Believing Is Seeing - Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ 35 or younger you know what is taught. If your 35 or older you beginning to find out if you're much older. This is gospel truth is that you know exactly what's happening.

Paul says, though the outer man is decaying. The inner man is being renewed day by day. C has us different perspective. He said let me describe suffering to my point of view for momentary, light affliction is producing for us the eternal weight of glory far beyond all for joining us today on this additional fellowship of the word pastor Bill Gebhardt Fellowship in the Words the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible church located in Metairie, Louisiana Pastor Bill Gebhardt now again he shows us how God's word meets our 1990, at the cost of 1 1/2 billion dollars. The hub was placed in orbit 347 miles above the earth.

The world of astronomers and astrophysicists was filled with frenzy and excitement with baited breath. The world waited for the first pictures to come in and to give us a view of our galaxy and give us a view of the universe has never seen before then. The first pictures came in. They were fuzzy. It turned out that the Hubble was nearsighted after a long investigation it was found that the lens was improperly ground in fact it was off by less than 1/50 the thickness of a single sheet of paper that wasn't the universe's fault. It wasn't the Milky Way galaxy's fault.

It was the fault of the lens. Soon after the news got in the marketing began infecting in 1991 movie character in the movie made reference to the Titanic, the Hindenburg, the Edsel and the Hubble in one sentence. The solution was found. They made an additional lens. This lens was grounded in the exact opposite way of the faulty lands and then buy it with astronauts was placed on top of the faulty lands.

That's right. The Hubble got contacts and for the past 26 years. The most amazing photographs and images have ever been seen of our known universe is incredible what we can now see it is changed. Mankind's understanding of the size and the complexity of the universe. Now what I want to do is I want to move from the Hubble and its view of the universe to you and your view of life.

Your view of the way the world works. How do you see it you see the problem that you have is exactly the same as the Hubble your forwarding lens each and every one of us has a faulty lens you see the world in a fuzzy way. In fact, your nearsighted.

That's the problem that you have and that has tremendous ramifications in the life of a believer in Jesus Christ. You see, you'll never live the way God wants you to live until you see life the way God wants you to see.

This is evident by the way, in almost every area of our life.

Just think, as human beings. How many different ways we see all people. We categorize people we have all of these different categories of people based on religion or race, etc. it's always weight how does God see people lost and saved. That's it. See were different is not just with people, we see the use of things like money and time and success meaning and purpose priorities. We see them fuzzy. We see them because were nearsighted. But there's one area in which we are really nearsighted and I think this illustrates how badly we see life compared to how well we should see it more than any other suffering pain affliction and boy it's much to our own detriment. Once you begin by open up your Bibles to second Corinthians chapter 4 second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16 second Corinthians 416 now. By the way of Paul could be an expert on something he couldn't expert on affliction pain-and-suffering.

He has every level. You can imagine I when he converted to Christ. He had to deal with all of the pain of being rejected by the Jewish community. Remember he was a Pharisee of Pharisees. Everybody knew him.

He was rejected by everybody. Many people think, by the way that he was married at one time his wife walked away from. There's no way to prove that, but it wasn't just that when he first converted to Christ.

Even the early church did wanting to do with them because he was hunting down the people in the church so they didn't want anything to do with and that he finally got going anyone to missionary journeys in every single place he went he ran into resistance and that resistance cause and be arrested. He was beaten with rods.

He was stoned and left for dead. He find himself in prison. He was shipwrecked by the way, was bitten by a poisonous snake and in spite of all that he had a for the flash that it was so painful for many want to got three times and asked God to please remove it and God said no. Paul really understand suffering and pain, but I want you to see the difference between Paul and perhaps you and verse 16 he says therefore here's his conclusion of his thinking. Therefore we do not lose heart and I was training many years ago that whenever you see a therefore you have to ask the question what is it therefore and so you go backwards and see when you go back what you find is verse eight we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. We are perplexed, but not despairing. We are persecuted, but not forsaken, we are struck down, but not destroyed, always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also be manifested in our body. That's what is referring to. Also that's what happened to me afflicted, perplexed, persecuted and struck down, and he says therefore I do not lose heart. Isn't that what happens with pain isn't that happens when you suffer, and that what happens when husband-wife oxide in your life, you lose your job. A doctor uses the word malignancy is even that what happens, you begin to lose heart. Immediately you see these ideas. It almost sucks the life out of you. But Paul says therefore we do not lose heart pieces. But though the outer man is decaying.

Wow, what a way to describe pulses. The outer minute. He said you know what I hurt. Remember reading how many thousand miles.

Paul must've walked in, is probably in his 60s over really rough terrain signal may outer manage the cane by the way, that's true, if you're 35 or younger. I yearning to know what he's talking about. If you're 35 or older. You're beginning to find out if you're much older. This is gospel truth. You see, you know exactly what's happening. But Paul says, though the outer man is decaying. The inner man is being renewed day by day. See has us different perspective what's going on here. He said to me, describe suffering to you my point of view for momentary, light affliction is producing for us the eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison momentary, light affliction, see you and I would call that a splinter using a smaller pulse: he's calling everything I described earlier using… Momentary, light affliction, but then he adds a word there. He said it's producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. You see something Paul sees life differently than you do, is found in adverse he sees life far beyond momentary, light affliction, he sees way beyond the present circumstances. He said far beyond and then he says while we look in here becomes the key for site while we look not at the things which are seen, we look at the things which are not seen as a great word. Not so great in English the grade. In Greek the word in English is walk the word in Greek is compatible and it doesn't mean the look. It doesn't mean like all I saw last night's Capello skip that was a word to describe a watchman it means to gaze to fix your gaze. It means just that. Constantly stare. He says I notice if you put it that way. It's interesting the way he says it he said while we fixate not on the things that are seen. We fixate on the things that are not seen for the things that are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal pulses I can fixate on that.

That's why called a momentary, light affliction, I fixate I see way beyond by the way, that's the greatness of the Hubble see what the Hubble was able to do was fixate, they were able put the Hubble in orbit in one of the things he did with the Hubble's they took what we would call it a basically a debtor black area of space, you don't really see much, and it took that big lens and that what they did is they left the aperture over open and a just simply D's that they fixated on for a long period of time, allowing the light to take a lot of time to come in you. What they found thousands of galaxies galaxies like our Milky Way, each with billions of stars thousands how how did they find they fixated the same idea that Paul says here, I fixate on that. You see the old lenses temporal. When you look at your life up from the old lens it's temporal. That's how you see it you can't see past your circumstances. But when you put in. Look through the lens of God provides for you when you're able to do that you're able to see far beyond.

You see, you can look beyond is what he is saying.

That's what happens, you're able to see what the old lens can't see how many illustrate that now go with me to the second Kings chapter 6 second Kings in the Old Testament chapter 6 here's the application of this.

The context is going to begin in verse eight. Now the king of Aram was warring against Israel and he counseled with his servant saying in such and such a place he said shall be my camp. I'm going to attack Israel on the destroyers were on them to tell you were a minicamp to do it. The man of God. That's Elisha, the man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying beware that you do not pass. This place for the Aramaeans he says are coming down there. The king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God and told him thus he warned him so that he guarded himself.

There more than once or twice now. I love this. Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing, and he called his servants and he said to them when you tell me which of us is for the king of Israel okay will this have a meeting which one of you guys are for the other side which one of you guys told you see, how did they know one of his servant said no, my Lord oh king, but Elisha, the prophet who was in Israel, he tells the king of Israel, the words that you speak in your bedroom, and got all of that said, you can't point this guy knows. So he said were you going see where he is, that I may send and take him and it was told him same beholders and open so he sent horses and chariots, and a great army there and they came by night and surrounded the city. He sent a complete Army infantry Calvary and armor the chariots he's after one guy is a let's get him now it really begins.

Two ways of looking at the problems of your life. Now when the attendant of the prophet or the man of God had risen early and gone. Not behold, an army with horses and chariots circling the city and his servant said to him, alas, my master, what are we going to know by the way, that's just the way you react when you look at life through your natural. What am I going to do is go to work.

What's gonna happen is for fear and anxiety just like you and I are when suffering and pain and affliction coming our lives. What's his problem can see right you see can help himself because he can only see what's in front of and so he answered. That's Elisha is a do not fear. One guy is a frantic got to see them. Chariots, horses, everything. The other guys that I got. He said for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

By the way Elijah season. He also sees beyond them. You see he has the corrected lens Elijah sees it differently. He sees beyond them.

He said we have more more or less than they have with them and then Elisha prayed the prayer we all made whole. Lord I pray open his eyes that he may see in the Lord opened the sermon size and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire while the thing that surrounded them was surrounded by God to realize that the things it because you fear, anxiety, worry those things to keep you up at night.

You see those things that you make you so upset they seem so real because there there there completely surrounded by God as a woman that's a story about it like she was a prophet and because he made that statement. There's more of us in our van in the New Testament doesn't say greater is he that is in you than he that's in the world doesn't say that season that the truth of it is he that's the whole point of it. See the how do you see it. Which lens do you look through.

When you look at something like this.

Do you know how many times how many times you a face something really difficult suffering, pain, anxiety, fear, worry in your life and how many times God was in there. Zero.

Never once, never once if you're a child of God. Have you ever faced anything without God is right there can to see it. You see, that's our problem. The problem is that the circumstances of our life. I can't see it. I don't see it. I'm like the servant that's all I have. But there's something here now I think you already realize if you're going to use the lens of God provide you to correct your view of life. You can only look through that lens. By faith. There's no other way. The only way you can look through that lens is by faith. Let's look at that further, let's go to Hebrews chapter 11 the great Hall of fame of faith. Verse one Hebrews 11 here we get the definition of faith in the Scriptures, and I actually believe Russ in our language face a difficult word for us to understand. I think faith DOS is a little bit too abstract. That's too ambiguous faith. That's why if I can with what we always do that here, but if I went to use the word that you understand what faith is. It's the word trust. That's what faith is.

Faith is trust and so that's what we mean.

And he says. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. Trust is the assurance of things hoped for.

Trust is the conviction of things not seen. You see, when I evidence faith. I have assurance the word for hope for in the New Testament anytime you see the word hope it doesn't mean cross your fingers and hope hope in the New Testament means future certitude something you absolutely know what happened. It's the assurance of your future. You see I have assurance of my future. I have assurance you see of a certain hope that will happen to me and I have conviction for the present.

That's what he says, trust is her faith is the assurance of things for the future, the conviction of things in the present.

That's what Paul had.

That's what Elisha had. They saw life differently and see it like the attendant solid through the new lines bathroom never on the radio ministry of fellowship in the world.

If you ever missed one of our broadcast or maybe you just like listening to the message one more time. Remember, you can Google a great website called one place.com that's one place.com and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online at that website you will find on with today's broadcast but also many of our previous audio program that Fellowship in the Word we are thinking for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible with all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help with radio ministry continuous broadcast on this radio station by supporting monthly with just a one-time gift support for ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word. 4600 Clearview Pkwy., Metairie, LA 7006 if you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format that is is a sermon, the pastor will deliver during a Sunday morning service of fellowship monitored visit our website FVC Nola.org that FVC and oh LA.O RG at our website you will find hundreds pastor Bill sermon you can browse through our sermon archives defined sensors are looking, or you can search by title. Once you find the method you're looking for.

You can listen online or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own. And remember, you can do all this absolutely free of charge. Once again our website is FVC Nola.org for pastoral gift card. I'm Jason Denhardt thanking you for listening to fellowship in order