Open The Eyes of My Heart | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

I'm going to ask you to forgive me in advance.

My throat is not in the strongest condition.

It's a little weaker than it usually is, and so I'll resist

the temptation of straining it. But if if that means anything

for you, just lean it a little bit more.

And I trust that the Lord will use it, because He promises us

that His power is made perfect in our weakness, so we give Him

glory for that. My prayer for you today, for all

of us today, is that the result of what you would hear from the

Word is that you would have a sincere cry from the depths of

your soul, and that cry would simply be, Oh, God, open the

eyes of my heart, please. I see, but I want to see more.

I perceive, but I want to perceive more.

Please, Lord, if this is available, I need you to touch

me again. So I'm telling you in advance

that that is the aim. That is the goal for all of us

today is that we each individually, would be able to

have that sincere petition before the Prince of Peace.

Lord, please open my eyes again. So we come to Mark 8, where we

get that truth, where we get that exhortation, And Mark 8,

Mark 8:22

verse 22, Mark 8/22. And they came to Betsaida, and

some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to

touch him. And he took the blind man by the

hand and let him out of the village.

And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he

asked him, do you see anything? And he looked up and said, I I

see people, but they look like trees walking.

Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he opened his

eyes. His sight was restored, and he

saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home,

saying, Do not even enter the village.

Lord, we Revere you here. We fear you, Lord, even reading

these verses, we tremble, realizing that this is the voice

of Almighty God. And while we pray that you would

grant us the grace to know what your heart is for this passage

and what we can do, so that we can honor you through it.

And so, Lord, may there be a special touch upon the delivery

of this word. And Lord also a touch on our

hearts, so that we may receive it, receive it the way you

intended us to receive it. We give you honor in advance,

and we trust that you will guide us in thought and an affection

to make that heart cry. Open my eyes.

I want to see more. In Jesus name.

Amen. Whenever Jesus performed a

healing miracle, it was always instantaneous.

It was always immediate, whether it was a fever or whether it was

leprosy, every kind and any kind of disease was helplessly

subject to the demands of the Lord Jesus Christ and the

highlight reel of the masters. Compassion and power throughout

the gospels testifies of that consistency.

No infirmity was ever able to resist the authority of Christ.

But for the first and only time, we come to this passage and we

read something quite interesting.

We look here and we learned that there is a healing that is

taking place, but the results are not what we are used to.

This is unusual. This is a healing that takes

place in stages. It's progressive.

It's not something that happens right at the moment.

It's not something that happens right when the command was

given. You and I are used to seeing a

single touch or even a brief word bring about the complete

result of a man's restoration. That's all it took for the

impossible to be made possible. But this time we read about the

Lord reaching out and touching a man not once but twice.

And for the quick reader, he might be tempted to make this

mistake. And that mistake is this, to

perhaps be persuaded that okay for the first time now Jesus has

finally met his match. Here is a component of our

fallen world that was capable of resisting the will of God.

Or maybe you're not thinking that.

Maybe the thought is, well, here's Jesus and his humanity.

Yes, at this moment doing something supernatural, but

because of the complexity of his nature, he was perhaps

unprepared for the challenge that awaited him in Besada.

And now he is taken by surprise that there is something that's

actually putting up a fight. Any speculation, please be

careful. Any speculation that attempts to

undermine the character and the capability of the Lord Jesus

Christ is off base. It's to be dismissed completely.

What we need to understand here is that you know Christ enough.

The Bible testifies enough to be confident that the Lord is

always able and that there is no rival in any dimension, whether

that dimension is physical or spiritual, that can resist him.

He is irresistible. But the question still stands

when we look at this text, right?

What is happening here? Why is it that the Lord didn't

achieve his goal from the first attempt?

And we can be spared for much confusion when you establish

this simple fact that Christ's method here, not just the

healing but His method, including the progression, is

totally intentional. This is not being done

unknowingly. This is being done purposely.

This is being done with a different goal in mind, a deeper

goal in Christ's mind. So understand that the Lord is

just as much as control and control here with this process

as you would be with any kind of miracle where things happen

right there. And if that's true, then I want

to know, okay, then what's His intention?

What? Why is the Lord doing this in

stages instead of doing it right there and then?

Why waste the time? Why give people the idea or the

possible temptation to question you concerning your ability and

the Lord's not intimidated by our questions?

The best way to understand the best way to find clues is to do

something that you should always be doing.

When you read something that seems challenging, look at the

context. Look at the surrounding terrain,

pull up the rearview mirrors and say okay, What is it that

happened to me before? Maybe.

What happens next that might give me some indication And give

me some answers here? Because when you get the answer

to the question that I just presented to you, there you will

find gold Golden Revelation, the beauty of Christ's mind and his

wisdom and his power. And so you were here in the past

two weeks. But just in case you weren't or

you forgot, let's look back. Look here in verse 14 down to

verse 21 at the same chapter, Jesus feeds the 4000 and he and

his disciples get into a boat and they are headed for their

desired location. And while they're in the boat,

Jesus cautioned them saying watch out, beware of the 11 of

the Pharisees in the 11 of the of Herod.

We talked about that last week. So here's Christ warning his,

his own disciples about the influence and the impact that

the false teachings of these parties can bring about in their

own faith. And what did the disciples do?

What the disciples do best, They don't even engage with it.

They don't inquire. Further, the the idea of leaven

springs up. And what comes up in their

conversation with one another? Bread.

They're talking about bread in verse 16.

They begin discussing with one another the fact that they had

no bread. Yeah, Andrew, you forgot bread.

Did you freak? Peter, where'd you where they

begin to just talk. And here's the Lord.

Stanley, you just completely miss what I'm saying.

And as they're discussing and as they're arguing maybe hear the

Lord, aware of this in verse 17, does what he needed to do and

what a good teacher will do from time to time He rebukes them,

and this is what I want to bring to your attention.

Look here in verse 17. And Jesus, aware of this, said

to them, Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread?

Do you not yet perceive or understand?

Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see?

And having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember when I

broke the five lows for the 5000?

How many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?

They set them 12 and the 7th. For the 4000, how many baskets

full of broken pieces did you take up?

And they set them seven. And he said to them, Do you not

yet understand? The last question Jesus asks

before we are introduced to this blind man is do you not yet

understand? Now you you just scroll back and

reexamine his his diagnosis. Here, reexamine what he is

saying. Notice especially verse 18

having eyes. Do you not see, which means the

same thing as verse 21? Do you not yet understand?

The eyes are often a metaphor for understanding, and Christ is

drilling that into the hearts of his disciples.

He's saying here, you're not getting it yet, are you?

He's communicating that although the disciples had their eyes

open to an extent, they did not have it completely opened.

And and to what extent were their eyes open?

The disciples, at this point in Jesus ministry understood enough

about Christ to love him and to abandon everything, to follow

him. And yet the perception of deeper

truths was still unclear. And so Jesus here, in other

words, is giving an honest diagnosis of the spiritual

perception of his closest followers at this point, and

assesses this very boldly and courageously, but honestly and

lovingly, that they suffered from partial blindness

concerning 2 main things. His teachings and his character.

His teachings and his character. And from there this is the this

is the flow of thought. This is what the Holy Spirit is

trying to do. From there, after establishing

the impairment of his own, we now come to a man who is

physically blind. And being physically blind, he

receives a unique kind of healing, not the one that we're

used to. Glorious connection praised me

to his name for the simple discipline of honoring the

context. Here is the link.

Think about it. What is taking place with this

miracle is meant to compliment and elaborate the truths that

we've already discovered from the previous conversation.

Have you eyes but do not see, Do you not yet understand?

And then we transition. And here's a man who can't see.

But when he receives the touch from the Lord, it's gradual.

When he grows in his perception, it's progressive.

It's not immediate. There are many messages behind

the miracles of Jesus, and there is a parable with this miracle

especially. And this is the message.

In the same way that this man had partial vision, the

disciples also had limited spiritual understanding.

And yet, in the same way that this man with his physical eyes

receiving healing gradually. Check this out.

The disciples could also expect greater clarity as Christ would

continue to work in them. Not only are you like this man

who cannot see completely, though he should, but I also

will work with you as I did with this man.

That's the object lesson. And many people come to the

miracles of Jesus and appropriately parallel the

experience of the miracle with the experience that you and I

gain at salvation. But this is not a miracle about

salvation. It's not dealing with what

happens to you when you become born again.

No, this illustrates what happens after you get saved.

This is a miracle that points and illustrates your

sanctification. Christ doesn't just open your

eyes when you repent and believe.

Christ longs to open your eyes to see as he sees more and more

and more. And that process is not

instantaneous work. It takes time.

Now, if we're honest, we can all admit that that's a miracle that

we each need every single day. I'm talking to you born again.

Believe it. I'm not talking to the person

who still needs his his eyes to be open at the beginning of all

things. I'm talking about you who had

your eyes open enough to say this.

Jesus. He is who he says he is, and I

want to follow him. Praise God for your eyes being

open to that. But you and I are fully aware

that there is more to see, more to behold, more to comprehend,

and we need the Lord to be able to touch us.

But that's not the main point of this miracle.

The main point is not that. The main point is that the

disciples should have known. They should have had the

knowledge of certain things by now, but they suffered from

seeing as Christ would want them to see.

Christ has your growth in mind, and more than that, he expects

us to be at certain places as we walk with him.

I know we're a grace people. I know we love grace, and I know

we we should love grace. But Christ has through His grace

a growth in mind. And just like His disciples,

when we don't reach certain place, where when we stagnate

spiritually, we're not in the will of God, we're not in the

will of God. And here we see that the

disciples should have been somewhere by now, and they

weren't. And where were they?

Where were they off place? Where were they not where Christ

wanted to be? Again, I said it.

Let me say it again concerning their knowledge of the truth and

concerning the person of Jesus Christ.

Think about it. When he brought up the leaven of

the fair season of Herod, they start talking about bread, their

biblical understanding right their their simple knowledge of

truth that they could not grasp it.

So they were shallow in their understanding of the word of

God. But more than that, we have the

character of Christ. Not only were they talking about

bread when they should be talking about the spiritual

leaven, they now begin to talk about the bread.

Because they were fearful. They were anxious.

We don't have food for this trip, and so that is indirectly

an affront to who Christ is. Christ who not only warned about

11:00, but Christ who earlier materialized food out of thin

air. And they witnessed that with

their own eyes. And yet they could not hold on

to that truth long enough to believe it in a time of need.

OK, are we any different? Have things change with

disciples of Jesus Christ today? Is it possible for a Christian

to walk in a certain length of time and not grasp certain

truths yet from the word of God? Absolutely.

Is it possible to walk with Christ and even experience

testimonies, personal stories of him intervening?

And yet, still, in a time of crisis or need or uncertainty,

we begin to discuss as though he's not in our midst and he

hasn't come through before. Those are evidences that you

see, But you see men as trees. You see the silhouette of

Christ, but not the substance of Christ.

You have a a a glaring understanding of His promises

and of his doctrine, but not enough to cause you to know that

this is true, this is applicable.

This is a warning. This is an encouragement.

This is a miracle. Not for the unsaved, but for the

saved. And it's a miracle that's

desperately needed. Instead of seeing things

clearly, they saw men as tree walkings themselves.

And I want to just look. I'm not going to take too much

time with this message. I want us just to walk through

to give you an idea just to challenge you.

This challenge me just to look at Paul's language concerning

some of the truths that not pastors, not theologians, but

believers who have access to the word of God should know or at

least strive to know. So let's just do a little survey

here, go to Romans 1125 quickly, let's go to Romans 11/25.

I I'm not trying to elaborate on these verses.

I'm trying to bring you bullet, bullet point form exertation.

So we go to Romans 1125 together.

Notice what Paul says, lest you be wise in your own sight.

I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers.

A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness

of the Gentiles has come in. Keep in mind that phrase.

I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery.

Now come to 1st Corinthians chapter 10, First Corinthians

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10, and look at verse one.

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our

fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea.

There's that phrase again. I do not want you to be unaware.

Go to chapter 12 of the same book, First Corinthians 12,

verse one. Now concerning spiritual gifts.

Brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.

Interesting. Now skip over a few books.

Go to 1st Thessalonians, chapter four, First Thessalonians,

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4, chapter 4, verse 13. But we do not want you to be

uninformed brothers about those who are asleep that you may not

grieve as others do who have no hope.

OK, I'm just trying to show you by way of example how Paul is

speaking to these different Christians from different

churches and he's saying something similar.

I don't want you to be ignorant. I don't want you to remain in

ignorance. I want you to be equipped.

I want you to be fully familiar with these truths and what

truths I mean think about these different truths, the different

shades of truth. When he speaks to the Romans, it

says here that he wants them to not be uninformed.

About what? Not generally uninformed.

No, specifically, I don't want you to be uninformed, Romans

about God's sovereign plan for the ethnic people of Israel.

I don't want you to be uninformed about that.

I want you to be fully informed. I want you to be educated about

that certain doctrine. OK, then First Corinthians 10.

I I don't want you to be unaware brothers.

And then what is Paul doing? 1st Corinthians 10.

He uses the Old Testament as an illustration book for new

covenant principles. He talks about the wilderness

journey. He talks about the the plagues

that they experience while they were in rebellion for unbelief.

So what is Paul saying there? I don't want you to be unaware

of how the Old Covenant speaks to new Covenant realities.

I want your eyes to see that those are not just stories.

Those are God's way of exhorting you and encouraging you.

OK, what is he saying for Scrutine Swallow.

This is a controversial one. I don't want you to be unaware,

uninformed about what the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Now come on, how? How many of us are familiar with

this stuff? I don't want you to be

uninformed about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, how you can

identify them and understand how they are to be utilized.

What about first Ceciline, chapter 4, verse 13.

I don't want you to be uninformed about what the event

of the return of the Lord, the event of the return of the Lord,

and what the hope of eternal life to come.

Now just just gather those exhortations, gather those

topics and reel them in and ask yourself.

I mean, I have to ask myself, how familiar am I about the

sovereign plan of God for Israel?

Am I still ignorant in that? How uninformed I am about the

gifts of the Holy Spirit? How uninformed I am about my Old

Testament? 2/3 of my Bible?

Can I look at the That's why what we do, what we do on

Fridays. We want people to be informed

about how the Old Testament ties in with the New Covenant.

But how many of us know it? How many of us are confident to

go to the Old Testament? How many of us see the value of

that? What about the event of the

return of Christ? What about that?

Can we can we explain that? Can we can we give people an

understanding of what to expect concerning the event of the

return of Christ? What about the life to come?

So even from those verses that we just kind of scaled through

right there, we're being even informed.

Don't remain ignorant in that grow advance, be challenged.

So even in those examples in the epistles we can tie it in with

what is happening in Mark chapter 8.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

The disciples at that point should have been somewhere, but

they weren't. And in like manner we can come

to these truths and remain ignorant.

And here's the scary part, be content with our ignorance.

Be content with our ignorance when God saying no, I want you

to graduate. I hope you never read those

verses ever the same way again. I don't want you to be

uninformed. Wow, that's not Paul speaking.

That's the Spirit speaking through Paul.

I want you to know what an invitation.

And we think of this, and we can now give you examples not just

concerning doctrine, but concerning the person of God,

his character, how he actually intervenes and supervises your

existence. Am I growing less and less

anxious? Am I growing more and more

confident? Am I actually allowing these

testimonies that I see in prayer with my church, with my family,

with these trials? And do I like Joshua, that

generation established stone memorials, permanent testimonies

and journal entries in my heart to say I can trust him for

tomorrow I can trust him for Let me give you one example of that

first, John, I got better hurry up here.

But let's go to 1st John quickly for you for you to see an

example of that. Do you want to know if you

really, really see the love of God The way you see you should

see the love of God. If you want to know if you see

the love of God the way God wants you to see it, here's a

great test in first John and 1st John chapter 4.

John 4 · chapter mention

To measure my experience of the love of God.

I can take this test. We're here in chapter 4, verse

16. So we have come to know and to

believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God

abides in Him. By this is love perfected with

us. Meaning the word perfected is

matured. Achieve the IT is achieved its

goal in you. Perfected with us so that we may

have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is, so

also are we In this world there is No Fear and love, but perfect

love cast out. Fear for fear has to do with

punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

If I hear a teaching a sermon about the judgment to come, and

I am fearful concerning that judgment, I know one thing.

God's love has not been matured in me.

It's not I, I I see men walking streets.

I have a blurred understanding. My my vision of the love of God

is fuzzy. You see you, you know it.

You know He loves you. You understand He died for you.

But deeper than that, OK. So when it comes to the

judgment, how confident are you? What's your vision of the

throne? What's your vision of him being

your advocate? And if there's fear in there,

I'm not seeing right. I'm not seeing right.

So, So even in that, concerning the nature and the character of

God, we can be partially blind like the disciples were.

But what does this miracle really teach?

More than that? It doesn't just challenge you,

it encourages you and encourages you in this way.

Yes, disciples, this man you see right here.

And it could be that the the men that this, the, the, the blind

man saw were were actually the disciples.

It could be very well that the people that he saw in that in

that moment were the followers of Christ, were witnessing this

miracle. Disciples indirectly.

What a master teacher. This this right here.

This is you. This is you.

And yet watch. He lays hands on them again.

He sees and he sees clearly and he goes.

This can also be you. This can also be you.

The point is more than just a rebuke.

It's an invitation. An invitation to see more

clearly, to open your eyes more and more.

But that doesn't mean that there's nothing required of us.

Go back to Mark chapter 8. I want you to see what Jesus

Mark 8 · chapter mention

does in verse 23. And he took the blind man by the

hand and let him out of the village.

And we had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him.

He asked what a, what a question.

Do you see anything? Do you think Jesus knew?

Whenever Jesus asks a question, it's not because he's looking

for an answer. Never.

He knows, but he wants the man to answer honestly.

Think about this. He heals him partially, though

he could have done it fully. And then he steps back.

Do you see anything? You know what the man could have

said? Because he answers in a very

important way. But he could have said.

I see. Yeah, I can see.

It's a little hazy. But this is good.

This is good. Thank you so much.

You are where they say they are. Thank you.

Thank you. I can live like this.

I can live like this. This is awesome.

Praise be to your name. And he could have walked on his

merry way. He doesn't say that.

He says. I see people, but they look like

trees walking. And there was something about

that where he expressed the need for more.

There was a there was a an attitude of faith in this

confession that drew Christ in to do a deeper work.

Here's the truth. If we want our inner eyes to be

touched by the healer, the demand is no different for you

and I. We must be transparent.

And you and I must be willing to come before the presence of the

Lord with humility and desperation and say I need you

to touch me again. I see, and I'm thankful that I

can see. But, Lord, I'm ignorant here.

I'm ignorant here. I'm still fearful.

I'm still anxious. Okay.

Let Let's make it more personal, right?

Just like this man. How do you see people?

How do you see your wife? How do you see your children?

How do you see your parents? How do you see your local

church? Do you see clearly?

Do you perceive the way God wants you to perceive, or is it

blurry? Are you misinterpreting things?

Are you failing to give it the value that it deserves?

Are you acting in a certain way because you don't see the way

God wants you to see? I mean, if I see people as

trees, I'm going to treat them drift differently than if I see

them as people I'm not seeing. The way I'm supposed to be

seeing in my heart testifies of that.

My attitude testifies of that. My behavior testifies of that.

Lord, you need to touch me again.

I'm not satisfied seeing this way.

And if there is more than pleased that there be more.

And I will tell you the means by which he will touch you.

I will show you how it is that God extends his hand upon the

eyes of your heart and is able to peel off more layers so that

you can understand the way he wants you to understand.

It's very simple. 2 verses two different places.

You combine them together and you will know miracles in your

life. The first one is in Psalm 19.

In Psalm 19, verse eight, we were given a promise about the

eyes of our heart. Psalm 19 eight reads, The

precepts of the Lord are right to rejoicing the heart.

The commandment of the Lord is pure, doing what?

Enlightening the eyes. You can't see better if you

don't know the word of God. If you don't come to the word of

God, this word has power to heal your blindness.

I remember personally when there was a defining moment where I

was able to see the power of the the word of God enlightening the

eyes. When I first got saved, I had no

grit for anything, no grit for church, no grit for sermons, no

grit for denominations. I had no grit for anything.

And I remember I when I was first introduced to a church

service, it was questionable in their approach and it was very

much like the mega church kind of secret sensitive thing.

But I had no grit and so when I was there I didn't have anything

to really discern. I had nothing to work with in my

own heart, so I was just absorbing whatever was there.

I was content to some extent as as a person who who had his eyes

open but not seeing fully. And A and a few weeks would go

by and by God's grace was able to read the Word.

And but something began to happen as I begin to read, just

read the Word just day after day.

Coming to the word not understanding everything, but

just reading it and coming to an asking God for me to understand

it, I began to see things differently.

Wait a minute. That's wait a minute.

You probably shouldn't be saying that in a sermon.

What's going on here? What's happening here?

Enlightening the eyes more and more and more to see what things

should really be. And that saved me from a lot of

trouble. A lot of trouble.

Credit the word credit. Just come to the Bible.

Credit. Just trust that this thing

vibrates with a force that can rescue you from seeing men as

trees, walking, from seeing a sermon that is not really a

sermon that's laced with heresy, laced with different motives.

Believers who claim to be believers but are actually

wolves and sheep's clothing, convictions and ideas and

arguments that are not based on the word of God, but because

your eyes have been open. Why?

Because this word, this word heals, heals your vision.

And I I praise God that over the years this book is what has kept

me and this book is what will keep you.

I know people that are believing things that you would not even

fathom to believe in their walk with the Lord.

And it's because of one thing they didn't trust that this can

enlight their eyes. But more than that, there's

another thing, and it's an Ephesians.

One verse 16. In Ephesians one verse 16.

Paul prays for this church and he says something quite amazing.

Some of you know where I'm going with this.

Look what he says in verse 16. I do not cease to give thanks

for you remembering you in my prayers.

And I was going to tell him what he's praying for.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may

give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and knowledge

of him having the eyes of your hearts enlightened.

Oh, what a man of God he was. When Paul prayed for this

church, he asked that there would be the spirit of wisdom

and revelation for one goal, that the eyes of the hearts

would be enlightened, open further.

Is he talking to the world, or is he talking to the Church?

He's talking to the Church That your eyes, oh church, would have

greater understanding. Having the eyes of your hearts

enlightened in three things. In three things.

Look at this, that you may know what is the hope to which he has

called you two. What are the riches of his

glorious inheritance and the Saints?

Three. And what is the immeasurable

greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the

working of his great might? Oh, I'm begging God nonstop that

You Ephesians, would know the hope that you would see right.

Many of us are asking God to bless us, and that's great.

We should be asking God for that.

But what Paul here is saying is I want you to see the blessings

God has already given you. You don't feel this way, and it

could be not because it's lacking but because you don't

see it. So I'm asking that you would

know the hope. I'm asking that you would know

the the wealth that you have inherited because of Christ, the

spiritual riches that are yours because of Christ.

I want you to see it. And lastly, the immeasurable

greatness of his power toward us who believe.

Look at this according to the work of his great might that he

worked in Christ. Hope, spiritual riches, power.

I want you to see it. And the only way it's going to

come through is not just when you come to the Word, it's when

you pray and ask God for it. Because that's what I'm doing

for you. And So what does this require

for me? How do I, how can I know Christ

giving me a second touch, a third touch, a fifth touch.

When you come before the word of God, the Spirit of prayer, and

you say, Lord, open the eyes in my heart.

I don't want to stay where I was.

I'm not content seeing men walking as trees.

I'm not being. I'm not content looking at you

with an elementary understanding of you.

I want to come to the Word and actually get the Word, and I

want to live the Word, and I want to trust you in this world.

You need to help me and you need to touch me.

Honesty, transparency, but also the willingness to let the hand

of Christ lead you where it needs to be led.

And that's through His Word and through seeking Him.

And what begins to happen. Here's what will happen.

You look at the world, You see all its toys and all its

promises and all its vain glory, and it begins to lose its color

and lose its shine. And something begins to happen

to your soul where now you actually know satisfaction in

God, not just storing up information, satisfaction in

God. You look at your suffering and

now you are comforted and caressed by the sovereign care

of your master. You look at people, you look at

people and and they're not just people for your benefit, people

that are to be used for your good.

No, you look at people the way Jesus wants you to look at

people and you begin to treat them as such.

You look at life through the lens of eternity and you realize

that this is not it. I'm just traveling through and

you begin to feel lighter in this world, and you begin to

feel like you're floating through this world.

And you begin to realize my address is being prepared for

me, and I'm just borrowing some things here.

And the best thing you begin to see Christ as more beautiful

than he was yesterday, as more precious as more near than

anybody else in your own existence, closer than your

wife, closer than your husband, closer than your children.

You begin to know something of the manifestation of His

presence. Because you've come to the

conclusion I'm not satisfied seeing partially open the eyes

of my heart. Amazingly, we learned here what

happened before this miracle took place.

But do you remember what happened after?

Go back to Mark 8. This is amazing.

I love the Bible. I love the word of God.

Look at verse 27 right? This is the verse that we

haven't read. Immediately after when he tells,

tells them not to enter to the village.

And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of

Cicerea Philippi. And on the way he asked his

disciples who do people say that I am?

And they told him John the Baptist and others say Elijah

and others one of the prophets. And he asked them, But who do

you say that I am? Peter answered him, You are the

Christ, you are the Christ. Is that ironic that right after

the person receives his full healing, Peter is asked the

question about the identity of Christ and he gets it.

And Jesus, Matthew says flesh and blood has not revealed this

to you, but this came from the Father.

The fact that you have this insight, the fact that you have

this perception is the result of a supernatural touch from God.

So before they could not understand a miracle takes

place. And right after we have Peter

being asked the question and he asked who do people say to them

and and they are partially blind.

They are blind, misidentifying him, misunderstanding him, not

seeing what the scriptures prophesied concerning him.

And then Peter speaks up and he says, no, no, no, I see you for

who you are. You're the Christ in Jesus.

This is supernatural. This is supernatural.

And you need the same power as I To know greater revelations of

Christ has to be a work of God in us.

And he's given us a supernatural word.

He's given us supernatural access and prayer and oh, you

know what's amazing about this miracle?

It's only found in Mark. You won't find it in Luke.

You won't find in John. You won't find it in Matthew.

I'm sure there are different reasons for that.

But I just wonder, meditatively thinking about it, what Mark

felt when he wrote this down when Peter gave him this

account. I wonder what Mark felt when he

was learning about the need for believers to have their eyes

open further and further. Remember, Mark wasn't perfect.

Here's Mark starting on ministry and very early on he says, I

want to go back home and I didn't sign up for this.

And then Paul is given the idea from Barnabas to have Mark

again. And Paul's like, I'm not

interested. I'm not interested in people

just jumping off ship when they don't like it.

I want guys that are in it for life and they get into an

argument and they and they split.

And then you read later in Second Timothy where Mark is

summoned by Paul. Something happened between Acts

and Second Timothy. And I wonder, I just wonder, if

Mark loved this miracle to know the patience of Christ and

willing to work with us, that as long as we are willing to

acknowledge our need and our condition, the Lord is able to

take us places where we never thought we would go.

And so if you felt challenged, be immediately comforted to to

to know that if you, if you see yourself lacking, I mean, we all

do, I get it, we all do. But if you see yourself severely

lacking and more importantly, content in your ignorance,

content in your immaturity, then let this miracle provoke you to

come to the master and say, Lord, you touched me once, I

need you to touch me again. Please don't let me stay here.

I want to see more. I want to see more.

But we ask that you help us see you more.

Oh Lord, we pray that the Holy Spirit would bring this goal

about in our lives, that we would be stirred to cry.

I'm not satisfied. I don't want to be ignorant.

I don't want to be sporadic in my trust in you.

And so, Lord, you know precisely what it is that we need a touch

in. It could be a particular truth.

It could be about you and your practical leadership, or

whatever it is that you need to do in us.

We just humble ourselves before you and your presence.

And we say, Lord, open the eyes of my heart.

I want to fall deeper in love with you.

I want to love the church more. I want to love my spouse the way

you want me to love my spouse. I want you to.

I want you to help me see my suffering the way you want me to

see my suffering. I want you to help me see money

the way I should see money. Lord, please, if you don't touch

us. There is no strength in flesh

and blood. There is no remedy.

There is no hope in themselves and in another man.

It must come from the Father. And so Lord, let there be this

insatiable hunger to come to the Word and to trust the process of

healing our eyes. And when we come, Lord, in

prayer, as we drive, as we walk, as we fold our laundry, saying,

Lord, I want more. Touch me again and we believe

that you will. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen. Amen.

Amen.