VIDEO RECORDING OF THIS SERMON
AUDIO RECORDING OF THIS SERMON
In 2 Cor 5:7, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” Faith is the evidence of things not seen, Heb 11:1. It’s found in hearing the words of God, Rom 1:17. Sight is, of course, the view you have of what you see. The trouble with sight is that it can and often does mislead you. What you see might not be what’s really there. Sight can be affected by:
Display – Rom 1:18-20 – God’s creation is displayed so you can see God, upon whom you cannot look. You’re not to worship what you see, but God who made what you see. Some worship the sun, moon, and planets, 2 Ki 23:5. Some worship an image. When you have faith, you worship the Creator not the creature. Consider the lyrics of the hymn, “I Sing the Mighty Power of God.”
Disguise – Prov 25:2 it is the glory of God to conceal a thing. It’s there but you can’t see it. Sometimes a wall contains a door (our pony wall mirror door). Sometimes people are not what they have disguised themselves to be. God’s here but you can’t see him; he’s concealed. Jesus came as a carpenter. When you have faith you “see” the Lord not the man, Jn 9. 1st v 2nd coming, Rev 1:7, they’ll all see him in time.
Distortion – Jer 23:36 “ye have perverted the words of the living God.” Modern versions are distortions of God’s words. The truth is there but you don’t see it right. Another good example of distortion is Ex 23:8, “thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.” Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the words of God. Must have faith to believe and understand the truth. That way you’re looking at what God wants you to see, the way he wants you to see it.
Sometimes, the viewer is distorted. Mirage distorts the view; it’s not really where I see it. Emotion is like mirage. It distorts the reality. The way it feels is not the way it really is. The viewer is distorted when he’s trying to see it from his view, not the Lord’s view. He’s looking for something and making what he sees look like what he’s looking for. Really affects missionaries. You often must quit trying to see what you’re looking for to see what God is trying to show you. Lift up your eyes Jn 4; you’re not seeing what’s there. I’m looking hard at what I see to make it look like what I want to see. Making a deer out of a bush or a redfish out of a mullet or a diamond out of a zirconium.
Deception – so you see it the wrong way. Like a magician. What you’re seeing has been purposely manipulated so you see something other than what is really there. The devil can deceive you, Rev 12:9, “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world.” The devil used deception to convince Eve to eat the fruit. Sin can deceive you, Rom 7:11, “sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me.” You can deceive yourself, Gal 6:3, “For if a man thinketh himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” Others can deceive you, Matt 24:4, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” Solution, believe the words of God by faith rather than what you’re being shown. My aversion to modern churches; they’re all show.
Delusion – 2 Thes 2:11 – “God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie.” Why? Because they “received not the love of the truth,” 2 Thes 2:10, and they “believed not the truth,” 2 Thes 2:12. God sent a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab’s prophets to convince him to go to Ramothgilead, where he died. The way to keep from being deluded is to believe God by faith in his words.
Conclusion: We walk not by sight because of display (worship the one who made what you see rather than what you see), disguise (the word of God is the only thing that will make obvious what is not obvious by sight), distortion (the word of God will straighten out the view and the viewer), deception (believe what you know to be true in the words of God no matter how convincing what you’re looking at appears), delusion (believe the truth and love the truth and you won’t be deluded by what you see).