Resound Church Leah Ramirez

Believing is Seeing October 17, 2010

Jesus the great lover and offender of our souls, is after our heart! He’s off the beaten path. He’s in the delay. He’s even in the blindness! It makes no sense at all… but He’s in it all. I’m learning that everything, and I mean everything, is all about Jesus. He has a sort of way about Him… a practical spirituality. He’s pragmatic is His holiness. He’s never worried and always present. He’s glorified and yet has overturned all the ivory towers.

I. THE LEAST OF THESE

  1. There are a few scriptures that are so clear it’s just plain uncomfortable. There’s no way to spiritualize them. They are black and white. They aren’t ethereal… There is nothing lofty about the command. It’s practical love that’s required, not eloquence.

Matthew 25

31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

  1. What is this? There is something so clear about this is absolutely makes me squirm. There’s no place for my delusion of spirituality to hide. It comes down to action, not theology. It comes down to love, not doctrine.
  1. The question is simple: Did you learn to LOVE? Did you learn how to serve your brother? Did you learn how to see your neighbor?

Luke 10

25And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

29But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

  1. The last place for sin to hide is within our spiritual pride. Make no mistake, God will offend our spirituality to get to the core of our rebellion. The issue is love. Our holiness should NEVER take us away from love. True holiness causes us to stoop low. True holiness draws us into inconvenience. True spirituality leads us into compassion. True godliness can’t be defiled by need and lack. It shines in compassion.
  1. Those most loyal to Jesus will find themselves in the muck and mire of real life with real people. Be careful… You make be on time for the meeting, but woe to discover that Jesus was lying on the side of the road.
  1. True spirituality is absolutely offensive.

John 6

47Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

52The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink…

60When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?...

66After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

  1. Let’s just get it out… God is offensive. We think we know best. From the beginning, we have always wanted to sit in judgment on God. We feel it is our right. Make no mistake, we get to choose God or not choose God, but we will never pass judgment on Him.
  1. Jesus will never be as we want Him to be. He won’t say it like we would. He won’t bend where we do. He’s a real man and a real King. He’s alive. You can choose Him or not, but you will never pass judgment on Him. He has a way of revealing your true spiritual condition... Don’t let your “spirituality” pull you out of that revealing process. Don’t hide behind your “holiness.”

2 Corinthians 3

16But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

  1. Turn to the Lord and the veil will be removed. It’s in the turning/ repenting that we see clearly… It’s in the turning, the inconvenience of it all, that we have encounter and are set right back into our destiny. Moses had a 40 year delay, but when he turned he was set right.

Exodus 3

2And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

II. YOU DID UNTO ME

Matthew 25

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

  1. No matter how many times I say it, there is something so profound in releasing the truth that Jesus is alive. I like to say it. I like to sing it. I like to preach it and pray it. As soon as I release it, there is a clarity that comes over my soul and even in the room. When I read the book of Acts, the truth of Jesus’ ongoing leadership of the church is awesome.
  1. Yes, Jesus is coming back. But He’s also the current leader of the church.

Acts 9

9:1But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

  1. “I am Jesus who you are persecuting.” Saul had never met Jesus. Who was he persecuting? The church.

Acts 8

3But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

  1. But Jesus is in the least of these! What kind of truth is this? He’s in it. Even in His ascension into the heavenlies, He’s with us.
  1. Paul’s encounter with the living God revealed his true condition. He was nothing more than a blind man. He wasn’t the master, he was the servant. A real encounter with God will always knock off us off our horse. A word of advice, when you’re on the ground groping for direction… pick God and leave the horse.

10Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” 15But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19and taking food, he was strengthened.

  1. This is the picture of the early church…they are fumbling and scared. They are surprised at the will of God being revealed day by day. They have no real plan. Jesus is the clear leader.

III. BELIEVING IS SEEING

  1. There is no clarity without Jesus. God has thoughts about your life… He’s got a dream about you. And we may discern that dream and attempt to enter into it. We have a sense of our calling and we reach out towards it. And in the journey we have been knocked off our horse. Beloved, if you find yourself blinded and groping for direction, know this…You were wounded for one purpose, so you can be healed.

Acts 7

20… Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God's sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father's house, 21and when he was exposed, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

23“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ 27But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

30“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. 33Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’