Is Seeing Believing? .mp3

Is Seeing Believing? 1 Peter 1:8 ESV 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, In this verse the apostle Peter is alluding to the Jewish wedding custom. After the betrothal, the groom would leave to prepare a place for his Bride. He would build a "chuppah," a bridal chamber, as an extension of his father’s house. See Psalm 19:5 It had to be approved by the father before the groom could return to claim his bride. This period could last up to a year. The bride never knew the exact day or hour of the groom’s return, only that he would return once everything was ready and approved by the father of the groom Our LORD Jesus, our Bridegroom, has gone to prepare a place for His Bride, the Church and just like in Hebrew Jewish custom, only The Father knows when He will return to bring us home because The Father will approve when everything is ready. We the Bride stay ready in joyous anticipation of His return . See John 14:2-3 Many people say " If I see GOD I will believe , if I see it I will believe it" Is physically seeing actually always going to change a person's mind or heart? Not all who saw the resurrected LORD Jesus actually believed in Him. In fact, Matthew tells us that there were some who doubted even as they looked upon the post-resurrected Jesus as he stood on the mountain in Galilee See Matthew 28:17. "And when they saw him they gworshiped him, but some doubted." It is the heart that must see first, not the physical eyes. See Ephesians 1:18 ESV having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is sthe hope to which he has called you, what are tthe riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, A man who lived with The LORD Jesus during His earthly ministry, ate and drank with Him , heard His teaching and saw His miracles day in day out was Judas Iscariot. He was close to The LORD Jesus and loved deeply by Him. Let's look at John 13 in the Amplified Classic Version Now] before the Passover Feast began, Jesus knew (was fully aware) that the time had come for Him to leave this world and return to the Father. And as He had loved those who were His own in the world, He loved them to the last and to the highest degree. In Israel , people wore sandals and walked on dusty roads. It was, therefore, very common to have your feet washed upon entering a friend’s house. It was usually a servant that would perform this lowly task and was usually the lowest servant in the household. An exception to this however was if the guest was someone of great importance, someone with a very high rank in society. On those occasions, it was the master of the house who would wash the feet .If the master of the house washed your feet, it was his way of letting you know that you were a very important person to him. It was an extremely high compliment. Right before He was about to suffer and die for the sins of the whole world , The Jesus Christ showed His disciples great honour and love. Judas was one of the disciples. The LORD Jesus, knowing that Judas would betray Him, washed his feet with the same humility and loving care as all the others. Another item of great significance which is often overlooked is The LORD Jesus giving Judas “the sop.” The word “sop” simply means a small portion, a morsel, or a fragment. for a small piece of There would have been a common dish at the meal. The Jewish bread was flat, thin and round. It was very common to dip a piece of bread into the common dish and wrap the bread around a small piece of food, forming a sop. According to the Israeli custom, when the host would dip his piece of bread into the dish, and then give the sop to someone, that was of extreme significance. The host or master of the house would give the sop to the person to whom he wanted to show his greatest love and esteem. He did that by dipping into the common dish and then placing the sop directly into the person’s mouth. In doing that, he would show to all those present, and to the person receiving the sop, the love, intimate friendship and honour he had for him. This is what our LORD Jesus did for Judas. The two most honoured ored seats at a meal were those to the right and left of the host or the master. That means that the disciple whom Jesus loved ( John) who rested his head on The LORD Jesus’ bosom, which was an act of deep concern, love, and intimate friendship, was sitting in a position of honor at that meal. Likewise, for The LORD Jesus to be able to give Judas the sop, putting it into his mouth, he too must have been sitting very close to The LORD, possibly in the other honoured position. The LORD Jesus knew that Judas was about to betray him. Yet, there Judas sat, quite possibly in a position of honour at the meal, and The LORD gave him the sop. He demonstrated to Judas His unconditional love, mercy and grace by giving him so much honour . Judas had the opportunity right to the last to repent of what was in his heart. GOD gives all us the free will to choose. Even an act of love and honour or directly and personally from the LORD Jesus Christ himself does not guarantee that someone will do what is right. Judas did not repent. See John 13 :27 " Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” " Yet by giving the sop/morsel to Judas, The LORD extended to him a final act of love and affection. He was reaching out to the heart of Judas, but in that moment Judas closed his heart to The Saviour and Satan entered into him. In John 20:24-29 we read of Thomas who doubted that The LORD had risen from the dead. See John 20:25 "So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” " Then eight days later The LORD again appeared to His disciples including Thomas See John 20:27-29 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed " It is the eyes of the heart that must be opened to believe on The LORD . Our ears also must be spiritually open to hear His WORD. In Luke 16:19-31 we read the account of the rich man and Lazarus dying and going to Sheol/Hades . Lazarus was in the protected area known as Abrahm's Bosom. The rich man was in the flames of torment. All were fully conscious and the rich man felt pain, anguish and thirst. See verses 23-24 He also remembered his family members upon the earth. See verses 27-31 Luke 20: 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” Even if someone rises from the dead and testifies of the reality of either Heaven or Hell, people who have blocked their spiritual ears will refuse to believe. In both the Old and New Testament, having “ears to hear” is an expression for saying that one is spiritually able to understand and obey truth from God. The LORD Jesus used this expression while speaking in parables to call those who would listen (“hear”) and obey His teaching. See Deuteronomy 29:4 Jeremiah 5:21, Ezekiel 12:2, Matthew 13:14-15 The heart of the matter is always the heart. Romans 10:10 ESV 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. The Living Bible puts it this way "For it is by believing in his heart that a man becomes right with God; and with his mouth he tells others of his faith, confirming his salvation. Returning to our opening Scripture of 1 Peter 1:8 The Holy Spirit, not physical eyesight, enables us to have our living relationship with The LORD Jesus. Our lack of physically seeing Him, will never ultimately make our faith in Him cease regardless of the circumstances. Peter wrote his letter in around the mid 60s AD to Christians that were scattered throughout Asia Minor which is modern day Turkey. They were facing severe persecution. It is the heart that receives the light of the Gospel. 2 Corinthians 4 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants[c] for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ As born again believers , we are to “look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self[d] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. It's not intellectual debates that bring the light of The Gospel to our hearts, but rather it is our hearts being opened by The LORD to be receptive to His Word and His love. We must pray for people's hearts. So, although we have not yet seen our LORD, our Heavenly Bridegroom physically, we love Him and we wait for Him with joy in our hearts.