There are all kinds of vision in our world today. We see many things with the vision of our natural eyes. When our natural eyes are not working right, there are different terms for those ailments:
- Nearsightedness…….when we can only see the things around us clearly that are very close
- Farsightedness…..when we can only see the things that are far away from us clearly and the things up close are out of focus and “unclear”
- Cataracts….when the lens of the eyes become covered and blurry and causes all sight to be compromised. When cataracts are removed it is said to be like scales being removed and clear vision restored.
There are also other kinds of “visions” that are around us in the world today. Self help gurus and success mentors teach their followers to visualize what they wish to achieve or visualize with the “vision” of their minds to reach their full potential of success. And yet there is still another kind of vision; it is as the Hebrew language tell us, “a divine communication, a divine prophecy, a vision while in an ecstatic state, a vision, a mirror, a spiritual experience where you see with your spiritual eyes….and maybe even with your natural eyes”….There were Prophets in the old testament, often called “seers” pronounced “see-ers” because they saw things in visions. There was Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Nehemiah, Joel, Obadiah, Nahum, and many others. You may be thinking, “These were Old Testament Prophets, what does that have to do with me? I am just an ordinary person. How can I have visions?”
Because the promises of God are sure and stedfast, and if God said it, by faith you may receive it! Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see VISIONs:
The Prophet Isaiah lived in the times of Hezekiah, king of Judah. There had been a resurgence in the land of Judah to follow the Lord and to seek after his will. The prophet Isaiah’s writings are in 66 chapters and is often called the “mini bible”. In its 66 chapters you see portions of the entire bible in its writings. Some poetic references remind you of Psalms, its wisdom reminds you of Proverbs, Its prophetic utterances of the Messiah in chapters 1,9,28,30,40,53,58 sounds a lot like the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and the last chapter 66 tells us of the new heavens and the new earth like the book of Revelation! When you have a vision as Isaiah had in Chapter 6 and it is from God:
- You will see GOD for who HE is! You will see His majesty and his glory, and you will be forever changed! Your stinking thinking will be exchanged for heavenly thoughts, and your affections will be on things above Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Your conversation will be changed to prayers for others, and your speech to that which edifies. Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
- You will see yourself as God sees you! After Isaiah beheld the glory of the Lord, he had this to say about himself! “I saw the Lord! High and lifted up! I had a vision! I looked into the “mirror” of GOD! Woe is me! I am a man of unclean lips! And I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips! Our vision of our selves will change. We will recognize that without JESUS the savior in our lives we are nothing, have nothing, can do nothing, and most of all KNOW nothing! We will be able to say like the prophet Isaiah in the 53rd chapter, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
- You will have a heart for others! You will see others as you never saw them before. Your response will be like Isaiah’s when the Lord says, “Who will go for us? Who shall we send? Who will tell the story? Who will spread the message?” You will say as the prophet did that day, “Here am I, send me, I will go!” The sad part of this wonderful story is the Lord commissioned Isaiah to GO!, but that he would go to those who would not want to hear, would not want to see, would not want their hearts to be converted. 9.And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
The Message of the Cross of Calvary, of Jesus the Christ, the Savior of those who will receive him, is hated by this world of darkness. The truth of Jesus paying for our salvation by the shedding of his precious blood, is ridiculed as old fashioned and outdated! It is pushed aside as to narrow, and so very unpopular! Paul stated that the preaching of the cross was to them that perish foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power of GOD! I Corinthians 1:18. The body of Christ, the church, needs a fresh new vision of the Savior! We must enter again into HIS presence to see that He has been highly exalted and given a name above all names! Phillipians 2 9. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Once in his presence we can see ourselves as he sees us! Our robes can be washed again to remove the spots, blemishes, and wrinkles. These are the besetting sins and weights, the rudiments of this world, and the philosophies and traditions of men! We must have our eyes anointed with the eyesalve of the blood of JESUS, and our lips touched with the fires of the altars of heaven, being filled with the Holy Ghost and fire! Then we can completely be the vessels of honor fit for the masters use, to spread the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world!
The lack of a vision causes the people of God to perish! Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Many times the people of God have allowed their vision of Jesus to become impaired.
- In near-sightedness, we cannot see afar off. II Peter 1:9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. This world has captivated the eyes of the modern Laodacean church, and she is indeed blind to the things of GOD that should be seen, and her eyes are far to open to the things of this world! Oh! How we need the eyesalve of the High Priest, Jesus Christ the righteous, to correct our vision. When we truly turn our eyes upon Jesus, looking full into his wonderful face, then the things of this world will grow strangely dim, in the light of HIS glory and grace!
- We can be farsighted…. and have lost the ability to see the need right next to us. Our focus and our goals are in a distant tomorrow. We will find we only have eyes for some distant goal, some place we see ourselves in GOD. Many times we put off the things Jesus is calling us to do, because for one reason or another, we feel unworthy or unqualified to complete a task we know HE has called us to do. Instead we look in the future and our thoughts are: “when this is just right…when that place has been reached…then I will attempt to perform the will of GOD!” …and yesterday leads to today that will lead to an eternity of should have, might have, and didn’t do. Yet, in the here and now, there are loved ones and friends that we did not reach, did not encourage, did not edify, did not tell how much we loved them….and the broken pieces of today are all around us while we look to the future when we can “do GODS work”…Psalms 96:2 Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day!
- we can have spiritual cataracts….our eyes can become tired and weak and coated with scales of disapointment, sorrow, rejection, hurt, pain, and unbelief. Events in our lives have hardened our view so we really cannot see the need that is before us in the moment we are in…and have so clouded our perception, that the view of eternity seems so distant and far away. Even the vision we once had, that clear distinct view of the SAVIOR, as he hung on a cross of shame for us…becomes blurred…we no longer see the nail scars, the wounded side that was pierced, the brow of his precious head that was scarred with thorns…the flesh that hung from his back from the stripes he took so you and I could be healed from our ailing eyesights!
OH! but there is HOPE! The same JESUS, can heal you naturally and spiritually, and HIS principles are still the same…HE is the GOD that changeth not….HE is the same yesterday, today, and forever! In the same faith that you cried out to HIM to save your soul from judgement….it will take the same faith as you cry out to HIM for deliverance and mercy…and the healer of our souls will do HIS work….and remove the scales from our eyes, so our vision can once again be clear…and give us a focused view of His master plan for our lives!
“Oh I want to see Him, Look upon His face, Praise His name forever, of His saving Grace
And on the streets of Glory, let me lift my voice…cares all past, HOME at last, ever to rejoice”
Someday soon, We will see HIM face to face…..If you will keep your vision clear to see HIS face while you are here…when you see HIM face to face …it will be with joy and not with fear.
Serve JESUS with Gladness, KNOW HIM today, and seek a FRESH VISION of HIM!
Pastor Stephen