Kennystix's podcast
Open Their Eyes: Doing What Only God Can Do
Let's pray together. Father we have sung that that you came down to earth and our eyes were opened and we were unable to see you as compellingly lovely. You opened the eyes of our blind hearts and you awakened our dead souls and you gave us taste buds for spiritual life and beauty and now here we are a thousand of us alive and we are thankful from the bottom of our hearts that we have seen the King and been captivated by him. So would you help me now to serve any here who may not yet see and to enable those of us who have had a crack opened to see more clearly and love you more dearly and follow you more nearly day by day. So guard me from error and guard me from any kind of pride or self-reliance and grant that something would happen here in these few minutes that would have a ripple effect for decades and for thousands of new campuses and for families, for campus ministries, for churches being strengthened, for the glory of Christ being exalted, for perishing people being rescued, for the mission extending to the unreached will we want more to happen than we can even imagine praying for. So come and I pray multiply this little message like you did the loaves and the fishes. In Jesus name I pray, amen. You've heard that my mission statement is I exist in Bethlehem Baptist Church, exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God and all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ and therefore it's a high and sacred privilege for me to be among so many spreaders, people who are on the cutting edge of spreading a passion for the supremacy of God. So know that this is a very significant thing to me to be with you and I thank you for the trust that you've given me to be here. So the theme is people of the mission captivated by God called to the world and so my first message I gave the title captivated by God through the gospel, captivated by God through the gospel and I want to probe with you the question of how God captivates people and I have in mind two people won the lost and one the saved because God captivates the one and gets them saved and God goes on captivating the other to keep them saved. Being saved is not an automatic thing. I believe mightily in the perseverance of the saints but it's not automatic. God keeps us day in and day out by opening our eyes and keeping us captivated by Him over all other captivating forces and so I want to talk about how that happens. So it happens through the gospel that's the title and then I have five questions and here here they go. This is my outline. One, what is the gospel or more particularly what is ultimately the most final, decisive, highest, best, good in the gospel that makes the gospel good news. Second, what is lostness? Third, what is conversion? Fourth, what is the use or the function of you in that? What's the role of people and mouths and lives in conversion and finally number five, what's the role of teaching that is what comes out of your mouth in bringing people to be captivated by God. So that's my outline. You could use the words gospel, lostness, conversion, people, teaching if you want to bullet those five steps. Here we go. There's a text and if you have a Bible and if you can see it in the dim light, go with me to second Corinthians chapter four. This text has become more huge to me than ever in the last three months because I have written a book called God is the gospel based on a meditation on these verses, just a couple of verses and about 180 pages. I would like to read with you as you follow along second Corinthians four, three through seven and then we'll tackle the question what is the gospel. You listen for the answer and I think it's plain from the text but we'll unpack it for a few minutes. Verse three, second Corinthians four and even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel, of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves but Jesus Christ is Lord and ourselves is your servants for Jesus' sake. For God who said let light shine out of darkness has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ but we have this treasure, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. We have this treasure in jars of clay so that the surpassing power belongs to God not to us. That is a great passage of scripture. So what's the gospel? From that text what's the gospel? I've been asking myself is it or let's ask you this, what in the gospel is the best, highest, final, good that makes the gospel good news? And then I've walked through all the things that we usually think of as the gospel. Is that it? Is that it for example? Is it justification by faith? Is it the forgiveness of sins which Paul calls redemption? Is it the removal of the wrath of God which Paul calls propitiation? Is it liberation from the bondage of sin? Is it escape or rescue from hell? Is it entrance into heaven? Is it eternal life? Is it deliverance from pain and sickness and conflict? The last thing I want to be heard as saying is that magnificent, glorious, awesome list is in any way minimized but that's not the highest, best, final, good that makes the gospel good news. In fact, I would say if all of those glorious things that I just said don't lead to something else they're not good news. It is possible to believe all those things and never embrace that for which they are intended for you to embrace. All of those things are taking you somewhere and if you don't get there you're not saved. Where are they taking us? Where is justification and forgiveness and redemption and propitiation and rescue from hell and entrance into heaven and eternal life and deliverance from pain and sickness and conflict? Where are they all taking us? Then this verse is real clear so let's read it again and I want you to see a parallel between verse 4 and verse 6 verse 4. In their case, the perishing, the God of this world that is Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing - here's the part that I would underline in my Bible - the light of the gospel, of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. Now drop to verse 6 and see the parallel. Let light shine out of darkness. It has shown in our hearts - this God who said that - has shown in our hearts to give - now watch the parallel - the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. So in verse 4 you have light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. In verse 6 you have light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. So light parallels light, gospel parallels knowledge, glory of Christ, parallels glory of God, an image of God, parallels face of Christ. That's an amazing parallel - the illuminating effects of seeing those things on top of each other is mind-boggling. It just has blown me away in these recent months as the implications of the parallels between verse 4 and verse 6 have opened themselves to me. Now if you were to ask what is the essence of the gospel most of you I hope would be like me and you would go to 1 Corinthians 15. I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received namely the gospel. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried. He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. That's the event of the gospel. But events in history are not good news in the 21st century or in eternity unless they have any fact. So it doesn't work to say the death of Christ for sin and the burial and the resurrection are the heart of the good of the good news. They are the purchase of the good of the good news. The good of the good news - I'll say it now from verse 4 - is the glory of Christ who is the image of God or to say it in the words of verse 6. It is the glory of God in the face of Christ seen, savored, embraced, treasured, satisfying your soul, increasingly, forever. That's the heart of the gospel. If that doesn't happen through the death, through the justification, in eternal life, after hell is escaped, you're not saved. Christ is the gospel. God in Christ, shining with satisfying glory, is the heart of the gospel. If we don't get people there, we don't get them saved. Now, just make sure you see the word gospel. I want you to see this for yourself in the text so that you can go back to your campuses and with the three texts that I'm going to look at with you unpack in a wonderful way what you have seen here. Verse 4 - gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. What is the gospel of? It is the gospel of the glory of Christ. That's what the gospel is about. It is of that. So, the highest, best, final good is not justification. Justification. I wrote a book on justification. I love justification. Few things make me soar like the thought that another righteousness is imputed to me. But so what? If in my new acceptability to God, I get God. Standing righteous is of no significance to me. If it doesn't gain me admittance to my treasure. You see the difference? And so when we're celebrating all these things and all we should, hymns and songs and spiritual songs about justification, it's all because it gets obstacles out of the way to Jesus. So justification is not the heart of it. Forgiveness of sins. Why do I want to be forgiven when I'm mistreated my wife? I want her back. And I want just good feelings in my conscience. I don't like her back turned to me at the kitchen sink. There's ice in the air. I wanted to turn around face-to-face. All is clear. I've got her back. That's what forgiveness is about. It's not about removal of bad feelings of guilt, mainly. What about eternal life? Eternal life is, Jesus said, this is eternal life, that they know me and Him who sent me. What about the removal of wrath? I'm glad when wrath is lifted off of me. But into what? Nothing? No. Pleasures forever more in His presence beholding in the face of Christ the glory of God. What about freedom from pain and sickness and conflict? What about restoration with your loved ones in heaven? All those things are secondary and means to enjoying Christ. So this first of five questions is obviously the longest. And the answer to what is the gospel or what is the highest, best, final good that makes all the other parts of the gospel. Good news. The answer is seeing, savoring, enjoying, being satisfied by, treasuring the glory of Christ who is the image of God. That's the gospel. Second question, what is lostness? Verse four tells us very plainly what lostness is. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. To be lost that is to be perishing, to be hellbound, forever is blindness to glory. Every student you want to win to Jesus, his fundamental problem is blindness to glory. Lostness is blindness to spiritual light. Light is really shining out of the gospel as you unpack the gospel to people and you do it faithfully and biblically and under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, light shines. That people don't see it is irrelevant to the reality of the light. Their problem is blindness. It's not the problem of the light. Spiritual light is shining out of the Bible, shining out of your mouth and your face and your life when you are radiating the love of the gospel and displaying the glory of Christ who is the image of God. Oh, how we long to see that lostness turned around. So let's talk thirdly about what is conversion. Verse 6 describes it very plainly. We're at 2 Corinthians 4-6. For God who said, and he's quoting now Genesis 1, "For God who said, let light shone out of darkness has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." My prayer as I come to campus crusade among other prayers is that God may grant to campus crusade a united common vision of the gospel as the glory of Christ who is the image of God and of lostness as blindness to glory and of conversion as the opening of eyes to see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. Conversion according to verse 6 when Paul was looking into the face of what we've all looked into on every campus and some in our families and some in our churches. We've looked into the face of people where we've opened to them the gospel. We've described Christ in his justice and wisdom and love and truth and patience and mercy and goodness and we've described his death and its all sufficiency to cover all the sins of all who believe in him and we've described the resurrection and his tramp over the devil in hell and sin and guilt and we've and we've looked into their faces and it is totally blank. Hard as a rock, blind as a bat and our hearts ache and break for the blindness in the natural mind and the natural heart. Now I'm saying conversion is a miracle. You're just saying it in one of those songs. You came down from heaven and opened my eyes that I might see. God has to do for everyone what he did for Paul on the Damascus road. Not as dramatic but as miraculous. We've all experienced it if you're saved you have. At least I hope this is the way you would describe what happened to you once Christ wasn't beautiful to you. There was nothing compelling in the gospel. The cross was foolishness. A stumbling block. Boring to watch television. Go to the football game. Hang out with friends. This religious stuff was absolutely uninteresting. And then late one night someone had shared with you. You can't explain it. A veil was lifted. Eyes were opened. The same page that once was an absolute blank and boring was radiant with life and beauty and hope and you were saved. God opened your heart and you suddenly were captivated. Compellingly taken you could no longer turn away. It was the glory of Christ who is the image of God and you look to what you had before. It was husks and ashes now. That's conversion. That's the way people get saved. And that's the way we all came to Jesus. Let me read you one description. Okay? I got an email from a man in the Netherlands who was Jewish and he wanted to describe to me how a message that he had. I don't know whether he read it or heard it. Oh yes. He said he heard it. Online converted him. Listen. Listen to the amazing event of conversion. Listing to the Word of God. 3,000 miles away from where it was recorded. Monday, April 4, 2005, 609 p.m. God bless everyone who reads this. I can't believe it took two whole years to understand what is said in the audio sermon Education for Exaltation in Christ. I am a Jew, a Christian Jew since two minutes ago. I believe that Jesus is God. Jesus is Elohim. He who has the Son has life. God used that audio sermon to crush the mind of this stubborn Jew. I must say that I had troubles with the Father's name because being pronounced as in Jewish culture it is not common to pronounce the Father's name since we don't know how it is pronounced. But I decided to go on and listen. My eyes went open just today. I was angry with God. I said to him why are you letting me search without finding answers? Well, I found it now. Jesus is Elohim. I will make sure that this message will get spread out here in Europe. I am from the Netherlands. I can't believe it. Well, I do believe it actually. This is Jesus is Elohim. Praise Jesus. Praise Elohim. What an eloquent statement of conversion. My eyes went open. Now, here's the practical and I hope for you massively encouraging part. The last two questions are what do you have to do with this? What do messengers have to do with this miracle? Up till now you haven't even been in the process. But now the Bible is really clear massively encouraging to campus crusade. So here's question for how do people get involved? Now I want you to go to a separate text. All my three answers came from 2 Corinthians 4, 4 to 6. But now my fourth answer to the question what about messengers comes from Acts chapter 26. And the reason I go to Acts 26 is not because I flip a coin but because I want to hear the word of God address the issue of blindness and satanic involvement in the lives of students in relation to my ministry to them. And that's what this text is about. And you'll hear the parallels between this text and 2 Corinthians 4, 4 to 6, which is what makes this text so helpful as you go home and unpack for your band of students some day I hope what you heard. Acts 26 verse 17, this is Paul hearing the word of the Lord commissioning him. We'll start in the middle of verse 17, Acts 26. I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Jesus is talking. Now do you hear all the parallels with 2 Corinthians 4, 4? Eyes need to be open. You will open their eyes. Darkness needs to be escaped into light. You will be the instrument of them seeing light out of darkness. Satan needs to be broken and conquered in their lives because he's the great deceiver and blinder and you will be the one Paul who defeats the devil in their lives. Now if I had started with this text frankly at this moment I would be devastated. I am going to open blind eyes. I am going to make divine light visible, visible. I am going to defeat Satan. He's 10 million times stronger than I am. But I did not start with this text because that would be a mistake. Let me put the two together like this and this is what's so massively encouraging to all of us clay pots. God sends campus crusade to do what he alone can do. That's your mission. God sends you to do what he alone can do because he will not do it without you. God is not into moving through unreached peoples and unreached campuses and just vertically dropping on people with regeneration. He does not do it that way. He always drops on people through the gospel spoken by human beings which is why this organization is so massively fruitful and so significantly of God because it is so riveted into your minds for the last 60 years or so that people get saved by the preaching of the gospel even though only God can open eyes, only God can defeat Satan, only God can shed light abroad in the heart just like only God at the beginning could say let there be light and there was light. So I hope the way you feel that land on you is as a great relief. My burden is light. My yoke is easy. Go save the world. Because you can't do it. You can't do the miracle. You say it. You cry. You weep. You step all night. You meet five lunches and their face is looking at you like this is a totally foreign language. Every evangelist has tasted that pain. Do you quit? Do you say I guess I don't have the? I don't have the? It isn't you. You must be faithful. You must tell the truth. I'm going to say more about that tomorrow, the fullness of the truth that needs to be spoken. But all the relief that comes from hearing a text like 1 Peter 4, 11, let him who serves serve in the strength that God supplies so that in everything God may get the glory through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the dominion forever. And that's just talking about what's going on in here not to mention what's going on out there where he must do it. He must open the eyes. So my answer to question number four. How are people involved? Is that you must go and you must speak the gospel with your mouth and you must display the gospel with your lives. Remember Paul said I complete in my afflictions what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. That's almost a heretical verse because nothing is lacking in the effect in the afflictions of Christ by way of atonement. But what about by way of offer and display? Jesus died so that his afflictions and his sufferings would be offered and displayed to every student you know. Where are they going to see it? I'll tell you where in your suffering. I complete in my sufferings what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ. That is I stay up late. I get up early. I make the hard phone calls. I will do anything to display the love of Christ to you. And that's part of the gospel as well. Question number five. Last one. How is teaching involved in conversion? I've made you essential. I send you to open their eyes that they may pass from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. I send you. That's Jesus talking to you. And now what are you going to say? What are you going to do since you have become essential? Now my last text and I invite you to go there with me is 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy 2 and I'll tell you why I'm going here because I hear here in this text the miracle of illumination again and I see deliverance from Satan again and I see you as essential again and I see you as inadequate again. It's all here. All right so now let's let's massively be encouraged by our role in the impossible. 2 Timothy 2 we'll start at verse 24. Listen to yourself being described here. The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone able to teach. So I'm going to underline that. Able to teach. Patiently enduring evil. There's the practical loving part. Correcting his opponents with gentleness. That's your role. Now here's God's role. God may perhaps grant them repentance. It's a gift. Repentance is a gift. You can't make it happen but God can. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. Spiritual knowledge. And they may by means of this captivating knowledge escape from the snare of the devil having been captured, captivated by him to do his will. And what have you done? You have patiently taught. You have endured evil. You have corrected with gentleness. You have been kind. And your mouth has been teaching and teaching and teaching and teaching. And one night God let it happen. One night. God says let there be light into that person you love and have been wrestling with for three of their university years. Let there be light and they are broken. The light goes on. The devil flees and they are free to see the captivating glory of Christ and freely embrace him because freedom means doing what you want to do. And conversion means opening the heart so that people can see Christ as irresistibly desirable and therefore freely they embrace. And you feel like the three years of struggle and tears and prayer and witness and pizza were worth it. So that's it. Let me sum up these five answers and then pray with you. May God grant to campus crusade as a movement corporately and as individual leaders in all the ministries especially today campus ministries. May he grant you a unified deep sovereign grasp of the gospel as all those things that I mentioned but at the core of the heart goal the glory of Christ who is the image of God. And what makes it good news is that when you see it and savor it and embrace it and treasure it it is all satisfying forever. And that's what you have to offer students which is 10,000 better than all the things they think will satisfy them. So my first prayer is oh may campus crusade grasp the gospel. Second my prayer is that you may have a unified deep sobering sight of lostness a brokenhearted sobering sight of lostness as blindness to the glory of God. Third my prayer is that you may have a fresh clear glorious vision of conversion as what God does in saying let there be light and there was light and may he make you encouraged and emboldened to reach 2,000 new campuses. I pray that the sense that I'm a clay pot that's verse seven after verses four and six we have this treasure in clay pots so that all the surpassing power will be manifest as God's a not mind. He's the one who says let there be light he opens the eyes he defeats the devil let's go to the campuses because all we do is speak the gospel love the people and God saves the sinner and I pray that finally he will make you very very eager to teach the whole council of the gospel of Christ and thus be taken captive by it and be captivating for others. Let's pray. Father we just want to take a few minutes now and not rush too quickly on to other wonderful things and just let these five things sink in so I'd like us to be quiet now for three or four minutes and let you as I just say a thing or two in the quietness of this hour deal with God about which is it of these five that you're most concerned about where has God touched you to break you or convict you or encourage you. Lord deal with us right now about the glory of Christ if any in this room has not had the eyes of their hearts opened to see it would you now right now open the eyes of their hearts as Paul says in Ephesians 1 17 to behold the greatness of their inheritance in Christ.
John Piper | The greatest news of the gospel is that it brings us to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ for our everlasting satisfaction.