Viola Solid Rock Assembly
Be Open
week we received an offering for for the compassion building I just wanted to give you an update and in the from the time that we started until through last weekend twenty thousand dollars came towards the match and so amen so so we got that and so today as of yesterday the what we owe is sixty eight thousand dollars so praise the Lord and less than a year and less than a year because it's not a year for two more weeks and less than a year over a hundred thousand dollars have come off the building and I do I know that that is because of a lot of sacrifice in this house and I do appreciate that and I know the Lord will bless you because of it amen last week we talked about the other side impact and how that when we get through the storm and get to the other side the impact is greater right it's once we get through the storm it says that once they landed that everyone that was brought to Jesus was being healed and we've seen some interesting things happen over the weeks that followed and one of them it happened just a few days a week after and it was the feeding of four thousand he fed five thousand before the storm four thousand after the storm and we see this this this continue to happen and we see this that there's there's a moment where him and his disciples are eating at the table and and this Gentile lady it says comes to him and asking him to heal her daughter and he looks at her and said basically said I can't I can't help you I came to help my people and she said but even the dogs eat the scraps and he looks at her and says because of your faith your daughter is healed and she got home and the demon had been expelled from her daughter and and and so we we see all of this happen in the in the week that follows the storm but there's this little blip tucked tucked away in Mark this little I mean this little story that's tucked away and Mark and Mark is the only place that shares this it kind of halfway shares it in Matthew it talks about how the lame or the the deaf and the mute are healed but in Mark it tells this little story that that happens and and and there it's it's one of the times in the gospels that that Jesus ministers to people he does this three times and there's something that he does three times and he does the first time happens right here and I asked Chelsea last night and this morning if Jesus did something three times does that mean we should do it and she said yes and I said come here because I was gonna do what Jesus did to those people but I didn't and we'll talk about it we'll talk about it as we move forward. Mark chapter 7 verse 31 it says Jesus left Tyrean went to side and before going back to the Sea of Galilee in the region of Decapolis a deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him and Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone he put his fingers into the man's ears and then spitting on his own fingers he touched the man's tongue looking up to heaven he sighed and said Ephatha which means be opened instantly the man could hear perfectly and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly and Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone but the more he told him not to the more they spread the news they were completely amazed and said again and again everything he does is wonderful he even makes the deaf to hear and give speech to those who cannot speak. So here tucked away between the the Gentile woman's daughter and the feeding of the four thousand we find this somewhat bizarre story this guy's friends heard that Jesus was healing and all these all he they were he was healing all these people and so they said we've got to get our friend to him and so they get their deaf mute friend to Jesus and they're begging Jesus to lay his hands on him and this is where it gets questionable they're begging Jesus to lay his hands on him and heal him right. In verse 33 it says that Jesus led him away from the crowd so that he could be alone and he put his fingers in the man's ears and then he spit on his fingers and touched the man's tongue. He spit and then touched the dude's tongue is Jesus essentially spitting that guy's mouth. I mean it was bad enough that he gave him a double wet willy and I thought about this and and look that he got away from the crowd and I thought about this why did he go away from the crowd was it because they were like he says if people see me do this they're gonna want me to spit on everything I don't know but he's like I got to get away from the crowd to do this and what in the world he gives him a wet willy and spits on his tongue and then he says he looks up to heaven and he sighs it's like these people after be opened be opened be open this he saw the fact that Mark put the the thing that about him sighing though it is just a little bit more description is great I think I mean Chelsea said well that gives us reason to sign I'm like I don't know if that's really true but the little description is great though and it was like this is this is just too much though I mean you you spit on your fingers you give the guy double wet willy and then you touch the guy's tongue this is just be opened he sighed because he just stuck his fingers and that dude's ear and he had earwax on there and then he stuck it on the dude's tongue and that's why I said be open he's like the things I do the things we do to for people be open be opened be opened not just this phrase this phrase that he used after means to open but not just open like a door the phrase is actually used here is also used in a spiritual meaning to be open spiritually or to be open to God's grace I think when Jesus said this to the man he was speaking not only to his ears and to his tongue but to the heart and spiritual eyes as well to be open and see what was happening I think we need to take that phrase to heart ourselves and be open to God's grace for our lives and be open to his healing power even if it comes in an unusual way in an unexpected package I can promise you one thing I will not spit on you unless God tells me to I promise so if I spit on you I promise it's because God told me to I'm telling you right now and I will tell you before I do it it's an unusual package right it's it's unusual that Jesus Jesus could have literally came up to that man and touched him and said be healed in fact he wouldn't even have to touch him he could have just said be open and the ears would have opened and his tongue would have loosed but the fact that he did what he did shows that there's something to a physical touch and apparently there's something about his spit that's magical it's one of those things though this just it's it's interesting and and I think about it and then and then we go on though and and the guy he received this grace in this healing and he gave Jesus grace for spitting on him and instantly the man could hear perfectly and his tongue was freed so that he could speak plainly instantly immediately he could speak in here with no issue this guy's life was completely changed he could hear the voices of his loved ones he could verbalize what he hadn't been able to verbalize Jesus changed this guy's life in a moment and we flip over to to mark chapter 8 and we see another moment in in mark chapter 8 verse 22 it says when they arrived at Bethsaida some people brought a blind man to Jesus and they begged him to touch the man and heal him notice that two things have happened in the last one and in this one that people brought the person it wasn't that Jesus went to the person it wasn't that the person came on their own people brought them and then the people begged that Jesus would heal them not the person that was sick not the person that was blind not the person that was deaf not the person that was mute as to be healed the people around them begged that they would be healed it's interesting to me I find this I find that there's a lot of comparative things that we could look at between these two passages and it says that Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village again getting alone and then spitting on the man's eyes he laid his hands on him and asked him can you see anything now and the man looked around yes he said I could see people but I can't see them very clearly they look like trees walking around this tells me that this man wasn't born blind he had seen before then Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes again and the and that his eyes were opened his sight was completely restored and he could see everything clearly Jesus sent him away saying don't go back into the village on your way home these people they bring their friend to Jesus and they beg him to heal him and when I think about that and I think about the last worry the thing that kept popping into my head was I think about people who get to the point where they're like I'm just destined to be this way there is no healing for me there is no there is no way that I'm ever gonna get better that I'm ever gonna gonna gonna change there's no use to respond for healing I've been prayed for by every Tom Peter and James and nothing has happened so they're they're like it's it's not going to happen now and so they're a bit skeptical about the whole thing but their friends have insisted that this guy is different I have a friend that I couldn't count how many times he's been prayed for thousands of times he has a site a vision impairment he's not completely blind but pretty much it's got to be right here and I don't know how many times he's been prayed for thousands and I remember it's been a few years ago I was in a service with him and and and his pastor was like come on we're gonna go get you prayed for and he was just like and so I talked to him about it afterwards I was like what's your deal man you know that God can heal you he said I've been prayed for thousands of times nothing's ever changed he said he said people have spit on me people have pushed me people have jerked me people have screamed in my ear and hold on let go some of y'all understand that but he's like I just just don't know that I'm gonna be healed and it hit me that he had lost that faith he had let he become skeptical of whether or not he could be healed he knew he knew knowledge told him that he could be that God could heal him but his faith inside was like I just don't know and these people they weren't interested they had been prayed for they had went to the priest they had went to the to the places they had been to the to the pool of Bethesda they had they had done all of those things and nothing had worked it's just another guy praying for me but their friends were like something is different about this guy something's different about this guy and so they're begging Jesus to lay their lay his hands on their friends and verse 23 it says Jesus took the blind man by the hand and laid him out of the village and then spitting on the man's eyes he laid his hands on him and asked him can you see this time Jesus didn't spit on his hand and then transfer it for it no he spit right in this dude's eyes and he didn't even see it coming it's alright it'll catch up in a minute it says it says that he spitting so he spit on both eyes the guy was like wait what just happened something just wet got on my face and then Jesus lays his hands on him can you see can you see me now good the man looked around yeah I can I can't I see people and they look like walking trees when did that happen I mean it's blurry and those people are those people or trees walking around I mean it would appear that this man lost his side in an accident he wasn't born that way because he was able to make out something until Jesus what it was without now ever seeing it before Jesus lays his hands on the man's eyes again and his eyes were opened and his site was completely restored and he could see everything clearly this is the only place that we see Jesus pray for someone that the healing was progressive it didn't instantly happen it happened in phases he couldn't partially see now he can see all the way this guy was skeptical he probably in the beginning didn't know if it would even happen it he probably thought it's not gonna happen if he could or would it be healed he was just like yeah maybe but he's seen clearly now the spit is gone the next one is not like the others though this guy wasn't brought by his friends Jesus has spit on two people now that's terrible and but they were both healed and so they were happy about it right if someone spit on you Marshall and you were healed from whatever it was that was ailing you would you be mad that they spit on you no exactly but if someone spit on you and you didn't get healed I don't know I would probably not be happy about it but that guy didn't even see the spit coming so John chapter nine tells the third time though that Jesus spit on someone and John chapter nine verse three it says it was not because of his sins or his parent sins Jesus answered this happens so that the power of God could be seen in him we must quickly carry out the task assigned to us by the by the one who sent us the night is coming and then no one can work but while I am here in the world I am the light of the world then he spit on the ground made mud with his saliva and spread the mud over the blind man's eyes and he told him go wash yourself in the pool of salon so the man went and washed and came back seen his neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar ask each other isn't this the man who used to sit and beg some said he was and others said no he just looks like him but the beggar kept saying yes I am the same one this one was different this one was different the other the other two spitting miracles this guy their friends brought him to brought them to Jesus this guy was born blind he was also this was Jesus went to him he didn't come to Jesus someone didn't bring him to Jesus Jesus went to him it's different this miracle this miracle of healing this man's eyes wasn't about just healing a a stigmatism or healing a cornea scar or or removing a cataract this was something more this guy was born blind Jesus had the hard wire though God the blind man's brain by creating a synaptic pathway that did not exist did you know that babies are born legally blind they cannot focus on anything further than 12 inches away and that's why touch is so critical in the early stages of babies lives that's how they interpret the world after eight months or so they're they're the visual color vision and depth perception begin to be revealed and and and they begin to be able to see right but if they're they're born and they're not and if if you took a patch and you put it on a newborn's eye and you leave that patch there for the first few years of life the baby would be blind in that eye for the rest of their life even though there's no physical deformity or genetic defect the reason is that no synopsis would form between the visual cord cortex and the optic nerve so the man born blind would have a condition that doctors would refer to as irreversible the natural window of opportunity had closed but when the natural window of opportunity closes that's when God shows up that's when God performs some of the greatest miracles the child bearing years for were well passed the window was closed when Sarah became a mom it didn't keep God from opening the window before the natural window was closed for Mary or before it was open for Mary the Son of God was conceived by the Spirit of God sometimes we feel like that we've missed the window of opportunity in our lives or missed the window of our miracles we're too old we're too young I've done too much I've not done enough I've seen countless specialists I've been prayed for countless times with no change nothing's ever happened my marriage ended in a divorce I'm not sure I can ever love or trust again I keep falling failing in the same area of my life time and time again regardless of your situation or circumstances God can create a new pathway or repair an old one he's the God of second chances third fourth and thousand chances the man born blind was an impossible situation onlookers in fact all of these people that Jesus can't encountered to the people that were looking on this was impossible it's never too little it's never too late though when Jesus is involved impossible is not an option why was this man born blind they at the disciples ask was it because of his sin or his parents sin it was not because of his sin or his parents sin Jesus answered this happens so the power of God could be seen in him the disciples asked the question we ask when we sometimes when we have something bad happen in our lives why has this happened what did I do to get to for this to happen in my life but we have talked about for the last month or longer that we that that we go through things that God allows us to go through storms that even in walking in his wheel Marshall it might take us right through the middle of the storm but why does he do that why does he take us through those things second Corinthians one four says he comforts us in all of our troubles so that we can comfort others when they are troubled we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us that's why that's why we go through things so that we can comfort others last night pastor Chris Georgia team lost to Ole Miss I was able to comfort him because Arkansas lost to Ole Miss last week I understood the feeling that we we go through stuff so that we can comfort others who go through the same stuff the disciples were looking for a call looking for a cause to the problem why was this man born blind was it because of saying no Jesus says that this is so the power of God could be seen in him sometimes we think what is what what if we are in the will of God that if we're in the will of God rather that nothing bad will happen that only good things will happen but sometimes being in his will will take you to the heart of the storm it will take you to the heart of the the problem in the trouble Hebrews 1132 tells about a whole bunch of or Hebrews 11 all together tells about a whole lot of people that were in God's will yet still things happen in verse 32 it says how much do I need to say it would take too long to recount the stories of faith of Gideon Barak Samson Jephthah David Samuel and all the prophets by faith these people overthrew kingdoms ruled with justice and received what God had promised them they shut them out of lines quitched the flames of fire they escaped death by the edge of the sword their weaknesses had turned to strength they became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight women received their loved ones back from the dead but others were tortured refusing to turn from God in order to set be set free they placed their hope and better life after the resurrection some were jeered at their backs were cut open with the whips others were chained in prison some died by stoning some were sold in half and others were killed with the sword some went up went about wearing skins of sheep and goats destitute and oppressed and mistreated they were too good for this world wondering over deserts and mountains hiding in caves and holes in the ground if they would do it again the will of God is it safe it's not it's not if you're in the will of God that you're gonna be safe from all storms and all fights and all trouble that is not the case it's not the way that it is the fact is it's gonna get it's gonna be dangerous in fact you might get killed but if God gets the glory and the goal is accomplished the other side of the battle the other side of the storm is greater you will have greater impact on the other side of the storm when you make it through and you make it through those things and you can say this is what God did in my life so God did I couldn't do it the doctors gave me no hope but God I was a slave I was in prison but God you intended to harm me but God intended for good we all have situations and circumstances that we face weekend and week out and we all go through things and we all go through storms but when we get to the other side the impact will be greater think about the parents of this guy it's not hard to imagine the disappointment discovering that their son would never see them with his physical eyes I'm sure they were devastated I'm sure they'd unanswered questions of why that haunted them that kept them up at night they were probably like what's why did this happen I'm sure there were questions I'm sure they were they were they were they were worried I'm sure that they were they blamed themselves at times we have some of those same unanswered questions today why do believers get sick why do believers get cancer why do believers have marital problems why are babies born blood why can't they figure out what's wrong with me why can't I get ahead why am I constantly in this battle why is my family like this however we can't allow the questions that we can't answer keep us from trusting what we know to be true God is good all the time if you have a critical eye you'll find something wrong with everything in every situation and that's exactly what the Pharisees did they were so focused on the law that they couldn't see past it and Jesus called them out on it this is this is the best part of John chapter 9 you know when he healed this blind guy what day it was the Sabbath you know something that you weren't supposed to do James on the Sabbath make mud make mud Jesus didn't spit in the dude's eye Jesus didn't spit on his hand no he spent in the faces of the Pharisees and made mud I'll show you it says then Jesus told them I entered the world the rendered judgment to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see they are blind that's what John chapter 9 verse 39 says faith isn't just a way of living faith is also a way of seeing seeing is believing but believing is seeing after pronouncing I am the light of the world he spit on the ground and made mud with his spit and anointed the man with it put it on dude's eyes gave him a mud mask why does he make mud the Greco Roman time period in this time period the world believed that saliva was associated with magical power so the Pharisees would have had a negative reaction to this immediately plus it was illegal to make mud on the Sabbath according to the law of Moses sometimes I wonder you know and I definitely think I don't wonder I know Jesus was just pushing their buttons I'm not sure of his motivation really but I know that the one who created everything in the first place is the one who can recreate anything and everything in the second place there's nothing that God can't do he could do anything we still have to be do our part though like we need the miracle Jesus performed this one comes with a set of instructions he tells the man go and wash the pool of salon we don't know the exact distance he had to travel to get there I'm I'm certain that it was a hike though he would have had to descend hundreds of steps in this miracle happened during the Feast of Tabernacles so he would have bumped into tens of thousands of pilgrims on their way so why would Jesus send the blind man on a scavenger hunt why not heal him on the spot why send him to a true why why send him all the way to the pool is slow it seems unnecessary I read a story recently told by a Episcopal Bishop named William Frey and as a young man he volunteered to tutor a student who had lost his sight at the age of 13 in a chemical explosion he felt like his life was over and the only thing greater than a self-pity was his hatred towards God for six months after the accident all he did was feel sorry for himself and then one day his father said John winners coming in the storm windows need to be put put up that's your job and I want them hung by the time I get back this evening or else then he pretended to walk out of the room slamming the door John got good and angry in fact he was so angry that he decided to do it and he thought when I fall they'll have a blind and a paralyzed son but John didn't fall he discovered that he was capable of doing far more than he realized even with blind eyes only after completing the job did he discover that his dad had never left and was never more than five feet away from him he made sure that his son was safe but he knew that helplessness was so far worse curse than blindness even though I can't be sure why Jesus sent the blind man to the pool I'm guessing that he had lived a relatively helpless life he depended on everybody and everything he depended on for everything Jesus didn't just heal the blind man he didn't just heal his blindness he restored the man's dignity he rebuked helplessness by saying now go and wash at the pool of song you're not helpless you can do it so the went man the scripture said in verse 7 so the man went and washed and came back seen what if he had not went and washed what if he would have just took the mud off of his eyes right there I don't think the miracle would have happened most miracles require an active blind audience you can't manufacture miracles but you can wash at the pool is alone one step of obedience can open your eyes one step of obedience can reverse the curse in one step of obedience we can begin a new chapter in your inner lives the man took the step and got his miracle sometimes taking the step taking that step is what we need to do what step do you need to take this morning what step is keeping you away from the miracle will you take it will you hear his voice say be opened and listen we were rejected and walk away what if he would have been like naming and just walked away and didn't have someone like the servant name and sermons saying but you would have done something hard why not do something easy sometimes that step of obedience is what opens the door Jesus could have healed him on the spot we've seen him do it we already saw him do it in mark chapter eight we saw him healed the blind man he's spinning his eyes but healed him right there on the spot progressive healing happened we saw him open the deaf the the deaf ears and the mute tongue we saw it happened he said be open and it opened he could have done it amount in an instant but instead he chose to tell him to go and wash because he wanted to say he wanted to see Charles he wanted to see is he willing to take this step is he willing to be obedient because obedience obedience will put the birds to flight obedience will open doors of miracles it's obedience that got the disciples in the storms it was also obedience that got them through the storm let's get everyone that would just stand here for you this morning Lord I just thank you today I think you once again for the opportunity you've given us together in your presence Lord I thank you for what you've done in this house among these people Lord Lord we've seen you do miracles and we've seen you heal people and Lord we're not backing down now we're believing for more we're believing for more healings we're believing for more for more people to receive miracles we're believing for those things we're believing for those things we just thank you today God we thank you today maybe you're here this morning and you're in the storm I don't know what the storm may be in your life but you're in the storm you're in a situation or a circumstance I know that that we didn't really talk about storms today but but you're there you're in it whether it's a family issue a medical issue whether it's a financial situation no matter what the situation or the circumstance is you say I need God to move in this situation I want to invite you to come I want to pray with you I want to believe with you maybe you're here though this morning and you say I need a healing I need God to touch and maybe you've come to the Psalter maybe you've had people maybe hundreds of people have prayed for you maybe thousands of people have prayed for you but you say today I need God to move in this situation in my body and my life and my I need him to move I want to invite you to come I want to pray with you I want to believe with you what if this is the moment that God heals you maybe there's someone that you know that needs God to move in their life and they've gotten to maybe like these people and they're just they're not moving this morning and you say I'm gonna go stand in for them that's okay maybe grab them if they're here bring them with you and we'll pray and we'll believe that God will do what he said he would do if you need God to move in your life I encourage you to move don't wait don't wait Lord I just thank you right now if you feel it to come and pray for the ones that are here I feel free to move I just pray that you just move in this house God I pray that you just move in this place today God that you begin to touch that you begin to heal that you begin to change situations and circumstances right now we just thank you we thank you [BLANK_AUDIO]