1 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:07,440 Good morning, my name is Eric and it's my honor to open the 2 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:10,000 Word of God. Today will be reading Matthew 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:14,080 927 through 31. If you don't have a Bible, 4 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:18,000 there's a Bible under your chair, and that's page 764. 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,760 And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed 6 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:28,280 him, crying aloud. Have mercy on a son of David. 7 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,759 When he entered the house, the blind man came to him, and Jesus 8 00:00:32,759 --> 00:00:35,800 said to them, Do you believe that I am able to do this? 9 00:00:36,160 --> 00:00:39,280 They said to him, yes, Lord, that he touched their eyes, 10 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,600 saying, according to your faith, let it be done to you. 11 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,800 And their eyes were open, and Jesus sternly warned them, See 12 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,120 that no one knows about it. But they went away and spread 13 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:51,840 his fame through all the district. 14 00:00:52,200 --> 00:01:01,200 This is the word of God. What's going on Port City family 15 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:03,240 and friends. How we doing Good. 16 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:04,959 My name is Tanner lead pastor here. 17 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,080 Good to be with you and happy Thanksgiving week. 18 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:11,840 Who's ready to eat some food? You know y'all. 19 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,160 In all seriousness, family time can be hard for some of us. 20 00:01:15,320 --> 00:01:19,120 Maybe you've recently come to faith in Christ or you come from 21 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,040 a family that's not in Christ, where there's just just hardship 22 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:23,560 there. And you go back home. 23 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,240 And what your body begins to believe is that the old stuff is 24 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,800 more true than the Bible stuff, the Christ stuff. 25 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:32,720 And I just want you to hear that Christ reigns in the hallways of 26 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:34,920 your house. Whether you grew up in a home 27 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,560 with two parents who taught you the Bible or you don't have a 28 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,760 family to go home to this Thanksgiving, Christ reigns over 29 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:43,800 your story. You are not alone. 30 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:46,200 You are not forgotten. And God is good. 31 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,240 And I believe him to say those people you've written off, I'm 32 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:52,320 still just like, Lord, please just save one of these jokers. 33 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,920 You know? So just know you're loved and 34 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,160 God sees you and eat some food in Jesus name. 35 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:01,240 And if you ain't got nowhere to go, just come holla at me. 36 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,600 We'll, we'll, we'll, we'll see where we can find a spot for 37 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:05,480 you. OK, Let's, let's go to God in 38 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,080 prayer for today's meal from his word. 39 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:09,720 And then we'll dive in. OK. 40 00:02:10,479 --> 00:02:14,640 Our father, we're so grateful. We are grateful for food. 41 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:17,160 And every time we eat God, it's a reminder that our bodies need 42 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:19,680 you. We were made to need and God, 43 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:21,800 but also we want it. We want food. 44 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:23,600 We need food. There's just such a parable 45 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,080 there, an image, God, that you satisfy our needs and our 46 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:28,880 desires. So we pray as we gather around 47 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,840 tables this week in pain and in Thanksgiving and hopefulness and 48 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:35,240 all the mixture. God that you would, you would 49 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,240 reign and God, we would believe you that you are able to change 50 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:39,480 things. You are able to resurrect the 51 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:41,680 dead. You are able to make things new. 52 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,160 So, Father, now as we turn to your word, what we know not, 53 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,240 would You teach us, What we have not, would you give us, and what 54 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:48,360 we are not, would You make us. Let the words of my mouth, the 55 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,000 meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight? 56 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:56,920 Everybody who agree with that said, Amen, y'all, there is a 57 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,760 phrase by the man by the name of Dave Ramsey. 58 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:02,200 OK. And some of you are like, I 59 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:04,040 remember my financial peace phase. 60 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,320 And if you haven't gone through it yet, hopefully you will one 61 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:07,320 day soon. OK. 62 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:08,640 Now, here's the thing about Dave. 63 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:10,360 You got to check out his podcast every once in a while. 64 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,120 If you ask Dave how he's doing, he says the same phrase every 65 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,120 time, better than I deserve. How can I help? 66 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,880 And now just think about the phrase better than I deserve. 67 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,360 Remember the first few times I heard it because Dave was 68 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:25,280 saying, yeah, I was like just a phrase. 69 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:27,360 You know, here's the thing about phrases. 70 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,720 They they mean something deep. And at some point they just 71 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,360 become cliches when people say it that don't mean it. 72 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:34,960 You know what I'm saying? And I'm not saying that's Dave. 73 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,480 I'm just saying that was my reaction to hearing him say it. 74 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:41,600 OK, but think about the phrase better than I deserve. 75 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,360 And if you said that every single time somebody asks you 76 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,560 how you were doing, what if you believe that? 77 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,400 Do you believe right now you are doing better than you deserve? 78 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:56,680 I don't know about you, but my default can be all the ways that 79 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:00,640 things should be better. If I was loved, if God loved me, 80 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:05,040 X would happen and I can focus on what hasn't happened and I 81 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:08,880 could be filled with bitterness, resentment, a little bit of 82 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:15,560 whininess, frustration instead of radical gratitude, humility. 83 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,160 And all of this is sort of rooted in what you think you 84 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:21,399 deserve. You know what the Bible teaches 85 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:24,440 is that we don't deserve good things, OK? 86 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,960 And that is our own doing. We, we, we need help, OK? 87 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:29,800 We are in great need of the word. 88 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:31,800 We're going to focus on today, which is mercy. 89 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:36,760 Somebody say mercy, y'all, we need mercy. 90 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,200 And y'all, Jesus is the King of mercy. 91 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:45,400 So my hope for us today, though we are not 2 blind men walking 92 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,200 the streets 2000 years ago, is that through them we will see a 93 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:53,120 window into a king who we need just as much mercy from. 94 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:55,920 OK, so we're going to take a journey through the streets 95 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:59,880 verse by verse and just just walk through this passage and I 96 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:02,440 got 2 application points. If you are ready, let me hear 97 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:04,800 you say I'm ready. All right, let's dive in. 98 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:09,920 Verse 27, verse 27 says. And as Jesus passed on from 99 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,400 there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud. 100 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:17,320 Have mercy on US, son of David, that first phrase. 101 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:21,360 And as Jesus passed, just just keep in mind that every story 102 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:23,840 we're reading is on top one of another. 103 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:27,680 He's getting interrupted over and over and over. 104 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:30,080 Yeah. What if the truest you is the 105 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:34,880 you when you're interrupted? That is a scary thought. 106 00:05:35,840 --> 00:05:38,120 Interrupted on the street, you know, by another car, 107 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,360 interrupted by a kid interrupt. And once you do something like 108 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:43,320 you're like, I've done my good deed of the day, or you, you 109 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:45,960 know, I've been patient with my kid that one time when they get 110 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:47,960 you one more time, you know what I mean? 111 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,320 The one after you've hit your limit. 112 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:54,560 What if that's more the real you than the one where you're gassed 113 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,960 up, ready. You know, you can't find Jesus. 114 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:01,600 Not ready to be interrupted. And we know he spends time with 115 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:03,920 the Father. He lives within his limits, He's 116 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,600 Sabbaths, He rests all the things right? 117 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,000 He's in prayer. But at the end of the day, you 118 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,760 interrupt Him and what you get is kindness. 119 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,280 What you get, Well, some people don't get kindness, but they get 120 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,280 the harshness that they need based on why they're approaching 121 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:21,360 Him. But what this shows us, y'all, 122 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:25,720 when you're interrupted, it reveals your true agenda, right? 123 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:28,960 So when I'm interrupted and annoyed, you are not my agenda. 124 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:30,560 You're in the way of my agenda, right? 125 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:36,360 For Jesus, the reason he's not irritated is because people are 126 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,960 His agenda. Some of y'all just need to hear 127 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,960 today that you are not an annoyance to the King of Mercy. 128 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,600 Your interruption isn't an interruption to his agenda. 129 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:52,360 You getting in front of him is his agenda. 130 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,920 Let's keep reading. As Jesus passed on from there, 131 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:02,960 two blind men followed him, crying aloud. 2 blind men. 2 132 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:06,680 blind men. OK, I don't know what image you 133 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,200 would use to describe your phase of life. 134 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:12,960 OK, just just if you could just take a snapshot of 1 moment and 135 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,560 describe to people, your job, your family, whatever it is. 136 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:18,520 Y'all, I just entered in a life phase with four kids. 137 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,200 It reminds me of what the comedian Jim Gaffigan once said 138 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,840 about having four kids. People ask me all the time, 139 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,000 what's it like to have 4 kids? He goes, well, imagine you have 140 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:30,080 three kids and you're drowning and you are barely surviving. 141 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:31,920 You're scrapping. Then somebody hands you a kid, 142 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:34,080 you know? And he does it in a very Jim 143 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:36,120 Gaffigan way. And I'm like, he nailed it. 144 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:37,640 That's the image. OK. 145 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:42,000 There's another friend here in the Port City world who growing 146 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:46,840 up, she said her dad was in the Parks and rec tourism world. 147 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,040 She said the show Parks and Rec kind of captures her dad's life. 148 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:52,440 And I was like, that's an image like it. 149 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:56,880 It grabs what it was like, yeah. I wonder if you could pick one 150 00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:00,840 ailment that describes life apart from Jesus according to 151 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:02,800 the Bible. What you would pick, The 152 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,880 theologians among us would say a dead person because apart from 153 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,280 Jesus you need resurrection. And you would not be wrong. 154 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,080 OK. But I think in terms of the way 155 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:13,520 people's felt experiences, they feel alive. 156 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:15,120 Before, you know, Jesus, you were living. 157 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,520 You were doing something. So if you had to pick one 158 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:21,520 ailment that describes what life apart from Jesus is, I think you 159 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:26,400 would pick blindness because you're alive, but not fully. 160 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,640 You're you're, you're operating in a human reality, but one that 161 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,520 isn't the way it's designed to be fully. 162 00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:37,400 And it becomes a picture for us. It's such a gift to us if we 163 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,679 will let the blind teach us because many of us who weren't 164 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:43,440 born blind think we see and we don't, right? 165 00:08:43,799 --> 00:08:46,400 The basic point of the text is if you don't know Jesus, you 166 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,840 don't see. You might think you do, but you 167 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:51,640 don't. So let the blind teach us what 168 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:53,440 it means to see. Write that down. 169 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:58,080 OK, so I want to give you a little background in the Bible 170 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:03,000 of what the people of this time would view a blind person as. 171 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:08,400 OK, Leviticus 19 is very clear that you should love blind 172 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:12,080 people in the fear of the Lord. OK, so there was no issues in 173 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:14,280 the law. They weren't like marked in a 174 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:15,240 certain way. I was like, they're your 175 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:16,040 neighbor. Love them. 176 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:19,720 Like in fact, there was X the the verse in Leviticus 19 is to 177 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:23,240 point out, don't not love them like in the fear of the Lord, 178 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:24,920 love them. It's pointing out love them. 179 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:30,400 OK, but there are instances in the Old Testament where the 180 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:33,880 Lords punishment in a situation was to cause blindness. 181 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,360 OK think Genesis 19 with the sodomites. 182 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,000 Think Samson gets his eyes gouged out. 183 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,840 Think when Elisha is in trouble, he says Lord blind my enemies. 184 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:46,680 So there's this sense in which being struck with blindness, you 185 00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:49,200 could get to where you thought, oh, that means this purse, 186 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,560 something has happened to lead to their blindness, which is how 187 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:56,760 you get in a scenario like in John Chapter 9, Jesus's own 188 00:09:56,760 --> 00:10:01,400 disciples asked Jesus who sent this blind man or his parents 189 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:05,880 that he was born blind. That's not like a crazy person 190 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:08,400 in the crowd asking Jesus that. That was his own disciples after 191 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:13,120 walking with him for a while. So in the cultural air blindness 192 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,680 probably was viewed a little like stigma ish. 193 00:10:15,680 --> 00:10:19,320 They were probably very alone. People avoided them even though 194 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:21,600 that's not what the the law intended. 195 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:24,760 It just was the cultural moment. So you got 2 blind men that 196 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:28,720 people probably keep their distance from screaming out to 197 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:32,320 Jesus, which we see in the next phrase they're crying aloud. 198 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,960 The Greek there gets that shrieking, intriguing begging, 199 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:40,800 like just just shouting, screaming following it and 200 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,440 they're shouting out have mercy on us. 201 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,640 This phrase have mercy on a son of David. 202 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:50,760 It's sort of like a a layered cake. 203 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:53,360 Some of y'all are into those bacon shows right now. 204 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:54,760 Amen. Somebody it's like, you know 205 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,560 what the show's going to be. I can't cook any of it, but it's 206 00:10:57,560 --> 00:11:00,040 so fun. The British bacon show and their 207 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:01,640 accents. I'm like, this is amazing. 208 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,600 You just want to put a fire on and watch it and don't get it 209 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:07,200 twisted. The cake looks good, but when 210 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:10,120 you cut it, there's layers of flavor in there, you know. 211 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,400 And so Matthew is, is layering a cake of who Jesus is through 212 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:16,120 these blind men shouting out this phrase. 213 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:18,920 Have mercy on a son of David. So I just want to give you a few 214 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:21,240 of the layers. OK, First layer is mercy. 215 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:25,880 Somebody say mercy. The biblical view of mercy is 216 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,360 very practical. You might have heard the 217 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,680 illustration that mercy is withholding the bad you deserve. 218 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:33,680 Grace is giving you the good you don't deserve. 219 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:36,760 I think that's great. So mercy just becomes only 220 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:39,760 withholding bad from people. But I actually think the the 221 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:42,280 biblical picture of mercy is more practical than that. 222 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:46,160 Think Luke 10 in the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus. 223 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:52,640 The last thing he asks is which of them show the man mercy or 224 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:54,400 which of them proved to be a neighbor to the man. 225 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,400 My bad. And the the guy says, well, the 226 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:00,160 one who showed him mercy, good. You go and do likewise. 227 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,960 The idea of mercy is it's very practical. 228 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,200 It does something. Mercy moves towards people. 229 00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:10,480 So it's not just withholding bad, it's actually kindness. 230 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:14,280 It's like help. Practical aid is the idea of 231 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,760 mercy. If you don't have Exodus 34, six 232 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:21,520 and seven memorized, consider this your invitation. 233 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:25,840 You could turn there on page 69 in your Bibles under your seat. 234 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:29,840 I'm going to read that over us. Exodus 34, six and seven. 235 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:37,000 When Moses is with the Lord up on the mountain, he asks him to 236 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,000 reveal himself to him and and the Lord comes down in the cloud 237 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,960 and stands there and proclaims the name of the Lord to Moses. 238 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:46,040 And this is what the name of the Lord is. 239 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:49,440 Exodus 34, six and seven. The Lord passed before him and 240 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:54,200 proclaimed the Lord. The Lord, a God merciful and 241 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:58,160 gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and 242 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,280 faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving 243 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:04,400 iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means 244 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:07,240 clear the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the 245 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:09,800 children and the children's children to the third and 4th 246 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:15,640 generation. So layer one with mercy is that 247 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,640 kind of taps into Yahweh's name like his name means merciful. 248 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:24,200 His name like this is what he oozes his practical kindness in 249 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,400 mercy towards his people. So they're shouting out, 250 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:31,240 shrieking, have mercy on us. And then they say son of David. 251 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:33,520 OK. They are the first ones to say 252 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,200 that phrase out loud in this book. 253 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:39,120 Hopefully you know where you should have saw that first. 254 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:41,120 It's in Matthew chapter one, verse one. 255 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:42,920 OK, So I invite you to turn there. 256 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:44,600 I just want you to see it for yourself. 257 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:51,480 Matthew 11. This is what Matthew said, the 258 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:55,280 book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the 259 00:13:55,280 --> 00:14:00,600 son of Abraham, OK. So part of the goal of Matthew's 260 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:05,000 book is to show you that Jesus is the son of David, OK, the son 261 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:07,320 of Abraham. But the first people to 262 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,800 articulate that that isn't Matthew's kind of like letting 263 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:14,560 us know narrator style, are these two blind men. 264 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:19,200 OK, now, son of David, you're you're not going to turn there 265 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:22,640 on this one, but right down. Second, Samuel 7 taps into the 266 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:26,520 Davidic covenant. OK, now the covenant with David 267 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:29,920 happens at the height of David's kingly career. 268 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:32,360 He's just like, Lord, you've been so good to me. 269 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,960 I want to build you a house. And the Lord is like, I 270 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:38,800 appreciate you, but no, I'm a build you a house. 271 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:42,200 And here's what I mean. I'm going to make for you an 272 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,440 everlasting covenant where you, someone from your house will 273 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,400 always sit on the throne. That's the TSV, the Tanner 274 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:53,480 standard version. Okay, Now in this covenant, part 275 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,120 of the spirit of it is it means your son Solomon. 276 00:14:56,120 --> 00:15:00,000 And then onward and onward and onward like your people will. 277 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,720 A person from your body will always be on that throne. 278 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:06,440 But the spirit of the covenant is 1 would come who would reign 279 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:08,400 eternally. Like it wouldn't just be a 280 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:11,920 forever, just your people, like the country of England or 281 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:15,040 something, but somebody is going to come from your lineage and 282 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:18,120 reign forever. OK, so by saying Son of David, 283 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:20,960 they're not just saying you come from his lineage, which 284 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:24,280 Matthew's genealogy shows us. They're saying you're the 285 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:29,120 eternal king, the promised king. OK, so that's layer 2. 286 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:32,560 We've got mercy, which taps into Yahweh's character. 287 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:37,400 We've got this eternal merciful king who was promised Messiah, 288 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:41,240 and then they're blind. So why do blind men think that 289 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:44,960 the eternal Son of David would have mercy on them in such a way 290 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,560 that they're kind of implying make us not blind? 291 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:49,560 Are you with me? So where does the blindness 292 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:51,480 layer come into the cake? We got mercy layer. 293 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,520 We got eternally merciful. But where does the blindness tap 294 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:56,480 in? A lot of y'all are familiar with 295 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:01,280 Isaiah 42. You could turn there 564 in your 296 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:04,720 Bibles if you're using ours, Isaiah 42. 297 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:10,680 Here's what this says. It's referring to the Lords 298 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:13,600 chosen servant, the promised Messiah. 299 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:18,400 Verse one says this, Behold my servant, whom I uphold my 300 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,280 chosen, and whom my soul delights. 301 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:24,640 I have put my spirit upon him. He will bring forth justice to 302 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:27,880 the nations. Verse 6 I am the Lord I have 303 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:30,640 called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and 304 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:32,920 keep you. I will give you as a covenant 305 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:37,000 for the people a light to the nations to open the eyes that 306 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,000 are blind to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon from 307 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:42,120 the prison those who sit in darkness. 308 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,880 So the full scope that that the three layers that you're biting 309 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,280 into on the British bacon show of mercy. 310 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,680 OK, as these men are shouting it out, is them saying have mercy 311 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,760 on the Son of David kind of taps into like mercy is who Yahweh is 312 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:58,560 Son of David is the promised eternal Messiah. 313 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:03,320 And in some kind of way Isaiah through Isaiah, God is telling 314 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,079 us that Messiah would open blind eyes. 315 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:13,040 They are saying you're that guy. We believe that we're calling on 316 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:17,079 that name and y'all, that's who Jesus was on those streets that 317 00:17:17,079 --> 00:17:19,160 day. That's who he is right now. 318 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:23,200 He is Yahweh in the flesh. He is merciful and gracious, 319 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:27,560 visiting with kindness for thousands, and he will by no 320 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:30,720 means clear the guilty. Y'all, He's the eternal king. 321 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:33,720 He ain't just king for a little while, He's king forever. 322 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:37,480 He defeated death. And y'all, he is the the 323 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:41,160 promised servant of Isaiah who came to set prisoners free. 324 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:44,640 That's who he is. So they're just shouting it out. 325 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,920 But what's interesting, Jesus doesn't respond right away. 326 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,080 He isn't like, good job. You pass the theological quiz, 327 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:55,120 He goes up into the house. Look at verse 28 with me. 328 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:57,600 So they're shouting this out, following him. 329 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:00,800 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him. 330 00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:03,520 You might be thinking, where's the house? 331 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:06,120 What's the house? Most scholars in the gospel, 332 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:09,520 when they say the house, it's probably Simon Peter's house. 333 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:13,400 OK, in the previous chapter, you remember where he healed Simon's 334 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:15,920 mother-in-law. You remember that where he 335 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,480 touched her, she had a fever, she got up, probably that house 336 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,000 OK. And he rolls up in there and 337 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,160 sits down. And they came to him. 338 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,440 So this is such a good image for us of persistence in our faith, 339 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:31,240 isn't it? Like they're shouting out a 340 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:34,480 phrase nobody has ever shouted. They saw something nobody else 341 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,800 saw, and they were willing to scream it publicly, be kind of 342 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:39,880 embarrassingly outward with their faith. 343 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:45,400 And Jesus wasn't like good job, he just kept going and then they 344 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:48,400 kept going. What a what a good picture for 345 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:49,320 us. Here's my question. 346 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:53,960 Why, why does Jesus make them keep coming to him? 347 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,720 I wonder if in your mind, which my mind is tempted to do as 348 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,360 well, I wonder if we think he's only merciful to them when he 349 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:06,320 takes the blindness away. The moment of mercy is when the 350 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:08,960 blindness goes away. You know Jesus is merciful to 351 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:13,840 make you keep going to Him. Jesus is merciful to allow you 352 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:18,840 to keep pressing into Him. He's not only merciful at the 353 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:22,560 moment where your problem is alleviated. 354 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:25,600 Does that make sense? It's your proximity to His 355 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:29,360 presence is a part of the mercy. But if we think it's just the 356 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:33,400 removal of the problem, we miss Messiah altogether. 357 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,120 OK. And he asked them a question. 358 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:39,040 Do you believe that I'm able to do this? 359 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,320 Jesus is hilarious. These men are shouting this, 360 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:47,040 screaming this, following you. He knows the answer, right? 361 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:49,520 Jesus is the God man. He knows what they're going to 362 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:52,320 say. There's something about Jesus 363 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,000 where he can commend your faith and then he can test your faith. 364 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:58,240 Why he tests some and commends others and how he tests them 365 00:19:58,240 --> 00:19:59,960 when he tests them, commends them, I don't know. 366 00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:01,960 He's trying to pull it out of them. 367 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:04,000 There's something about saying the words. 368 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:08,440 Yes, he wants to hear that. Y'all, there's, there's 369 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,640 something we can do that's really weird about Jesus being 370 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:12,840 all knowing. I don't know if you've done this 371 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:14,800 and I'm going to try to articulate it, so just bear with 372 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:17,680 me for a second. We think that Jesus being all 373 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:19,920 knowing, God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit being all 374 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,200 knowing means that like stuff doesn't count, is not real 375 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:24,560 because he knew it was going to happen. 376 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:27,400 It's not authentic. I'm like, I know the stuff's 377 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,520 going to happen all the time. I still enjoy the process. 378 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,120 How does your knowledge is going to go down mean that it's not a 379 00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:35,520 real thing? Does that make sense? 380 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,520 Like it's a story. God is a person, you know what I 381 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,560 mean? We take his, we take theological 382 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:43,800 truths like sovereignty and all knowing which are true. 383 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,080 And you should know and teach and learn, but that doesn't 384 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,680 erase the authenticity of how it's life, right? 385 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:54,840 Like I know that when I get home, I got to feed kids. 386 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:57,680 Guys, I'm not going to feed you because I knew that I was going 387 00:20:57,680 --> 00:20:59,720 to have to feed you. What? 388 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:03,320 That doesn't even make sense. To keep with the comedian theme, 389 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:07,160 there's this little bit by Nate Bargatze where he he told some 390 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:09,080 friends that he had just gotten back from a trip to Disney. 391 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:11,160 OK. And they were like, well, you 392 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:12,720 know, they're not going to remember that, right? 393 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:14,320 And he was like, what do you mean? 394 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,120 Well, they're toddlers. They'll have no memory of that. 395 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:17,120 So why would you waste the money? 396 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,680 And I was a little bit like good friends. 397 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:23,120 Good question. I kind of Eileen agreeing with 398 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:24,400 them. And Nate was like, you know 399 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,320 what, man, you're right. Until they have working 400 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:30,360 knowledge of everything that's happening, full consciousness, I 401 00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:32,120 should just lock them in a room like Harry Potter. 402 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:35,480 Just who? Nothing counts until you have 403 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:36,880 full acknowledgement that's going to happen. 404 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,600 There's something about both sides of that coin that clicked 405 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:42,760 for me where I'm like, we confuse what knowledge means. 406 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,840 Like you don't not relate to a kid because they ain't going to 407 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:47,680 remember it. Hey, man, you just sit right 408 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,680 there until you're about 9:00, OK? 409 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:53,400 And then at the same time, when we know something's going to go 410 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,440 down, we don't be like, let's just stop because this isn't 411 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:58,080 authentic. Like, I know when you play a 412 00:21:58,080 --> 00:21:58,920 game, you're going to throw the ball. 413 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:00,800 So do I not Are y'all tracking with me? 414 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:04,000 But with Jesus, because he knows what's going to happen. 415 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:05,680 We're like, then why does it even matter? 416 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,000 Is this like a game? No, I think it's life. 417 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:09,920 I think it's a story. I think he's a person. 418 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,440 Does that make sense? So don't allow truths about God 419 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:18,000 to mean he's not a person. Life is not a game. 420 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:19,720 You know what I mean? Like, it's it's real. 421 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:22,320 It's he's a person. He's asking real people in front 422 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:23,040 of them. Do you believe? 423 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,360 And he knows the answer. But that doesn't mean he doesn't 424 00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:28,640 want to hear them say yes. Are y'all with me? 425 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:34,160 They say back, yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. 426 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:38,720 Yes, we believe you can do this. And their words express their 427 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:40,280 faith. Yeah. 428 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:42,480 We live in a cultural moment where I just feel the need to 429 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,280 say they're not creating their reality through their words. 430 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:47,680 They're not manifesting their sight. 431 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:50,840 They're about to get OK. They're receiving from the Lord 432 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:55,360 Jesus who can give it to them. Have a little jar in your house. 433 00:22:55,360 --> 00:22:59,200 Every time you hear the word manifesting universe or karma, 434 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,680 just put a dollar in it. You have about $100 if you watch 435 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,920 TV at all in about a week. OK, but what you need to hear is 436 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:08,120 that the center of the story is a person, Not an energy, not a 437 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:10,200 vibe. It's a person. 438 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:13,720 They're saying back to him, we believe you can do this. 439 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:16,560 They're not creating their reality, OK? 440 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,960 They're receiving from a person. They're not performing something 441 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,240 that gets them something because they won some sweepstakes, OK? 442 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,640 And in verse 29, he touched them. 443 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,720 He touched their eyes. Y'all, you know, this Jesus 444 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:34,000 could have healed them by just could have snapped his fingers. 445 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:38,160 He could have said Alakazam, He could have done whatever he 446 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:43,120 wanted, but he touched their eyes and you'll remember people 447 00:23:43,120 --> 00:23:44,560 probably kept them at arm's length. 448 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:48,360 What we're seeing over and over in these stories is our like 449 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:50,560 sore spots are kind of Jesus's sweet spots. 450 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:54,040 You notice that like where people like whatever the stigma 451 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:58,560 around you is, Jesus is not running from it like I I think 452 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,360 about for me y'all, my anger has got me in some problems in my 453 00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:04,880 life, my insecurities, my little man's syndrome, my back in the 454 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,680 cornered Ness. But if I relate to the Lord 455 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,800 Jesus like he doesn't want a piece of that, how will I ever 456 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:12,400 be healed? Does that make sense? 457 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:15,400 Like if you begin to think because others keep a distance 458 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:19,240 from me over this, this thing, this sin, this whatever, and you 459 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,720 keep a distance from the Lord, you're missing the point. 460 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:25,360 Are you with me like he wants to move in where there's the sore 461 00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:27,800 spot. Not that doesn't mean he's Co 462 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,520 signing that that my anger. It means he cares about me 463 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:33,560 right. He touches the blinds eyes. 464 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:35,600 He's looking at the woman last week. 465 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:38,920 These are very intimate, intentional ways. 466 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:41,320 He's demonstrating his authority, right? 467 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,800 And he's transforming that which he touches. 468 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:47,160 His touch is not a affirmation. Stay the way you are. 469 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:49,240 It's a transformation. He'll meet you where you are, 470 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:50,920 and then he won't leave you there. 471 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:53,840 OK. And he says according to your 472 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:58,680 faith, be it done to you, according to your faith, he's 473 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:02,640 responding to their faith. It's not in proportion to their 474 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:03,760 faith. It's not like, well, y'all 475 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:06,600 believe like 80 out of 100. So I would have given you 2020 476 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,520 vision. But now let me give you whatever 477 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:12,200 some other, I don't know what the other numbers are, 1520, I 478 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:13,440 don't know if that's the thing with vision. 479 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:18,360 But the point is, thank you. That's what I needed, 100 480 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:23,320 vision. But the point is in response to 481 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:28,280 y'all, remember your faith is more about the object of it than 482 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:30,880 your quantity of it. OK? 483 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:34,120 Your faith grows as you understand the object in which 484 00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:37,760 you're putting your faith, not in focusing on having it. 485 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:40,880 Does that make sense? It grows when you see that he is 486 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:44,560 the eternal Son of God. He is Yahweh, He is, He is the 487 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:47,440 son of David, therefore I trust him. 488 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:49,920 Does that make sense? It's not focusing on I'm a good 489 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:51,560 truster, I'm a good truster, I'm a good truster. 490 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:55,880 They saw him, so in response to that, he opened their eyes, 491 00:25:55,880 --> 00:26:00,960 verse 30, and their eyes were opened. 492 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:04,640 You know, the Bible and miracles. 493 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,600 We've got to understand this. We've got to understand this. 494 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:14,400 It is both not OK, just a set of stories that only applies to 495 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,840 those people forever has nothing to do with your life. 496 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:21,920 So it's not a book of lottery hitting, miracle receiving from 497 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:23,320 Jesus. Nice for them. 498 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:28,280 Let me just read it. And it's also not a prescribed 499 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:31,120 path for you to get that if you just do it right. 500 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,440 Does that make sense? It's not your path to get the 501 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:36,760 life you want. So it's not random lottery and 502 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:39,480 it's not a path for you to get the life you always wanted. 503 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:43,880 So what is happening y'all? The point of the Bible, the 504 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,560 point of the Gospels that Matthew, Mark, Luke, John wrote, 505 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:51,560 is to be a window that we see through and see Jesus. 506 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:53,920 That's the main purpose they were written. 507 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:57,080 It's a window, and we're up against the window just watching 508 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:00,760 who Jesus is, OK? And as we watch him and who 509 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:04,440 approaches him, it is also a mirror, OK? 510 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:08,440 It's a mirror into the type of need we have. 511 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:09,840 We're not just like, look at all these people. 512 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,120 This is really nice to them. If you continue to stare at the 513 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:17,640 window and not think, I wonder if I have anything in common 514 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:20,160 with him. If you just look at it and it's 515 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,360 like a cool movie that is not touching your life, you're 516 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:24,360 missing something. It's a window. 517 00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:27,720 It's a mirror. OK, So what is the point of the 518 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:33,440 window mirror relationship is to show you that you need Jesus. 519 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:39,240 We need cleansing, we need eyes open, we need resurrection, we 520 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,320 need fevers taken, we need demons driven out. 521 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:46,720 We need the we need Jesus. We are in the position of need. 522 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:49,440 He is willing. We are needy. 523 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,960 That's the point of the whole thing. 524 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,200 So we're not just looking at a one time thing that's cool for 525 00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:00,320 them and we don't 1:00 to 1:00 if that's my exact situation, 526 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:04,040 but there's ingredients under the surface that all humanity 527 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:07,560 shares, which is need and he is willing. 528 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:15,440 OK, Now how do we see Jesus? It's not physical, right? 529 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:20,040 Like we don't this, that's not the type of sight we do in this 530 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:23,240 era that we're in. You know, the Bible teaches that 531 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:27,560 how our eyes are open is through hearing with faith. 532 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:32,560 Y'all, the way that you see Jesus is notice y'all, they 533 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:34,600 heard him before they saw him. Hello. 534 00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:38,440 The blind people could hear him. They could not see him because 535 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,120 they heard him and trusted him. They got to see him. 536 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,360 Y'all with me? If you want to see Jesus, you 537 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:47,000 got to listen to him. The path through your heart is 538 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,160 through your ears, and then you see. 539 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:54,720 You see by hearing. You hear by seeing the book. 540 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,360 If you want to use seeing like you see words on a page, you 541 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:02,480 hear with faith you trust and then your eyes are open to who 542 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:04,640 Christ is and you can't Unsee him. 543 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,320 You see Him through agreeing with His word. 544 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:14,240 Y'all with me? You see Christ by agreeing with 545 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,400 His word. It's statement about reality, 546 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,840 about who He says you are, about who it says He is. 547 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:27,560 You have to agree with Him. Faith is not some crazy concept. 548 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:29,120 It's something you do all day, every day. 549 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:31,960 You trust in things. You trust light switches will 550 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:33,600 turn on. You agree with the reality that 551 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:34,800 says that's got to be plugged in. 552 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:38,280 So you plug it in, yo, you have to agree with reality as God 553 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:40,800 sees it. And you do that through hearing, 554 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:46,120 with faith, through trust. And then he sternly warns them 555 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:48,800 not to say anything to anyone about it. 556 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:51,360 OK, we're not going to spend a ton of time here. 557 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:53,080 But y'all, this is just really practical. 558 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:55,000 He's just trying to do ministry up in here. 559 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:57,520 He's not trying to be on a healing tour where every day at 560 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:00,440 9:00 AM he's got people and he's on a podcast and appearing on 561 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:02,200 late night talk shows. He's just trying to. 562 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,760 We read Isaiah 42, it said in that text, one of the verses I 563 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,880 skipped over says he's not going to raise his voice loud in the 564 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:11,440 streets. There's the idea of the Messiah, 565 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:14,640 which we will tap into more in our Christmas sermon here in a 566 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:18,640 few weeks, that he, the way Jesus did things was by not 567 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,560 drawing attention to himself. OK, That's just sort of part and 568 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:26,320 parcel to how he operates. He warned them and in verse 31, 569 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:30,760 they disregarded what he said, OK, They did not listen, which I 570 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:32,600 actually think is genuine disobedience. 571 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:35,920 I do like, I think they that's counterintuitive, but I think he 572 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,160 wanted them to listen and they didn't. 573 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,560 And it also just points out the the the nature of like, I can't 574 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,280 keep it to myself. So it's both like it's like a 575 00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:47,800 playful disobedience that Matthew wrote down for all time 576 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:49,840 where I genuinely think they should have listened to what he 577 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:51,800 said. But by not doing it, it's a 578 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:54,840 parable to us of y'all should not be able to keep this to 579 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:56,600 yourself either. And we don't live in an era 580 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:58,440 where Jesus is saying don't tell nobody. 581 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,480 We live in the era where he's saying tell everybody, OK, and 582 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:03,600 for some people sometimes he would heal you and say tell 583 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:05,600 everybody. So I genuinely think he just 584 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:06,960 meant please just keep it on the low. 585 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:09,640 It's not like other people would see them seeing now and they'd 586 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:11,840 be like, I don't see you don't see what you think you see. 587 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:14,800 Think he just meant don't overdraw attention to yourself. 588 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:18,440 And they disregarded it. OK, now I've got 2 application 589 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:20,320 points and we are done. All right. 590 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:26,000 First one, non Christian, come to Jesus, the King of mercy. 591 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:28,080 Come to Jesus, the King of mercy. 592 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:31,040 I got 2 points for you. If you don't follow Jesus here 593 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:33,080 today, here's the first one. You need mercy. 594 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:36,720 Wanna know why? Because you are blind y'all. 595 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:39,200 This is the most offensive thing you could tell somebody. 596 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:42,120 You can't see nothing if you all know Jesus. 597 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:46,400 That's tough. Tough, but it's the truth. 598 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:51,520 You're not struggling to see blind people aren't like telling 599 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:52,880 you. Hey, I just need a little help. 600 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:54,280 I'm struggling to see that I'm blind. 601 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:58,440 OK, There is a self-assessment that you have to agree with. 602 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:03,880 You are not struggling to see. You can't see, OK, And what the 603 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:09,200 Bible views you as is that you can't see reality you don't 604 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:10,960 like. Jesus is the light of the world. 605 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:14,160 Apart from him you can't see. You are made in God's image and 606 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,240 there's still, you know, that's why humanity is capable of great 607 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:19,360 things and art and all the stuff we could do. 608 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:24,240 But y'all, by and large it's darkness left to yourself in 609 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:28,280 your sin, when you're interrupted, the true you is 610 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:30,160 coming out. That's who you are. 611 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,760 Apart from the light of the world, Jesus Christ giving you 612 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:39,320 eyes to see, you cannot see. And apart from intervention, 613 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:43,880 your situation is hopeless. That's hard. 614 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:48,760 It's the truth. And for many of us who follow 615 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:50,680 Christ now we know that clear as ever. 616 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:53,400 We know in our previous life I could not see. 617 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:58,400 On the other side, you'd be like, this is what life is. 618 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:01,440 Yes, the idea is once you can see, you know what you couldn't 619 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:03,120 see. But if you keep thinking you 620 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:05,160 seeing, you won't know what you could see. 621 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:08,000 But you ain't. And here's the crazy thing, Who 622 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:09,560 gets to say you're blind? Jesus does. 623 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:12,920 OK, that ain't my idea. Jesus does. 624 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:15,800 God is the authority. You have to agree with him that 625 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:17,720 you need radical intervention and help. 626 00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:18,800 You don't need a little coaching. 627 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:20,960 You don't need a little bit better vision. 628 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:24,720 You need total overhaul. Your life is unmanageable. 629 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:28,440 Your sin is a problem. You can't stop it no matter how 630 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:30,800 hard you try. Your New Year's resolution 631 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,080 approach to fixing yourself has not worked. 632 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:36,200 You need mercy. You need salvation. 633 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:39,760 You need to be born again. You need the Spirit of God to 634 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:42,960 awaken you. That's the bad news. 635 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,960 The good news is Jesus is the King of mercy. 636 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:50,760 So he is. He opens blinds eyes. 637 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:57,360 He wants to open your eyes, He wants you to agree with Him. 638 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,160 He wants to live with you. Why you think He wants you to 639 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:01,480 see? So you can see Him. 640 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:05,680 The first thing they see when they open their eyes is Jesus. 641 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:10,040 Once you can see, we're not talking about just being able to 642 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:12,800 see. Like reality is God at the core 643 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:15,560 of reality. As Father, Son, Holy Spirit, you 644 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:18,719 are awakened to life as you are designed to live it, but in your 645 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:20,679 sin you want to be ignorant to that truth. 646 00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:23,320 The reality is, y'all, the reason we're blind is because 647 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,480 we're doing this right here. We don't want to see. 648 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:29,400 That's kind of what the New Testament teaches is that we're 649 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:32,880 blind and we have hands over our ears and our eyes because we 650 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:34,719 know if we hear, we might have to listen. 651 00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:37,120 We know if we see, we might have to deal with what we see in. 652 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:40,800 And I'm just begging you to recognize that the King of Mercy 653 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:44,199 is just trying to pull them hands off your eyes and pull the 654 00:34:44,199 --> 00:34:46,360 hands off your ears so you'll hear the truth and agree with 655 00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:48,880 him. This is bigger than nobody's 656 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:51,239 perfect. This is bigger than I need a 657 00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:53,000 little help. I need to process my story with 658 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:55,320 somebody. Y'all, All those things are 659 00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:58,280 good. You need radical salvation. 660 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:00,920 You need help, and Jesus wants to give it to you. 661 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:04,480 That's what the cross is, y'all. That's why it's so bloody. 662 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:08,800 That's why it's so total. It's so final in human history. 663 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:13,240 That's why Jesus took the cross. He can give you mercy because at 664 00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:17,960 the cross he got wrath. He absorbed the wrath of God so 665 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:20,560 that what he can give you is mercy. 666 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:21,960 That's what he wants to give you. 667 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:25,880 Will you go to Jesus the Christ, the King of mercy, for mercy 668 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:28,720 today? You just go to him in faith and 669 00:35:28,720 --> 00:35:31,360 say, God save me. God help me. 670 00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:33,600 God open my eyes, show me where I'm blind. 671 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:40,240 Help me Christian keep coming in faith to Jesus the King of 672 00:35:40,240 --> 00:35:42,080 mercy. How could we miss their 673 00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:45,640 persistence here? He does not solve their problems 674 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:48,320 in an instant. Isn't this how life feels? 675 00:35:49,240 --> 00:35:52,720 Doesn't it feel like Jesus is there but not answering your 676 00:35:52,720 --> 00:35:55,200 prayer? Doesn't it feel like he's in the 677 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:57,800 room with you and doesn't his presence? 678 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:02,240 Sometimes we can't comprehend how he'd be with us and not 679 00:36:02,240 --> 00:36:06,800 alleviate it. But y'all, this, this is life. 680 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,560 It feels like a no even when he's with you. 681 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:14,800 But we have such an opportunity here to learn the life of faith, 682 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:17,120 don't we? Now, one of the books we've been 683 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:19,280 recommending throughout the series is called A Praying Life. 684 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:21,720 I recommend you get it. Paul Miller talks about the 685 00:36:21,720 --> 00:36:25,320 effect that this can have on us. When you're continually in God's 686 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:28,440 presence and not feeling like you're getting a yes, you begin 687 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:30,400 to do one of two things. Two ditches on either side of 688 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:31,000 the road. OK? 689 00:36:31,240 --> 00:36:33,840 One of them is denial and one of them is determination. 690 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,760 OK, denial says I'll be blind. You give up. 691 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:38,960 I'm blind. I'm done. 692 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:41,560 I'm out, it's over. You're a cynic. 693 00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:45,840 You throw rocks at God, you're you're whiny and you're just 694 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:48,800 man, it's me, I did something wrong or God just don't love me, 695 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:50,240 I'm out. Game over. 696 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:53,800 The other side is determination. I'm going to get unblind. 697 00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:56,360 I'm going to show up every day. And you can even involve the 698 00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:59,880 Lord in your determination and you have a prayer schedule and 699 00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:03,600 you have all the ways that you think your determination is the 700 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:05,440 determining factor. And if you're going to get that. 701 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:09,200 And eventually what happens for both of those people, for the 702 00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:14,000 determined or the denial is they tend to steal because you, you, 703 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:17,080 you claim Christ and you're, you're in relationship with him. 704 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:19,680 You just pray or become something you know you're 705 00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:22,480 supposed to do, but you don't think it's going to work. 706 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,440 And you're 11. Pastor said it like this, like 707 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:28,720 what was designed to be intercession to impact real 708 00:37:28,720 --> 00:37:31,200 change in life just becomes a token of your devotion. 709 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:35,600 It becomes a part of your brand. You're good at praying, you like 710 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:39,760 to pray, You're spiritual. Prayer becomes duty at best. 711 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:43,320 Intercession becomes devotion. Y'all, prayer was never meant to 712 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:46,200 be just something you do because it's what Christians do. 713 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:47,960 It is part of how we commune with the Father. 714 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:50,280 It is part of how we accept reality as it is. 715 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:52,440 It is part of how we surrender to God. 716 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:57,240 But also, y'all, there is a real intercession is a real thing 717 00:37:57,360 --> 00:37:59,600 stepping in before God in belief. 718 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:05,320 Do we believe and y'all all prayer fits within a relational 719 00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:07,000 story. The idea, like we've talked 720 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:09,800 about, God is a person. Your life is an adventure. 721 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:12,480 You're sacrificing, you're confessing sin, you're failing, 722 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:14,360 you're serving people, you're loving people. 723 00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:17,000 Life is full of pain, it's full of laments, it's full of 724 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:18,480 Thanksgiving, all kinds of things. 725 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:20,880 It's within that context that you're asking about this one 726 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:23,280 thing. But what we do is we shrink our 727 00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:25,160 relationship with God down to that one thing. 728 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:27,360 Does that make sense? And if it's a no there, then 729 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:29,520 none of this is real. Does that make sense? 730 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:32,720 And I just want to call you neither to determination nor to 731 00:38:32,720 --> 00:38:35,480 denial. I want to call you to childlike 732 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:37,440 desert faith. We don't live in denial. 733 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,600 We don't live in determination. We do live in the desert, Y'all, 734 00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:44,960 this is not heaven. You're not going to get a yes on 735 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:46,480 everything. And I don't know why. 736 00:38:47,240 --> 00:38:50,840 We live in the desert with the Lord and we have childlike faith 737 00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:54,120 where we fight off cynicism. If you are in a cynical 738 00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:57,280 headspace right now, I've been there and I just invite you 739 00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:58,680 back. Get in your community. 740 00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:01,080 Don't isolate yourself. Cynics tend to get alone. 741 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:04,320 Come back, be with people, hear the word. 742 00:39:04,720 --> 00:39:06,840 If you're in a determined headspace, get around other 743 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:08,600 people. Get around people whose lives 744 00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:10,920 are really hard and not changing because you can start to think 745 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:13,440 everything will just change. If you have crazy faith or 746 00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:15,400 something, it's like, well, let's, let's lament. 747 00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:17,920 Let's let's just keep it in proportion, OK? 748 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:21,360 But yes, in childlike faith, keep asking. 749 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:25,400 This is not a formula, but it is an image of the answer is to 750 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:27,720 keep going to Jesus. Like a kid keeps going to their 751 00:39:27,720 --> 00:39:29,280 parent. They just keep going. 752 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:31,320 They just keep going. Kids are really good at not 753 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:34,160 being cynics and it's sad the day they start becoming cynics, 754 00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:37,000 isn't it? Just let them keep coming to 755 00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:38,280 you. So I just want to ask some of 756 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:40,880 y'all, where have you given up on God's goodness in your life? 757 00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:44,000 Something you want to see God breakthrough and do something 758 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:46,480 that will be true in the new heavens, the new earth that you 759 00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:49,080 were once begging God for that you have quit. 760 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:54,000 What is your quit list and is it rooted in you went through a 761 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:56,880 phase of denial, determination. Maybe God is just asking you and 762 00:39:57,640 --> 00:39:59,160 if you're honest, there's some pain there. 763 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:01,080 You're like, I don't want that hope back because hope is 764 00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:05,280 painful. But y'all where where the Lord 765 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:08,320 is, is at the intersection of those things of hope and pain. 766 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:12,080 That's where he is. Hebrews 416 one of the one of 767 00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:14,280 the great verses in the Bible, y'all it talks about how the 768 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:16,320 Lord I'm going to read it over you. 769 00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:18,560 Let me read this, let me read this, let me read it, let me 770 00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:22,080 read it, let me read it. Almost done. 771 00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:23,280 I promise. This is what it says. 772 00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:29,160 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, 773 00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:33,200 that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of 774 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:35,280 need. Y'all here's the idea. 775 00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:39,120 Even once in Christ, your need for mercy ain't going away. 776 00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:41,920 Probably what's happening is your awareness of your 777 00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:43,800 sinfulness is going up the more you walk with God. 778 00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:45,960 Therefore you feel like you need more mercy. 779 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:50,240 And So what you can do is now we approach God on I should be this 780 00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:54,480 advance in my Christian walk or whatever as if it's a job and 781 00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:57,920 you think you're performing poorly and so you stop praying 782 00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:00,880 because you feel unworthy. But y'all think about mercy. 783 00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:06,120 You don't deserve it. You get it because God gives it. 784 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:09,680 Their confidence was not that they did something that should 785 00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:12,640 pull something out of Messiah. They know who he is. 786 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:14,880 Yo, the book of Hebrews is written. 787 00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:20,120 The New Testament is pushing us to go to God for practical help, 788 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:25,680 to find help in time of need. Where do you need God? 789 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:29,760 Do an audit of where you need him and backtrack that to why 790 00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:32,040 you're not going to him and it's probably rooted in you feel 791 00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:34,800 unworthy or you think he is not willing. 792 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:37,560 And that is the whole point of these stories we're walking 793 00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:39,600 through is neither of those are true. 794 00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:43,840 He is, he is worthy, He is willing and he wants to meet you 795 00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:46,840 in that. Ask him to open your eyes and 796 00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:49,320 y'all praise God. One day blindness is gone. 797 00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:52,960 One day we see dimly now then we will see face to face. 798 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:56,720 Praise God our faith will be made sight y'all. 799 00:41:57,400 --> 00:42:00,120 So we pray now with the pain of hope. 800 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:02,560 It hurts to hope y'all. It's easier to just. 801 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:04,400 Let's just sever that off and become cynics. 802 00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:10,320 Being a cynic is easy, I just pray that we were with courage 803 00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:12,080 even when we have to hold one another up. 804 00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:14,560 We could just say hey I got none in me right now can you be my 805 00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:16,720 hope? Yes but we need one another to 806 00:42:16,720 --> 00:42:19,880 hold each other up in childlike faith and keep going to the Lord 807 00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:22,640 for grace and help in time of need. 808 00:42:22,640 --> 00:42:26,120 God wants to help you in your actual life. 809 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:29,880 This is not a cool theology lesson that doesn't apply to 810 00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:33,520 your life y'all. If God is getting bigger, we 811 00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:37,560 should be asking him to help us more and more practical. 812 00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:40,520 So just do a prayer audit. Where's it getting general 813 00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:43,480 Where's it getting vague? Where are we not asking specific 814 00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:46,480 and where you're not do an audit of that of why you're not and 815 00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:48,360 you'll get somewhere with the Lord and then bring him into 816 00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:50,680 that Lord. I don't think you're good. 817 00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:52,920 Now we're getting an actual biblical prayer. 818 00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:55,960 Now we're getting close to like some real stuff like you do with 819 00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:58,360 real people in a real relationship, because that's 820 00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:01,800 what God died to bring you into was a real relationship with 821 00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:04,680 him. Y'all Amazing Grace. 822 00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:09,000 How sweet the sound that saved a Wretch like me. 823 00:43:09,000 --> 00:43:11,240 I once was lost but now I'm found. 824 00:43:11,240 --> 00:43:16,480 I was blind but now I'm see. I I blew that I was blind but 825 00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:18,760 now I see. I hope you could say that's true 826 00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:20,000 of you today. Let's pray. 827 00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:23,320 Our Father, we love you. Thank you for grace, thank you 828 00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:25,040 for mercy. Thank you that you're the King 829 00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:27,400 of mercy who just oozes kindness to us. 830 00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:29,240 God, I pray for my friends who don't know you. 831 00:43:29,240 --> 00:43:31,560 God, I pray they would agree with you that they're blind. 832 00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:33,920 I pray that they would agree with you that they need help, 833 00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:36,120 they need your touch, they need sight of you. 834 00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:39,480 God, would you just speak into the echo Chamber of their soul 835 00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:41,960 and wake them up by the power of the Holy Spirit. 836 00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:45,320 God help them to agree with you that they need resurrection. 837 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:48,240 May they see you on the cross. God, may your resurrection power 838 00:43:48,240 --> 00:43:49,800 wake them up. And got to pray for my friends 839 00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:51,640 in Christ where we've just given up. 840 00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:55,080 We've grown cold and stale. Or maybe we're in the the the 841 00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:58,960 throes of just self determined beliefism in the flesh. 842 00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:02,840 God, would you bring us back to childlike hope, childlike faith 843 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,520 that that mixes sorrowful rejoicing so well. 844 00:44:05,520 --> 00:44:08,520 God, give us faith, Give this church faith and answer our 845 00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:11,200 prayers. God, we ask you to heal, we ask 846 00:44:11,200 --> 00:44:13,480 you to say, we ask you to breakthrough, we ask you to give 847 00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:15,200 us endurance and patience with joy. 848 00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:17,000 God, fill us with the knowledge of your will. 849 00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:19,320 Open our eyes that we may see you. 850 00:44:19,720 --> 00:44:21,360 We love you. We pray this in Christ's name, 851 00:44:21,640 --> 00:44:21,960 Amen.