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Podcast Host
This is an iHeart podcast.
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- [01:05]
Ryan Seacrest
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- [01:34]
Steven Furtick
Hey, this is Steven Furtick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message.
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Podcast Host
You know, I'd heard about mom guilt, but no one ever told me about dad inadequacy and that feeling sometimes we have as dads, feeling like not only are we not doing enough sometimes, but I know some of us feel this condemnation from the enemy sometimes telling us that we're not enough. And I just felt led to just prophesy over the dads today and ultimately just remind you that before you were a father, you were a son. And there's something so powerful about in those places where we feel like we're not enough. Reminding ourselves that I was a son first. Chris was just sharing in the back about the prodigal son, about the younger son who came home. But I love what the father spoke over the older son. He said, my son, everything that I have, it was already yours. And when you can wake up every day and remind yourself that I'm a son first. It's an opportunity to recognize that everything your father has is available to you. So I just speak life over you today and the blessings of your Father in heaven over you today. In the name of Jesus, we honor you. We honor you. Well, if we haven't yet met yet, My name is Jonathan. I have the privilege of serving as the campus pastor here at our Ballantine location. Welcome, everyone joining us, certainly. Always an honor to be able to share God's word. I feel so grateful today. It's also always an honor to stand behind the pulpit of my favorite preacher on the planet. And it's kind of like if Michael Jordan invited you to play on his personal court, you know, you're not on that level. But it's still pretty. It's pretty cool. It's pretty cool. And while I consider it such an honor to stand behind this pulpit today, what's an even greater honor for me is that for the last 12 years, the Greater honor is that I've been able to be a part of this church. And standing behind a pulpit is cool. But sitting in that seat week to week is so special. I'm so grateful to be a part of this house under the leadership of such amazing pastors. Can we thank God for Pastor Stephen and Pastor Holly and the. The other thing that's kind of cool about sitting next there is I get to sit next to my wife. We just celebrated 15 years on Friday. 15 years of marriage to Anna. Joseph's right there. Well, I want to share from a passage of scripture in John, chapter nine. It's this story about Jesus healing a man who was born blind. And ultimately, the man starts getting interrogated by the Pharisees. And here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna give you just one verse right now. And we'll let you take your seats. I know the dads just wanted to sit down for Father's Day. That's it. Give me a break. So one verse and I'll give you my title. But then I'll ask that you be patient with me. Cause I wanna work through the majority of this chapter. John, chapter nine, and work through this story together. Is that good? John, chapter nine, verse 25. The Pharisees, they're asking this man questions about who Jesus is. They're mad because Jesus healed them on the Sabbath. You know, they don't like that. And so they asked this man a question about Jesus. And look at his response. Verse 25. He replied, Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see. Whether he's a sinner or not, I don't know. I'm. I'm not. I'm not a. I'm not a student of the law like you guys. I'm just a. I was a blind beggar just a few days ago. I don't know. But one thing I do know, I was blind. But now I see. My title for today is all I know. All I know. And as you're taking your seat, turn to your neighbor, say, all I know is that I'm so blessed to be sitting next to you. God has really been speaking to me through this passage. And since it is Father's Day, let me show you a picture of my family real quick. Cause I am a proud dad in my family right here and my kids. And. Okay, so my oldest, Zion, he's 10 years old. And then we've got Elias. He turns 8 this week. He was actually born on Father's Day. And, yeah, he came early. I kept telling people, I think Anna just pushed him out early. Cause she didn't want to get me a gift. Yeah, and see, this is the problem. And everybody laughs. They thought I was joking. And then, guess what day our daughter Olivia was born on? Father's Day. All right, so if you've got an extra 20 in your pocket, just bless the woman of God so she can get me a proper Father's Day gift this year. No, that's our family. We're so blessed. And I grew up with three sisters. And we'd always ask my parents, you know, who's the favorite? You know, and they would always say, we love you all the same. And that's true, but it doesn't exactly answer the question. Right? And as a parent, as a parent myself, now, it's true, I love them all the same. But tell your neighbor, say, there's definitely a favorite. There's definitely a favorite. Zion, is there a favorite? There's a favorite. But in this passage in John chapter nine, I love what this man expressed in that one sentence. He's talking about the tension of. He's saying whether he's a sinner or not, he makes the confession. I don't know. But one thing I do know. I don't know. I know. And the word know K, N, O, W shows up like 11 times in this one passage of Scripture. You're gonna see it pop up over and over again. And it started speaking to me, because I find myself in a season of life right now where I find myself saying, more than ever, maybe, I don't know, I don't know. Situations at work. I'm trying to figure out where. It's like, well, what do we do about. I don't know. I was talking to a friend the other day about health stuff. He's like, everything. One thing I read says, do this, the other thing says, do that. He's like, I don't even know what to believe anymore. He's like, I just, I don't know. I don't know. When it comes to. Even when me and Anna do, like, marriage counseling now, it used to be we'd go to talk about us, to work on us. Now we're going to talk about the kids, like, how do we do this? It's getting harder and harder as they get older. We're trying to figure this thing out. And I know some of you are like, you only got a 10 year old, just you wait. But even at the stage we're at right now, I find myself saying, I don't know. I don't know. Maybe you find yourself in that place today where you're facing situations and if you're honest, you're like, I just don't know. But where it really started to hit me was that even when it comes to my faith and my walk with God, I find myself saying, yeah, I don't know. I don't know. There's two members in the church who have really been undermining my confidence as a pastor and as a follower of Christ. And I don't want to expose every. Anybody. It's not, it's not you, Tad. You're good. But I'll just show you a picture real quick of the two church members I'm talking about. Yeah, these two. These two. Cause they're at the stage now. It's so amazing watching our kids grow in their faith, isn't it? It's so awesome to see them just take steps towards Christ. And then at the same time, the thing that comes with it is they're asking me so many questions. And they're good questions, too. And they'll ask me at the most unexpected times, like, I don't get to do any research. You know, my youngest, he asked me some of the questions are fun, like, why did God make bad guys? And then you get to explain to them, well, actually we're all bad guys and apart from Christ, none of us are righteous. And you're walking them through that and Then asked me, why did God make mosquitoes? Now that's a, that's a tough one. I hate them so much. That's like the equivalent of asking, why does God let bad things happen to good people? That's how I feel every time I get a mosquito bite. Lord, why have you forsaken me? The other day we're driving home from school and my eight year old, he was getting ready to be baptized. He got baptized in our church just a couple weeks ago and we were talking about the moment where Jesus was baptized. You remember that story? Jesus is baptized and a dove, the Holy Spirit descends like a dove and the voice of his Father in heaven speaks over him. This is my son whom I love, whom I'm well pleased, and my 8 year old son, he said, dad, if Jesus is God, how is God talking to Jesus? He's 8 years old and he's asking me about the Trinity. Have you ever tried to explain the trinity to an 8 year old? Forget a minute. Have you ever tried to explain the Trinity to a full grown functioning adult? These are things that we believe, right? We believe in it. This is something that the church, like followers of Christ, have believed in. But if you ask me the question, how do I know? I gotta be honest, I don't know sometimes. And I'm trying to explain. If I had told you, turn to your neighbor right now and explain the Trinity, you would be pulling up chatgpt so quick and going to some lame stuff. Well, it's kind of like an egg. It's three parts, it's all in one. And it's like, let's be honest for a second. We don't know. We don't know. There's so many things that we believe and if we're honest, we feel like if we're honest, we could say that we don't, we don't know. And, and the problem is we feel like we should. I know, I feel like I should. I'm a pastor, I'm supposed to know these things. I went to school for these things. And whether it's sitting down with a couple, trying to guide them in the ways of God as they navigate a situation in life, or even just the own, my own questions that I'm wrestling with, I find myself saying I don't know, I don't know. But I'm realizing that if my confidence is built on all I know, I will always be insecure. And God's been teaching me through this passage that being in a place of not knowing isn't always such A bad thing. In fact, not knowing might just be a good place to be. So let's start at the beginning of this story where this man who was born blind has a miraculous encounter with Jesus. And there's some things about knowing that I want to show you through this passage today. You good? If we walk through the Scriptures for just a moment. Okay. In verse one, it says, as he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. Now, right there, I got grateful. I got grateful knowing that even when I couldn't see Jesus, he saw me. And his disciples, they asked him a question. Rabbi, it means teacher. Teacher, they want to learn something. Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind. I love the fact that the disciples are willing to ask Jesus questions. They're saying, jesus, teach us. Teach us. They're still at a place in their faith where they're willing to ask questions. Some of us grew up in a tradition of faith where we were taught not to ask questions. We thought faith was certainty in our answers. But faith is not certainty in your answers. Faith is where you go with your questions. So they asked Jesus. They're looking at a man born in an unfortunate situation, and they're asking him, how did this happen? What happened? Was it something he did or his parents did? Now, it's a crazy question to us because, remember, the man was. He was born blind. So when he says, did this man sin to be born that way? You're like, well, that doesn't really compute. But it's kind of a bad question because it was rooted in bad beliefs. Some of the bad questions we have are rooted in bad beliefs. And here's what I mean. The disciples had such a transactional view of God that they believed that if anytime someone was in a situation of sickness or suffering, that God was so transactional that it must have been punishment for something that they did. And so rather than basing their theology on what the scripture said about God, who is slow to anger, abounding in love, rich in mercy, sometimes we begin to create a view of God based on our circumstances rather than the other way around. So they actually developed a theology that was common in that day that someone could commit sin while they were still in the womb. So when they asked Jesus, why was this man born blind, it's rooted in the belief that something must have gone wrong for him to be born in this condition. But they're asking him a question, and look what Jesus says in response. He Says, neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happens so that the works of God might be displayed in him. They're looking at a situation and they're asking, why? Why? Why is this happening? And it's one thing to look at situations in our life and wonder, why, why, why, God, why am I going through this divorce? God, why am I spiraling into this addiction again? God, why am I being buried alive by shame again? It's one thing to look at situations in our life and ask, why? Why is this happening? But Jesus redirects their question with their answer. And he doesn't necessarily say what caused it, but he answers, why, as in, what is the purpose of what they're going through? He said, forget about what caused this man to be born blind. I wanna show you what's going to happen as a result of his condition. This happens so that the works of God might be displayed in him. In other words, that if I can reframe my belief system to recognize God, that all things are working together for my good. When I find myself in a situation saying, I don't know how I got here, I can change my question to say, God, even though I don't know what got me into this situation, I know that there's something you are doing in me and through me and through what I'm facing, you're going to get glory. This happens so that the works of God might be revealed in him after saying this. Verse 6, Jesus, he spit on the ground. He made some mud with the saliva and he put it on the man's eyes. Go. He told them, wash in the pool of siloam. This word means scent. The scent one is sending him to a pool called scent. So the man went and washed and came home seeing. Talk about blind faith for just a moment. The ability to move in obedience even when you don't have all the answers. Remember, this man has never seen. In fact, when Jesus said, go wash in the pool, he didn't tell Jesus, go and wash and you'll be healed. He gave him no information. Can you imagine sitting there hearing people talking about you in the background? Next thing you know, your eyes are getting slapped with some mud and you heard a spitting sound. And now there's something goopy on your eyes and you're going, wait a second. And then the man says, go and wash. And it says that he went and he came home seeing. Blind faith is the ability to move in obedience on nothing but a word from Jesus. Some of us are stuck in the circumstances. We find ourselves in today. Because we need too many answers before we'll move. In obedience, some of us stay trapped in the place we are. And we're praying, God, get me out of this situation. And God's saying, I gave you an instruction, but you needed to know. A, B, C, D. If, then, when. And God is looking for people who have blind faith. Faith enough to trust in his voice and not all the answers. So this man goes to the pool, he washes, and he came home seeing. Can you imagine? He's walking back to his village, seeing mountains for the first time, seeing the blue sky for the first time. Seeing his parents for the first time. And it says this. His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked him, is this the same man who used to sit and beg? Some claimed he was. Others said, no, he only looks like him. They don't know. But he himself insisted, I am the man. How then were your eyes open? They asked. The man they called Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see. So they bring him to the Pharisees. Verse 13. The man who had. They bring the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. Now, the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened up the man's eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore, the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He's given the same testimony over and over again. He put mud on my eyes, the man replied, and I washed, and now I see. And the Pharisees start going back and forth. This man, Jesus, he can't be from God. He doesn't keep the Sabbath. But others are like, but how is he performing these signs? So they're divided. They don't know. And then they turned away again to the blind man. What do you have to say about him? It was your eyes he opened. And the man replied, this man is a prophet. They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight. Until they sent for the man's parents. Is this your son? They've got questions. Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that he can now see? Look at this. We know he is our son. The parents answer, and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now? Or who opened his eyes? We don't know. Touch your neighbor, say, we don't know. Ask him. He's of age. He will speak for himself. His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders who have. Who had already decided, who had already decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. They had already made up their mind. You ever been in a situation where someone's asking you for advice and you quickly get the sense they had already decided? You know, should I break up with her? Should I keep seeing her? Like, I've been telling you, this relationship's toxic. And sometimes people are asking you questions because they just want confirmation or proof in what they already believe. Right? There's times in our, in our marriage where we're arguing back and forth about something instead of actually listening to understand my wife's side of the story, I'm just listening for my next argument to prove I was right. It's what the Pharisees are doing in this story. They're asking questions, but if we're honest, they're not actually curious. They're not actually trying to understand. They've already made up their mind about Jesus, that he isn't who he says he is. And they're looking for reasons to trap him. So even though they're asking questions, it's not the same type of questions that the disciples are asking. The disciples are asking because they're seeking understanding. The Pharisees are asking because they have a questioning spirit. They're just trying to prove what they've already decided they believe. Verse 24. A second time, they summoned the man who had been blind. Give glory to God by telling the truth. They said, we know this man is a sinner. Here's our key verse. And he replied, whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know, I was blind, but now I see. Turn to your neighbor, say, I don't know much, but I know what he's done for me. This word know that keeps showing up. K N O W the Bible uses translates different Greek words into this word. No, in this scripture, when the word know shows up, it's referring to a head knowledge. It's the. It's the type of knowing that you can, that you can learn, right? It's information. It's what the Pharisees possessed. Maybe more than anyone remember, their influence in that society at that time didn't become wasn't because of a political affiliation, but because of their authorities in the Scriptures. They would memorize the Scriptures, study the Scriptures, study the law. Their authority was based on what they knew, but it was a knowledge that came simply through learning. Now, of course, learning is good. I want my pilots to Learn. I want my doctors to learn. Learning is good. But their level of knowledge was solely connected to what they had learned. When the man says, I don't know whether he's a sinner or not, can you imagine you're a beggar going toe to toe with the theological experts of your day? And they're trying to get him to debate, what do you say about Jesus? What do you think about the Messiah? And he's like, yo, this isn't my area of expertise. This is your category. So he has the humility to say, hey, I don't know. I don't know. I didn't learn all that. I didn't go to school like you did. I don't know. I don't know. But one thing I do know, one thing I do know, he begins to reference what he personally experienced. I was blind, but now I see. Other times in Scripture, there's another word for knowing. Like in Philippians 3:10, where Paul says, my one purpose, my one aim is that I would know Christ. Or when Jesus prayed for us as believers, that we would know the Father. It's not the type of knowing that comes from learning. It's a word that speaks to relationship. It's the way a father knows a son, the way a husband knows a wife. It's the type of knowing that comes through personal experience. Like, if you asked me to tell you about Anna, I wouldn't just tell you. She's 5 foot 4, born January 6th. I wouldn't just, like, read you information off her driver's license. Right, Because I. I know her. I know we've been married for 15 years. I have a relationship with her. So if you asked me to tell you about Anna, I'd tell you. Wow, she is. She's remarkably patient. How do I know? Cause we're trying to teach our boys how to clean up after themselves. And I still leave socks on the living room floor like a nine year old myself. And she still lets me cuddle with her. She's patient. She's patient. I would tell you how she's an amazing listener. It's unbelievable to watch. Sometimes Anna will sit down with someone and ask just a couple questions, and then they can talk for an hour, and then she'll just wait to chime in at the end with a little bit of advice. She's really wise. She's an amazing listener. I would talk about her in a different way because I have a personal relationship with her. And so when this man is being questioned by the Pharisees, they're Trying to figure out, tell us something. Tell us something we need to know so we can prove that Jesus isn't who he says he is. And the man's like, I don't know what to tell you about that. All I know is I was blind, but now I see. This is the power of your personal experience with God in your life. For the times where you don't know, for the times where you have doubts, for the times where you have questions that you can't seem to figure out. There's something so powerful about being able to stand confident in what you do know. I was blind, but now I see. It's what I personally experience. I was sharing with our youth just a couple weeks ago about how I know it's hard being in high school because people are asking you all the time about your faith and they don't understand it. Why do you believe those things about Jesus? Are you really trying to. Are you really trying to stay pure until marriage? You really go and serve on your free time. You go serve at the church. Why do you do all those things? And there's a temptation for us when people are challenging us in our faith to go to what we know. You know? Well, I believe this about the Bible. Listen, I get that, too. I went to school for this stuff. I love this stuff. The other day, someone was asking me, he said, I don't know how you believe this Christianity stuff. I said, okay, why? He said, it seems so illogical to believe in the Bible. Wow. And everything within me wanted to start, like, going apologist mode, you know? I love watching this guy lately on YouTube, Wesley Huff, this historian and theologian, and he gives an amazing defense for the faith. And every time I watch him, I'm like, oh, I wish I knew all that stuff, but I can't. I can't remember how old I am half the time, let alone when the Bible was put together. This guy was saying, I don't know how you believe it. It's so illogical. And while I wanted to start defending my faith, something in me said, stop, and just said, just speak about your personal experience with God. Why do you follow Jesus? I just started saying, like, all the moments in my life where I felt his hand, his hand on me, his hand guiding me through. Because you can talk someone in to believing. You can give them information that might change their mind. But only personal encounter can change somebody's heart. And there's a level of knowing that comes from being in real relationship with Jesus, where he's active and working in your life. That builds a confidence that no matter what storms come your way, even if it's the one thing you do know, you can stand on it. Not just for when people are challenging you about your faith, but for the questions you have about your faith, for the situations you're facing where you just don't know. To be able to go back and say, I was blind but now I see this man's testimony has become an anthem for believers. Amazing grace how sweet the sound Save the wrench like me I once was lost Now I'm found I was blind but now I see in preaching. Pastor Stevens taught us, he said, when you're preaching, you need an osp, a one sentence premise, an osp. How can you say your sermon in just one sentence what your message is about? But I'm realizing in life, I need an ost, a one sentence testimony, a one sentence testimony. Not an elaborate story, but in one sentence the ability to say, just like this man, I was blind, but now I see. We were with our leaders just a couple weeks ago and we were talking about this and I said, if you had to boil your story down into, into, into one sentence, it's. I said, I bet you could do it like that. You know, like if I said to explain the Trinity to your neighbor, you'd have to. You'd struggle for a minute. But if I said, tell your neighbor right now what God has done for you, you'd be able to do it in a moment because it's that real to you. Someone stood up in the room and they said, my marriage was at its bottom and God made it better. Someone said, I was in bondage and an addiction and he set me free. And they weren't giving details, they weren't going into the whole just one sentence. And you could feel faith rising in the room because it wasn't just things that people knew in their head. It was things that were real to them because it's what they had personally experienced by the power of Christ. You need a one sentence testimony in your life. I was looking at different scriptures that speak about what Jesus has done for us and I put them in ChatGPT to say, take the verse, make it one sentence. I wanna show you some of these. Because when we go to the word of God to learn, which is so important, we go to the word of God. Learning is good. But remember, it's always an invitation. It's always an invitation to experience a reality in Christ. So when I read the scripture, it's not just for information, but for transformation and here's what the scriptures say about you now. If you don't have a one sentence testimony, you might be able to find one on the screen right now and listen. Everything I'm about to read to you. If you are a believer in Christ is true of you, but it may not be true to you yet. But when I get to the one that's true to you, the thing that you know from the depths of your being, you can shout, you can praise, you can jump if you want to. Look at all these scriptures. The scripture says Colossians 2, 13, 14. I was guilty, but now I'm forgiven. Through Jesus. I was abandoned, now I'm adopted. I was spiritually dead, now I'm alive. I was anxious, but now I have peace. I was bound, but now I'm free. I was cursed, but now I'm redeemed. I was condemned, now I'm justified. I was in darkness, but now I walk in light. I was unlovable, but now I'm loved. I was broken, but now I'm healed. I was rejected, but now I am chosen. I was lost, but now I'm found. I was weak, now I'm strong. I was unrighteous and now I'm made right. I was empty, but now I'm filled with the soul spirit of God. I was looking for a church to bat me up and make some noise right here. I was a slave to sin, but now I'm free. I was in shame, but now I'm crowned with mercy. I was defeated, but now I'm victorious. This is what he's done for me. It's what he's done for me. And so even as a parent, as my kids are asking me these questions about faith, if I have answers, I want to give it to them. I want to teach them what to believe, teach them what we know. But I got to get better about not just telling them about what I know up here, but sharing with them the testimonies of what God has done in my life, in my family's life, what I've seen them do in this church and in this ministry. It's the confidence of knowing what I know just to be able to say I know that I know. It's not just what I learned somewhere in a textbook or in a seminary course. It's what I personally experienced from the hand of God. In my life I was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see again. Tell your neighbor, say I don't know much, but I know what he's done for me? Come on. Do you know what he's done for you? If you know what he's done for you, take a moment just to praise his name, for his faithfulness, his hand, his mercy. This man, the honesty to say, I don't know. And yet the confidence to say, but what I do know, I was blind, but now I see. They keep asking him the same question over and over again. What did he do to you? How do you open your eyes? The man who at first is so intimidated being pulled in front of the Pharisees and questioned is. You can see him growing a little bit, a little bit sassier. He says, I told you already and you didn't listen. You want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too? He's like straight mocking them now. Then they hurled insults at him and said, you are this fellow's disciple. We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses. But as for this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from. This is the only time the Pharisees say, we don't know every other we know this, we know that. So blinded by their certainty. And the one time they say we don't know is when they say, and we don't even know where this man comes from. The man says, now that's remarkable. You don't even know where he comes from. Yet he opened my eyes. He's realizing something about the Pharisees in this moment. He's saying, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You give your life to studying these scriptures, and yet you don't see who the scriptures were talking about the whole time. You mean to tell me that you know all this, but you don't know the one thing that matters most? Where this man came from? We know now look at him prophesy. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of the opening of the eyes of a man born blind. It's the only time someone who was born blind receives their sight. Born blind? If this man were not from God, he could do nothing to this they replied, you were steeped in sin at birth. How dare you lecture us? And they threw him out. Here's where the story gets cool to me. Remember, Jesus heals him by sending him to a pool. So Jesus spoke to him, but he's never seen Jesus. Then he's questioned by his neighbors, questioned by the Pharisees. Now, after he's kicked out of the temple, Jesus shows up again. Jesus must have been close the whole time because it says that Jesus heard that they had thrown him out. And when he found him, first it's Jesus who sees him, and now it's Jesus who finds him. And Jesus finds him, and he asks them not what he knows, but he asked him a question about what he believes. He says, do you believe in the Son of Man? He's asking him the same question the Pharisees were asking him. Do you believe in the Messiah? Do you believe in the Christ, the Son of man? Son of God? The man has a question. Who is he, sir? Tell me so that I may believe in him. Jesus said, you have now seen him. In fact, he is the one speaking with you. What caught my attention is those first few words of Jesus when he meets the man for the second time. Remember, when he sees him on the road, this beggar born blind. Jesus speaks to him. Go wash in the pool. He puts mud on his eyes. And the man went home, seeing he was physically healed. Now Jesus finds him again, and he says this phrase. He says to him, you have now seen. This is the second seeing. The second seeing. Because look at the man's response. Verse 38. After Jesus says, you have now seen. Then the man said, lord, I believe. And he worshiped him. The first time this man is asked about Jesus, he calls him a man named Jesus. The second time he's asked about Jesus, he calls him a prophet. Now he meets Jesus, and Jesus says, you have now seen. And something shifted. Because he doesn't call him a man. He doesn't call him a prophet. He calls him Lord. And he worshiped. The second seeing led him to a revelation of who Jesus is. There are people who know more about the Bible, know more about theology than I could ever dream. And yet if you ask them about Jesus, they would say, he was just a man. He was a man. He lived, but he was just a man. There are people who come to church. There are people who say, man, I love what Jesus says. It gives me inspiration. It gives me hope. He was a great teacher. If you ask them about Jesus, they would say, he's a prophet. He's a prophet. What he says is true. But what we read in this Scripture and what the scriptures tell us about him is he's not just a man, and he's not just a prophet. He's Lord. He's the Son of God. He's the Christ. He's the Messiah. And when this man, when this man meets Jesus, Jesus says, do you believe in the Son of Man? Tell Me who He is. Jesus says, you have now seen. And the eyes of his heart are opened. His spiritual eyes are open. And in a moment he recognizes all. Oh, oh, what I didn't know when they were asking me what I didn't know then, I know now. He's Lord. And he worshiped him. And he worshiped him. When I read that phrase or when I read that verse, it reminded me of a phrase that comes from what the apostle Paul says in Ephesians. Paul, he prayed one time. In Ephesians 1:18, he said, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. This phrase, the eyes of your heart, it's a internal knowing. And I thought about that phrase and I went to that verse. And what really struck me was actually the verse before it. In verse 17, look at this. Paul prayed for us as believers. And he said, I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better. I pray that God would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better. I'm so grateful that for the moments in my life where I'm not sure which way is up and which way is down, that God has given me a spirit of wisdom. The Word of God says that if anybody lacks wisdom, we should ask. God gives faithfully without finding fault. The Spirit of God as believers is our guide. It'll give us insight into things that we couldn't know otherwise. I'm so grateful for the Spirit of God that helps me make decisions in my life, that even when I'm not sure what his will is, that I can be guided by His Holy Spirit. But the primary purpose of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, is this, so that you would know him better. When I saw that word know, I thought, well, which, which know is it? Is it the type of knowing that comes from learning? Or is it the type of knowing that comes through experience and relationship? And I look it up and it blew me away. There's a third type of knowing. This word means spirit revealed insight. There's what I learn, there's what I experience, but there's a knowing that comes through the Spirit of God that illuminates things to me that no one else could show me. It's a different type of knowing. It's a deeper knowing. It's a knowing that I can build my life on. It's a confidence in knowing who he is. This is like when Jesus asked Peter the question, who do people say that I am? Well, some people say that you're a prophet. Some say you're Elijah. Some people say, just like the. Some people say you're just a man. Some people say you're a prophet. But Jesus says, who do you say that I am? And Peter makes this confession. He said, you, Christ, the Messiah, the son of the living God. And look what Jesus says to him. He says, simon Peter, blessed are you for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood. Why? Because when it comes to the knowledge of Christ, flesh and blood can't reveal it to you. That's why before I get up here to preach, or even when I come sit in church on a Sunday morning, I pray that God would give me a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that as my pastor is preaching the word of God and I'm learning about the Scriptures, I need the Spirit of God to show me things that only he can reveal to me. He said, flesh and blood did not reveal these things to you. But my Father in heaven, there's a type of knowing that comes from the Spirit of God. And you, my son, you, daughter of God, have access to that spirit as a follower of Jesus, that for the moments in your life where you're like, I don't know what to do next, you can stand confident saying, even if I don't know what to do, and even if I don't always know what I believe, I'm so grateful that the Spirit of God has revealed to me who he is. That's enough to build my life on. I was so encouraged by this man's. This blind man's story, because I resonated with it of just saying, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. And learning once again to find my faith and confidence and security not in what I know, but to build my life on who he is. And so as I was reading his story, I felt like I could relate to him. And I was frustrated because I was like, God, there's just so many things I don't know about right now. And it was like the Spirit of God reminded me. He goes, you think you're that blind man? He goes. And he reminded me of a time where I was less like the blind man. I don't know. I don't know. And I was more like the Pharisees. I know this. I know that moments in my life where I felt like I had all the answers. So I felt like I was good in my faith, but I wasn't dependent on God. I was dependent on what I knew. And it took me back to a season of my life where I grew up in church. All my life in a really great church with really great parents who taught me the word of God. I'm so grateful for that. And as a result of that, though, as I was getting ready to go to college, I was going to Bible school. I knew I wanted to be a pastor. I went into Bible School, 18 years old, thinking I had all the answers. Debate me, thinking I was so. I know it sounds cringey just even hearing me say it right now. And I'm going to Bible school, you know, to learn more. Just to top off, I already knew so much. Just to learn a little. Just a little bit more. And I'm in the dorm room at Liberty University a couple weeks in, I'm going to all these classes, New Testament, all that New Testament survey, Old Testament, all that stuff, learning about the Bible. And I remember this moment with God where he spoke to me and he said, do you want to know more about me, or do you really want to know me? And it convicted me because I realized that I had more knowledge about God than I had knowledge of God. And it began this process early on in my freshman year of just beginning to pray to God sincerely. I had this prayer. I said, lord, help me unlearn everything I think I know and help me truly experience who you are. An honest prayer, a dangerous prayer, a simple prayer. Lord, help me unlearn everything I think I know and help me truly experience you for who you are. And from that point forward, every night when I would open up the scriptures, it wasn't to learn more information. It was because I wanted to see the scriptures as an invitation into knowing him. That was my prayer every night. And God answered that prayer in a season where I was like a Pharisee going, ah, I have all the answers. So, blinded by my arrogance, God began to humble me. And one of the gifts he brought me is the worship team here. I asked Amari. He's one of our worship leaders over at our Blakeney campus. I asked if I could borrow him over here at Ballantine today, because me and Amari have been friends almost 20 years. You're getting old. You're getting old. And Amari, right around that time, I just remember this guy wandering up from the dorm floor below me and coming to sit in the dorm. And every time this guy would talk about the things of God, I realized, oh, my goodness, he. He sees something I don't see. He knows something. I don't know what. You might not be able to tell watching Amari lead worship. I know you can tell he's anointed and gifted, but Amari is legally blind. And I meet this guy at this pivotal moment in my life where I'm praying, God, I just want to. I just want to know you for who you are. Take the blinders off. I want to see you. God sends this man into my life who starts inviting me just to pray on Tuesday nights with some other people who are hungry for the face of God. And as I was just reading about this story, Amara, why I wanted you here, even if it was just cool for me and nobody else was, because you were such an answer to prayer in my life at that season. And I'm reading this story about the Pharisees and a man born blind, and it just stuck out to me that God used a blind guy to open up my eyes. And the way Jesus ends this encounter with this man is he says this weird mission statement, this weird thing he said, I came so that the blind would see and that those who see would become blind. So many moments in my life where I feel like God, I just don't know. It makes me feel insecure. I feel like I should. But I'm reminded that maybe not knowing is a good thing. Maybe in the moments where I'm able to admit, God, I'm blind right now, God, I can't see. Maybe those are the moments where the spirit of God comes in like a light to illuminate my heart and to show me not answers, not what to do next, not just direction, but to reveal to me who he is. You are the Christ. You are the Lord, Son of God, Son of Man. I can't build my confidence in what I know. I want to build my life on who I know.
- [45:00]
Steven Furtick
Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to Give now or visit elevationchurch.org for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag us levationchurch. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.
- [45:32]
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- [47:03]
Podcast Host
Is an iheart podcast.