Do You Have a True Perspective of Reality

Okay, turn in your Bible to 2 Kings 6. As you're turning there, imagine with me this morning if you woke up, and upon waking up, you opened your blinds and all of a sudden looked out the window and there were ten black SUVs parked outside and there were many armed men with assault rifles kneeling pointed right at your house. Would you be afraid? Would you be afraid at that sight? And you think to yourself, what have I done to deserve this? All I did was I found out this pastor from Canada was going to be arrested, and so I told him to avoid a certain road so he wouldn't get arrested. And now they're here. They're showing up at my house. Would you be afraid? And I'll tell you, it all depends on one thing. Not the visible circumstances, but your own perspective. What matters there is do you truly have a perspective on reality? What is reality? Is reality that that's it? It's just these cars? It's just these people? Or is there something else going on? Maybe even in the invisible realm. That which I can't see with my own eye. And whether I see the invisible realm or not, if I believe it by faith, I will not have a reason to be afraid. And so we're going to find someone here in 2 Kings who's in a very similar circumstance. And he had no fear. He had no fear. So 2 Kings 6, I want to talk to you about do you have a true perspective on reality? 2 Kings 6 starting in v. 8. Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, in such and such a place shall be my camp. But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, beware that you do not pass this place. For the Syrians are going down there and the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him, thus he used to warn him so that he saved himself there more than once or twice. V. 11, And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled. You'd be troubled too if everything you're saying or they know what's going on in your plans. Greatly troubled because of this thing. And he called his servants and said to them, will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, none, my lord, O King. But Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom. And he said, go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him. It was told him, behold, he is in Dothan. So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, that's him opening the blinds, went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, alas, my master, what shall we do? Elisha's response, v. 16, do not be afraid. Well, I hope you have an explanation, Elisha, to tell me not to be afraid. For those who are with us are more than those who are with them. You can almost imagine the servant's response. Well, what do you mean? I see with my eyes that we don't have more. Why are you telling me we're not outnumbered? Everything I see says we are outnumbered and there's a big reason to be afraid right now. Then Elisha, v. 17, prayed and said, O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see. Please open his eyes that he may see. He already sees though, right? He already has physical eyes. Remember, Colossians 1:16, it says when He created, He created all things that are visible and all things that are what? Invisible. There's an invisible realm out there which the naked eye cannot see. Open his eyes that he might see. He already sees physically, but now open his eyes to see something in the spiritual realm. So the Lord heard Elisha's prayer. He opened the eyes of the young man. And he saw. And behold, the mountains was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, please strike this people with blindness. So He struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. And Elisha said to them, this is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. And he's not lying there. He's bringing them to the place where they are going to find Him. Where He is going to be seen by them. And He led them to Samaria, which is about 12 miles away. So about a 12 mile journey there. Verse 20, as soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, O Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see. So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw. And behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. As soon as the King of Israel saw them, He said to Elisha, My father, shall I strike them down? Elisha answered, You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them that they may eat and drink and go to their Master? So He prepared for them a great feast. And when they had eaten and drunk, He sent them away and they went to their Master. And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel. Let's read v. 24. Afterward, Ben-Hadad, King of Syria, mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. Well, Father, Lord, I just pray for Your help. Lord, You know the weakness of my frame and my mind. And Lord, I just pray that You would enable me right now to bring honor and glory to Your name. Lord, I'm looking for help. In Jesus' name, Amen. Again, I want to think briefly about do you have a true perspective of reality? It's amazing when you think about how we live our lives, often the primary thing we are thinking about is what we see in the physical realm. I mean, it's just always before us. Right? Many of you, if that scenario I started this message with, if you had that happen to you, I bet it would be very doubtful that one of the first thoughts in your mind would be that there could be angels ministering spirits as it talks about in Hebrews that are there that could protect you even in the physical realm and that God could use to even blind the very ones who are coming to get you. I imagine that would not be something that we would consider. And it's to our shame, right? Because we can be so focused on this physical realm that we don't even recognize all that is happening in the invisible realm. All that is going on, it's not even on our radar. Robert Chapman, some of you have read his biography. Robert Chapman's biography. He would go out and evangelize. He'd open ear preach. And people hated him. And one young man hated him so badly, he got his gun and he went to go kill Robert Chapman. And he was waiting in an alleyway for Chapman to walk by. Chapman would always come by that way. And Chapman walked by, and the guy with his gun, he said he kept seeing some man protecting Chapman. Chapman could not even see. But this lost man trying to murder the man, he saw someone protecting Chapman. And Chapman went home, and this one guy went home in a panic and a fear. And he said, I couldn't shoot him. Someone was protecting him. What happens that you and I don't see? What happens in this realm, in the spiritual realm, in the invisible realm, that you and I won't even know until we get to eternity, right? And then we're going to see all these little intricate things that God did for you and I's protection and preservation. I mean, we're going to see so many providences and so many things that are going to blow our mind that the Lord does not let us see at this point. It's going to be amazing. But we should ask ourselves, do I have a true perspective on reality? And the first thing is do you even recognize that there is an invisible realm? Do you even recognize that? Or do you go into your trial facing your trial, primarily thinking about the physical? Right? This servant. He went from a place where he was afraid. Alas, my Master, what are we going to do? And then apparently his fear is gone. What changed in his circumstance to get him to that point where he had no fear? What changed in his circumstance? I wouldn't say that's a change of circumstance. I mean, it is in a way, but nothing. Nothing changed in his circumstance. Right? He just actually got a glimpse of what true reality really was. You see, the angels were there whether or not he saw them. The invisible realm is there whether or not you see it. It's there. God is doing things. It says in Hebrews, there are ministering spirits. Is it true that in Colossians, some people teach to worship angels? Absolutely. People teach false things from that. But just because there are false realities about the invisible realm, we don't want to go throw the baby out with the bathwater because we're afraid that someone's going to run into some sort of abuse. Does Satan disguise himself as an angel of light? He does. Right? Are there people who see demons? Yes. There's a young man in our church who was not converted. And he would say while we were preaching, he saw some physical being standing by the pulpit praying for us. Well, the guy ended up being very lost and into demonic things. Was that something of God? No, it was not. But just because of the air and the airs that abound, we don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. You know what it says in Moses and Hebrews? He was seeing Him who is what? Seeing God who is what? Invisible. How do you see Him who is invisible? You know what, when the Red Sea split in half, you see Him who is invisible. When you become a new creature in Christ, you see Him who is invisible. We see into the invisible realm all the time. We see the fruits of what God is doing in our own lives in miraculous ways. But here, this servant of all things, the Lord actually opened his eyes where he could actually see these angels standing there, these chariots and horses. Chariots and horses implies there were riders upon those chariots and horses. You don't want to just get the thought that it was a bunch of chariots and horses up there. There are people. There are angelic beings there at the bidding of the Lord. Right? In the garden. Did Peter have a true perspective of reality when he took out that dagger and he cut off Malchus' ear? He did not, because what did Christ do? Christ looked at him and said to him what? I could have called down legions of angels. Jesus knew right at that moment He could have beckoned legions of angels to deliver Him, but He needed to go and do the Father's will. So Peter, just looking at the physical response in a way that was not correct, if he would have recognized what was truly going on, if his perspective would have been correct, he would not have done what he did. It's humbling too when you look at the passage. You see three times Elisha prays. Verse 17, for someone's eyes to be opened. Verse 18, for people's eyes to be shut. And then verse 20, for people's eyes to be opened again. You realize what you and I see today? What we recognize in our lives? God in one moment could take all of your sight away of the spiritual realm. Of any sensitivity to the things of God, of any sensitivity to the things of Christianity, God could blind you as a judgment of your rejection of Him. It's very humbling. An entire army in one moment can have their sight physically taken away. And in a worse way, my sight spiritually could be stripped from me at any moment by the Lord. But do we have a true perspective on reality? Let's notice here, right at the beginning, look at verse 8. Verse 8 says they're making all these plans and Israel is being warned. Verse 9, but the Man of God sent word to the King of Israel, beware you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there. Do you realize God has knowledge of where your enemies are at? And He can warn you that you be avoided? Why can Paul write that no temptation has overtaken us, that it's not common to man, and God is faithful and He'll always provide a way of escape? Why could the Lord always promise a way of escape? Because the Lord knows where all the enemies' armies are. Just like we see here. The thing is, He says to the King, beware that you do not pass this place. The issue is when I hear the warning, do I respond? Am I responding to the warnings that God gives me to not go fall into temptation? Or am I rejecting those and hardening my own heart? But you see here, the reality is God is supernaturally involved in everything in the universe for your protection. It's like Charles Spurgeon giving that illustration that the Christian getting to heaven, it's like a little pigeon flying to some wall all the way across the world, and the entire time they're doing it, you have thousands of archers shooting arrows at that pigeon. And it's just by the grace of God that that pigeon never gets hit by one of those arrows and actually makes it all the way to the end. That's the Lord. And there might be angelic beings protecting you during all of that and you never see that. And whether you see it or not is not the issue. You've got to believe. There is an invisible realm out there. There are things that God is doing that you might not even be able to recognize. You may not even be able to see. And it will alter your perspective just like this servant. The moment his eyes were opened and he's seeing all of this, obviously the fear is going to be vanquished. The fear is going to be conquered by truly recognizing your true circumstances. Another thing here about do you see true perspective of your reality? You know what we see from this passage that God is always watching you. Look at those words there in v. 11. And the mind of the king was greatly troubled because of this thing. And then one of his servants, which historically everyone wants to say this was Naaman who spoke up. There's no real proof of that, but if you remember a chapter earlier, Naaman was healed. And he went back worshiping the true God. And so, people had obviously heard about Elisha and Naaman being healed of leprosy. And he says right there, where is it at? He hears you even in your bedroom. V. 12, and one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king, but Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom. Doesn't that make you a little uncomfortable? It's kind of a laughing matter, but you know how you have your phone out and you're talking to someone and then they leave and you just happen to check your Facebook after that, and all of a sudden you get an ad for something you've never looked up, but you just talked about in your conversation. And you kind of feel uncomfortable. Someone's listening to me. Big Brother Big Tech is listening to me. You go to a website. Now they have to let you know what tracking cookies they're going to be putting on your computer and they have a privacy policy. Guess what? Does God have a private policy? No, He sees everything. And you don't sign up. There's no do I accept or decline that God is fully aware of everything I'm doing in my very bedroom. He knows it all. That's why He can say we're going to give an account for every idle word. So God is watching you. That's a positive or a negative. It's a positive if you're surrounded by a great army. Did Elisha pray for those angels to come? Why not? They were already there. Psalms 34 says the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him. It says He commands His angels concerning you. The Lord is the One watching for us. Elisha didn't need to pray for the angels to be there. That's a benefit that God is watching you there, right? That's why He can keep your foot from stumbling. But for the lost, that's not really a benefit. God sees everything. He knows everything. And what's this king's response? His mind is greatly troubled. It's like, I don't want the Lord to be knowing all of this. And who does he seek to put blame on first? Does he right away say, well, it must be God? What's his first conclusion? This is always what the unbeliever does. Their first conclusion is what's really going on? What does he say? Who does he try to blame? His servants of his household. Right? I mean, obviously, it wasn't his servants. But he's wanting to make that conclusion. That's what the lost people do. They don't want to own up to the fact that this is God and this is God's doing and this is what God is doing. They want to look and they want to blame people. They want to look at the physical realm, not the invisible realm. But God is watching. People want to suppress the conviction. They want to say that it's an insider, that it's not God. They want to think that you have some sort of privacy. Brother, sister, none of us have privacy with God. That is a good thing. And that is a fearful thing. But it motivates you as a Christian. What kept Joseph from committing adultery with Potiphar's wife? Genesis 39:9, he said, how can I do this great wickedness and sin against who? The Lord. He knew he had a fear of God upon him. He knew that God is omnipresent. God is everywhere. When the Bible talks about the Lord coming and going, it doesn't mean that He's not there, that He's not absent. He's always there. But there's a sense that it's kind of like the kids in the room, they're arguing, and they're bickering at each other, and they think no one's watching them. But their parent is in the hallway and hears everything. And then all of a sudden, the kids finish arguing and the parent opens the door and they step in. That's what it's like sometimes. God, He steps in in a more manifest way. But He's always there whether you see Him or not. He's watching. He's watching. Another thing to think about here is this, how often are your fears based on the fact that you don't have a true perspective of reality? You're afraid, and you don't have a true perspective on reality. Remember, the servant's words, Alas, my Master, what shall we do? And Elisha says, do not be afraid. I know some people hate that, right? But they have a fear, and someone just right away says don't be afraid. And it's like, stop telling me. There's something more complicated than this, right? I mean, I see what I see. Don't just tell me to not be depressed. Don't just tell me not to be afraid. And Elisha says, don't be afraid. Elisha then gives a reason though. But then the reason would kind of make you lose your mind because it's nothing you can physically see. We outnumber them. I'm telling you, this is a good biblical counselor right here. He gets to the root of the matter. He knows this man has a fear that is gripping him because he is totally focused on the physical realm and he's not acknowledging by faith that God is bigger than all of this, that the Lord is able to deliver them in an absolute moment. He says right there, v. 15, the end, Alas, my Master, what shall we do? Elisha says, don't be afraid. People don't like that type of counsel. People want something more complex. But brethren, if you really see God's control of your circumstances, if you really see His sovereign hand, if you really see His ability to protect you, you can hear, do not fear. And whether you see into the invisible realm or not, you by faith can trust the Lord has me. I can trust Him. I don't need to be afraid. And what do we lay hold of? We're not looking for physical chariots and horses against a physical army. We're looking for promises from the Word of God that tell us truths that we can lay hold of right there in that moment. What shall we do? We shall not be afraid. We shall trust the Lord. We shall by faith look to Him who is invisible and trust the unseen God that He controls everything and He's working this out for our good. So Elisha is a very good counselor. Good counselors will always seek to get you to have a real perspective on reality. But biblical counseling is becoming less and less something that people want to have in our day and age because the reality is getting further and further away from what we find in the Scriptures. And what does a good counselor do here? He prays. How can you and I help people have a true perspective on reality? You and I can pray for them. Verse 17, Elisha prayed and said, O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord responds. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw. Elisha prayed and said, O Lord... Is that our response? When someone comes, they're very afraid. They're very gripped by everything they're seeing in their physical circumstances. They're full of anxiety. Do you have a prayer of faith that you can stop and pray that the Lord would give them a peace of God that surpasses all understanding? That's what Elisha does as a good counselor. He prays for the one who's come to him for counsel. Well, another thing to consider here is this. Notice at the end of this chapter the amazing mercy that's shown to the enemy. It's incredibly striking. It's incredible. But what had to come prior to that mercy being shown? What had to come prior to that? A true trust and rest in the Lord. If you approach this whole army that's come to seize you with fear, the last thing you're going to think about is what good you can do for them. Right? That's not going to happen. But here, because Elisha is resting upon Jehovah and believing in his God, he's able to show such mercy as he does. And you can only imagine, being one of these people who is blinded, some want to say it wasn't a physical blindness, they didn't know who Elisha was. I tend to think they were actually physically blind. Entirely. For 12 miles. Or 15 miles. On the road to another city. Blind. And he takes them in to this city. And clearly, they're in a vulnerable spot. Verse 21, the King of Israel says, my father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down? The very group of people that's trying to arrest you, trying to seize you, you've just brought them into the middle of a city where there's archers on the wall. They could be slain in a moment. And what's Elisha's response? Elisha's response, you shall not strike them down. It's amazing. Verse 22. You shall not strike those down whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow. Set bread and water before them that they may eat and drink. Wait, and then go back to their master? And then verse 23, so He prepared for them a great feast. I mean, think how frustrating that is. If you're lost, and you're being shown such mercy by God in His providence, that doesn't give you a sense of comfort often. It gives you a sense of frustration. I mean, the Lord is so easily able to manipulate your circumstances and put you in situations that you really didn't want to be in. And part of you wishes they would have actually acted in violence towards you, but instead, they act in mercy towards you. They didn't strike them down. They ended up preparing for them a great feast. A great feast. What a word. What a language here. You know, what does this all point to? What does it say in Luke 24? What's written in the Prophets, Jesus says there are things there spoken about Me. Right? I mean, doesn't this make you think of the Gospel to some degree? Something about the Lord Jesus Christ? We were what in our sins? We were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were blind, spiritually blind. And we're going along a path. We have no idea where we're going. I mean, we could be going into the middle of a citadel to be slain. And in mercy, here we are, enemies of this person. And what does the Lord do? Does He strike us dead? He doesn't. He actually shows us mercy, opens our eyes, and then gives us a feast. A wedding feast even. It's amazing mercy. You know, that's what Christ has come to do. Christ has come to frustrate the lost and show them their insanity of trying to rebel against the all-knowing God who controls all of their circumstances and sees everything. And it's actually His mercy that He does that. What does Romans 2 say? His kindness is meant to lead them to repent. It's meant to lead them to turn. But what does a sinner often do? You look at the end of the passage, verse 23, and some want to make a big deal about the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel. It seems to sound like the mercy was so great that they were shown they stopped going into Israel. And it's true, there was some mercy there. It did affect them, but for how long? How long did that mercy have an effect on their heart? Look at the very next verse. Afterward. How much longer is this? Is this months later? Is this years later? Afterward, Ben-Hadad, king of Syria. It's the same place. Now guess what he does? Does he send out a little group? No, he musters his entire army and he went up and he besieged Samaria. That's the very place Elisha is at. You see, Elisha brought them to Samaria. And now this king who had sent men elsewhere, and now his men were brought to Samaria, they were shamed, they were sent back. They no longer make raids into Israel, but they're going to go right here into Samaria sometime later with the entire army ultimately to take them out, to take Elisha out. What do we see there? We see the hardness of the sinner. Think how hard that is. How hardened in your heart. You've been shown such mercy by God. He could have killed you. And he didn't. Isn't that what happens? The person, they don't die in the car wreck. And they look and they say, wow, that was so kind of God. I spun out on the highway in the rain. I hydroplaned. And God could have killed me in that moment. He could have smited me and He didn't. And so I'm going to go and serve the Lord. And there's this momentary conviction for a few months and they get a little religious and then what happens? It wears off. They harden their heart. And they go head back in their sin. And guess what their sin is always against? It's always against God. They might not even say God exists, but they're ultimately warring against the living God. They're raising their fist against Him who created them. And He at any moment could smite them, but He doesn't. You know why this happens? Because there is an invisible realm. There is Satan who disguises himself as an angel of light. And the mind of the unbeliever is blinded from seeing the knowledge of the truth of the Gospel Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4. It's a scary reality. My mind can be blind. I think I can see, and I can see physically, but I see absolutely nothing spiritually. And I'm blind. And in this life, God is showing mercy to the sinner. He's sparing them when He could have smited them. He's giving them a feast. He's showing His kindness to them. But if they keep rejecting that for so long, what's the end going to be? Is judgment day a picture of the enemies being brought in before a feast and their eyes are being opened and all of a sudden, they see God and they're shown mercy and they get to go on their way? No. The end is the opposite. Their eyes are opened. They see the reality of this invisible realm that they tried to suppress. Their conscience of who God is. And they're not given a great feast. Their hands are tied. Their feet are bound. And they're cast into outer darkness. That's the scary reality. That's what's going to happen. You know, the church discipline. Did we see something happen when we put Angel under discipline? Did we see him handed over to Satan in the physical realm? We didn't. It's invisible. You don't see it. Will we see the effects in his life? Yeah, we might. We'll see something from the fruit of it. But there is an invisible realm all around us. And for the Christian, it's for their benefit. Think, what Syrian army is surrounding you right now? Maybe some of you are afraid. You have some circumstances that have surrounded you right now in your life and you're in an entire panic about the circumstances. Have you asked yourself, there's an invisible realm. God is ministering spirits that could even help in the situation that I might not even see. Have you even thought to yourself, I can pray to the Lord right now, not to necessarily see into this realm, but to pray, Lord, I'm believing that You are in control. You know, one said, if we saw more than what appears to the eye of sense, if our minds were spiritually enlightened to discern things as they really are, our fears would speedily give place to assurance. We'd be able to say as Jonathan's armor-bearer did, or as Jonathan told his armor-bearer, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. The fact is, if you're a Christian here today, you're never outnumbered by the enemy. You're never going to face a situation, even though it might appear to the naked eye that you're completely outnumbered by your circumstances. Was Job outnumbered by the enemy? No, he was not. If you have God, you have a majority, as one has said. Horses and chariots of the men on this earth are of little use against someone who has heaven backing him. But the thing is, most of this, we're not going to see it. We're like Moses. We're looking to Him who is invisible. We're believing in that which we cannot see with the naked eye. We're trusting that the Lord is involved in all of this. He sees everything. He knows everything. He's watching everything. Even in my bedroom, He's showing mercy to His enemies. He showed mercy to me. He can protect me. Or He could even allow me to suffer and His angels will be there sustaining me in the midst of my suffering. You know, this is no promise in the Bible for deliverance all of the time. Some of you know about the missionary team. They went to an island and something happened where their ship wrecked and they didn't get all their supplies. And that missionary and a lot of lost people with him, they all starved to death and they died. Where were the ministering spirits there helping sustain that man? You know where they were? They were helping him. Because when they got to his dead body and all those men had starved to death, they looked on a wall and there was an arrow he had put right near where he had died and it was pointing to something he had written on the ground. And you know what he wrote on that ground? He wrote from Job, though He slay me, I will trust in Him. Right? That's the ministering spirit sustaining that man to be able to say that in such a dire circumstance. Could the Lord have sent birds or something to bring them food? Yeah, He could have. But the Lord chose another way with that man's circumstance. So do you and I, do we have a true perspective on reality? When you give counsel to someone, are you seeking to counsel them to have a true perspective on reality? Do you have a true perspective on God that He is omnipresent? He's everywhere. He sees everything. Do you recognize there is yet still an invisible realm? There are still angelic beings all around. Do you realize that when Peter came to the door and Rhoda was there, she said it's Peter, and what did the others say? You've lost your mind. It's only His angel. What? His angel? As if that was normal? As if it was more shocking if it was Peter than as if it was an angel who sounded just like Peter. You'd be amazed if you look at all the verses in the New Testament how much is spoken about angels. And just because there's so much danger spoken about those angels, you don't want to overreact and forget about that realm. Look, I realize right now in the media, I don't follow the news as much anymore, but I've noticed there's a lot about UFOs going on in the news right now. You know what? There are UFOs in the Bible too. What did they worship there in Acts? They worshiped a rock that fell from the sky. And even though that was going on, there are unidentified flying objects that they've declared were gods and they started worshipping and making shrines around those things. Did that keep Paul? Did that keep Peter? Did that keep these disciples from speaking about the angelic realm? It did not. You don't want to lose this reality just because many will butcher it through their errors. Colossians 1, For by Him all things were created and heaven on earth visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him. What's God doing in your life? Even if you're lost. But all the more if you're a Christian. What's God doing right now that you can barely see it? God is doing such things to protect you. Who knows how many times I've been protected from things that I have no clue about. I mean, talking to Brother Paul at the conference. Paul Washer. I mean, he has this heart attack. I was talking to his kids. He's laying there for 15 minutes. From my understanding, no one was doing chest compressions on him. He's dead for 15 minutes. And we just heard him at a conference preach and his mind is there. How do you explain that happening? I mean, you medical people, can you explain that to me? How long do you start having brain damage if you don't get oxygen to your head? You see, the Lord is active. He's at work. And the greatest thing He's at work constantly trying to do is He has prepared a great wedding feast and He's telling us to come and to call lost sinners to come and partake of that feast. What a loving God that we have. One who shows mercy even through Elisha in the Old Testament when you actually had physical wars happening. You see Elisha loving his enemies and doing good to those who hate him. That's incredible. There's just a picture of God. And so much of what He is doing in this invisible realm that you and I cannot see with the naked eye, it's Him showing His kindness to us even in the midst of blindness. You know, it was better these troops were blinded and brought to a place they had no idea where they were going than they had their sight and they left. Or else they never would have been able to experience that feast and the great mercy of God. So it can be a merciful thing for the judgments of God to be on your life. To not have the judgments of God is ultimately a cursed place to be. Matthew 18, Jesus says, these little ones who believe in Me, and then He goes on to say about these believers, see that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in Heaven... He's talking about believers here. Their angels always see the face of My Father who is in Heaven. Do I fully understand it? Do I fully comprehend it? No, I don't. But I thank God that there is an invisible realm and there are things happening. And like our brother from Iran, there he was outside of that house in total fear, total trepidation, terrified that the seeker of the police was going to come and arrest him. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, his eyes were opened and he saw all these angelic beings surrounding him looking outward to protect him. Can God do something like that? Absolutely, He can. You're not going to find a way in the Bible to disprove it, but I'll tell you this, you are going to find in your Bible thousands of warnings of false experiences and false manifestations and demons and devils and all of that. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Whatever you can or cannot see, believe the Lord. He is in control. He is protecting you. He's working all of these things for your good. Let's pray. Father, Lord, we thank You for who You are. Lord, we do want to have a truer and realer perspective on reality. Lord, we don't want to be blind. Lord, we realize there are so many dangers out there. And Lord, You have protected us in so many ways. We don't even see it, Lord. We don't even know half of what has happened. Lord, thank You. Lord, thank You even for the mercy You showed us when we were lost. Lord, You were so kind. And Lord, to open our eyes. And Lord, we have had a great feast with You. And Lord, we're not picking our sword back up and going back to war against You, Lord, months later. Lord, we're Your soldiers now. We're wanting to fight in Your war. And Lord, we recognize we wrestle against principalities and powers and things that are not of this earth. Lord, what is that? We're in a spiritual war. Lord, we see here the power of prayer. This one man, like Elisha, who we read in James 5, was a righteous man like ourselves, of like nature. And he prayed and the rain stopped. Lord, here we see a man pray and men are blinded and then pray and men's eyes are opened and pray for the servant and his eyes are opened. Lord, give us such faith to believe You, to lay hold of You, Lord, when it's necessary to trust You whatever the circumstance, Lord, that You can do that which is impossible. Lord, forgive us of our unbelief. Forgive us of our little view of You. Forgive us, Lord, of how stimulated our eyes are about everything in this world. Lord, we're so physical-minded creatures. Lord, that's because You've given us eyes. But Lord, You've given us eyes of faith. Help us to by faith trust You. Lord, that's what we're doing when we look to the cross. Lord, we didn't see that cross. We didn't see Christ there. We didn't see the wrath of God poured out upon Your Son. Father, we didn't witness that with our eyes. Yet, Lord, You've opened our eyes and we're believing in Jesus Christ and in Him crucified. Lord, we're living for You. Lord, if You weren't raised from the dead, Lord Jesus, we of all people are most to be pitied. But Lord, You did raise from that dead and You are seated in heaven. Lord, You were ruling and You were reigning and everything was created for You and by You. Lord Jesus, would You help us who You've bought with the price of Your own blood to glorify You all the more in our bodies? Lord, help us to live for Christ. Lord, help us to not account our lives of any value, to not let our lives be precious unto ourselves if only we complete the course, the ministry that we receive from You, to be faithful to You even unto death. Lord, I do pray You'd be merciful to those who are lost. Lord, we love the lost. Lord, we love them. We want them to know You. Lord, we can't do it. We can't turn the switch. But Lord, we just read in this passage, we see that if You can open a man's eyes to the spiritual realm, if You can close men's eyes in the physical, Lord, it's all the same truth all the more in the New Testament. Lord, You open the eyes of the blind. Lord, would some here even today be able to say one thing I know, I once was blind, but now I see? Lord, You can open their eyes. You can show them the truth of Your Son. You can show them the mercy of that great feast. Lord, we thank You for watching over us, for protecting us. Again, we pray You'd be near to Paula and protect her today in the midst of this trial that she's having with her health. Lord, You're good. We pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.