Shall we continue to look at the earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus and the training of his disciples as given to us by Peter through the inspired spirit as related in the book of Mark. Mark's rendition of what Peter gave to him. Mark chapter eight, beginning in verse 22, through verse 26, you'll find that in your Pew Bibles on page 1073. While you're turning there for a moment, there's a saying I heard that we all understand intuitively, you can't see the forest for the trees. And what that means is, Sometimes the truth stares us right in the face and we don't see it. That is a common problem. That was the problem of the disciples. That was the problem sometimes with people that Jesus would meet and he would take personal care of those people. I think that's important for us to know. And so I entitled this message, The Seeing the Forest for the Trees Gospel. Because the book of Mark, as it is stated in the beginning, is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. So this is the seeing the forest for the trees gospel that he presents to his disciples as he is training them. Let's begin with verse 22 and go all the way through to verse 26. And they came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. And when he had spit on his eyes and laid hands on him, he asked him, do you see anything? And he looked up and said, I see people, but they look like trees walking. And I might explain there, if I may, before I continue, this man had sight before he went blind. That's how he knows what trees look like. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he opened his eyes. His sight was restored. As I had said, he had sight at one time, and he went blind. And he saw everything clearly and he sent him to his home saying, do not even enter the village. So far the reading of God's word. There are a number of unusual facts about this One is that is recorded only in Mark's book, not in Matthew or Luke or John. It is the only time that I know of or have read about that Jesus healed someone in stages. It's also the only time Jesus actually spit on anyone. And that last point needs to be clarified a little bit because in Mark chapter 7, we learned that Jesus healed a deaf man with a speech impediment by putting his fingers into his ears, then spitting on his fingers and touching the man's tongue. And when Jesus healed the man born blind, in John chapter 9, he spat on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and then put the mud on the man's eyes and they were healed. But this text is notable because it is the only time Jesus ever literally spit on anyone. That alone should make you stop and think, what's going on here? Well, the real story of this miracle is that it is really two miracles in one or more accurately, it's a two stage in that what happened immediately happened and then the process or the ongoing process continued afterward. After the first stage, the man can see, but his vision is very blurry. Only when Jesus touches him a second time, can he see clearly. And many Bible commentators remark on this because there is nothing else like it in the gospels. Everything Jesus did, he did for a purpose. He did not do random miracles or simply perform miracles for no reason at all. So there must be some purpose in the two-stage healing of this blind man. Our text this morning merely relates this story. It doesn't explain the deeper meaning, and that brings us back to the question, what is going on here? And in order to get down to the root of the matter, let us ask a few questions to begin with. And so the seeing the forest for the trees gospel, and I'm going to say it's a healing process. Seeing the forest for the trees gospel is a healing process. And the question is, what does Jesus heal this man in stages for? And this is a good question, but it is a question that is easier to answer if you answer it in the negative. Because it was not because Jesus had any lack of power, as if he didn't have the power to heal the man all at once. It was not because this man's blindness was a particularly hard case. It was not because Jesus tried and failed the first time. Jesus never fails. As it says in 1 Corinthians 13, love never fails, meaning the love of Jesus never fails. And after we ask these questions, we still don't have the answer, but we know that these other answers can't be right. So where do we go from here? And the answer is, when in doubt, we go back to the Bible. Just find out what the text says. And if the text isn't clear, go to the context. That is, find out what comes before and after and see if that will help you out. Now, what do we learn from the immediate context? Well, if you go back to the beginning of this chapter, as we have read it and studied it, you have the miracle of the feeding of the four thousands in verses one to 10. Immediately afterwards, the Pharisees come to argue with him in verses 11 and 12. And after Jesus and the disciples got into a boat, he warned them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees in verse 15. And we learned that leaven is another word for the yeast necessary for baking bread. But in this case, it refers to the false teaching of the Pharisees. But the disciples thought he was talking literally about bread. And then Jesus rebuked the disciples by saying, from verse 18, if you still have your Bibles open, it should be right before you, having eyes you do not see and having ears you do not hear and you do not remember. Can't you see the forest for the trees? Haven't I taught you enough? Or we could paraphrase it this way. How can you be so blind after having been with me so long? Don't you understand anything I'm saying? Every parent has said something similar, I believe. You try to teach your children how to do something the right way, and they keep messing it up. Our God and Father in heaven tries to teach his children, us, something to do in the right way. That's why we have the 10 commandments, and we keep messing them up. Maybe as a parent, you've blurted this out. Didn't you hear what I said? I'm not making that up because I've said it, I don't know how many times, I have four kids, they're all grown up. But I remember saying that. Have you forgotten everything I told you? The answer, of course, is yes and no. Yes, they heard it, but no, they didn't remember it at the time. The main point here is that the effects of the gospel on the human heart come gradually as a part of an ongoing process. And this process is called, children, this is a big word, sanctification. Preachers like using that word, it's a big word. I remember when I went to church and I heard that, I said, what does that mean? That's a big word. Maybe some of you older children also want to know what this means. That's a good question. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks this question, what is sanctification? And the answer is, sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God. In some way we're made just like Jesus. In some ways we're made just like God, being able to have that character and being able to act on it right away when we have faith in Christ. But there's a second part to the answer to this question. What is sanctification? Renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more, and listen to this, to die unto sin. and to live unto righteousness, to die unto sin, and to live unto righteousness. So it's a one-time act of renewal. But at the same time, even though that's already, we're not there yet. And so what we learn is that the gospel healing of the human heart renews those who hear it. It makes them a new person by faith in Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit and through the free grace that God gives them. Already, immediately, God's grace begins when freely taken to the heart, but then, and wait for it, but then, and wait for it, there is more. That's the only beginning of the process. that the new Christian is given the ability to grow even more and more and more every day, to die to sin, to live to righteousness, to die to sin, to live to righteousness, to repent. That's what repentance is, to die to sin and to live to righteousness. It's a life process and it won't be complete until we experience the life everlasting forever and ever with Him. in heaven. You need to put away your sinful ways more and more and to put on Jesus and his righteous ways more and more every day. It's a process. That's what Jesus is teaching us in this story. The scene before us for the trees gospel. It comes is a process, it's healing in your life, but it also comes in the context of your life, meaning it happens right where your life comes in contact with Jesus, right now, today. You can't separate this miracle from its context because the miracle is like a parable of the disciples spiritual confusion. It's possible to have eyes and yet not see very clearly. Without my glasses could be like this man. You have lots of nice colored clothes, but I can't recognize any faces. I can see and understand what the scripture says, men as trees walking. That is, I can see blurry images, but I can't make out the details. And that's precisely what Jesus was saying to his disciples. Do you have eyes and yet not see what I am saying? That is spiritual eyes. Is your spiritual eye blurred? Do you have eyes and yet not see clearly who I am. Is that the way it is with you? You see these messages have no impact if you don't take them personally to heart. Do you see him clearly? Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And what happens? The things down here grow strangely dim And then you begin to see him more clearly and grace more clearly. And you die unto your sin and live unto his righteousness. It's not just a sentimental thing that we sing. It's a biblical thing that we sing. Cloudy spiritual vision affects every Christian to some degree. None of us sees as clearly as we would like, for now we see through a glass darkly, as the scripture says. Or we see as if we're looking at a cloudy mirror. Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 13, where he says, love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. One of my teachers at seminary said, you substitute Jesus for the word love and you'll get it. You'll see more clearly. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. He endured the cross for you. He endured all things sinful for you. And His love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away. As for tongues, they will cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away. You might think you know a lot about the Bible, but do you know Him? Because the Bible's about Him. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when the perfect comes, the perfect law, the perfect law, do you look in the mirror and see Jesus? Do you measure yourself with Jesus? Because he's the standard. When the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child, but when I became a man, I gave up my childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide. These three, but the greatest of these is love. The greatest is Jesus. How perfectly Paul understood this. We have blurry spiritual vision. And in the context of our lives, wherever we are, moms, dads, husbands, wives, grandparents, grandchildren, workers, employees, employers, it doesn't matter. In the context of your life, you understand we don't see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. That applies to all of us, right where we live. Squinting through a fog, peering through a mist. One commentator put it that way. That's what this blind man experienced. When he was partially healed, he saw men as trees walking. No one sees life with perfect clarity. All of us have spiritual nearsightedness to one degree or another. And so what should we learn from this? That is the seeing the forest for the trees gospel. And that is that it becomes more clearly applied to your heart in the very context of your life. As we learn from the word. of God. Now let me summarize some of the lessons we learned from this miracle of our Lord. First of all, he doesn't treat us all the same way. He takes this man by the hand. I think that's so interesting. This is evident as you study the miracles of Christ. He has the power to heal instantly, or he can do it gradually. He's not limited by anything or anyone, and yet he does not treat us all the same. He heals one with a touch, another with a word, another with a glance, another at a great distance. He heals some people he's never even met before. He touches one, never sees the other, both are healed, doesn't matter. It's a great advance spiritually to come to the place where you can say, You don't have to treat me the way you treat my neighbor. Just treat me. Please, help me. Now we all understand that truth theoretically, but it's hard to come to grips with it when your daughter is sick unto death Your neighbor's children aren't healthy or unhappy. No one knows exactly why two people get cancer and one lives and the other doesn't. Many people struggle with this concept because they think that because God did something for somebody else, friend or a neighbor or a loved one, then God must be bound to do the same thing for them. But it doesn't work that way. God can deliver your neighbor from cancer and you may die of cancer, or vice versa. Envying your neighbor because he has something you don't have is a waste of time. God treats us as individuals, not as groups. The truth is he might do for you exactly what he's done for someone else, or he might do more, or he might do less, Or he might do something entirely different. He's God. He can deal with us the way he wants. And we should be able to say, it's all good because he is good. It's all good. I have one of those little signs on the top of the door. It's all good. I believe that. I might not know why. Everyone who has prayed very much understands this truth. One night we fish and catch nothing. The next day our nets are filled to breaking. I might be in prison one night and an angel might come to set me free. Or God might send an earthquake to deliver me. Or I may die in prison as many Christians have over the years. A loved one with a dread disease may be spared by God for several years only to die from that same disease eventually. One day I may sense God's spirit working powerfully in my life. Another day I might plod through that day like a sailor in the doldrums with the sails set for the wind and there is no wind. And so it goes for all of God's children. Our God is infinitely creative in the way he deals with us as he brings us to a spiritual maturity. That's why it's a process. We're not there yet. There are bright days and there are dark nights. There are high mountains and there are dark valleys. And both are from God and for our good. because from him it's all good. Secondly, he deals with us according to our need. And we see that clearly in the story. He dealt with this poor blind man privately because by taking him outside the village, he wanted to deal with him in a special way. Even though his friends brought him to Christ, our Lord is not trying to meet the expectations of the crowd. He dealt with this man by touching him not once, but twice. And that's no small point for a blind man. We know that the blind compensate for the loss of sight by highly developing their other senses, especially the sense of hearing and the sense of touch. Thus, the blind learn how to read Braille with their fingers. something that most sighted people can't even understand or would find extremely difficult. He deals with us according to our need. And next, we don't get better at the same rate or in the same way. And this is a good word for us all who are praying for our loved ones who have gone away from the Lord. They've heard the word. They know the truth. Maybe you taught them as children at home. They've gone astray. How often have we done what these neighbors and friends did for this blind man? They brought him to Jesus and said, please help him. Lord, please help him. And in our prayers, we do the same for our prodigal sons and daughters who are in a far country We cry out on behalf of those who today walk in spiritual blindness. And we ask the Lord to open their eyes and to help them to see. It is good that we should do this because it humbles us. It brings us down to the place where we really are in the depths of our hearts. And it causes us to say, Lord, unless you help them, they will not be helped. Unless you work in their lives, nothing else will change. Sometimes, and I can say this personally about myself, maybe you can about yourself, too. Sometimes, often, in fact, the change we seek comes very slowly. In fact, one of my professors, Dr. Stephen Ball, and I were having a discussion one day as I was trying to learn how to counsel people. And I would say to him, what is going on? I just don't see any progress. And he looked at me straight in the face and he said, Tom, he said, the sanctification process in sinners is very slow. I understand that. That's the way it works with me. I need to constantly repent. That is to die into sin and live unto righteousness. to be conscious of this process. I'm not God, nor can I boss God around and tell him how to do his work. I can't do that. This principle works across the spectrum of spiritual life. Some people come to Christ and grow quickly, become strong disciples in a short period of time. Others take years to learn the word and become strong in the faith. Many will struggle with blurry vision for a long time. I dare say that all of us have areas of blurry vision where we see things very unclearly. Every believer has blind spots, which by definition we don't see because if we saw them, then they wouldn't be blind spots. Duh. Fourth, our own spiritual perception is often clouded and perfect. Having been partially healed, the once blind man can see, but now he needs glasses, just like me. Or once he walked in darkness, now he sees light, but his eyesight is still dim and unfocused. He has something like 2,500 vision. He's what you might call legally blind, but not literally blind anymore. He had been healed, but his healing has not yet been complete. He was on the way, but he hasn't finished yet. Is that on a picture of all of us? I mean, it's not just the disciples, it's all of us. We have blind spots, places of weaknesses, areas of life where we see with blurry vision. Parts of life where our sanctification is far from complete. Who among us would say, I have arrived. I'm truly like Jesus in every part of my life. And I don't need this word anymore. I don't need that. I already know everything. It was true then and it's true now that spiritual growth is growth. It's not instant development. And that's bad news for a generation of impatient believers. We are like the man who prayed, Lord, give me patience and give it to me right now. We want quick answers, decisive decisions, five steps, six keys, seven promises, and eight principles that will lead us to the Victorian Christian life. And you should pray for those who will lead the church because they don't need decisive moments. What they need is discernment. What they need is iron sharpening iron amongst each other. so that they could come to the heart together of the truth in order to minister to God's people because none of them have it all together either. God doesn't work like that giving us everything that we need all at once. We are born as little children, babes in Christ, who must go through all the stages of life, learning and growing as we go along. And how do we learn how to walk? By trying, by getting up and falling down, by trying and failing, and then trying and failing some more. Jesus asked this man, do you see anything? Don't give up when you're not quickly transformed. Do not despair about your own lack of spiritual progress. It's not unusual for your eyesight to be blurry at times. Now let me conclude this message by saying, what finally saved this poor man was his honesty. He did not lie to Jesus. And that's an incredible, crucial insight. He could have said, well, I'm okay now. I can see. If he had said that, he never would have gotten any better. His honesty gave him the sight he did not have. Oh, how hard it is to be honest with God. How difficult to admit our weakness. God, the Lord Jesus Christ did not ask this man, can you see anything? in order to get information he didn't have, because Jesus knew the answer to the question. He wanted the man to be honest about his true condition. We must come to God just as we are, and when we do, he takes us as we are, but he never leaves us that way. Ever. That's why the invitation of Jesus is always very personal. He'll take you aside, where nobody else is looking. He'll sit you down when you're all by yourself. Are you blind? Come to him. Is your vision blurring? Come to him. Do you see men as trees walking? Come to him. Come to him and you will not be disappointed. Jesus wants the truth from you, whatever it costs. And he will say, I'm coming to you. You say, open the eyes of my heart. You say in your heart, I remember this man was saved by his honesty. Are you willing to be honest about your own condition? This is what God wants for all of us. It won't come easily or quickly or in the same way to all of us. But when we admit our need, then we become excellent candidates for some divine eye surgery. He came that we might see clearly. And the question is, do you believe that? Do you believe that? Now there's a prayer for honesty. And you know it. Or at least most of you know it. Maybe it will be familiar to you. We learn it from the word of God, from the Bible, from the teaching of Jesus, as he taught his disciples who ask him point blank, how do we need to pray? How do we need to pray about the healing of our hearts? How do we need to pray about this life in the context of it exactly where we are? How do we need to pray about this dying unto sin and living unto righteousness thing, about this process? Would you, Jesus, teach us? Would you, the Word of God, give it to us? And Jesus said, and when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret. And your father who sees in secret will reward you. Let Jesus take you by the hand, away from all the pomp and circumstance, and take you to that secret prayer closet of yours, wherever you are, and honestly pray to Him. And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do. for they think that they will be heard in their many words. Do not be like them for your father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this. And you can pray with me, not out loud, I'll pray it for you. But just think about this. Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done. not my will, but your will. I'm not God, you are on earth right now, right here in the context of my life as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. Let me die unto sin and live unto righteousness. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Because I know in my heart, without you, I'm going nowhere. I'm gonna be blind. I'm gonna be back in the dark. I want to see more clearly. I want to see the light. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And it stops right there. For if you forgive others, their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. This is where we are. Remember who you are. Remember how much Christ has done to forgive your sins. Remember that this week before you come to the table. Remember if there is something that you need to do to ask for forgiveness, do it. If there's a relationship you need to help restore, do it. Don't be just a mouthpiece of the word, be a doer of the word. It's a great advance spiritually when we can say, Lord, I am blind, help me to see. And remember that God intends to bring something good out of whatever's going on, because with him, it's all good. He intends to use your imperfect vision to bring you to a place of deeper trust in Him. Nothing is wasted with the Lord, not even those times when you feel as if you can't see clearly. Be honest, take that Lord's prayer, that's what it's here for, and pray to Him in the context of your life. Pray to Him for healing. that you might see clearly the face of Jesus, the perfect law, to which you look into the mirror and see so that your life can die unto sin and live unto righteousness. Shall we pray together? Help us, O God and Father, to turn our eyes upon Jesus and to know that when we do, These things of earth grow dim and we see clear the things of heaven, and that's what we want to see. And yes, we struggle. Help us to be honest about that. And yes, we hope. Help us to dig into your word where it says that we have the hope we have the power we have the victory to overcome. To grow in faith. to see Jesus in the Christian life more clearly until that day when we are taken to be with him in heaven and we'll see all things crystal clearly. Thank you for this word. Thank you for our brother Peter a disciple. Was just like us. Who needed to be healed in stages. And who needed to grow in his faith. We pray this in Jesus name and for his sake alone. Amen.