“Now I see”

1. A young boy, just nine years of age, was studying the Islamic faith.

2. By the age of 13, he was actively reading the Koran in the Turkish language.

3. As this young man read and studied, he was introduced to someone named Jesus.

4. A little more time passed and he became acquainted with “Little House on the Prairie.”

5. The t.v. show about a family on a prairie was the final step in this young fellow coming to a conclusion.

6. A young man finally saw in Christianity a very personal God who welcomes communication.

7. In the midst of this fellow’s Islamic studies he realized that Christianity is true.

8. When he came to this point in his life he felt as if his eyes had been opened.

9. His experience might be likened to a line in the hymn, “Amazing Grace.”

10. We are familiar with the words that say, “I once was blind but now I see.”

ONE OF THE GREAT EVENTS IN THE LIVES OF ALMOST EVERY CHRISTIAN IS THE MOMENT WHEN SOMEONE SAYS, “AHA. I FINALLY UNDERSTAND; I FINALLY GET IT; I SEE THE POINT.”

a) Today we want to talk about that moment.

b) What is it like for a person who is blind (figuratively speaking) but finally “sees”?

2) When a person truly grasps the real meaning of Christianity, they begin to truly think.

a) There are a lot of people in our world who think they know how to think or really understand life.

b) Attorneys think they know how to think because they sometimes deal with complex legal cases.

c) Doctors may pride themselves on their ability to think through a difficult surgical procedure.

d) It takes some thinking to build a factory that can produce some type of product.

e) Thinking in its truest and fullest form cannot be achieved without a proper spiritual dimension.

f) We know this because of the Old Testament.

g) When God worked through Isaiah the prophet to write an Old Testament book, He said something interesting.

h) In Isa. 1:18 God’s prophet said, “come and let us reason together.”

i) It would have been one thing if this had been Isaiah’s own message to the people.

j) Isaiah attributed these words to God.

k) God wants people to come to an understanding of spiritual things.

3) When we talk to certain people in our day and time, our “eyes can be opened.”

a) Explanations from people can and do enlighten us; a similar thing is true concerning deity.

b) God can and will open our eyes if we seek Him. This means a willingness to study His word.

c) When we study the Bible and accept what it says, most will have an “aha” reaction.

4) When our eyes are opened through God’s word we begin to form some new conclusions.

5) On the sign outside there is a message about two paths.

6) Before people come to a true understanding of things, they often believe in many directions.

7) Many believe in many gods, or even many ways to the one true God.

8) Opened eyes means recognizing the truth Jesus spoke in Mt. 7:13-21.

a) There are two paths and only two paths. One is broad (wide, easy to use).

b) The second is very restricted and only a few take this second way.

c) At the end of the wide way is destruction; at the end of the narrow way is life with God.

d) It can be difficult to open the eyes to these two facts, but this information is right.

9) When people become a Christian, they begin to have a change of mind.

10) Stated another way, their thinking process is altered.

a) More than a year ago I was allowed to visit a very curious bunch of people.

b) Supposedly the leader of this group has several books on brainwashing.

c) As I met with the leader and his followers, it was clear that they had a changed mind.

d) At least a dozen people had experienced a radical shift in their thinking.

e) This group could not be reasoned with.

f) Thinking may be shifted, but it is not always shifted for the better.

11) A Christian is someone who has also had some major shifts in his or her thinking that are positive.

a) Today I want to go through some of these changes.

b) A Christian is someone who has changed his or her mind about priorities.

c) There are lots of people who have lots of priorities that are related to this life.

d) There are those who want the latest fashions and costly jewelry.

e) There are people where a husband and wife work 80 hour weeks to live in a certain place/drive a certain car.

f) A Christian has a mind that says “my first priority is God.”

g) In Mt. 22:37 Jesus said the saved love God with all their “heart, soul, and mind.”

h) Mt. 6:33 speaks of seeking God and His righteousness “first.”

i) God is the number 1 item in our life—everything else is second place.

j) Jobs are second place, mates are second place, activities are second place, nothing else can be # 1.

k) It can take people a little while to come to this point, but this is the change in thinking.

l) This is the state of mind all Christians are to achieve.

12) A second verse that tells us about really comprehending the Christian life is Acts 17:11.

a) In just a moment this text will be read.

b) Not too long there was a story about the churches of Christ.

c) A minister in TN was shot (and we should still be praying for that family).

d) As CNN reported the story they said we are a “fundamentalist church.”

e) They didn’t explain that, but I suspect they meant we put a lot of stock in the Bible.

f) If this is what the intended meaning was, they are right – Acts 17:11 – READ.

13) When we the light finally dawns on people, they look at the Bible and say, “WOW.”

14) This is the Word of God; this is God’s message to me; this is my roadmap to salvation; this is my guide.

15) Many in the world look at the Scripture and scoff at them. The Bible is viewed as a book of dead letters.

16) Scripture is often considered to be outdated and out of style.

17) The world says viewing the Bible in this way makes us a “fundamentalist.”

18) When someone really comes to a knowledge of the faith, they see the Bible for what is really is.

19) Staying with the book of Acts we now turn our attention to Acts 20:19.

a) When we really grasp what Christianity is, we have a different outlook on the world.

b) Most in the world can see the damage from a hurricane and have compassion.

c) We can see the events from devastation like 9/11 and contemplate how awful it was.

d) When we really come to a knowledge of the truth, we can find sadness somewhere else.

e) READ Acts 20:19.

f) Knowing that people were lost and even opposing the truth made Paul so sad.

g) If you are a Christian have you ever gone to a large public place and just looked at the people?

h) Maybe it was a shopping mall, a baseball field, or a football stadium.

i) You looked around and saw all kinds of people—all ages, all races, and all social classes.

j) In spite of all the differences, most of those people had something in common: they were lost (unsaved).

k) When we really come to terms with the gospel of Christ, we see a world that is lost and dying.

l) We see all the disasters from nature, but we also see something far, far worse.

20) After the book of Acts comes Romans; Rom. 8 says there is the “mind of the flesh and the mind of the spirit.”

a) If we live “in the flesh” (verse 8), we “cannot please God.”

b) A non-Christian can look at that verse and think that it doesn’t make much sense.

c) When we start mentally processing what Christianity is, it makes all the sense in the world.

d) God is a Father. If we are going to be one of His children, we must be part of His family.

e) God’s family is a holy family.

f) When we piece this information together, we realize the obligation it puts upon each Christian.

g) There is a call to and a requirement to live by holiness.

h) This is why Rom. 12:2 speaks about “renewing the mind.”

21) Time after time in the New Testament we come to the word “mind.”

22) There are lots of religions that put great emphasis upon the external.

23) In the New Testament, external actions are basically governed by what is on the inside.

a) A changed mind and disposition results in different external behavior.

b) 2 Cor. 5:13 speaks about being “sober” and this is an important text.

c) Have we ever known a sick person who was told by a doctor, “set your affairs in order?”

d) “I estimate you have two weeks left; make whatever preparations you need to make.”

e) Those I have known who were put into this position were sober, serious, grave.

f) When things finally click concerning Christianity, people begin to think.

g) This life is not really our life; our true life is in eternity.

h) What we have on earth is just a small test that lasts for a very short time.

i) We have a very brief period to get things in order for our lives, and we need to try and help others too.

24) Col. 3:2 says to “set our mind on the things that are above.”

a) Not many people do this.

b) None will do this until they truly realize what Christianity is really all about.

c) Jesus said He came so we could have life and have it more abundantly.

d) What did Jesus mean?

e) He sure didn’t mean a paradise on this earth.

f) There are Christians who struggle from day to day.

g) We see God’s people struggling in hospitals with cancer and other dreaded diseases.

h) Jesus knew that life is not really our existence here and now.

i) He set His mind on what was above because He understood how things really are.

j) He was so determined to set His sights on the things that are above He literally gave His life.

25) All these verses really refer in one way or another to “seeing the light.”

26) Coming to this understanding really involves some basic facts:

a) A person comes to an understanding of the fact that there is a God and who this God is.

b) God is the creator of all things, and included in all things is man.

c) We did not evolve or come on the scene by chance.

d) God made us and we are fully accountable to Him.

e) God is perfectly good, and cannot tolerate evil.

f) God is a gracious and benevolent God in every way.

g) God is a being who has the maximum amount of quality in every attribute that He possesses.

27) Along with God there is a second spiritual force at work; this force is known as Satan.

28) Satan has helpers; his goal is to wreak havoc in this life for people and destroy them in eternity.

29) In between God and Satan are people. God wants us and the devil wants us.

30) 2 Cor. 4:4 says Satan has “blinded” the minds of at least some people.

31) God wants people to come to a knowledge of the truth and Satan does not.

32) For thousands of years this same battle has raged and raged.

33) One day it will end, and all who have lived and been accountable will answer for their lives.

34) If we fail to come to a knowledge of the on-going spiritual struggle now, we will see it later.

35) Unfortunately that later time will be too late.

36) There may be some things in life that are too complicated for us to understand.

37) Certainly there are too many things for us to be well versed on every single subject.

38) There is one item on which we can be enlightened: the facts of the gospel.

39) If we have not come to a good understanding of the truth, we still have at least a little time.

40) If we have come to an understanding but have not been obedient, there will never be a better time than now.