Behold, I See Men As Trees!

4/16/23

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Sermon Transcript

Good morning. Please open your Bibles to Mark chapter 8. Our lesson tonight will be on the Old Testament Church. The Old Testament Church. If you find that intriguing, come back tonight, 5 o’clock, and bring your Bibles. Bring your highlighters, bring your pencils, I might even bring some sticky notes. We’re going to look at a lot of verses tonight.

This morning’s lesson is entitled, “I See Men as Trees.” And we heard that phrase just a moment ago in our scripture reading from Mark chapter 8. One of the central verses in the Bible is found in Mark chapter 8, verse 29, where Peter makes the great confession, “Thou art the Christ.” And while that statement was certainly a pinnacle in the life of Peter, it was as so many pinnacles in Peter’s life were, preceded and followed by valleys. Earlier in the same chapter, Jesus had rebuked the apostles for their failure to remember the great miracle of feeding the 4,000 that we see at the beginning of Mark chapter 8. And in verse 18 of this chapter, Jesus asked them, “Having eyes, see ye not?” And then in verse 33, just after the great confession in verse 29, Jesus rebukes Peter in the strongest terms. "Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savors "not the things that be of God, “but the things that be of man.” From the great confession that Jesus is the Christ in verse 29 to being called Satan by Jesus in verse 33. That’s a steep decline even for Peter.

With that background, let’s now look at another event in Mark 8, one that’s caused a lot of controversy over the years, and that’s the healing of the blind man verses 22 through 26, which were read for us just a moment ago. Why has that miracle long been the subject of so much speculation and controversy? Well, because it’s the only two-stage healing that we find in the Gospel accounts. Jesus’ other miracles appear sudden and instantaneous. And in fact, some of them, I think, have to be sudden and instantaneous, like the raising of Lazarus. At one moment, Lazarus is dead. One moment, the next moment he’s alive. Why the difference here? Was Jesus unable to heal this man instantly? Why did this miracle occur in two stages or two steps?

Well let’s start with what we know is not the answer. It is certainly not the case that this miracle took two stages because Jesus lacked the power to do otherwise. It’s by Jesus that all things were created and all things hold together, Colossians 1:16-17. Jesus raised the dead, Jesus cast out demons, Jesus has all power, all authority. Whatever the reason for this gradual miracle, we know the reason was not because of some limitation in Jesus’ power, we know that’s not the answer.

Well, could it possibly have been caused by unbelief on the part of this blind man? Well, that certainly caused Jesus to do no mighty works in Mark chapter 6, verses 5 and 6. But there’s no indication here that this blind man lacked faith. And there’s also a big, big difference between doing no mighty work and doing a mighty work in two steps or two stages. So I don’t think that’s it.

Now John Calvin, he said this man was healed this way to show that Jesus was not restricted to any fixed rule, but could heal people slowly or quickly. Now I just have to say, that makes about as much sense as a lot of stuff John Calvin said. When you’re raising people from the dead and healing blind people and casting out demons, I don’t think you need to go out of your way to show people you could do it slowly if you wanted to. I don’t think that’s it now.

Others say well the reason it went in two steps here was because of the bright Middle Eastern Sun. Apparently if Jesus had just given this man some sunglasses then it all would have happened in one step instead of two. You know, I think all those explanations missed the boat, some a lot more so than others. And worse, I think they all missed the point. I think they all missed the point that Jesus wanted us to see in this miracle. This man was healed in this manner because Jesus wanted him to be healed in this manner. Jesus was using this strange miracle to teach us a lesson.

Now do you mean to say that Jesus was teaching while he was doing a miracle? Well let me ask you this, when was Jesus ever not teaching? Jesus was always teaching. And let’s think for a moment about the context of chapter 8 that we looked at. In verse 18, Jesus told Peter to open your eyes. And in verse 29, it would seem that Peter’s eyes had been opened. But then later in verse 32, it looks like Peter is still not seeing things as he should.

Can we not see a comparison between Peter and this blind man? Didn’t both start out blind? Didn’t both of them spend some time with Jesus? After doing that, weren’t both of them able to see at least partially? But wasn’t it true that neither could yet see as he should? Jesus completely opened the eyes of the blind man in verse 25 and Jesus was seeking to accomplish that same thing with Peter in verse 33. Open your eyes, Peter.

The key to understanding this strange miracle is to see it for what it was, what some have called a living or acted parable. Jesus healed this man in the way that he did so that he, the master teacher, could teach us all a lesson. In fact, I think Jesus’s question to the man in verse 23 confirms that this was intended to teach a lesson. He asked him if he saw ought. Jesus knew the answer to that question before he asked it, but he wanted the apostles to hear the answer to that question. And what was the answer? The answer was, “I see men as trees walking.” Had the apostles ever heard such a thing like that after Jesus performed a miracle? Had they ever heard an answer like that? I’m sure that answer got everyone’s attention, which is what Jesus intended. This miracle was intended to teach.

So what was the lesson? In short, the Apostles were not seeing things as they should. They saw Christ as the promised Messiah, but they had not yet seen him as the suffering Messiah. They saw only partially. Because they could not see Jesus clearly they were stumbling, stumbling over the stone of stumbling, over the rock of offense, 1 Peter 2:8, as their countrymen continued to do. Jesus wanted the Apostles to open their eyes and I think the theme of Mark chapter 8 is found back in verse 18 with the question, “Having eyes, see ye not?”

The real problem with the Apostles was not that they were blind or could only see partially but that they did not know it. They did not know they were blind. They did not know they had eye trouble. We see that so clearly in verse 32 where Peter takes Jesus aside to rebuke him just three verses after calling him the Messiah. “Having eyes, see ye not?” That’s a question for us as well, isn’t it? Anytime we’re tempted to wonder how the Apostles could have ever been so blind, we need to ask ourselves that same question, “Having eyes, see ye not?” By performing this two-step miracle, Jesus was inviting the Apostles to see their own blindness and that invitation is ours as well. There will never come a day on this earth for a Christian that we cannot work on improving our spiritual eyesight. And the key to seeing things correctly is always to see them as God sees them. Why? Because we know when we see something as God sees it, we are seeing it as it is, without any distortion at all.

Well, how do we see things as God sees them? We look at them through his word, as they’re revealed to us in his word. The Word of God. Those are our glasses that lets us see things clearly, see things as God sees them. And so our question today is this: to what can we be blind today? What things maybe aren’t we seeing clearly or correctly or as God sees them? What does some today see with distorted vision? Let’s look at the answers, some answers to that question.

We may see ourselves with distorted vision. I may think too little of myself in the sense that I may think I’m just too bad for a savior. I just, I can’t be saved, I’m too far gone. And that distorted view is a common reason that people often give for delaying their obedience to the gospel. They want to clean themselves up first, become a little more presentable, then maybe they’ll obey the gospel. If anyone ever sees themselves that way, there’s an example in the Bible that we need to point them to, and it’s the example of the Apostle Paul.

Paul then saw persecuted the Church of God causing people to blaspheme his persecutions but he did not let that sad fact delay his obedience to the gospel or hinder his work in the kingdom. In 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 he says, “I’m unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God,” but then he says, “But by the grace of God, I am what I am.” In Acts 22:16, when he was told to arise and be baptized and wash away his sins, there was no delay. No delay. In Philippians 3:13-14, he said, “But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, I press toward the goal.” Paul could have allowed his past life to paralyze. But he did not. He obeyed the gospel. He placed his trust and faith in the grace of God. He put his past life behind him and he pressed on toward the goal and his work in the kingdom of God. That’s an example for us as well. We must never see ourselves as too bad for a Savior.

But I may have the opposite problem. I may think too much of myself. I may think I’m too good to need a saving. That’s also a very common view in our modern world today and it’s a very dangerous view. And the greatest example of this distorted view is not a modern example but an old example, and that’s the example of the Pharisees. We know from the Pharisees’ prayer in Luke 18 that they saw themselves as being both inwardly and outwardly beautiful and righteous. But of course God saw them very, very differently. And as we know, we want to see something for what it truly is. We need to see it as God sees it. In Matthew 23:27-28, Jesus told them they look good on the outside, but inside they were full of dead men’s bones and uncleanness. Why did Jesus speak to them that way? Why did he tell them that? Because he wanted to shock them out of their spiritual stupor. He wanted them to open their eyes, see themselves for what they really were. If we ever see ourselves as too good to need a Savior, then we need to remind ourselves what God’s Word tells us about all those outside of Christ and our condition before we were saved by the Gospel of Christ. I need to make sure I’m seeing myself clearly, without distorted vision.

The problem doesn’t end with how I view myself. I may also see others with distorted vision, both in the church and out of the church. First, we may view those in the church with distorted vision. Do I see those in the church correctly? Do I see those of us in the church as family members? That’s what we are. Jesus makes that very point two chapters later in Mark chapter 10, verses 29 and 30 where he promises we will receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children. We’re a family. Do we see ourselves that way? Are we as reluctant to let go of each other in the church as we are to let go of a family member? Do we turn to each other for help as we would turn to a family member? Are we as ready and eager to give help as we would to a family member? We should be because we are family members. We are a family, a spiritual family, and we must see ourselves that way if we are going to be the family that God wants us to be.

Do we see others in the church as members of a single body? Because that’s what we are. Paul tells us that in 1 Corinthians 12, baptized into one body. And we see what that means in Acts 4:32. Now the full number of those who believe were of one heart and soul and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own but they had everything in common. That’s one body, one heart, one soul. Do we hurt when others in the body hurt? Do we rejoice when others in the body rejoice? Do we want only the best for each of each other in the body? Because that is how a healthy body operates. That’s how we see each other. We need to work every day to see each other in the body of Christ as God sees us, as God wants us to be.

But you know what, that’s also true of how we see people outside the church. Do we ever see people out in the world as trees walking? Do we have something in common with that blind man? Do we see people that way? Just as people who are in our way as we go about our daily business, just the nameless, faceless crowd. Did Jesus ever look at anybody that way? Did Jesus ever look at someone as just being in his way that he needed to walk around? No. In fact, what we see, for example, in Luke 8 is Jesus walking through a big crowd of people, a pressing crowd of people, and noticing that woman who touched the hem of his garment, turning around to heal her, to help her. Jesus never saw anybody as just a walking tree. I need to have that same concern and care for others. I life as someone I need to help as someone I need to teach as someone who needs to see Jesus Christ living in me. Do I see people outside the church as lost?

When we open our Bibles, what we find is that no one, no one outside the church is saved. Well, how do I know that? Because of Acts 2:47. As soon as you’re saved, God adds you to the church. God adds you to the church when you’re saved. In math terms, what that means is that the set of those who are saved is the same as the set of those in the church, because when you’re saved, God adds you to the church. If you’re saved, then God has added you to the church. If you’re lost, God has not added you to the church. Or worse, you have walked away from Christ and his body. But what that means is that if you’re outside the church, then you are lost by definition, because the church is the body of the saved. Do we see things that way? Or do we have a distorted view of those outside the church? And if we have that distorted view, it hinders the proclamation of the gospel. And we need to open our eyes.

You know, I may see God with a distorted view. You know, perhaps the most important thing about any person on this earth is how they see God. And most people today have a very distorted view of God. Is that ever true of us? Do we ever see God as uninvolved and uninterested in what’s going on? That is a very distorted view of God. John 3:16, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. Whosoever believeth him should not perish, everlasting life.” God loved, God gave. Uninvolved, uninterested? Hardly. God could not be more involved and more interested. God created this world to be inhabited, Isaiah 45:18, and God had a plan to redeem those inhabiting this world before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:4, Revelation 13:8. God loves each of us. God gave His Son for each of us. No one who reads Philippians 2 could ever walk away thinking God is uninvolved, uninterested. God gave His Son.

Do we ever see God as eager to open some trap door beneath our feet as soon as we make a mistake? That’s also a very common view, but that is not the view of scripture. It’s not the view of scripture. 2 Peter 3:9, “God is not willing that any should perish.” No one, not any. And if the will of God was for us to perish, you know what God had to do to accomplish that? Nothing. Not a single thing. Jesus had stayed in heaven and we would all perish. If Jesus had not given himself as a perfect sacrifice for us, that we would all perish. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, then we would all perish. God doesn’t need a trap door for us to perish. We were all headed that way on our own. And the only reason we’re not headed that way is because God was not willing that any should perish. And so God gave his only begotten son. Why? So that we need not perish. John 3:16, because God loves us, each of us. We need to make sure we’re seeing God, the father, as he is revealed to us in scripture.

That’s also true of God, the son, because I may see Jesus with restorative vision. We know the Jews saw him that way. And we know the apostles at one point saw him that way, because we see it right here in Mark chapter 8. Do we ever see Jesus that way with distorted vision? Do we ever see Jesus as God or man? Instead of God and man? Much of the world sees Jesus as just a man, not as God. We know that’s a very distorted view of Christ. But some make the opposite error. They believe the divinity of Christ, but they don’t understand his humanity and the importance of that. If we ever fail to see both his divinity and his humanity, then we are seeing Christ with distortion. Jesus is both man and God. He is the son of God and the son of man. That is why Jesus is the perfect mediator between God and man. 1 Timothy 2:5. That’s how Jesus can be both equal to God and also found in fashion as a man obedient unto death on the cross. That’s how Jesus could say in John 8:58, “Before Abraham was I am,” the great I am, pointing back to Exodus 3:14. Jesus is both man and God and that fact is crucial to Jesus being our King and High Priest. Hebrews 4:15 reminds us that Jesus is the perfect High Priest because he’s been touched with our infirmities. He’s dealt with the temptations that we deal with in all points but then Revelation 19:15-16 reminds us that he is king of kings and Lord of Lords. You see the beauty of his divinity in that chapter. When we open God’s Word we see both the divinity of Christ and the humanity of Christ and unless we see both we have a very distorted view of Christ but that’s not the only way I can see Christ with distortion.

Do we ever see Jesus as just a friend? Just a friend? You know, as we’re often seeing, “I found a friend in Jesus.” He’s everything to me, and that is absolutely true. We will never, never find a better friend than Jesus. Never. John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this that he will lay down his life for his friends,” and Jesus Christ did that for us. But do we ever see Jesus as only a friend, someone who just gives us advice but not commands, someone who gives us a shoulder to cry on but he doesn’t really make any demands on our lives, someone who gives us a sympathetic ear and just always seems to agree with our view on every subject? Someone we can rebuke on occasion, as Peter did to Christ in Mark chapter 8. We need to see Jesus as He is revealed to us in God’s Word. And when we do, we will find that yes, Jesus is our friend, but no, He is not only our friend. Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus is the one sitting at the right hand of God. Jesus is head of the church. Jesus is the one by whom all things were created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible. As God the Father tells us, Jesus is the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person, upholding all things by the word of his power. Hebrews 1:3. Jesus is inviting us, commanding us, demanding that we take up our own cross and follow Him and partake of His suffering. Yes, Jesus is my friend, but He is so much more than that. And if I’m ever tempted to think I can put Jesus in a box or place Jesus high up on a shelf somewhere, or just call on Him when I need a hug, then I need to open my Bible, see the complete revelation of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, King of kings, Lord of lords.

I may see the world with distorted vision. Do we ever do that? Do we ever see the world as our home? Again, to quote a song, “this world is not my home. I’m just a passing through.” But is that how we see it? Or have we made ourselves at home here? Are we comfortable here? One wrote, “Men think of the world not as a battleground, but as a playground. We are not here to fight, we are here to frolic. We are not in a foreign land, we are at home.” Do we ever see the world that way? Do we see ourselves as pilgrims? Because that’s what we are. John 14:2-3, Jesus went to prepare a place for us. Not here. Somewhere else. Why? So that where I am, you may be also, Jesus said. Hebrews 11:16, “As it is, they desire a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” We are pilgrims in this world. Do we see ourselves that way?

Do we see ourselves as warriors in this world? 'Cause that’s what we are. 1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of faith.” Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the whole armor of God.” This world is not our playground. It is a battlefield. Do we see it that way? This world is not permanent. It is not our home. Do we see it that way? Do we ever see the world as our friend? If so, that is a distorted and dangerous, dangerous view of this world. James 4:4, could not be any more clear. “Know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world is an enemy of God.” You know, this world may act like our friend sometimes. It is not our friend. This world is opposed to God. This world is opposed to the word of God. This world is opposed to the ways of God. This world is opposed to the people of God. And we must never lose sight of that. John 15:18-19, “If the world hates, you know, it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. You are not of this world. Therefore, the world hates you.” 1 John 5:19, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” This world is not our friend. This world is filled with distractions and diversions that threaten to blind us from its true nature. We need to see it with a clear vision. Satan has already blinded many. 2 Corinthians 4:4, “In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers.” We must make sure that never happens to us.

May see the church with distorted vision. Do I see the church as a denomination? You know, the story’s told about a large denomination that came into a town and they were going to build a new building so they went around to all the local businessmen and asked for money. And they went to one Christian businessman and said, you know, we gave him, told him what they were doing, said, can you give us some money? He said, “Yeah, I’ll give you a thousand dollars if you agree to put up a sign in front of your new building that says this is a Church of Christ.” And they said, “Oh no, we can’t do that because we’re a blank church,” and they filled in the name of their denomination. So the Christian businessman said, “Okay, well, I’ll make you another deal. I’ll still give you a thousand dollars if you put up a sign that says this is not a Church of Christ.”

Now I’ve often said that when you understand the point of that story, you understand the undenominational nature of the Lord’s Church. And we also understand, when we understand the point of that story, that that Church of Christ is not our name, period. It is our description. It is our description. It is not our name. It is our description. We are the church that belongs to Christ, of Christ. We are the church redeemed by Christ, of Christ. We are the church that is the body of Christ, of Christ. We are the church of Christ, the Lord’s church, his church. That’s what it means. It’s describing us. It is not naming us. But some might say, “Well, what difference does that make? What if we treat Church of Christ as our name? What difference does that make?”

Well, let me ask you a question. What is a denomination? To denominate something means to name it. What the word means. Exactly what that word means, to name it, to give it a name or a title. Now, of course, in a religious sense it’s come to have a special meaning: a group of religious congregations having its own organization and a distinctive faith, the dictionary tells us. And by their own admission they all have different faiths and different minds and different teachings of different organizations and different names. The first step to becoming a denomination is to denominate yourself, to name yourself. Because after I’ve done that then I can say, well, we have our name and you have your name, we have our beliefs and you have your beliefs, and we are the X Church and you are the Y Church. That is what it means to be the denomination and if I see the Church of Christ that way then I have a very distorted view of the Lord’s Church and if we see the church as God sees the church then we’re not going to play that game. There is one church, one body and it is not our church. It is the Lord’s Church and we don’t join it like we join a country club or something. We are added to it by God when we obey the gospel of Christ. The only time in the Bible that the phrase “my church” appears is in Matthew 16:18 where Jesus Christ is speaking. Church is the Lord’s church. We must never see it as a denomination.

Do I see the church as the beautiful, powerful, eternal kingdom that it is? If I don’t, then my view of the church is distorted. We need to see the church as God sees the church, and when we do, we will see it as the beautiful, powerful, eternal kingdom of Christ. Daniel 2 describes it as the eternal kingdom that sweeps away all the kingdoms of this earth. Isaiah 2 describes it as the house of God established on the mountains to which all nations are drawn. Joel 2 describes the day of its establishment as the great and awesome day of the Lord. Ezekiel 40 describes the church as a huge temple constructed to the exacting pattern of God. Matthew 16 tells us Jesus Christ built the church. Ephesians 5 describes Jesus’s love for his church as a husband’s love for his wife. Hebrews 12 describes the church as the city of the living God. Revelation 20 paints a beautiful figurative picture of the church as the precious and beautiful city of God. Golden streets. The Church of Christ is beautiful. The church of Christ is powerful. The church of Christ is eternal.

The first step to being the church that God wants us to be is to see ourselves as God sees us, to see ourselves with spiritual eyes, to see ourselves through the Word of God. If we see ourselves as insignificant and powerless, then that is exactly what we will be. But when we see ourselves as the most important organization on the face of this earth, through whom God works and shows his Son to a lost and dying world, then we will be effective in carrying out the great commission we have been given.

Finally, I may see baptism with a distorted vision. Many people do. Do I see baptism as a meritorious work? That’s a very common view today. In fact, if you discuss baptism with anyone from a denomination, you’re going to hear that. “Oh, baptism is just a work, meritorious work, trying to earn your way to heaven.” Well first, we’ll all agree, we’ll all agree that no one is going to be saved by meritorious works, Ephesians 2:8-9. All agree on that. But is baptism a meritorious work? Are those who are being baptized trying to earn their way to heaven? Why do I keep saying meritorious work? Because if we define work as simply anything that someone does or thinks, then certainly baptism is a work. But belief is also. Belief is called to work in John 6:28-29. And if someone is really going to take the position that man does nothing and plays no role at all in his salvation, then how are they ever going to explain Philippians 2:12, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling?”

Well, what do I mean by meritorious work? Well, I’ll let Paul define that for us. Romans 4:4, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debts.” A meritorious work is anything someone does trying to earn his salvation. Anything someone does thinking to themselves, “I’m going to turn grace into a debt that God owes me, instead of a gift that God gives me.” That is a meritorious work. Romans 4:4. The question is not whether baptism is a work. The question is whether it is a meritorious work. And once again, I’ll just let Paul answer that question. Titus 3:4-7. “But after that, the kindness and love of God, our savior toward man appeared not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us.” How? “By the washing of regeneration, renewing of the Holy Spirit.” Paul discusses baptism in Titus 3, the washing of regeneration. Paul tells us in Titus 3, it is not a meritorious work. It is not a work of righteousness that does not save. Instead, Paul tells us in Titus 3 that our baptism is an appeal to the mercy of God, which does save. Isn’t that exactly what Peter told us in 1 Peter 3:21? “Baptism now saves us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Those who believe they are saved from their sins at their baptism believe so because Jesus told us so. God’s word tells us that. That is not self-righteousness, that is trust.

Do I see baptism as something that happens after salvation? Again, a very common view, but it’s a false distorted view. Mark 16:16, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned.” That verse is very hard to misunderstand without expert help. Yet many today twist it completely around and instead they teach, “He that believeth and is saved shall be baptized.” Is that what we read? “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” But why doesn’t the second half of Mark 16:16 then say, “he that believeth not and is baptized not shall be damned?” Because even common sense tells us it’s impossible to disbelieve and be baptized. Because if I don’t believe in God, then there’s another word for my baptism. It’s called a bath. And that’s all it is.

Well, what about those who only believe? Well, James tells us they have something in common with demons. Because demons believe and tremble, James 2:19. And just to be very, very frank on this subject, the Bible divides the world into two groups, believers and fools. Psalm 14:1. If I don’t believe in God, then the Bible says I’m just a fool. “Fool has said in his heart, there is no God.” So just being a believer, it’s just not a particularly high hurdle. God wants obedient believers.

And if we do a word search in the Bible for the phrases “into Christ” or “into Jesus,” I mean, if I’m outside of Christ, where do I want to be? In Christ. So if I then did a word search for “into Christ” or “into Jesus,” how many verses am I going to come up with? Two, exactly two and only two. So I might think to myself, well, now that’s interesting. That will tell me how to go from outside of Christ to being into Christ. So let me look at those two verses. Romans 6:3, “Know ye not that so many of us, as we’re baptized into Jesus Christ. We’re baptized into his death.” And then the other one, Galatians 3:27, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.” Hmm. What those verses tell me is that baptism is the dividing line between those outside of Christ and those inside of Christ. Baptism is the dividing line between me being in the powers of darkness and being in the kingdom of Christ, Colossians 1:13. The new life of a Christian begins at baptism. That’s the precise moment at which God adds me to His Church. After, do you bury dead people or living people? And if I think I was spiritually alive prior to my baptism, then why in the world am I being buried? We need to see baptism as it has been revealed to us in the Word of God.

You know, Helen Keller once said, “To be blind is bad, but worse is to have eyes and not see.” And that’s true of many in the world today. They have eyes, but they cannot see. We must never be like them. We must see the unseen. We must see the permanent. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. God’s question in Mark 8:18 is a question for them. It’s also a question for us. “Having eyes, see ye not?” We need to see ourselves without distortion. We need to see others without distortion. We need to see God without distortion. We need to see Christ without distortion. We need to see this world without distortion.

And if you are outside of Christ this morning, then the first step, the very first step, is to open your eyes. Open your eyes and see your condition apart from Christ. And then you open your ears and hear the gospel proclaimed. You hear it. You believe it. You have faith in God. You repent of your sins, confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and you are baptized, immersed in water to wash away your sins, Acts 22:16, and then you must live faithfully unto death. That was the gospel in the book of Acts. That is still the gospel 2,000 years later. But perhaps you obeyed the gospel but you’re just not seeing things as you should. Perhaps your spiritual eyesight has become clouded and distorted. We would love to pray for you and help you. See you again as you once did. Whatever your need, if we can help in any way, please come while we stand and while we sing.