Jesus as preeminent as the only thing that's worship the response that comes out of seeing Jesus 55:03 as the only thing is worship whom have I Psalm 27 verse 8 in heaven but thee and there is nothing I desire on earth besides thee this is worship that Christ might become preeminent Colossians 1 verse 18 God is looking for those 55:19 who will worship him in spirit and truth and there are others plenty let them go it doesn't matter whether our churches are small or big God's not interested in quantity we know this what he's interested is in this quality 55:32 of worship where I'm not going to let go of God until he's opened my eyes and the natural response of my being is worship I fall on my face and worship him and let's remain there like we sang in that hymn this morning you would think 55:46 it was really the Lord that the Lord read Reuben to pick that song Father of Jesus love's reward what rapture will it be prostrate before thy throne to lie and gaze and gaze on thee Amen
