The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: Jesus is before us. He has opened himself up. Blood has come forth. His body has been broken. Now we see the glory of God manifested all for us, all because of His love.

Guest (Male): Welcome to The Healing Word, a ministry of the Largo Community Church. Today, Pastor Jack Morris takes us on a journey as he chronicles the life of Christ, from His birth to His ministry, and through His death on a cross as the ultimate payment for your sins and mine. Jesus is not dead but was resurrected and is alive, working in the hearts and situations of those who have placed their trust in him. Now, let’s join Pastor Jack Morris as he introduces today’s message, "Seeing Jesus Now."

Pastor Jack Morris: I’m so glad you’re with me today. You’re going to hear the message that will build faith in your heart, and we’re going to experience Jesus in action today. He certainly was in action when He was here on Earth in physical form. But friend, He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. He’s alive and well and very active. Look to Him, and He’ll become active in your life, doing great and wonderful things, even miracles. He’s the same. He loves you the same. He wasn’t just God back then; He’s God right now. Come with me into the sanctuary, hear the message, and be abundantly blessed.

Seeing Jesus now. We talked about the wise men, the Magi, coming to see the child Jesus. They came from a country called Persia. Today, it’s called Iraq. They came a long distance, taking them at least a year, maybe two years. The reason we come by two years is when Herod saw that the Magi were not coming back to tell him where the Christ child was, he had the little boys two years and under killed. So, Jesus was not an infant but a little boy when the wise men came. And it says they didn’t come to the manger; they entered a house. So, Mary and Joseph had moved in the meantime.

But the star appeared, and they followed that star, the Magi, the wise men. They crossed deserts, arid deserts, hot, waterless deserts. They traveled across mountain ranges. They crossed two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, wide, wide rivers. It wasn’t an easy journey. But I think of the life that we have lived and the year we have come through. Last year wasn’t necessarily an easy journey for some of us. But we persevered like the Magi did, and we’re in the house of God today. We’re following the Lord, serving God, and our hearts are still hungering for Him.

That’s what it takes, friends. Listen to me: this Christian life is not a cakewalk. We fight against evils, temptations, difficulties, hardships, the same things that everybody else fights against and goes through. But the difference is we have Jesus, and our focus is going to be on Jesus. We’re going to persevere like the wise men did. They were wise indeed, the intelligentsia of their day. They were not Christians; they were pagans. They were not Hebrews. They were not followers of Jehovah. But they wanted to see Jesus. Friend, how greatly do you want to see Jesus today?

Did you sing the praise choruses, the hymns? Did you pray the prayers? Is your heart open right now to the Word of God? They said, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" I came to church today. Where is He? Can I find Him? Does He know where I am? Can He find me? He has a gift to give to me, something to bless me and help me today and help me move beyond what happened last week and last year, and move into the new year. I’ll tell you, life is in Jesus, and He is here today to bless and to give us that light and life.

Now, when the wise men got to Jerusalem or into the land of Judea looking for Jesus, I don't know why the star temporarily disappeared, but it did. And knowing that He was King of the Jews, the Magi went to the capital of Israel, Jerusalem, and they asked Herod, who was the King of the Jews at that time, being a half-Jew himself, "Where is He born King of the Jews?" Later on, thank God, the star reappeared. And again, I read that and I thought, sometimes we are in the light and enjoying the light of His presence. But sometimes the candle goes out, the star disappears, and our spiritual experience seems somewhat flat.

We’re in that arid desert. But we keep persevering. We don’t give up because that star will reappear. You see, we walk by faith, not by sight. If you must feel all the time like you’re spiritual, if you always have to feel on top, and if you have to feel like going to church, friend, you do some things because you know you’re a child of God and you’re called to do it. You just do it, and then the star reappears. Can you say amen? That’s how it is, isn't it? How blessed we are to be followers of Jesus, the Bright and Morning Star. And He’s going to lead us.

But when that star reappeared, it started moving again, and it kept moving, and they kept following. Just keep on keeping on. Can you do that? And the star came and went over the house where Jesus was, and it stopped. And they went in the house, and there they saw Jesus. Now, notice it says these wise men "when." It wasn’t until "when." It’s when I get on my knees. It’s when I pray. It’s when I get to church. It’s when I sing. It’s when the message comes. It’s when. Friend, this is the moment of when. It’s now that you’re going to experience Jesus.

You’re going to experience Him at the Holy Communion table. And the Scripture says when these wise men saw the child, that’s when worship takes place: when I see Him, understand Him, know that praise chorus is about Him, know that hymn is exalting Him, know the sermon is Christ-centered. It’s when I know that, when it dawns on me. I sort of get to church sometimes and I sit there—it happens to me too—I wonder and I'm looking around and seeing who is here and who isn't there. I'm looking around, but I'm not looking around for Jesus.

But it’s when I see Jesus, that’s when I know I’ve had a church experience, a religious experience, a spiritual experience. When they saw the child, these men who were pagan, these kings who were pagan—now, when I say pagan, I don’t mean they were illiterate; not at all. They were the intelligentsia of their day. They studied the heavens. They logged in the stars. They studied philosophy, medicine, natural sciences. They were brilliant men. But when I use the word pagan, it simply means they worshiped a multiplicity of gods. They had many gods. But this God that they wanted to see was King of the Jews, not their king; He was King of the Jews.

But when they saw Him, they bowed before Him. They bowed on their knees and they put their heads on the floor. When they saw Jesus, it was Jesus. Something happened inside of them, in their minds, in their hearts. A feeling of awe, a feeling of dread, of honor, of reverence, of veneration. All of those words, all of those emotions combined into one emotion. They had to come down in the presence. Friend, we are, whether we know it yet or not this morning, we are in the presence of Jesus. But when it dawns upon us, when we realize it, then we begin to worship in spirit and in truth. Otherwise, it’s not a true worship experience. It’s a Sunday morning going-to-church experience.

There’s a big, big difference. But when we come into His presence, there’s healing, there’s forgiveness, there’s wholeness, there’s newness of life. Well, something very similar happened to these Greeks. They were at Jerusalem at Passover time, these Greeks. They were pagans also. They weren't part of the Hebrew faith, or they certainly weren't Christians because the Christians were not called Christians until the book of Acts, sometime years after Jesus ascended and went back to heaven.

So, they weren't called followers of God, of Jehovah. They weren't men of scripture. But they were intelligent. They were Greeks. They were seekers of truth. They had tried paganism. Friend, what have you done trying to find some happiness and some relief and some pleasure in your life? How many temptations have you yielded to, and you’re still just basically where you were, and not any happier than you were before? You just went around and came around again.

That’s how these Greeks were. They had studied under teacher after teacher after teacher. They had studied philosophy. And they came to Jerusalem. And now they’re going to try out the Hebrew faith. They’re going to try something else. Always looking for something else. "I’m going to try something else. Surely this will do it." But apparently, the Hebrew faith wasn’t doing a whole lot for them either. And then they heard about Jesus. "Hey, why not check Him out, too? We’re going to try Jesus now."

They’re just looking and looking. Friend, you’re there, but you don’t seem to know you’re there. But there is one answer to all life’s needs and perplexities, and that is Jesus. And these Greeks went to one of Jesus’ disciples, Philip by name. The name Philip is a Greek name. Maybe they, being Greeks, felt maybe more comfortable going to one of their own kind or at least one who had a Greek name. But at any rate, the Greeks went to Philip and asked Philip to take them to see Jesus. "We would like to see Jesus. This is what we'd like to do."

So Philip and Andrew, his brother, got together, and both of them went over to Jesus and said, "Hey, there’s some Greeks out here that want to see you, would like to meet you." Again, they weren't Hebrews. They weren't followers of Jehovah. They were pagans. But they wanted to see Jesus. If you have your Bibles, you’d like to open them. John chapter 12. This is what Jesus said in John 12:23. Jesus replied to Philip: He said, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." What He meant when He said "glorified," He meant crucified.

How do you heal through death? How is Jesus going to do good through His broken body and His shed blood? It looked like something else or somebody else brought Him down. But notice what He goes on to say here. He now tells a story. He takes a little grain of wheat in His hand, so small, a grain, a kernel. And He says, "Unless the kernel goes into the ground like a farmer would plant it, unless it dies, it remains alone. It must die to reproduce."

Basically, what He is saying: if these Greeks come to me now, what are they going to see? They’re going to see a man, a Jew. He’ll look like a Jew. I dress like a Jew. I have the accent of a Jew. I dress like a Jew. I worship like a Jew. They’re just going to see me like they see anybody else. You see, Jesus could lose Himself in the crowd. There was not anything particularly distinguishing Him, setting Him apart. He said, "They’re just going to see the shell, just like you see the shell of that kernel. But I put the kernel, or the farmer does, in the soil, and the kernel dies to its old life of being a shell."

But wait, just be patient and watch. Soon a blade is going to come up out of that ground. And soon another kernel is going to be on that blade. And soon the full corn is going to come out. But it has to go in the ground and die for it to come out and to reproduce itself. Now, that’s what Jesus is trying to do: to reproduce Himself in all of us today. But as a man living, walking, talking, eating, sleeping, He couldn't reproduce Himself. He said, "The Son of Man must go into the ground. I must die to this physical shell of a life."

Inside of Him was the life of God, the light of God. The three disciples, Peter, James, and John, got a glimpse of what was inside of Him on the Mount of Transfiguration. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus’ body was opened up and a light came bursting forth, causing them to fall like dead men to the ground. God’s Spirit came over, and the voice of God said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I’m well pleased." Now, that light was in Him. But something had to open Him up for that light to come out. And then it closed itself. He looked like a man again, and He came down from the mountain, and they saw only the temple or the shell that He lived in.

But here is Jesus saying to these Hebrews: not now, but shortly you’re going to see the Jesus, the Son of Man, in the power of the Son of God. You came all that distance just to see a shell. Friend, I’ve got to ask myself: why did I come to church today? Why do I pray? Why do I read the Word of God? Why do I give in the offerings? Why do I do some of these things? To bring me into the presence of the Lord, to see Him. Now, what Jesus is saying, notice again, He says, "If it remains, it only remains a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds," meaning that all of us today are the seeds of Jesus because He came up.

What He was saying to these Greeks: "I’m going to be opened up, and now you’re really going to see what you came to see. The nails are going to open me up. The spear in my side is going to open me up. The thorns are going to open me up. And when I’m opened up, blood is going to come forth. Now you’re going to see the Son of God in all of His glory, blood that will cleanse you from all your sin. Now you’re going to see the purpose in my coming. Now you’re going to see the Son of God." What did you come to see? Just a man? Oh no. You came to see the Son of God.

You want to see me? It’s going to take nails, spear. It’s going to take the whipping with lashes. And when I’m opened up, friend, today, today Jesus is before us. He has opened Himself up. Blood has come forth. His body has been broken. Now we see the glory of God manifested all for us, all because of His love, all for us. It takes something special to happen. It doesn’t happen quickly to any of us. But when Jesus was talking to the disciples and asked them, "Whom do men say that I am?" One of them spoke up, the Apostle Peter, and said, "You’re the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus said, "It’s only by the power of the Holy Spirit." Friend, you and I have not worshiped until the power of the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see Him who was opened up at Calvary and why He came and why He was opened up. Now I can bow down before Him and worship Him in spirit and in truth. Later on, Jesus in the upper room after His resurrection, He looks at those disciples, and particularly one of them, and He told him, He invited him. He said to Thomas, "See my hands and my feet."

Friend, may God help us to see a crucified, resurrected Savior today. As Jesus invited Thomas, "See my hands." Do I see His hands and His feet? Do I see Him opened up for me? His love coming forth for me. He couldn't say it any more clearly. Even heaven and all the wisdom of God knew of no better way to communicate. And friend, if we don’t get this communication, we just cannot be communicated to. Our ears are deaf, our minds are blind, our minds are dull. We are in a stupor. We’re in church. But God has not somehow revealed Himself to us because we weren't looking, we were not expecting Him.

But God is here today for you and me to see Him. The Greeks said, "I want to see Jesus. We would like to see Jesus." Well, friend, today, if you want to see Jesus, come in humility, come in confession, come in repentance, come bowing down like the wise men. Fall before the Lord in your hearts. Let the Holy Spirit open up your eyes and your understanding. Like the wise men, like I said, we’ll go home differently. We will not be the same people who came into church today. The Lord loves you so much, loves us so much. Do you love Him? I know you do. We’re going to come to this altar. We’re going to bow down. We’re going to worship. He has been opened with the nails, with the scars, with the beatings, with the spear. Heaven has been opened up to us. Will we receive? Amen.

Guest (Male): If today's message strengthened your faith, we invite you to stand with The Healing Word through your prayers and your generous support. Every gift helps us take the Gospel to more people who desperately need to hear that Jesus still saves. Join us tomorrow for another Healing Word message. Until then, blessings on you.