He is Good | Full Sight | Mark 8:11-26

We're in a series right now.

My name's Colton, by the way.

If you're new, Colton, it's good to see you.

So glad you're here.

In a series in Mark called He is Good, because Mark titles his gospel, This is the Good News, The Beginning of the Good News of Jesus.

And so we've been walking through the Gospel of Mark, and we're in chapter 8, and we have a larger section today that we're going to read.

So I'm going to go ahead and get into it.

But going bit by bit, looking at why Jesus is good in these spaces.

And so this is what Mark writes, starting in verse 11.

The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus.

To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven.

He sighed deeply and said, Why does this generation ask for a sign?

Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.

Then he left them, got back into the boat, and crossed to the other side.

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for the one loaf that they had with them in the boat.

Be careful, Jesus warned them.

Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.

And they discussed this with one another and said, It is because we have no bread.

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them, Why are you talking about having no bread?

Do you still not see and understand?

Are your hearts hardened?

Do you have eyes but fail to see?

Ears but fail to hear?

And don't you remember?

When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?

Twelve, they replied.

And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?

And they answered, Seven.

And he said to them, Do you still not understand?

And they came to Bethsaida, and some brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.

And he took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.

And when he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, Do you see anything?

And he looked up and said, I see people.

They look like trees walking around.

Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes.

Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

Jesus sent him home saying, Don't even go into the village.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Normally, I try and walk through a text.

I read a number of books on these things so that I am able to like impact the sermon and the talk with a lot of quotes from men and women who are much smarter than I am.

And I did that this week, but this message is so long, I could not put in any quotes to make it longer.

I had to cut every single quote.

And so there are a lot of people that speak very highly of this passage, have a lot to say on it.

Maybe you can read those commentaries.

I did not input any of their stuff into this.

And so if you love quotes, I'm sorry, there'll be more next week.

If you hate quotes and you hate that I teach using quotes, I see you and I love you.

And so this sermon is for you.

No quotes for you.

It's that long.

It's such a long text.

So I'm gonna jump right into it.

So I wanted to say that just to get you into this thing.

So we're gonna look at two pitfalls that Jesus wants us to avoid that we see in this space.

Two pitfalls that he wants us to avoid.

Um, and then we're gonna look at an illustration as to that then tells us why he wants us to avoid these things.

So two pitfalls that Jesus wants us to avoid that we see in this passage, and then an illustration that helps us to actually understand why he wants us to avoid that thing.

So the first pitfall that Jesus wants us to avoid is demanding more proof before we follow or believe.

Jesus wants to avoid, wants us to avoid this idea of I need more proof before I follow and believe.

And this is what the Pharisees do.

This is what they're doing.

Verse 11, we see the Pharisees came and began to question Jesus to test him.

They asked him, we need a sign from heaven.

To prove your authority, to prove that you're worthy of our time, we need a sign from heaven.

What's interesting to me about this particular idea is, and if you've, as we walk through Mark, you know the Pharisees have seen incredible things from Jesus.

They've seen him heal a paralyzed man, they've heard about the feeding of the 5,000, the feeding of the 4,000, they've watched Jesus drive out many demons from people.

And so they're asking for a sign from heaven, and it's like, what'd you see before?

Like, what was the what do you call those other things that he was doing?

Why is it that you're still asking for a sign from heaven?

And realistically, they have this mentality about them that's like, that's not good enough.

Like what you've done before, the prophecies that align with your life, the things that people are saying about you and the stuff that you're doing, like that stuff, it's just not enough.

Like you, we you we need more than that.

That's that those aren't signs from heaven.

We don't know what those are, but those aren't doing it for us.

We need more.

And so Jesus tells the disciples, and I believe he tells us, like, hey, watch out for that type of thinking.

The type of thinking that makes you think that like I just need a little, I would follow if I had some more proof.

And to me, I think this is a challenge for us, not just for them back in the day, but I think it's a challenge for us today too, because I think one of the things that stands in the way of your obedience, of my obedience, of following Jesus, believing things about Jesus, one of the things that stands in the way is just a lack of evidence or a lack of proof that like if I step forward with you in this way, it's gonna be okay.

It's gonna be better than what I'm currently doing.

And what we long for is like, I just need a little bit of proof, a little bit of evidence that like if I do decide to follow you in this way, I just need to know and have confidence that it's actually going to be better for me than this idea that I have.

And that stands in our way as well.

So it's subtle, but it sounds like this.

If I had proof that reading the scriptures and praying would do something good in my life, I'd find the time.

But I'm not completely certain that it's gonna do anything in my life.

If I had some proof about it, then I'd do some of that stuff.

But I don't, I need proof before I step into that, before I carve out the time, before I carve out the five minutes, before I do this thing.

I need to know that's gonna do something for me.

If I had proof that sacrificially giving of my money would help me and not hurt me, if I had proof of that, then I'd follow Jesus in that way.

But honestly, what it feels like is if I follow Jesus in that way, it's gonna be worse for me and not better for me.

I would need more proof that he would care for me.

And so we refuse to step forward in this thing that he's calling us to do because we don't have the proof.

If I had some proof that forgiving that person, if I just forgave them, that something good would come out of that.

If I had proof that that would work, that it would shift something in my heart, that it would change something in our dynamic in our relationship, then I would forgive them.

But I don't know, that doesn't seem like it would do anything.

Trying to reconcile with that person, like I doesn't seem like it's gonna do anything in our relationship.

Why even try?

And it's like, because Jesus calls you to, it's like, yeah, but I don't have enough evidence to show that that's even gonna change anything, and so I'm not gonna follow him in that way until I know that it's actually gonna do something.

If I had proof that fasting and prayer would give us power to shift and change things that are only changed by fasting and prayer, if I had proof of that, then I'd give up some food, then I'd pray a little bit, then I'd do those things.

If I had proof that seeking to reconcile, I talked about that one.

If I had proof that sharing the gospel would actually lead them to believe, then I'd talk about Jesus.

I'd share the gospel.

But honestly, I'd think they just reject me, reject that, it's not gonna do anything.

And so we have this space where we naturally in our lives we want to move towards things that we know for a fact.

If I take steps in this direction, it will be beneficial for me, it will help me, there'll be something good that comes out of this.

But when it comes to actually believing Jesus and what he says, following the way of Jesus that he calls us to, we just lack for the confidence that like I just think I need more proof.

And what we want to do, and the natural inclination of our hearts that Jesus has warned us about, is like what we naturally end up moving towards is I would like to follow you in proof and not walk by faith.

I want to walk by proof and I do not want to walk by faith.

If I know it'll work, then I'll do it.

If I don't know that it's gonna be good for me, then I'm gonna push that off because I need more proof.

We're just like the Pharisees.

And the tragedy with this type of thinking is that, according to Jesus, it will only lead to furthering your unbelief and your inaction.

It's not going to help you.

Asking for proof isn't gonna lead Jesus to be like, oh my gosh, you didn't have any proof.

I'm so sorry.

Here, I'll do some stuff from heaven.

Cloud, you know, he's not gonna like he's not gonna do any of those things.

And he says that in verse 13 and 12 to the dis uh to the Pharisees, he sighs deeply, just in frustration.

Why does this generation ask for a sign?

Why do they ask for proof?

Truly, I tell you, you're not gonna get any of that.

You're not gonna get a sign.

And then it says that he leaves them, like I'm just gonna leave you in your unbelief, because I'm not gonna be threatened by these things.

Jesus feels in so many different texts.

We saw it last week, weeks before.

He feels so much compassion for people.

He's like overflowing gut reaction, compassion for people.

But here, he feels no desire whatsoever to try and prove anything about himself to anybody.

He has nothing that's like, oh, you don't think I am?

Well, I'll prove it.

He feels none of that.

And so asking for it actually leads him to do less in your life, not more in your life.

And the truth is, the reason this won't work is because even if Jesus did do something in front of them, they've already rejected the things that they've already seen.

And so just doing one more thing is gonna be another thing that they see and don't respond to.

And so I was talking with Troy about this at at breakfast the other day.

I was like, it's it's like this cycle of unbelief that I think you see in the Pharisees that also are seen in us.

I made a cool chart here, you're gonna love it.

So this is how it works.

This is how the cycle of unbelief works.

So first it starts with, I don't accept what I've already seen and heard, leads us to.

Then we're called to believe and follow Jesus.

We demand more proof.

We're not gonna receive it because even if we did receive it, we don't accept what we see and hear.

And so we just spin around this cycle of going, I'm waiting to, I'm waiting to see something that would make me trust him.

And it's like, well, he's calling you to trust him.

It's like, well, I need more proof that I should trust him.

And it's like, well, you've actually already seen some stuff that should lead you to trust him.

He's given his life for you, he's bled for you, died for you.

Like, you should trust him that he has good for you and not bad for you.

And if that doesn't actually shape your heart, asking for more proof is only gonna lead you back to where you started, which is the things that you've already seen and heard have done nothing to move you towards following Jesus.

And so asking for more of those things, even if he did show you more of those things, it would be like, well, that was just coincidence.

That was just, I, you know, I know I I know you guys prayed for me, but like honestly, I that was probably gonna happen anyways.

And so it shifts into this space where it's this cycle of unbelief.

And that's what's happening with the Pharisees.

They have already seen these things, called to believe, called to follow, need further evidence, and they're not gonna get it because honestly, it's not gonna do anything anyways.

It's just gonna lead you back to where you started, which is I don't believe the stuff that I see.

And I think the same thing is true for us, and this is why Jesus says, like, hey, be careful, don't fall into this idea of needing proof, of asking for proof and feeling like I'll follow you if I get proof.

Because the truth is it's actually gonna lead you to experience less from God, not more for him.

He's not gonna respond to your threat, I'll believe if.

He's not gonna do that.

It's actually gonna lead you to not experience any more things because the stuff that you do see is invisible to you and you're blind to it.

And the irony is for us and for the Pharisees, is the evidence, the proof that normally we're asking for from God.

Like, if you would give me this, then I would move forward in those things.

The irony is like you would actually experience that proof just not this way, not by asking for proof, but actually if you would just take a step in faith, he would be faithful to you and you experience his faithfulness.

If you want proof that he's faithful, you can't ask for proof that he's faithful on the front end and then he's gonna give it to you.

It's like actually take a step leaning on him in faith, and you will experience him to be faithful.

It's the same with anything, I mean anything else.

We we understand this.

You don't learn the dependability of somebody by saying, prove your dependability.

Well, the way that they prove it is when you depend on them for something.

You have to do that first.

And then once you do that thing, I'm gonna lean on you and depend on you.

And it's like, are they dependable?

It's like, well, I didn't find out if they were or weren't until I did the thing.

And so it takes the step of faith first to receive the proof that you actually want.

And so asking for it on the front end isn't gonna work, but actually stepping forward in faith, asking for those or and seeking those things, you will find.

He is faithful.

But you only really step into those spaces when you follow him in faith.

And so this is what Jesus tells us to watch out for.

I don't want you to miss out on the stuff that I have for you.

He's like, I don't want you to be like this, constantly asking for more while you're everything that I'm actually doing for you is going unseen.

And so he warns us watch out.

Don't ask for proof.

Demanding proof to follow and believe, it will lead you to experience less, not more.

And so that's the first thing.

The second is that we need to watch out for is knowing all the right answers without it affecting your heart and life.

As followers of Jesus, as especially, this is um true of southern Christians, knowing all of the Bible.

And I, you know, I thought about like just quoting some verses and having the group finish them.

Um I wouldn't have been able to do that as a kid because I didn't grow up in the church, but like many people in the South just grow up like around the right words and around the Bible being spoken.

You got more Bibles in our houses than we have regular books and stuff like that.

And uh it's easy to know all the right answers without it actually affecting our heart.

And we know that's true because that happens with the disciples.

They're actually living with Jesus and they know the right answers, but it's still not getting in there and shaping their lives.

And so we see this that the disciples, you know, they uh have one loaf of bread.

Jesus says, beware of the yeast, and they're like, oh my gosh, he's mad that we didn't bring enough bread.

And then in verse 16, they start discussing with one another.

It's because we have no bread.

And aware of their discussion, Jesus asks them, and then notice the questions he asks them.

He's like, hey, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls did you pick up?

They're like, 12.

So you know the right words.

You know the right answer.

You haven't forgotten, you don't have dementia.

Like you remember.

And like, okay, what about with the 4,000?

Oh, seven.

Seven.

It's like, right, you know the right words.

And it's like this thing where it's like, do you see that you're missing out and you're still worried about bread?

And you can hear the frustration in Jesus' voice.

It reminded me.

I don't have any quotes, but I do have a video, don't play it just yet.

But it reminded me of that scene, uh, if you ever watch Friends, where Phoebe is trying to teach Joey French, and um it's anyways, I just play this real fast.

Watch this.

Okay, maybe we just break it down.

Okay, let's just let's try one syllable at a time.

Okay, so repeat after me.

I can't teach you.

But then every now and then there's there's just this experience that I have from like growing up that I'm like, that's actually perfect.

I just see Jesus going, like, how many loaves of bread the first time?

And that's like 12.

Like basketfuls the second time, seven.

It's like, so what should that teach you about worrying about bread?

I don't know.

It's like I'm gonna put your head through a wall.

Like, I just cannot deal with this idea.

And like there's this frustration that he deals with.

Like, you see the things, you know the words, like you actually do this thing, you see it.

Why is it not taking root in your heart?

How are you able to say something, but it's not actually affecting your life at all?

And I think we do this so much.

We know the right words, we know what the Bible says.

What does the Bible say about worry?

Oh, we shouldn't worry.

Why not?

Uh, because it doesn't add a single day to our lives.

What are you doing?

Oh, I'm freaking out.

I'm very worried.

And it's like, but you knew the right words.

How is that not taking shape into your life?

How is it not taking root in your heart?

Husbands, love your wives.

Wives, respect your husbands, but it doesn't change the way that we speak to one another.

It doesn't change the way that we sacrifice for one another.

I'm willing to sacrifice more for my hobby than I am for my spouse.

Like, and I know that I'm supposed to respect him, but I the words that I want to say are just not respectful words.

And honestly, he doesn't deserve my respect.

And it's like, that's not the words.

And you know what it actually says, but it doesn't shift the way that you respond to one another and how you talk to each other.

Like, what is that that we're able to know these words and yet somehow they're not rooted and actually shaping our actions?

Forgive others as Christ has forgiven you.

No, I'm not gonna do that.

They don't deserve that.

And it's like, you didn't either, and you know the word.

Forgive those that have hurt you, forgive them the way that Christ has forgiven you.

And it's like we we can see that, we've heard it preached, we can there's songs about it, like, doesn't shape us.

The wages of sin is death.

What does sin pay you in?

What's it gonna do in your life?

It's gonna bring death.

It's like, great.

What do you think about that sin in your life?

I think that one's fine.

That one's okay.

And it's like, but the words, like you know the right words, you know how these things take shape.

You're saved by grace through faith, not by works, and yet still people show up to church thinking they're doing God a favor and like he's happy with me today, I'll have a good week because I went to church, and it's like, you are not saved by your works.

He is not pleased with you based on your works.

If you screw up this week and you had a terrible week and you yelled at people and you, you know, I don't know what you did, and you looked at porn and all the different things, and it's like, how does he love you this week?

He loves you the same because you're your his love for you isn't based on your works.

And yet we sin and we struggle, and we're like, God must be so disappointed in me.

And it's like, you are saved by grace through faith.

It is not based on some of those things.

And he's also not super pleased with you and going to bless you a lot more when you're crushing it and killing it.

And now you're self-righteous about this.

Like, it's just not those ways, and yet these words that are constantly in our lives and have been a part of our culture, especially in the South, so often, somehow we're able to quote them and give the right answer to what John 3.16 says, or all these different things.

And yet we still are like, it's not doing anything in here, it's not actually shaping our heart.

We see this in other spaces too.

If I were to ask many of you, like, what has Jesus done for you?

We would know the right words.

He's forgiven me all my sins.

He doesn't hold any of my sin against me, he's adopted me into his family as a son or his daughter, he saved me from future torment and hell.

And it's like, great.

You think if you know all that stuff, anyone who's actually experienced that, it would lead those people who've actually experienced just those four things.

It would lead them to want to spend time with the king and the savior who did that stuff.

And yet it's like, so you you reading your Bible, you you pray and you want to spend any time with him?

Like, nah, I can't carve out the time, I just don't have the time to do that stuff.

And it's like, but you just said that he forgave all of your sin.

He he doesn't hold them against you anymore, he saved you for an eternity, and like, and you don't want to spend time with that person?

Like, it doesn't make any sense.

Like, how do we know the words, but it's not shaping our hearts?

It's the same with worship.

That's like anybody who's actually experienced this stuff would want to like worship with passion and abandon, and just going, like, I'll give you whatever.

Like, I you just deserve everything that I have.

And many times, and I I sit up front, so I'm not pointing at anybody, I sit up front so I don't have to see people worship, I just get to focus on myself.

But many times I see like people with their hands in their pockets mumbling along to the worship songs, and it's like, and you would also say, Oh, he's forgiven all of your sin.

He saved you from an eternity that you no longer have to experience, adopted you into his family.

Every spiritual blessing in Christ is available to you.

How's your worship going?

It's like, I need you, Lord.

Like, there should be like I've seen grown men cry when their crappy football team beats their rival.

Like, and like they're slept in high fiving, they're jumping up and down, they're shrieking, all those different things, and like comes to Jesus, defeated sin, Satan, death, hell.

It's like, that's okay.

But my crummy football team uh doing something, uh, that happened in a while.

And it's like, why are we more excited about one thing than the actual thing?

And why are we able to say the words of this thing?

But somehow it's not taking root in our heart.

It is not to shame, it is not judgment, it is just a recollection of like this thing that Jesus is pointing out in the disciples is real for us.

We are able to say the right words, to say that we've experienced things like the disciples, we've experienced 5,000 plus being fed, 20,000 people total being fed.

We've experienced that.

It's like, is that making you not worry?

No, I'm very worried, we're not gonna have enough bread.

It's like, how?

How is it not working?

How is it not taking shape?

And I think that we deal with this.

The trap that Christians, especially Southern Christians, can fall into is we know the words.

We grew up surrounded by the right words, we know the right answers, but it hasn't shaped our hearts.

And the tragedy is when that happens, we live uh when we live in that way, we will be faced with issues and obstacles and hardships that otherwise like you should have avoided.

Those things never should have hit your life.

And you see that with the disciples.

They're arguing with one another about not having enough bread.

They're worried they don't have enough bread.

So the arguing and the worrying are not supposed to be obstacles they're bumping into.

They're not supposed to be taking shape in their life at all.

They're supposed to be like, we got one loaf of bread.

Like, well, we could feed a lot of folks.

Like I've seen what he did last time.

Like, we're fine.

And instead, because it's not taking root in their lives.

They know the words, but it's not taking root in their lives.

They're arguing, they're dealing with conflict, and they're worried.

They think that Jesus is mad at them.

And I think the same thing is true for us.

It leads us just to know the words that I know how I'm supposed to treat my husband.

I know what the Bible says.

I know the right words.

I know how I'm supposed to treat my wife.

I know how I'm supposed to trust him.

I know how I'm supposed to deal with my finances.

I know.

I know the right words.

But I'm not doing any of those things.

And so what it leads to is you're going to continue to deal with conflict in your marriage that you should not have to experience.

It should be gone.

The idea is that to follow him in that way, to hear the words, know the words, and then move forward in those spaces, it should lead you out of conflict to a path of peace.

But instead, I just know the words, but I'm not actually getting them in my heart.

They're not shaping my actions whatsoever.

Well, that's great that you know the words, but you're going to just continue to walk into these spaces.

You're going to continue to deal with financial issues like that because you don't deal with your money the way that Jesus is calling you to deal with your money.

You don't deal with your spouse the way that Jesus calls you to deal with your spouse.

You don't deal with your worries the way that I tell you to deal with your worries.

And so you're, it's not to shame you, it's to say that like you're just going to continue to bump like a blind person bumping into things that they can't see.

You're going to continue to bump into those things and going, like, I don't know why this is still working.

It's like, because you know the words.

But it's not taking shape in your heart.

And Jesus is warning us and saying, it is natural for you to know the words and not let them sink in enough to where it shapes your life.

And that's a problem.

Not because I'll hate you or I'll be mad at you or anything like that, but because you'll just miss out on stuff that I actually wanted to give you.

And so Jesus is warning us about those two obstacles.

And then he gives us an illustration that explains more than anything why we need to avoid these two pitfalls.

And it's given with the blind man in Beth Seda.

It says they came to Beth Seda, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him, and he took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.

When he spit on the man's eyes, it's an odd way to heal somebody.

When he put his hands on him, Jesus asked, Do you see anything?

And he looked up and said, I see people.

They look like trees walking.

So this is an illustration.

Many commentators believe that Jesus healing in this way, it's a slow healing, it's one touch and then a second one.

It's not because this particular blindness was like, this was super rare.

You have a rare skin disease or a rare blindness that like even Jesus struggles with.

It's not that.

The man's healed, brought people back from the dead.

He's not dealing with blindness this way.

The reason he chooses to do it this way is an illustration to show what the disciples and what the Pharisees are actually dealing with.

He is trying to illustrate this is what you guys are dealing with as well.

This is what the world will naturally deal with.

What the Pharisees are struggling with, the pitfall, what the disciples are walking into, like this is illustrating.

You have the ability to see something, but you can only really see partially.

This man can see, but not clearly.

And so to see proof that Jesus, he has given you already signs from heaven, to see proof that he's done something for you and refuse to see it is to, you can see, but you can't see clearly.

To know the right words.

I know the right words.

So you can see the right words, you can hear the right words, you have the ability to, what are the right words?

Like I know what the Bible says, but then to not have that locked into your life and shaping your heart.

You can see, but you can't see clearly.

And so to stay in either of those two spaces is to just, I see partially.

People look like trees and they're walking around.

That's that's as good as it gets.

And so there's this illustration that we're given.

It's like, what is life like just doing one of those two things?

Either demanding evidence before I follow, or knowing all the right words because I'm a good Christian, but I don't actually do any of the things that he says.

What is life like?

And it's like, it will be like you are partially blind.

You will live, but you will not thrive.

You have something, but there's more available to you.

And this man sticks around Jesus long enough to find that out.

The reason we shouldn't stay there is the same reason that this man doesn't want to stay there.

It's like, yeah, I can see something, but I bet there's more available.

And Jesus is like, absolutely.

It's always more available.

Demanding proof before you follow Jesus, you'll never actually see what you want to see.

You'll never actually be able to actually experience the things that he has for you.

You'll be waiting for proof instead of walking by faith.

Knowing the right words, you'll miss out.

You'll continue to bump into obstacles the same way that a partially blind man would still bump into stuff.

He might see it once he's close up to it or something like that, but it's gonna be really hard.

And so for you to be partially blind in those ways, like you'll just continue to bump into those things and you'll miss out.

And the great news is Jesus offers something better.

And in verse 25, it says, once more, Jesus put his hands on this man's eyes, and then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

And to me, that's the option, like, and that's the invitation.

That is what's actually available.

You can live but not thrive, or you can just allow Jesus to lead you into a space where it's like, I'm not gonna demand proof.

Instead, I'm just gonna follow him by faith and actually begin to see more clearly as I do that.

And I'm not just gonna listen to the words and think of the words, but I'm actually gonna take the words and allow them to shape my heart.

And all of a sudden, what becomes more clear is that Jesus is worthy of actually following you, uh, of you following him.

He will actually take care of you.

He does have better plans for you than you have for yourself.

And I think what's available with him and what he wants for us is a fullness of sight, a fullness of life.

That's what he gives this man, and that's what he wants to give us.

And he's trying through this one interaction with this guy to go, you can stay here and continue to do this thing with have and have partial sight with not abundant life, but you know, it's life.

Or you could allow me to actually bring you into this space where I actually have abundant life for you.

And that's the offer.

So, what do we do?

Two things.

Two things that we can do.

One, we need to ask for faith and not proof.

Ask for faith and not proof.

If you're sitting there going, like, I will follow if, I will give money if, I will serve if, I will forgive if, you're demanding proof.

And I would encourage you to ask for faith, not proof.

Instead of asking for those things, we need to actually go to this is the difference.

Like the Pharisees aren't asking for faith.

They're literally asking for proof.

They're like, I will believe if you show me.

And so they're asking for proof.

They're asking, actually, it's very similar to what Satan says to uh Jesus when he's being tempted.

Like, if you are the Son of God, then do this.

Prove to me that you're the Son of God.

And the Pharisees are doing the exact same thing.

They're like, if you are worthy of my time, give me a sign, prove it, give me a sign from heaven.

And we are more like Satan when we're asking, I will do it if you show me something.

If you can prove to me, we sound more like Satan than we do like anybody else.

And there's this man, we'll deal with this in Mark 10, but there's this man that comes up to Jesus and he's like, if you can do anything in my son's life, I don't know if you can.

He's not asking for proof.

And Jesus goes, if I can, like everything is possible.

And he goes, Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry.

I do believe.

Help my unbelief.

And then Jesus does a miracle in that man's life to help his unbelief.

Jesus loves responding to requests for more faith.

And he will walk away from people demanding proof.

Prove to me that you're worth it.

And he's like, I will never do that.

I feel no need to prove myself.

But that those are like, I do genuinely want to follow, but I'm struggling to follow you in this space.

Please give me the faith and the courage enough to step out in that space.

He's like, Yes, I will respond to that.

We need to ask for faith, not proof.

He does not respond to threats very well.

Because he can't be threatened.

He's like, actually, I run all this, so I'm not super worried about the threats.

We need to ask for help in our faith, not proof.

So what are you waiting, or where are you waiting on proof before you follow?

Where is Jesus looking at your life and sighing deeply, going, please?

Where is he doing that?

You're like, I would follow if.

And instead of saying, I would follow if, just like, help me to trust you to follow in that space.

Give me the faith I need to take steps.

Second thing we need to do, and I don't know how hard this will be, but ask someone, ask someone you trust this question, and then don't get offended when they answer.

Ask them this question.

Where do I know the right words, but it's not shaping my life?

Go to someone you trust.

Hopefully that's your spouse if you have one.

If it's not, we could chat later.

Um, but go to someone you trust, a trusted friend, a trusted pastor, a trusted person in your life, and ask them the question: where is my life out of step with this?

Where am I like the disciples?

Where am I claiming?

I know the right words, but it's like, do you?

Because all that time quoting the scriptures, it's not making you kinder to me, and yet you're able to quote some of this stuff.

Like, that's pretty great.

Where is your life out of kilture in those areas?

To look at someone that you trust and then allow them to speak that into your life.

And if you are the trusted person speaking that into their life, I would encourage you, be gracious.

Jesus would be gracious, it's kind.

But it is a space where you're giving somebody the opportunity to actually point out, you say you believe this, and then your life looks like this, and those don't match.

And so, which one of these things is not like the other?

And so go to somebody and ask them, where in my life do I know the right words, but it's not shaping my life?

We all know that there's a difference between being able to describe great food and tasting great food.

Knowing the right words on how to describe great food is awesome.

But you know that it's real different to actually take a bite of that great food.

Like if it's sitting there right in front of you and it's like, I don't want you to eat it, I just want you to tell me about it.

You'd be like, I'm gonna lose my mind if I don't eat that food.

Like, I'm going to, because the experience is very, very different.

And so having the right words to describe the most flavorful thing that you love, like that's something, but the experience shifts on the action.

As soon as you eat it, all of a sudden you walk into a different experience.

You're not only able to describe it, you're actually able to enjoy it.

And I think with our faith, being able to describe what you believe and knowing the right words is that's fine.

That's one thing.

But the experience and the enjoyment of what Jesus has for you comes when you take what you know and the descriptions that you have and actually implanting those things into your life where they shape what you do with your mind, with your heart, with your arms, your all of it.

That's true for your faith as well.

And so I would encourage you, ask someone you trust that honest question, and then don't get offended when they do it.

But maybe take it before the Lord and go, like, this is off.

And I think I'm missing out.

I think this is causing me to walk partially blind instead of fully alive.

Paul says that the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers.

The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers.

And it says that because of that, they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ.

But for God, who said, Let light shine out of the darkness, he made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.

This passage, the idea exists that there's someone in your life working to keep you blind.

And if you've come to Jesus, he cannot keep you blind anymore.

But what he will try and do, what the enemy will try and do, is trying to keep you partially blind.

He will constantly try to blur that vision so that there's a difference.

It's like, I can't keep you fully blind anymore because the light of Jesus, light has shown in the darkness, and the darkness can't understand it.

He's going, I can't, I can't compare and compete with what Jesus has done.

But what I do want to do is I want to move into the lives of believers, and I want to shade their vision so much that they only live partially abundant lives, where they where there's something there in front of them where they keep you partially blind.

And so what he tries to do is he tries to get you to a space where it's about semantics and you know the words, but it's not actually taking shape in your life.

And you're blind to the fact that you know the words, but it's doing nothing in your life.

You're blind to the fact that you're demanding proof and you sound like Satan when you demand proof, when he's actually saying, But I called you to walk by faith, not by sight.

That's the word.

Like you're supposed to know that.

And there's this space in our lives where he's like, I can't blind you anymore, but I can get in there a little bit and make you partially where you cannot see.

And so Jesus gives his life on the cross.

This is what that's what Paul's saying.

It's like, but but light has shone in the darkness.

The God who said, Let light shine in the darkness, like that happened.

Jesus goes to the cross, and the beauty and the glory of what Jesus did, that act of love that should constantly be before our eyes, is light in the darkness, into our hearts and into our minds that helps us to actually see.

And so he literally gave his life so that you can see, so that you can see these things.

And so you can go to him and actually ask, like, I want, would you help me?

Give me the faith, help me to actually see these spaces where I'm saying I believe something, but it's not actually taking shape.

I don't want to miss what you have for me.

And the idea is that we're supposed to constantly be able to come back to a space where we go, the light has shown in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it, the darkness cannot comprehend it.

And so we have this space in Jesus that we can go to and be like, please continue to blast out the darkness where I can't see in my life.

And the gospel is the way that that happens.

There's no, I mean, I think we should definitely ask our friends, we should do those things.

But more than anything, you should take every single thing.

Ask for faith, ask your friends these questions, and then take those things to him and go, will you please help me see?

Because I don't want to miss out.

I don't want to keep doing this thing.

I don't want to keep learning Bible verses and all these different things.

I don't want to, I don't want to know the right words and still miss out on the life you actually have for me.

He has life available for you.

He loves you.

He gave his life to give it to you.

My encouragement to you is he is telling you, please don't fall under these pitfalls because you'll miss out on these things.

And so let's ask him to be able to see.

Let me pray.

Paul prays for the church in Ephesus.

Um, would you open up the eyes of our hearts so that we would know the hope to which you've called us to, the confident expectation that you've called us into, the life that you've called us into.

Would you open up the eyes of our hearts to see the life that you've called us into that we can experience with you?

That we would know the glorious inheritance that you have in your holy people, how much you love us, that we are your inheritance.

And Lord, that we would know the incomparable power for those who actually believe that Jesus is who he says he is.

All of those things are available.

And so, Paul praise that.

And I pray that here today, Lord, would you open our hearts, open the eyes of our hearts so that we can see the hope, the life that you called us to, and then we follow you into it.

So, God, would you help us in that in Jesus' name?

Amen.