Seeing with Supernatural Eyes
Seeing with Supernatural eyes:
Let me re-cap last week:
Put on mind of Christ,
make thoughts obedient to Christ,
Breakdown strong hold of doubt,
put emotions under control of Holy Spirit ( your feelings are wrong)
take ownership of your words:
This morning I want to continue by looking at how to open our Spiritual eyes, ears, mind, and heart.
Read II Kings 6:8-17
Let us pray
Importance of seeing with supernatural eyes:
Your enemy is this natural world.
If we focus on circumstances, problems, needs, and impossibilities you face,
you will not be in a position to receive God’s miraculous provision, and things may never change. In fact, things may even grow worse.
When we have supernatural eye sight we can take hold of God’s promise as a present reality, even though you may not see or perceive them with your natural sense
I. One key is: What we think leads to what we choose to see:
Remember the Pharisees example they witnessed miracle after miracle. They say arms restored, eyes opened and ears unplugged. They also saw a violent lunatic made sane with a spoken word.
but because of their hard hearts, they only saw a law breaker healing on the Sabbath.
Let me ask you where does is say in the O.T. healing on the Sabbath was a sin? It does not.
C.F. a politician who says the same things over and over even though they are not true…pretty soon we believe them just because they are said over and over.
I. Our view of supernatural gifts:
how we look at supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit will affect our eye sight.
Jesus gave the church the Holy Spirit which gave them power to do what God wanted them to do.
The Holy Spirit gave us supernatural gifts to accomplish His mission. There are 9 total:
Turn to I Corinthians 12:1-11, 27-31
I Corinthians 14:1-5,12, 39-40 tell us the same and why.
How you view these gifts will affect what you see.
There are 2 camps you can fall into:
Some Christians believe these gifts are no longer used today…
They are called cessationist. Basically, they believe the gifts have ceased or stopped
Some believe the gifts ended in the first century or shortly thereafter.
I went to a four year Bible collage that taught this.
Here is the problem with this:
1. It is not in the Bible.
Nowhere, nowhere does the Bible say this. NO where does it allude to the first century being the only century of gifts.
One verse they used to support this is I Corinthians 13:8-13
They say this is saying all of the 9 aforementioned gifts will end when the perfect comes.
First of all it only mentions three, prophecy, tongues, and knowledge.
There are 9 gifts Paul just used.
When the perfect comes they will be done away with.
First let’s look at what happens after the perfect comes:
When the perfect comes we will see face to face, and know fully.
This is saying there will be no mistaking. No need for help we will know fully.
What they say is the perfect is the N.T. that after the N.T. is completed, which they call the perfect, there will be no need for these three and all other supernatural gifts.
The problem with this is the N.T. does give us all the answers, we just can’t agree on the answers.
If this is from the N.T. why are there so many different interpretations of the Bible?
We can’t agree on much anything, If we see face to face why so many denominations?
When we stand face to face we will not need any denominations or explanations.
The Greek word is telios…brought to its end…finished…
Literally means the end at which all things relate the aim or purpose.
Second remember last week we talked about revelation knowledge?
That is where we receive what God has revealed by asking who, the Holy Spirit, to illuminate our minds to His truth. The Holy Spirit guides us…..
If all gifts are gone from this verse, how about the power of the Holy Spirit to help us pray, to help us understand Scripture?
If we assume 6 of the gifts not mentioned are include why not everything the Holy Spirit does?
See, It is hard to believe Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to give us power to do these things for 40-50 years then took almost all of the power away for 2000 yrs….why would He do this?
Some say the reason so many Christians and churches do not believe is because they do not see.
I say they do not see because they do not believe.
3rd problems is that all throughout the early church the early church fathers wrote of miracles.
The outpouring over the last 2-3 hundred years
C.F. Justification teaching by Luther 1500’s
The church got so far away from this teaching it seemed foreign now there is not many churches that does not teach this.
So what is the perfect?
The return of Christ….
At which things will be finished, brought to an end, the means at which all things relate, or aim and purpose will be complete
The key: gifts are for anyone who seeks them: then and now!
First this is not a matter of salvation if a Christian wants to believe this that is up to them, however it will affect a couple of things:
It will affect the amount of power they walk in!
C.F. a car and not believing in gas
You can still go, you have to push and tug, but imagine if you believed in gas?
It will affect how they see supernaturally.
Those of us who believe these gifts are for today see the supernatural a little differently.
By a round of applause how many have ever been in a near miss accident?
Some may say boy due to my cat like reflexes I was able to escape….by my power, my strength and my might.
Or you can believe God protects, supernaturally His children. Everything happens for a reason, when the Holy Spirit in involved there are no coincidences
You may still have an accident, but everything happens under God’s plan!
Or better yet? How many have ever had someone laid on their heart or mind? You wake up thinking of someone or you are sitting there and someone pops into your mind out of the blue.
You could say coincidences, bad chicken or gas.
Of you could say as a Spirit led Christian, it is the Holy Spirit.
Imagine if we called that person and they were in need.
Why can’t it be a supernatural gift of knowledge….
How many ministry opportunities have we missed out on because we believe in coincidences or gas?
Before I go to bed at night a pray the Holy Spirit will speak to me in my dreams. Let me know how to minister better and who to minister too.
God uses dreams…Acts 2:15-18
II. How you see God
God is in control.
No matter your circumstances God is in control. Top of the world or bottom of the barrel God is in control.
Nothing hidden or no blessing un noticed. God is in control.
During the first “March For Jesus” a few years ago in Washington D.C. there were about 3000 people gathered together. All the popular TV evangelist were allowed to speak. Those preachers that owned TV stations were allowed to speak. One by one down the line they spoke of how bad America was. They spoke of:
Immorality
Crime
Hatred
Abortions
Drug addicts
Alcoholism
Child abuse
Until everyone there had their heads hanging and was depressed
The last speaker of the day was an old preacher from Washington D.C. area. Maybe they just let him speak because he was a local preacher. His name was Bishop Smallwood Williams. He said, “Ladies and Gentlemen after hearing all that I heard today I just got one thing to say – GOD IS NOT IN TROUBLE.”
Key here is God is not in trouble!
Some of you have:
Problems in your marriage
Problems on the job
Problems in your family
Problems in your finances
Problems in your health
I’ve just got one thing to say: “GOD IS NOT IN TROUBLE.
Some of you are in:
Crisis situations
Critical times
Dark days
Trials of your faith
Bitter circumstances
I’ve just got one thing to say: “GOD IS NOT IN TROUBLE.”
Some of you are:
Going through the storms of this life
Battling through some rough times
Facing disappointments
Down to your last ounce of strength
Being tested and tried
I’ve just got one thing to say: “GOD IS NOT IN TROUBLE.”
If you put your faith in God you will not be in trouble either…no matter what!
Daniel in a den of lions
Daniel 6:10, 20-23
God is not in trouble!
3 Hebrews in the fiery furnace
Daniel 3:24-28
You know the story 7 times hotter and those guards were burned up
God is not in trouble
Moses and Israel at the Red Sea
Exodus 14:13-14
God is not in trouble!
If you belong to God you are not in trouble either…He is in control and can make you circumstances a miracle opportunity if you have faith and believe!
No matter what! Weather in a lions den, a fiery furnace or with your back against the wall God is in control
God does not cause evil.
Key here is the fall of man:
There are two forces out there
God stands ready to meet you at the point of your need and release His miracle power
Satan stands ready to use you r circumstances to defeat you.
Turn away from God
We must see our circumstances as miracle opportunities for God.
When you wait for God He will show up and show you out of your problems.
God has no evil in Him, He does not tempt James 1:13, He does not send problems, he does not send financial disasters, He does not cause marriages to break up, He does not cause pain or sickness, He does not bring death and destruction.
Listen here is an answer to a mystery….
All wrong in the world we live in. death, abuse, all due to the fall.
I John 3:8
There may be times God will allow certain circumstances in your life to build and test your faith and bring you to a new level of Spiritual maturity.
Romans 8:35-37, 28,
But read I Corinthians 10:13
God is a rewarding God.
Key here is to trust God even though…
God has a plan for you to prosper, to give you life and to give you hope:
When we think of rewards we think in our carnal mind, money, tv, hole in one….
One of the greatest things about God is He is faithful.
God is a loving God even if you don’t feel loved
God is a forgiving God even if others don’t forgive
God is a healing God even if you are not healed
God is a miracle working God even if you do not receive a miracle
God rewards today:
Tomorrow and in the future:
Again we focus on this natural world but the faithful can rest assured we are getting rewarded for our faithfulness:
How you see self
Key here is remember you are favored:
Regardless of how you feel, or what you think, or what you see, focus on God and His unlimited supernatural power…
This world wants to put you down and step on you make you think you are not worth much…
You have been given a crown of favor by God.
This is why it is so important to watch what we think
When Satan comes knocking and telling you that you will fail, say wait a minute, I have to fix my crown of favor.
You have to fix your crown of favor.
You can expect to see Gods hand at work in your life!
How you see others
Key: see the potential in the unlikely
Some see others as outsiders and dirty
God loves all people and His desire if for them to be saved.
When we start looking at people as God’s children, then we can start looking for opportunities to seek and save them.
We can start trusting the Holy Spirit’s knowledge to lead us to them…
How you see trouble
Trouble comes for various reasons:
Due to our own actions
The actions of others
A test of our faith
An attack of the enemy.
Key: Ask God to strengthen what remains:
One key is to ask God to strengthen what remains:
One tire can come off and you say God, I still have three, strengthen what remains
One leg is bad and you say God, I still have another one, strengthen what remains
∙ ONE FIGHTING FOR YOU IS MIGHTIER THAN THE ONE FIGHTING AGAINST YOU
∙ BATTLE IS TEMPORARY
∙ VICTORY IS ETERNAL
∙ SUFFERING IS FOR A MOMENT
∙ GLORY IS EVERLASTING
∙ FIGHT IS EARTHLY
∙ CELEBRATION IS HEAVENLY