The Eyes of God: as an Anthropomorphic Term in Scripture

It's a little different at the FIC. The FIC is

P -H -I -C. Yes. It's actually Anthropo, but

it's pronounced Anthropo. It's from anthropology.

Actually, it's the same type word. And then we

thank you for this lesson, for me feeling led

to do it, and for this and the upcoming lessons

as we look at these words that are in Scripture

that remind us of more and more things about

you. Be with us during this time and lead us.

We've got less than an hour to look at a pretty

fast -paced topic, and so we pray that we'll

get through it. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so

does somebody want to give me their own personal

definition of what anthropomorphic means? It's

a big word. Go ahead. Yes. So when something

is given like human characteristics, like you

might say it sticks out like an arm. So you say

it sticks out like an arm. That means it has

an anthropomorphic characteristics. It has a

shape and a look of an arm of a person. OK. And

so it's the same way with God. So scripture uses

some what are called anthropomorphic words for

God that actually don't. literally make any sense,

right? So today we're going to look at the eyes

of God. And so while we look at the eyes of God,

understand that God does not have an eye like

you or I have an eye, right? So God is a spirit.

The scripture describes him as spirit. And so

he doesn't have an eye that receives light bouncing

back off of things. So he doesn't have eyes per

se. But the scripture nonetheless talks about

God's eyes. All right. So for our purposes tonight,

know that the Bible frequently, quite often,

we're only going to use some examples, but quite

often it speaks of the eyes of the Lord. He does

not literally possess physical eyes. So when

you read that, don't read it literally in the

sense that he has eyes. It's using anthropomorphic

language. Human characteristics applied to God

to help people who, like us, understand God's

infinite nature. Okay. And so when scripture

says God's eyes see, it's teaching that nothing

escapes his notice. His vision is perfect. His

knowledge completes, right? God knows, God sees,

and his attention is constant. Unlike human eyesight,

God's vision never grows dim. Sometimes, like

when I turned 40, I had to get glasses for the

first time ever, about 40 and a half. And I was,

and I had. better eyesight than just about anybody

that I knew up until that point in time. And

so I would be traveling and I'd read a sign from

like a mile away and Sherry would get mad at

me because she had glasses already and still

couldn't read the sign. But then our eyesight

does dim, but God's eyesight never dims, nor

is he distracted, nor does he overlook the smallest

detail. The eyes of God then communicate. At

least four main truths, and here they go. These

are the four little lines that you've got there,

the four truths that the eyes of God communicate.

So the first one is kind of a hard word, is that

he, God's omniscience. So omniscience, which

is spelled O -M -N -I, and then science, S -C

-I -E -N -C -E. Like omni -science. It means

that God knows everything. And so to say that

God, who is infinitely large, has an eye that

looks everywhere means that God sees and knows

everything. So what we're being called to do

by the scripture is to compare our eye to the

eye of God as we might compare ourselves to God.

And you should find yourself to be kind of infinitely

small compared to infinitely large God. So God's

omniscience means he sees everything. So if you

don't want to put omniscience there, you can

put that he sees everything on the first line.

That's easier to spell. The next one is God's

constant presence. So God does not stop seeing.

God does not stop existing. God does not stop

having access. God is God. So his constant presence.

We go to sleep. While you're asleep, you don't

see much. You might hear things, you might dream

things, but you don't see much. But God never

goes to sleep. God never stops looking, so God

never stops seeing, so God's presence is constant.

God's loving care. So God is concerned, remember

the verse, God is concerned about all kinds of

things, and we'll see some very specifics of

that as we get down into the verses. So God's

loving care, he's paying attention. And then

God's righteous judgment. God can see it for

what it is. And you're going to see before we're

done that God can see things that we don't see

in ways that we don't see. All right. And it

goes way beyond what we're capable of. All right.

So first of all, I want you to think for a second

before we go any deeper into the first verse.

Think about a museum. Has everybody here ever

been to a museum? Has there ever been at some

time you've been in a museum? Did you notice

that there were security cameras in the museum?

The more expensive stuff in the museum, the more

security cameras, the maybe the more expensive

security cameras. Anyway, so the museum is watched

by the security cameras because the stuff is

priceless, right? But the difference is, is one

huge difference. Why this camera is everywhere.

Every piece of art has a camera, every hallway,

every corner. Like they talk about gaps in security.

There aren't any. The more priceless the stuff

is, the more complete the coverage is. God's

different. The cameras only record events as

they happen. So if somebody damages a picture,

the cameras will record the picture. What are

you going to do about that? File an insurance

claim, throw them in jail, right? But God sees

stuff before it happens. So God sees a person's

heart, for example. Before they would ever damage

that painting, he sees that their heart is willing

to damage the painting. He sees that they might

well do it. He could send some discouragement

saying, oh, don't do that. You know, that's not

a good idea. Or he could allow that for his purposes,

whatever it is. So God's eyes never record history.

God is not watching us doing stuff, right? We're

not deists, which deists believe that God just

watches everything and doesn't actually intervene.

But God sees everything. perceives the motives

of the heart before people act, thoughts before

they become words, intentions before they become

decisions. So by the time you make a decision

to do something bad and you're making a willful

decision to do something bad, God knew it was

in your heart before then because he can see

your heart. And then. consequences before beginning.

So even before something starts, God already

knows where it will go, right? Which is why God

can say, don't do that. Because God knows if

you do that, he said, well, I can do it. It won't

ever be a problem. And you can do it a hundred

times and it's never be a problem. But God knows

you're going to do it 101 times. And the 101st

time, it's going to be a horrible problem, right?

And so that's why God says, don't do certain

things. And God can see you should do certain

things. And if you do those things, you're like,

oh, it never seems to help. I'm nice all the

time. I'm kind all the time. I'm patient all

the time. It never seems to help. But God knows

what that builds in you and the people that you're

dealing with, and this takes you to a place that

you want to go. So, all right. Nothing surprises

God. Nothing escapes God. Nothing confuses God.

This is all testified to by the fact where it

says his eye rose through all the earth. So the

eyes of the Lord are infinitely better than...

like a surveillance camera or a security system

or 50 guys with guns, right? Watch staring at

you, keeping you safe. They are the perfect awareness

of a holy, loving God. Okay, the first verse

is Proverbs 15, 3. I printed it on the page there

for you, as long as I didn't print it too small.

There's a lot to get on the page. And I'm actually

going to go to read it out of this particular

paper Bible. The eyes of the Lord are everywhere

observing the wicked and the good. So this is

the same translation that's on your paper. OK,

so from this verse, then we remember not actual

eyes. So because we're thinking of them as not

actual eyes, what do we learn about God because

of that? OK, so the verse summarizes God's universal

knowledge. Notice the balance. God sees evil.

He also sees good. I was in a staff meeting at

one point in time. There was a verse that said

God cannot look on evil. And somebody tried to

tell me that when people were sinning, God was

not looking at them. Like I couldn't see it.

And I'm like, no, that's not true at all. God

sees everything, right? So he doesn't like sin,

but he sees it. He sees evil and he sees good.

The Wiccan often think that they're going to

get away with something. So if you're doing something

and you're repeating it. A lot of times you think,

well, I've done this a bunch of times and I've

not gotten caught yet. Nobody knows. I'm getting

away with it. It doesn't really seem to hurt.

The world even says it's okay. The righteous

sometimes think that they're unnoticed when they

do the right thing. It's like God's not really

rewarding me. I'm doing what's right. I'm showing

up. I'm serving. I'm giving. I don't really feel

like anything positive is happening. But both

of those things are actually wrong. God sees

both of those things. That's what the verse says.

He sees the good. He sees the evil. So he does

see. Nothing escapes his observation. So now

you're looking at the application. So you can

break those key points down however you want

under Proverbs 15 .3, but God sees evil, sees

good. The wicked sometimes think they'll get

away with something. The righteous sometimes

think they're unnoticed. You can put any of those

in there that kind of rings your bell, so to

speak. Nothing escapes God's observation. Any

of that. All right. The application then is realize

that human beings have a human eye, which means

they may not see your work. They may not see

what you're doing. And but God does. Right. And

so people may never discover your hidden sin.

You could sin against your spouse or against

your kids or whatever your whole life and get

away with it. And sometimes you have sin you

don't even realize you have. Right. And then

you go, oh, crud, I'm doing something wrong.

And then you want to change. Right. But God has

already seen what you're doing and the results

it will have. So that's the application. Don't

think that you can do bad and have it not be

seen. And don't think that you can do good and

have it not be seen. All right? Okay. Then we're

on to the next one. Verse 2. The eyes of God

search the whole earth. 2 Chronicles 16 .9 says,

For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro. throughout

the earth that he may strongly support those

whose heart is completely his, right? So we usually,

you'll hear people quote that first part. They'll

say, the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout

the earth. And they even use it for support of

what we already talked about above. Pay attention

to what you're doing because God is watching.

He's going to deal with you, right? They'll use

that. But notice that second part. It says that

he does that. The reason it's so is so that he

may strongly support those whose heart that is

completely his. That's crazy, right? So this

verse tells us that God is actively seeking,

not because he lacks information or because he

lost something, like I was searching for my keys

for 20 minutes today, right? But because God

delights to do something. What? What does God

want to do? He loves to do this thing based on

this verse. What is it? Anybody, just say it.

Go ahead. Right. So he wants to strengthen you

if you are committed to him. So he wants to come

in on your side. He might come in with resources

like in the world. I wish God sent me some money.

I wish I could have more time. But he is for

sure going to send blessings, whatever that looks

like. It may not be money or time because the

more you want the money, probably the worse off

it is that you get the money. So God searches

for opportunities to demonstrate his power through

surrendered believers. I was just telling River

this in the hallway. So we went to visit my mom

this week. We got down there. We arrived in Tennessee

on Tuesday and it was. quite the journey. And

then we went to my mom's first thing Wednesday

morning. So my mom's been having a health concern.

Her health concern is if she walks more than

about 30 or 40 steps, she breathes heavy. So

she's huffing and puffing. And she went to the

doctor. The doctor said, there's nothing wrong

with your lungs. There's nothing wrong with your

heart. There's nothing wrong with your brain,

as far as we can tell. Nothing wrong with your

nervous system. We really cannot find a reason

for this. So she's been huffing and puffing.

And she told me on the phone, and I started praying

for her for a while before we went down there.

And we got there Wednesday morning. We went to

the house, and we went out to eat, and we walked,

and we did stuff. Took my car, my van to the

shop because it broke while I was down there.

And then we came back home and played cards for

a while. And then we went out to dinner. We did

all that. And guess what never happened? She

never huffed and puffed once. So then at night,

she's asked me, so why is it different when you're

here? And I'm like, I can't answer that question.

That's not up to me. But what I can tell you

is that it's not infrequent. That God will cause

something, you could say miraculous, but it might

be just a stretch. Something very suspicious.

in the presence of believers, right? So the Lord

is with you and something changes, right? Could

have been an evil spirit that was affecting her,

making her huff and puff. And then he was uncomfortable

being around me or being around Haley or being

around Ariana, right? Because we're all Christians

or the three of us. And we had prayed and we've

been doing devotionals and stuff. We were, you

know, walking in the Lord. And so it's hard to

say what it was. Now, this verse comes from the

life of Asa. The verse we just read comes from

the life of Asa. Basically, he was thinking about

earthly consequences, like the things that were

going to happen in his life. But God really wanted

him to just be dependent on God. And that's what

God wants from you. So while you're thinking

about your problems being alleviated and you're

like, oh, God doesn't see. Well, clearly, if

God sees, he's not helping me. Right. Realize

that God wants the super most important thing,

which is you to be dependent on him. It's more

important than your income, more important than

your relationships, more important than your

education, anything. It's more important than

anything that you can depend on him. Because

if you aren't dependent on him, if Jesus comes

again before you're ready and finally become

dependent on him, then you're not going to go

with him. And secondly, whether Jesus comes again

or not, ultimately you get to heaven by being

dependent on him. That's the recipe for eternal

salvation. So that's what God really wants. So

he's not searching for impressive people. You

may know some people who are Christians who look

like impressive people, and they'll let you know

that they're impressive. They've got a pedigree.

They've got a platform. People listen to what

they say. They have a million followers on Twitter,

40 books, all top 10 bestsellers, whatever, you

know, that kind of thing. But God is not looking

for impressive people. God is looking for people

who are surrendered to him. And according to

what we just read, when he finds them, he weighs

in. He fights on behalf. Look at David versus

Goliath. David wasn't a big guy. He said, well,

he killed a lion and a bear. Yeah, he did kill

a lion and a bear, and that's really something.

But it's not the same thing as fighting an armored

guy with a big shield and a big spear and a helmet.

He needed Goliath to be full of hubris to order

his shield man away and take his helmet off,

and then one stone and down he went. So the point

is... God will pour in resources to those people

that he finds and he's actively searching for

them, not because he doesn't know where they're

at, but because that's what he wants. He's saying

that's what he's looking for. So consider a lighthouse

that continually sweeps across the ocean near

the shore where there are rocks. And the lighthouse's

job is to point to where the rocks are. And the

ship will see the lighthouse, which is built

tall, much way before it'll ever see the rocks.

God's eyes are like that. He'll point out to

you what's dangerous. He'll point out to you

who's trustworthy, who's godly, who's faithful,

and that we can stand together in his strength.

All right, next one. Did we get the blanks filled

in? Okay, so God searches for what? Yeah, but

he's looking for specifically those hearts that

are dedicated to him, right? Hearts that depend

upon him. And so the application of that would

be what? What would you do? If God is searching

for people who have hearts that depend on him,

Depend on God. That's right. Day in, day out,

right? And let's be realistic. In a lot of things,

we don't feel like we have to depend on Him.

I got in a habit, it was probably almost 10 years

ago now, of praying in the morning on Sundays,

not every day of the week, but on Sundays specifically,

I pray, asking God what I should wear to church.

So when I come up here on Sunday morning, I'm

wearing the suit or the tie or none or whatever.

I've had God to tell me to wear shorts on a Sunday.

That hasn't happened even on the hot days. But

the point is, so I depend on him to dress me

on Sunday morning. I don't know why I don't do

it on the other six days, because I guess they're

not as important or whatever to me. You get the

idea. Okay, Psalm 34, 15. The eyes of the Lord

are toward the righteous, and his ears are open

to their cry. Remember, not literal eyes. So

when my eyes are toward Tony. I see Tony. When

my eyes are toward this side of the room, I do

not see Tony. That doesn't mean that God cannot

see the rest. We already know from the verse

that we already looked at, he sees good and evil,

right? He searches the whole earth for whom,

whose hearts depended on him and so on. All right.

So we know that he can still see everything.

So what is the point? Well, notice that the verse

joins together two anthropomorphisms. Do you

see them? We know what they are, what an anthropomorphism

is now, right? So we got eyes and what else?

Ears, right? So it joins those two. It ties together

God's eyes and his ears. That's what the verse

does. So God's attention is personal. He cares

about your situation. He watches over his children

with love. This does not mean believers avoid

suffering. You know that already, I'm sure, because

we have suffering, right? So you might believe

in God with all your heart and yet face suffering.

Rather, it means their suffering never goes unnoticed.

Do you understand that? So when God sees you

going through difficulty, he cares about that

difficulty. If you're still going through that

difficulty, then there's a reason for it. God's

doing something. Now, it could be because you're

being chastised or disciplined if you're not

faithfully following the Lord, right? That's

possible. It says he chastises those whom he

loves, so that's possible. But assuming that

you're faithfully following him and still facing

suffering, then there is a purpose for the suffering,

right? There is something that God is accomplishing.

So the application then, do we get the, we don't

have a lot of notes under it, so just the application

is then, what would you say is the application

point then for that? If God sees and cares and

listens when a believer is struggling, and he'll

hear you if you cry, then what should you do?

Cry out to him, right? And that's, if you get,

To get my meaning, I think that's probably the

biggest problem with Christians when you face

difficulty. So we don't want to cry out. We might

say we trust in God. Like we'll say, well, I

trust God's going to take care of it, right?

For example, you might get a really bad patch

and then people will say, are you okay? Oh, yeah,

I'm fine. I mean, you're going through some really

difficult stuff. Are you sure you're OK? Oh,

I'm fine. God's got this. He's got it under control,

whatever. And we keep telling ourselves God's

got this. He's got it under control. We quote

Romans 8, 28, where it says all things work together

for the good of the one who loves the Lord is

called according to his purpose. And that's fine.

But because we do that, then we don't do crying

out to God. And you should be crying out to God.

In fact, if God has asked you to cry out to him

and then the word says. He works all things out

for the good for those who love him and are called

according to his purpose. And you don't cry out

to him or you're not dependent on him, then can

you really call yourself loving the Lord and

called according to his purpose? Or are you missing

something, right? So you're not really depending

on God because you're not crying out to God.

So I submit to you, when people curse because

they stubbed their toe or they dropped and broke

something, whatever like that, instead, you should

cry out to God, right? And say, Lord, I need

help. It should be like a go -to thing. The first

thing that should happen. Lord, I need help.

I dropped it. My car is broke. My car won't start.

Lord, I need help. That should be the first thing.

Because if your heart is for God, he'll see and

he'll hear and he'll act. And I submit to you

that sometimes when people do that, they never

really get to figure out what the real problem

is. Because God's taking care of it before they

ever get there. They go, oh, God, I need help

right now. And then the problem that they thought

was going to be so bad. It goes away before they

ever see it fully fulfilled. So get used to it,

crying out to the Lord, because the Lord is looking

for who is faithful to him and wants to pour

in strength. That was the previous verse. And

now we realize, he says, our cries will never

go unnoticed. And so the application, of course,

then was cry out to God. So if we look into 3415,

you just had the application. Did you fill in

the blanks, though? The eyes of the Lord, so

its eyes are toward the righteous and his ears

are open to their mercy is the blanks. And then

four, God's eyes test humanity. The Lord is in

his holy temple, Psalm 11 .4 says. The Lord's

throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his eyelids

test the sons of men. So again, God doesn't have

eyes and God doesn't have eyelids per se. And

even the throne of God is not exactly like what

we would think of a throne or a temple. It's

not like what we would think of as a temple necessarily

on earth. So this is explaining to us that God's

observation is not passive. God's not just witnessing

or seeing, right? He is actively observing. Think

about Sherlock Holmes, right? So Sherlock Holmes

and what? Watson are standing there and the guy

comes in. And next thing you know, Sherlock Holmes

is like got 17 things he can tell you about this

guy. He knows where he worked. He knows where

it just came from. He just got off a boat. What

country was in before that? and everything else.

And Watson's baffled. He's like, what are you

doing? Well, that's called active observation,

right? So he's basing his conclusions on the

facts and he's searching out the facts and he's

connecting the facts one to another. And that's

how God is. God examines, he evaluates, and he

weighs character, right? So he examines, he evaluates,

and he weighs character. His eyelids symbolize

careful scrutiny, much like if you were narrowing

your eyes to inspect something closely. So if

I take my glasses off and I want to read this

page, it's going to take me a second, but I can

wiggle my eyes around and I can, if I focus just

right and I get just throughout the right, now

I can see it and notice that my eyelids changed

position to make that happen. And that's what

it's talking about. God has an... effort that

he's putting in, a completely unnecessary effort.

And if it is a completely unnecessary effort

because they're not human eyes and they don't

technically have eyelids, then we learn from

that effort that he's putting in. So bottom line

is nothing about our character internally, past,

you know, backstory, what's going to happen next

week, nothing about our character escapes God's

intentional examination. And then that brings

us to the application. God measures more than

behavior. So in other words, if you're saying

I'm doing this right and you're expecting God

to reward it, then your motives are probably

wrong. Right. But if you're saying I'm becoming

this kind of a person. And so when this opportunity

comes up, of course, I know what I'm going to

do. So let's take lying for an example. I've

been working really hard not to lie. Guess what?

You could stop lying and never lie again for

the rest of your life. And it's not going to

bring any glory to God whatsoever. So what? But

what if I stop lying for God? So I stop lying

for God. That doesn't bring God any glory whatsoever.

So when I stop lying for God and I tell everybody

about it, I tell I give him all the credit. I

tell everybody that God did it. He's the one

who helped me stop lying. Doesn't work because

God is not interested in measuring people specifically

by their actions. If he was, you would be going

to hell. And so would I. Right. So what God wants

to do is he wants to deliver grace. To people

who have failings, they are aware of their failings,

right? And they're submitting those failings

to the Lord so that God can change them. Now,

if I have become the kind of person that does

not lie, my character has been changed to be

a person that does not lie, and God sees I do

that by depending on him, right? I submit to

you it's possible that we can't change our character

any other way, right? People... People stop doing

things for decades, but I don't think it actually

changes their character. I think it's about your

heart being changed, it's about your mind being

changed, and you can brainwash yourself to not

do something or to do something, but I really

don't think it changes your character. Which

is why people who have really strong self -discipline

in their character can do that more easily, whereas

somebody who has a compulsive personality, they

don't do it. They become compulsive about changing

their character and it still doesn't work. Because

they have a compulsive character, right? Bottom

line is, God is looking for more than behavior.

He wants your character to change. He wants your

motives to change, okay? So God measures more

than behavior. He measures motives. Okay, checking

to see what blanks we have there. All right,

so key points there were things like God is actively

searching, right? Looking intently, though he

might not need to. He evaluates. He weighs character.

Nothing about our character escapes God's examination.

And then under application, God measures more

than behavior. He measures motors. And we're

on number five. We're doing good. Hebrews 4 .13.

And there is no creature hidden from his sight,

but all things are open and laid bare to the

eyes of him with whom we have to do. So every

human all the time is wearing masks. Take a basic

sociology class in the freshman year, and they

call it playing roles. So I run role -playing

games as part of the Christian Games Ministry

here, and just for fun. The fact is that people

who play role playing games are sociologically

more healthy than people who don't. Now, there

are other ways to get there. Right. But the bottom

line is sometimes in the day, like today, for

five hours, I was in my office in the office

in here. And for five hours, I was the director

of the life station and the pastor of New Heights

switching back and forth over and over again.

I was working on this lesson and I was working

on an email list for an email that was going

out. For the life's sake, back and forth and

back and forth. And then I would get stuck working

on the email list for a while and forget that

I was supposed to be working on the lesson. Or

I'd get stuck working on a lesson for a while

and forget that I was supposed to work on the

email. So you're a dad or you're a brother or

you're a son or you're a boyfriend or you're

a girlfriend or you're a student. Right. And

so people like they go to school and while they're

at school, they forget that they're supposed

to be a good boyfriend or girlfriend. Or they

forget that they're supposed to be a good son

to their mom or dad. And so we are constantly

switching roles all the time. And so then we

think we're one thing, but in reality, it's our

character that's inside us that is the question.

So somebody in this room might be the best brother,

for example, that anybody on the earth can be.

Like, I am just a brother I love and I care and

I go after. I'm looking for ways and I'm trying

to be a good brother. While somebody else in

the room might be like, well, I'm a good brother,

but... My good brother is not as good as his

good brother. He really is something, right?

But then that second person might be good at

something completely different. And so your character

and your masks are what the world is going to

see. Primarily the masks, but not God, right?

God's eyes see spirit. So every excuse disappears.

Every secret is exposed. Every motive is made

visible, okay? And so... The language here is

talking about like an animal prepared for sacrifice,

laid out before the priests, splayed open, guts

removed. That's the kind of language that's here.

When God looks at us, he sees you. There's nothing

that you can do. There's no hiding it, no pretending,

no using the right words. No false religion will

get the job done. We are completely exposed before

God. The same God then who sees your failures

also sees Christ's righteousness covering believers.

So if you're going to let Jesus Christ's righteousness

stand for you, then one of the things you're

going to have to do is own your mistakes. So

John writes, he who confesses, right? confesses

his sin god is faithful and just and righteous

to forgive him of his sins and cleanse him of

all unrighteousness but the one who hides like

lies and says oh i'm not i didn't sin i didn't

do it i only did i just reacted or that never

happened or whatever like that i don't have any

sin now i've been a christian for so long it's

all gone i don't do anything wrong anymore That

person does not get that promise from the Lord

because God does see. You're laid out. So the

same God who sees your failures also sees Christ's

righteousness covering believers. That's an application

point. And that makes the gospel wonderful news.

When you're talking with somebody and sharing

the gospel with somebody and they act like they're

all that and they never did anything wrong. I

don't have any sin. You ever steal anything?

Well, no, I never stole anything. Not even time,

like you were punched in at work. No, no, I worked

the whole time from beginning to end. What about

candy when you were a kid? No, I never stole

candy. Did you ever lie? No, I've never told

a lie. I've never lied in my whole life. You

never like a lie of omission, like you knew the

truth and somebody asked you and you just didn't

say anything? No, I never have. And you go down

the list and they have never sinned whatsoever.

Guess what? They are not ready to be saved. And

that's just the reality. And we see that a lot

with little kids. Because you ask them about

sin and they're like, no, no, I've never done

that. I've never sinned. Right. And if a kid

can say he's never sinned, then he can't have

the righteousness of God bestowed upon him because

he doesn't need it and he doesn't want it. Right.

So the gospel becomes wonderful news because

we are laid open before God and all our messy

nastiness is exposed and God sees it all. And

so then we depend on Jesus Christ through the

gospel of Jesus Christ to be saved. And the same

for anybody else. OK, so we got those filled

in there. So the blanks then. were key points.

Every human wears masks. Every excuse disappears

in God's sight. Every secret is exposed. Every

motive is visible. Humanity stands exposed. And

the application is God's bestowed righteousness

or the righteousness of Jesus Christ on us covers

us. And also the gospel is wonderful news if

you want to put that in there as well. OK, on

to number six, Matthew six, four. So this is

just a little piece of it. It comes from the

Sermon on the Mount. But it says your father

who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

So, yeah, there's a picture of him seeing and

which implies he's looking with his eyes. Right.

And Jesus repeatedly tells the believers that

God's attention is directed toward hidden faithfulness.

So like. Most of us are pretty good at public

faithfulness. Some of us kind of maybe struggle

a little bit now and then when we get busy, things

like that. But most of us are pretty good at

public faith. When we know that people will see

whether or not we're being faithful, we tend

to try to want to show up, right? But Jesus is

constantly talking about hidden faithfulness.

And so he talks about private prayer. That's

the first one, private prayer. He says, go into

the room in the inner parts of your house where

no one sees but your father and your father who

sees in secret will reward you publicly. He talks

about private generosity. Don't let your left

hand know what the right hand is doing, whatever.

Don't shout it to the hills, basically, that

you gave. He talks about private fasting. So

when you fast, don't make yourself look all miserable

and talk, oh, my, because I give up. food today

or whatever but rather try to look normal and

do as much work as normal you know shower bathe

wash whatever you got to do to try to be normal

so that people aren't walking around going oh

poor dan he's a christian he's really suffering

for being for christ right because god wants

to reward your private prayer generosity fasting

and then secret obedience And that's what it's

all about. Private prayer is about secret obedience.

Private generosity, secret obedience. Private

fasting, secret obedience. And it goes beyond

that. Now, we are to avoid the appearance of

sin. That's another topic, right? But the bottom

line is when you're doing what's right, it's

about whether you're doing it for God. If you're

doing it for God, nobody else really needs to

know, right? Okay. The world then will reward

your performance. The church will think highly

of you if you're constantly showing up, serving,

doing stuff. Your boss will put you in for a

bigger raise if you're the hardest worker on

the clock, right? So the application then is

that much of your greatest ministry, in other

words, much of the greatest service that you

do for God on this earth will never receive applause

on the earth. Literally, probably no one is ever

going to say thank you. In fact, I submit to

you that if they saw it and they say thank you,

then it is probably not your greatest service.

The greatest service would be what you do when

no one's looking, in the prayer closets, behind

closed doors. When the money comes from your

bank account and goes where it's supposed to

go and you don't bother asking anybody, you're

not announcing it, right? Those are the great

acts of service that God... And I think the reason...

Me personally, my theory is, I think the reason

that's true is because those things arise out

of character while all the rest of it arises

out of that kind of push and pull of desires

and I want applause, so I'm going to try really

hard to get the applause. I don't want anybody

to say anything negative, so I'm going to do

whatever will keep them from saying something

negative and like that. So I think the greatest

ministry ever done on earth probably won't be

any applause or any thank you, and this is key,

it is already noticed in heaven. is already noticed

in heaven so my time if i if i should do so i'm

not saying i do but if i should do so i spend

time in my prayer closet god is already rewarding

that and that's sort of what it means when you

store prejudice yourself in heaven not on earth

right so god is already rewarding that because

he sees my secret faithfulness you have a comment

yes it's the greatest recognition also is in

heaven like if someone recognizes you at the

same level It's like, oh, thanks. You know, someone

recognizes you, that's a greater status. It's

like, oh, wow. You know, but in heaven, when

recognized by God, you're being recognized by

the one, you know, that is the creator. Yes.

From like any other person that's recognized

you because everybody falls short of the glory

of God. Absolutely. That's that great recognition.

Yes, absolutely. And so who do you, like if you

went to the park and you pick up litter? and

one of your friends is there like that's cool

you pick up some litter right or another time

you went to the park when your friends your friends

isn't there but your dad is there and dad's like

wow son daughter i raised you right i am so proud

of you you just did that no nobody nobody had

to ask you to do that you just did it see the

praise difference between a parent and a friend

you know or a stranger even. Sometimes praise

from a stranger is more important than praise

from people because they might just be faking

it, right? But we are laid open bare before God.

He sees all our dirty nastiness, and then if

he praises us, that's good, right? Okay, last

one. God's eyes watch over his people. 1 Peter

3 .12 says, For the eyes of the Lord are toward

the righteous, and his ears attend to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who

do evil. So in case you thought anthropomorphic

godism, like thinking of God was only Old Testament,

this is actually Peter quoting Psalm 32. So he

brought it into the New Testament. Jesus did

that quite a bit as well. He said, we're going

to get there later, but in the hand of my father

and things like that. The New Testament confirms

this truth. God is actively watching over you.

He is an active participant in your life as a

believer. His attention is constant. His protection

is real. His justice remains certain. I'll do

that again because those are the his's that are

on your paper. So his attention is constant.

He doesn't go to sleep. He doesn't quit working.

He doesn't quit examining. You're not... sometimes

laid out before him and other times not laid

out before him. He doesn't stop looking at your

character. He doesn't stop looking at the good

and the evil of the world. It doesn't change.

His attention is continual. His protection is

real. God really does pour in resources on the

side of the believer so that they can end their

journey well and arrive in heaven intact. And

then his justice remains certain. You might question

it some days because some things don't seem right.

But God's justice remains certain. The eyes of

the Lord toward the righteous and his ears attend

to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is

against those who do evil. It's also an interesting

verse based on what we just studied on Sunday.

We're talking about how the mercy for some is

the judgment for everyone else. And so God is

giving mercy to believers who trust and depend

on him and come to him, cry out to him in anguish

and whatever. At the same time, judgment falls

on those who refuse to do so. So then the application

there is that the believer never walks outside

God's notice. I've said it a number of times

this way in my own life. So as long as I'm doing

what it is that God wants me to do, no one and

nothing can stop me. If they kill me, I'll go

straight to heaven. See, as long as I'm walking

in the Lord, he's got it. His attention is continuous.

Protection is real. Justice remains certain.

So all of this together then comes down to this.

The eyes of God. as a phrase right because not

remember not literal eyes got his spirit teaches

us something it teaches us his omniscience he

sees everything it teaches us his providence

nothing happens outside his awareness his compassion

he notices suffering his justice he observes

every sin without fail his faithfulness he remembers

every act of obedience he will not forget If

you don't see the treasure, the reward or the

praise on earth, God forbid, that would be like

that. If you don't see that, you will see it

in heaven and you will be eternally, immensely

grateful to have it there. Even if you don't

have it here. Bless you. His sovereignty. He's

in charge. Nothing surprises him. His covenant

love. His children live continually under his

watchful care. All right. So then that brings

us down to the question of, first of all, what

are we going to do about it? OK, so. The number

one thing I would say is to live transparently.

You are seen. You are known. Since God already

sees it, what do you gain by pretending? If you're

in this room and you are not a Christian, you

have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord,

that means he tells you what to do and you do

it, or as your Savior, which means that he paid

the price for your sins. You're not trusting

in him for salvation. I look around this room,

I don't see anybody that would not say that that's

true. And if you're lying, just stop. You're

really not doing yourself any good. You'd be

much better off to actually begin to say, I need

to find out whether this is real or not. What

does God really want from me? What can my relationship

with God really be like? Why fake it? I'm trying

to impress Pastor Dan. I'm already impressed.

You're already incredible. Stop it. You don't

need to do that. Seek the Lord. And it's the

same thing with if you're just trying to cover

up a sin. So I'm a Christian, but I know I'm

not quite living right. Don't do it. You'd be

better off. I am trusting the holy God of heaven

to be saved. I'm trusting Jesus alone to pay

for my sins. And he's given me righteousness.

And I am into pornography. I want to follow the

Lord with all my heart. But I am struggling with

pornography. You'd be better off there than saying,

I love Jesus. I'm serving the Lord. I don't have

any problems. Or I have some problems. But they're

the kind of things that everybody struggles with.

Sometimes I feel lazy. Sometimes I get angry.

Sometimes I lie when I don't mean to. Anything

that society will accept is okay. But then if

I get into like, I look at little children in

a perverse way. And if Christians would say,

well, I can't bring myself to admit that that's

true. Now they have a problem because God is

not going to pour in his resources while you're

lying about who you are in Christ. If you're

struggling with alcohol, admit it, cry out to

the Lord and say, I'm struggling with alcohol,

right? Live transparently because God sees it

anyway. So the only people that you're kidding

is other human beings who can't save you or send

you to hell, either one, and yourself. And you

can't save yourself or send yourself to hell,

either one either. It's up to God. The second

thing is then be encouraged. God notices faithful

service. Others overlook. So when you do work

and you don't get paid for it, you don't get

praise for it, you don't get a pat on the back

for it or whatever, understand that God knows

absolutely. And he has taken care of it. And

you realize you could get a gem in your crown

in heaven for picking up a tiny piece of litter

that nobody saw and doing it for the glory of

the Lord. for going to bed on time on a Saturday

night and getting up not tired on a Sunday morning.

Maybe you can get a gem and then you get to add

a boy in heaven for an eternity because you decided

to go to bed at 11 instead of midnight on Saturday

night so you could be sure you were ready for

Sunday morning. Or you can break your Bible out

and actually read when no one makes you. There's

no Bible study to do nothing. I'm just going

to read something just because. Just because

I want to know. Wow, really? And you can get

a gem in your crown in heaven because God sees

that when nobody else sees it. Bless you again.

Repent quickly. Hidden sins are never hidden

from him anyway. So right away, turn back to

God. Oh, I screwed up. Like when somebody hurts

me, I want to go forgive them first thing because

that only makes it worse if I don't. So I'll

first forgive them. And then I might forgive

them again later if it was pretty bad. Maybe

later again if it was pretty bad. Maybe later

again if it gets thrown back up in my face, that

kind of thing. But when it comes to repenting,

you need to be the same way. As soon as you realize

you did something that you shouldn't do. repent

immediately and turn to the Lord so that he can

cleanse it, so he can deal with it. Because not

only does it say he forgives, but it also cleanses

us from the unrighteousness, the impact of it,

the dirtiness, the nastiness. He'll clean you

up and clean you out and build your heart back

up new. Turn right away to him because he already

sees it anyway. If you're delaying, you're only

delaying. It's like, I go to the doctor's office

and he writes me a prescription. But I don't

pick it up until three days later. The doctor

doesn't know I didn't pick it up until three

days later. But my health knows and I need that

medicine for whatever purpose. And I still have

the infection and now I could maybe die and whatever.

So God knows the medicine for sin is repentance,

is turning to the Lord and letting him deal with

it. Do it fast. Do it early. Do it quickly. And

then the next thing is to trust him. Trust God.

The God who sees tomorrow already knows how he

will provide what it is you need. Like you might

be looking at a problem going like, man, this

is going to be tough. I'm $40 ,000 from where

I need to be, or my health is not where it needs

to be. I might have to lose weight, gain muscle,

get my head under control, get my brain cleaned

out. I might have to break an addiction. Or you

look at where you want to go, and you're like,

man, this is a long journey. This is going to

really be tough. But God is already there. One

of my favorite movie lines of all times comes

from, I think the movie's called Covered Wagons,

an old John Wayne movie. And he's a wagon train

scout. taking people west out to california and

at the end of the movie he's there in a bar by

himself and he's in the corner of the table and

some of his friends are supposed to be looking

on and they asked him say i don't know what his

character's name was and he said say john say

john uh where do we go next and he says well

i don't know where we're going next and i can't

do a good john wayne impression he says but this

one thing i can tell you wherever it is god's

already there and that's the end of the movie

it goes black doesn't come back up goes to credits

right Except here's the funny thing about that

line. It wasn't in the script. They got to the

end of the movie and they're like, oh, crud.

We don't know how to end the movie. So let's

put the camera on John Wayne and let him end

it however he wants. And that's what he said.

And it made it into the annals of American history.

It became one of the greatest lines. God sees

your tomorrow. He sees your problem. Like God

might be having you give up some small thing

today that will actually make you able to deal

with something that's huge in your future 10

years down the road. Most things like. left to

their own devices grow out of control like weeds

now i have this little problem it's not a big

deal i'm not dealing with it god's not dealing

with it we're okay it's not a problem right now

10 years from now it's a huge huge problem and

god knows that so god wants you to deal with

it right now so that in 10 years it won't be

that huge huge problem that god sees tomorrow

and he knows how he will provide today tomorrow

the next day and so on then the last one is to

persevere do not Quit. Every unseen act of obedience

is fully known by God. Do not allow yourself

to grow weary and say, well, I'm not going to

do what it is that God has given me to do. Typically,

if we're doing that, it's a failing in our character,

which God already knew, which means God already

made a provision for it. So it should be fine.

During the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge

in the 1930s, none of us were around then, workers

were laboring for hundreds of feet above the

water. So they're building this bridge like 300

feet above the water. And when you hit, water

falling from that distance. It's like concrete,

they say. I've never done it. I don't know for

sure, but it's bad. And so lots of people fell

and died. And everyone that fell died. No one

survived. So as you can imagine, the work slowed

to a crawl. So what happened was they built a

huge safety net under the entire bridge, built

it all the way across where they were working,

right? So, I mean, it was probably hundreds of

yards long by... 50 yards wide or whatever. And

if anyone would fall, they would fall into the

net. And as soon as the net was built and the

danger was removed, it transformed how they worked.

They went back to working not only fast like

they were in the first place, but faster still,

right? Because some of the very courageous, very

fast working guys had actually fallen and died.

But now we've got people that are working with

no fear. And that's what it's like to be a Christian.

That's what it's like to be a follower of the

Lord. Christians live under the watchful eyes

of God. God's care does not eliminate every trial.

But it means that no hardship, no act of faithfulness,

no tear, no prayer goes unnoticed. His watchful

gaze gives courage to obey. We can do it. Confidence

to persevere. We can keep doing it. and hope

in every circumstance, no matter how bad it looks.

The eyes of the Lord are not merely watching

history. They are watching you. Abby, the eyes

of the Lord are watching you. Imagine if you

were on a stage in front of a big audience and

they're all watching you. And it's time now for

you to deliver your big line. You're playing

like a bunch of grapes and you've got one thing

to say. Yummy, I'm grapes, right? And you step

up in front of 5 ,000 people all watching you

and you're going, I got to say my line exactly

perfectly. God's eyes are on you. And that's

more than all the people in the world. For the

unbeliever, that's a solemn warning. Look out,

God's eyes are on you. Every sin is fully known

and nothing can be concealed from God. The God

who sees all will one day call every person into

account. It says, will be called to account for

every idle word, let alone actions, right? The

one who sees every weakness also sees every act

of faith, every quiet sacrifice, every hidden

prayer, and every tear that's shed in the name

of the Lord. You are never forgotten, never abandoned,

never beyond his loving attention. The hymn writer

says, His eye is on the sparrow, and I know he

watches me. God's gaze spans the universe. He

sees the specks on planets to which humans have

not yet roamed. But he lovingly watches over

each of his children, inviting us to live in

his holiness, confidence, and unwavering trust.

That's what you're called to. So the next time

you start to worry, remember, God already sees.

Next time you start to... God saw it before you

did it, not when you did it. So now you're regretting

what you did the day before yesterday, but God

saw what you did the day before yesterday years

before that. Repent, turn to the Lord, and trust

him with all of it. Did everybody get all the

blanks filled in? Seven, okay. Yeah, a lot of

his is there, right? I'll help you. Okay, so

the top seven is his. Attention is continual.

His protection is real and his justice remains

certain. If you go down into the bottom, then

where it says on a keyword or phrase, it completes

each statement. His omniscience is that word

again. It's O -M -N -I -S -C -I -E -N -C -E means

nothing is unknown. His providence means nothing

happens outside his awareness. His compassion.

He notices your suffering. His justice, his faithfulness,

his sovereignty, which is another weird word

to spell. It's S -O -V -E -R -E -I -G. There's

a G in there. N -T. Sovereignty means like being

in charge. And his covenant love.