Would the Lord Jesus Christ say to me, blessed are your eyes? Would he say that to me? Would
he turn aside privately to me? Have I ever really seen the things
he's speaking of. Do I speak as a witness? You know, it's one thing, like
we teach our kids the Bible is the word of God, and well, we
should. It's one thing to be taught it's the word of God,
and to be indoctrinated in that, and it's important. I wouldn't
dare take away from the importance of that, but have I seen it? It's one thing to believe that
he's the son of God. You're taught that. It's another
thing to see it. What have I seen as a witness? What can I speak as an eyewitness
to you? Not someone with secondhand information,
but someone who speaks as a witness. Well, I've thought about that
a lot. What has the Lord revealed to
me? What would he say to me regarding
this thing? Would he turn aside privately
to me and say, blessed are your eyes? Well, let me tell you what
I can speak of as a witness. Here's the first thing. I have
seen that the Bible really is the word of God. Not simply indoctrinated in that,
as important as that may be, but I have seen that the Bible
is the word of God. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. That's what the Bible claims
for itself. Now, do you really believe every word is inspired
and there's no error in it? Yes, I do. I really do. Can you prove it to me? Don't
need to. I already know it. The burden
of proof is not there. I know it. Well, I'd like for you to prove
it to me. I can't. You see, if God doesn't speak
to you through this book so that you know It's his word. I can't. If he reveals himself through
this word, you'll know that this book is the inspired word of
God. It's not something you're just
taught. It's where he speaks to you from his word. Now, there are people who will
fight for inspiration and do not pay any attention to what
this book says. I think of those people in John chapter five,
verse 39, when the Lord said to them, you search the scriptures,
you do, you make it your business to search the scriptures for
in them and the scriptures, you think you have everlasting life
and they are, they would testify of me and you will not come to
me that you might have life. Now regarding this thing of being
an eyewitness to the scriptures, all I see, All I experience is
from this book and it is more real to me than anything I've
ever personally experienced. What this book says. I've had
experiences. Seemingly good, seemingly bad.
I don't even trust my experiences. All I trust is what this book
says. And actually, for instance, reading
the Psalms, my experience is more real than reading the Psalms
than anything else. Let me show you a passage of
scripture in 2 Peter 1. I love this passage of scripture. In verse 16, Peter says, for
we have not followed cunningly devised fables, which would describe most preaching,
or what goes under the name of preaching, when we made known
unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but
were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the
Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from
that excellent glory. This is my son in whom I am well
pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven we heard. We saw this when we were with
him in the Holy Mount. Now, can you imagine that? Can
you imagine being Peter, James, or John at that time? You know,
the other nine were left behind. He brings up Peter, James, and
John, and he makes himself known to them in a way that just utterly
astounded in his deity. He peeled back. I don't understand
this, but he peeled back his humanity and they saw his deity. He shined above the brightness
of the sun. They saw that. They experienced
it. They heard the voice from heaven. What an experience. Wouldn't you have liked to have
had that experience? I got to admit, I would. I would. I would
have liked to have been one of the inner circle, one of the
three, Peter, James, and John. But look what Peter says in verse
19. We have also a more sure word
of prophecy. We've got something better than
that. More sure than that. Where unto you do well that you
take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place into
the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts, knowing
this first, that no prophecy of the scriptures of any private
interpretation." How many times have you heard people say, well,
that's your interpretation? No. The Bible's not of any private
interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will
of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost. Now, I'm more sure of that than
I am of any experience I have. And I have seen that the Bible
is the word of God. Let me give you a scripture that
shows the majesty of scripture. Turn with me to Romans chapter
nine. You know, this book is central
in our worship, isn't it? This book is the book of God.
It's the voice of God. Now look in verse 17 of Romans
chapter nine. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Now, when the scripture said
that to Pharaoh, scripture hadn't been written yet. Moses hadn't
written this, but yet he says scripture. God said it. Scripture
hadn't been written! Yeah, that's so. But God said
it. The Scripture saith unto Pharaoh. What you and I think of God is
seen in how we bow before this authoritative revelation of God. The Scripture. I love there in
Galatians chapter 3 verse 8 for the Scripture. Well, turn over
to Galatians chapter 3. This again was before the Bible
was ever written. And look at how the Bible speaks
of itself. Galatians chapter 3, verse 8,
and the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
through faith. Don't you love the way personality
is attributed to the scripture? It's not just a book. For the
scripture, foreseeing, it could foresee the future because it's
God's word, it's God, that God would justify the heathen through
faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham. The scripture preached
the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be
blessed. Scripture hadn't been written yet, had it? But that
is God speaking. Now, I've seen that this book
is the word of God. That's how blessed my eyes are.
And all I have seen savingly comes from this book. In that sense, you know, I was,
I was, When I was preaching this morning, I was preaching on Psalm
32, 1 and 2. And here's the example I want
to use. I can remember an experience I had in the hospital. I told
you all about that. 1988 but when I was dealing with
that, I didn't even want to bring it up because I don't want anybody
to think, well, I need to have some kind of experience like
that. No, all you need and all I need is the word of God. Not anybody's experience, not
anybody's thoughts. All you need is the word of God. Now, have you seen that this
book is nothing less than God's word. If you have, blessed are your
eyes that have seen the things that you see and have heard the
things that you hear. Here's the next thing that I
have seen, and I speak as a witness, someone who's seen something,
not someone who's just learned something in school and spitting
it back out. Maybe he's gone to seminary. No, no. This is
something I've seen, and I speak as a witness. I've seen the Lord. I've not seen him physically.
But I've seen the Lord. Let me show you how I've seen
him. Turn to Isaiah 6. And when I'm talking about seeing
the Lord, I'm not talking about seeing him in creation. We see him in creation. You know,
the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth
forth his handiwork. We've seen him in creation and
we see him in providence. Don't you adore the Lord's providence
that how he crossed your path with the gospel and the things
that led up to that. There's so many beautiful and
interesting stories of how the Lord has spoke to people in providence. But what I'm talking about is
seeing the Lord the way Isaiah saw it. Now look at Isaiah chapter
six, verse one, Isaiah says in the
year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon the
throne high and lifted up and his train filled the temple. Now there's great significance
to Isaiah seeing the Lord in the year that King Uzziah died.
Now, what was the events behind his death? Well, hold your finger
there in Isaiah six and turn to second Chronicles chapter
26. Second Chronicles 26. Verse one. Then all the people
of Judah took Uzziah, who was 16 years old and made him king
in the room of his father Amaziah. He built Eloth and restored it
to Judah after the king slept with his fathers. 16 years old
was Uzziah when he began to reign. And he reigned 50 and two years
in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jechaliah
of Jerusalem. And he did that, which was right
in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah
did. And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding
in the visions of God. And as long as he sought the
Lord, God made him to prosper. And he went forth and warred
against the Philistines and break down the wall of Gath and the
wall of Jabnah and the wall of Ashdod and built cities about
Ashdod and among the Philistines. And God helped him against the
Philistines and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gerbil and Mahuna. So in other words, this is somebody
who the Lord blessed. And Isaiah witnessed this. Isaiah loved this man. This was
a man whose hand, God's hand was on this man. Now look in
verse 15. He did all these things he made
in Jerusalem engines invented by cunning men to be on the towers
and upon the bulwarks to shoot arrows and great stones with
all. And his name spread far abroad. And he was marvelously
helped, helped by God till he was strong. But when he was strong,
his heart was lifted up to his destruction. For he transgressed
against the Lord his God and went into the temple of the Lord
to burn incense upon the altar of incense. Now, who is the only
one who's allowed to go into the temple of the Lord and to
burn incense upon the altar of incense? The priest. He felt
no need of the priest. Verse 17, And Azariah the priest
went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord,
that were valiant men. And they withstood Uzziah the
king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn
incense unto the Lord, but to the priests, the sons of Aaron,
that are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary,
for thou hast trespassed. Neither shall it be for thine
honor from the Lord God. Then Uzziah was wroth, and had
a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was wroth
with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead
before the priests and the house of the Lord from beside the incense
altar. And Azariah, the chief priest
and all the priests looked upon him and behold, he was leprous
in his forehead and they thrust him out from thence. Yea, himself
hasted also to go out because the Lord had smitten him. Now when Isaiah Witness this. He saw this man that he was so
impressed with yet when he tries to come into the presence of
the living God without a priest, God turns him into a leper and
kills him. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw the Lord in his unapproachables. And let me tell you, when you've
seen the Lord, I can tell you exactly when you've seen the
Lord, when you know you can't approach him without a priest,
without the Lord Jesus Christ representing you. As long as
you can just come into his presence without Christ, you've never
seen him. But if you've ever seen him, you know you wouldn't
dare approach him on your own. The only way you can come into
his presence, if Christ comes in for you. Back to Isaiah 6. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, ruling and reigning
in uncontested sovereignty, undisturbed by opposition. High and lifted
up, and his train, the skirts of his garment, filled the temple.
And above it stood the seraphims, these Winged creatures, each
one had six wings. With two, he covered his face.
With two, he covered his feet. With two, he did fly. Now we
learned something about what it is to see the Lord by these
fellas, these seraphims. They're mysterious creatures,
but I know this, they covered their face because the Lord's
unapproachable. in his holiness. And they covered
their feet because they were ashamed of themselves. You can't
come into God's presence and not be ashamed of yourself. They
covered their feet because they were ashamed of themselves in
their walk, in their conversation. They were seraphims, yet in God's
presence, they were ashamed. He charges his angels with folly,
the scripture says. And it's not because they've
ever committed it, but the Lord knows they could if he didn't
preserve them from it. I saw them with the other two, they
flew in ready obedience and they cried one to another and said,
holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is
full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried and the house was filled with
smoke. Then said I, woe is me for I am undone. I'm cut off
because I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst
of the people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts. Now you read Isaiah chapter five,
five times. He says, woe unto them. Woe unto them. Woe unto them. Woe unto them. And when he sees
the Lord in his unapproachable holiness, how even when Uzziah,
the mighty king, tries to come into his presence without a priest,
God turns him into a leper. All he could say is, woe is me. You know how I can know if you
or I have seen the Lord? If we say the same thing Isaiah did.
Woe is me. I've seen the Lord, woe is me,
I'm undone. You see the Lord. That's going
to be your language about yourself. Verse six, then, after he makes
this cry, then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live
coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off
the altar, and he laid it upon my mouth and said, lo, this hath
touched thy lips, thy iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is
purged. What happened on the altar? sacrifice. And when you see the Lord, you
see the only way your iniquity can be purged and your sin taken
away is through what happened on that altar, the altar of the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's how you know if you've
seen the Lord, not just, I've seen the Lord. Well, have you
seen yourself? Have you seen him the way Isaiah
saw him? Now, when I'm speaking this way,
I'm speaking as one who has seen the Lord. What have I really seen? Well,
I've seen the Bible as the word of God. I've seen the Lord. And beloved, what do you see
when you see the Lord? You see, you're not just indoctrinated
in this. You see that you're a sinner. Now it's one thing to be able
to give a good definition of total depravity and go to the
scriptures to show why it is you believe it and so on. It's
one thing to be able to do that. And it's another thing to see
that you yourself are totally depraved before God. Turn with me to John chapter
nine. Have I seen this about myself?
Well, I believe I know I have. I don't think I have. I know
I have. And if I've seen this, blessed are my eyes. I love that
thing by Joseph Hart. A sinner is a sacred thing. The
Holy Ghost hath made him so. If you see this about yourself,
this is the work of Christ for you and in you. Now look here
in John chapter 9, verse 39. And Jesus said, for judgment
I am coming to this world. that they which see not might
see, and that they which see might be made blind. Now, who is this person who doesn't
see? That Christ said, I've come to
give him sight. That person who doesn't see is very much like
Peter of chapter five. when he saw who the Lord was. Perhaps for the first time, he
saw his deity, he saw his power, he saw his control. You know
what Peter said to the Lord at that time in Luke chapter five,
verse eight? After he saw the Lord, he said, depart from me. You don't want to have anything
to do with me. He couldn't see. Why the Lord
would look in favor upon him for any reason. Depart from me. I'm a sinful
man. Oh Lord. Full of sin. Now that's the person Christ
came to give sight to. And that person who can see,
that person who can see why God would do something for him. After
all, I fill in the blank. That's the person he blinds. Turn to Luke chapter two. I see, I'm speaking as a witness. I know I'm preaching the word
of God. I know this book is the word of God. I've seen it. I've seen the Lord in his unapproachable. The way I know I've seen him
is I know I can't come without a priest. I've seen myself as
a sinner, but look here and look at Luke chapter two, beginning
in verse 25 and behold, There was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon, and the same man was just and devout,
waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost was upon him,
and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should
not see death. before he had seen the Lord's
Christ. I love that name of our Lord,
don't you? The Lord's Christ, the Lord's prophet, the Lord's
priest, the Lord's King. Verse 27, and he came by the
spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
he was eight days old and they were getting ready to circumcise
him according as the law instructed them. And he saw this little
baby, six pounds, seven pounds, helpless, crying. I don't know,
but he saw a baby and the Lord told him who that baby was, the
Lord Christ. Verse 28, then took he up, him
up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let us thou
thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. What does that mean? How is this
eight day old infant God's salvation? Well, you know, as I do, that
that eight day old infant would live 33 years upon this earth
and fulfill God's law perfectly. And some 33 years later after
that, having lived a sinless life, he was nailed to a tree,
death by crucifixion. And right before he died, he
said, it is finished. Now here's what it means to see
the Lord's salvation. There's only, listen to me, I've
seen this. There's only one thing that counts
in my salvation. Him. That's it. He is all that is
relevant in my salvation. He is salvation. And the reason I'm saved is because
I'm in him. That's the only reason. It doesn't
have anything to do with my works. It doesn't have anything to do
with my achievements. It doesn't have anything to do with my preaching.
It doesn't have anything to do with my anything. All of my salvation
is Him. And I've seen that. You know,
I love that little, I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all, but
Jesus Christ is my all in all. And I've seen that. I've seen
that. I like being nothing at all,
because it's only when you're nothing at all that Christ is
all in all. I've seen that he is God's salvation. Let's go on reading this passage
of scripture. It says in verse 31, he says, mine eyes have seen
thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all
people. Now that word prepared is also
translated provide. which thou hast provided before
the face of all people. You know, he's the salvation
of God's providing. I love that scripture in Genesis
22, verse eight. Here's the wood, here's the fire,
where's the land for a sacrifice? My son, God will provide himself
a sacrifice for a burnt offering. He is the one who is the Lord's
providing. And go on reading. Verse 32,
a light to lighten the Gentiles. That's us, us Gentile dogs. He's the light that lets us know
how God can accept us and love us and bring us to himself. And
he is the glory of thy people, Israel. He himself is the glory. You and I think of the Lord offering
himself. He didn't offer his humanity. He didn't offer his deity. He
offered himself. And in him offering himself,
he himself is all my salvation. Have you seen that? Have you
seen that true with regard to you? Blessed are your eyes, the
eyes that have seen the things that you've seen. Turn to John
chapter six. Verse 38. For I came down from heaven not
to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. They have believed, our Lord
said in John chapter 17, that thou has sent me. Have you seen
that the Lord sent him? And for what purpose? I came down from heaven not to
do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the father's will, which has sent me, that of all which he
has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. Have you seen that he's a successful
savior? That whatever he does, God prospers it. That he'll lose
nothing. Do you believe he's capable of
failure in any way to any degree? He's the son of God. I have seen
that he is successful in what he did. Now let's go on reading.
You know, that's the, let me, let me say this, the point behind
particular redemption, the fact that he only died for the elect,
listen real carefully. It's not like we're, oh, he,
Maybe he didn't die for you, no hope for you. You know, that's
not what we're saying. But when we're saying he only
died for the elect, we're saying he's successful in what he did.
And here's our hope of salvation, that when he died, he actually
accomplished our salvation. That's why we love particular
redemption. You know, I despise that teaching that says that
Jesus Christ died for all men, without exception, because it
takes away, it takes the gospel out of the gospel. It rips the
guts out of it. There's no truth in that. Thank God we see that
he's successful. Verse 39 or verse 40 rather. And this
is the will of him that sent me. It was his will for me to
save everybody I came for. And this is the will of him that
sent me that everyone would seeth the son. Well, I don't know if
I've seen him. Well, I can tell you how you
can know if you have seen him. Everyone that seeth the sun and believeth
on him. If you've ever seen him, you
will believe on him. You will trust him. And this
is the will of him that sent me that everyone that seeth the
sun and believeth on him may have everlasting life. And I'll
raise him up at the last day. Turn to Acts 22. Now, if you'll remember, Paul said he was a pattern to
them which should hereafter believe on the Lord Jesus to everlasting
life. In other words, if you and I are saved, our experience
is going to follow this pattern. You're going to be saved the
same way Paul was. Now, Paul says in verse six,
and it came to pass that as I made my journey, and was come nigh
unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great
light round about me. His salvation began with light,
light, and what did it make him do? I fell unto the ground. And I heard a voice saying unto
me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, who
art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus
of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw
indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice
of him that spake to me. And I said, what shall I do,
Lord? And the Lord said unto me, arise and go into Damascus,
and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed
for thee to do. You know, even Paul in his conversion
experience, the Lord tells him, you're going to go and hear a
preacher. Now he brought him up into the third heaven after
that, but first he sends Ananias. And he says in verse 11, and
when I could not see for the glory of that light, when was
Paul blinded? When he saw the light being led
by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus
and one Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, having
a good report of all the Jews, which dwelt there, came unto
me and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked upon
him and he said, the God of our fathers hath chosen thee. And if you've seen anything,
the God of our fathers hath chosen thee. For what? Thou should know His will. You know what? I know the will
of God. We just read about it. It's the will of God that everyone
that Christ died for be saved. And it's the will of God that
everyone who sees the son and believes on him would have everlasting
life. That's the will of God. The God of our fathers hath chosen
thee that thou shouldst know his will and see that just one. You see how God can be just and
justify you through the just one. Have you seen that? Have
you actually seen how God can justify you through that just
one? And I love thinking, I like this,
I like to say this, there's just one, just one. That's the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we've seen that just one. and should hear the voice of
his mouth. Now you've heard the voice of
his mouth when you know what the preacher saying is not his
word, but God's word. That's hearing the voice of his
mouth. When you know it's the very truth of God, you've heard
the voice of his mouth for thou shalt be his witness to all men
of what you've seen and what you've heard. Now I want to end
by reading about a site that I've not seen yet, but I will. Now, these things that I've talked
about, I'm speaking as a witness. If you're a believer, you've
witnessed the same things. Is there anything special to
me? You've seen that the Bible is the word of God. You really
believe that. You see the Lord in the sense that He's unapproachable
apart from a priest. The only way you can come is
for the Son to bring you to Him. You can't come any other way. He found that out with Uzziah.
Uzziah tried to come into His presence and God turned him into
a leper. He saw the Lord high and lifted up. And if you ever
see the Lord high and lifted up, what are you going to say
about yourself? Woe is me. You're going to see that you
are a sinner. But not only Do you see that
you're a sinner? You see that Christ is salvation. You can say with Simeon, Lord,
now let us now by servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen
by salvation. You see the will of God. You've
seen that you don't have any doubt that the Lord successful
in what he did and that everybody that looks to him has everlasting
life. Like Paul, you know, he chose
you to know his will and see that just one and hear the voice
of his mouth. But now turn to first John chapter
three. This is something that I haven't seen yet, but I will. John says, behold, what manner
of love the father has bestowed upon us. that we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, When John is writing under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, directly pinning the words of scripture, he says,
we have no idea what it's going to be like to be without sin. Can you imagine not having a
sinful thought, not having a sinful motive? not having a sinful action. No, we can't even imagine what
that's like because we're so used to sin. We're so immersed
in, we have an old nature that all it does is sin. And there's
no way we can imagine. And John says, it does not yet
appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, We shall be like him for we shall
see him as he is. What a vision to see him as he
is. You know, right now we see through
the glass darkly. But the time is coming. when
I shall see him as he is. Verse three. Now, every man that
hath this hope in him, and there's where my hope is. It's in him. It's not anywhere else. It's
in him. He was manifested to take away
our sins. John said a couple of verses
down later, and in him is no sin. If I'm in him, I have no
sin. Now, every man that has this
hope of seeing me as he is, every man that has this hope in him,
what does he do? He purifies himself. Every one of them. He purifieth
himself. The only thing that'll cause
somebody to purify themself is having this hope that is in him. You see, if your hope is in him,
what you're gonna do, you're gonna work out your own salvation
with fear and with trembling. because it is God that worketh
in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Now, every
man that has this hope in him, he purifies himself, even as
he is pure. Until then, as Peter said, whom
having not seen, you love. I am utterly in love with somebody
I've never seen. And I love him better than anybody
else. And so does every other believer.
We love someone we've never seen. Until then, whom having not seen
you love, though now you seem not yet believing, you rejoice. with joy unspeakable and full
of glory. Truly, blessed are the eyes blessed
by God that have seen the things that you've seen and heard the
things that you've heard. Let's pray.