Living in the Invisibles (Part 1): How to See the Unseen in Christ

Let’s take a minute and say something to the Lord. And what I want to say to You, Lord, is thank You. We didn’t pray much for this, but we prayed some, and we cared a lot, and You knew that. And we all have heard a bit, and we have all seen what you have done, and that’s what we’d like to talk about, Lord, that there’s not a thing in this world a man can do to bring forth the church. It cannot be done by us, Father. And what little we have here is utterly, totally of You. And I want to thank you for the privilege of sitting here on this floor and talking to my brothers and sisters. I want to thank you for whatever it was you’ve done here while I’ve been gone. I really thank you, Lord, that the sisters care for the sisters and the brothers care for the brothers and that there’s a little love here for you, and a lot of joy from what you’ve done. Jesus Christ our Lord, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, thank You for this night and thank you for this privilege. Amen.

Well, let me tell you a story. I don’t know how to do this. Some of the times when y’all were going through some very, very rough times, differently. I don’t know how I’m going to work with Rochester yet. Right now, I’m doing something totally different in Denver than I am in Atlanta, and I want to do something here that I have never done in my life and that I’ve never asked anyone to do. Now, let’s get really clear at the beginning. We’re going to fail at this. We just hold our nose. Get prepared for this. We’re not going to make it. Isn’t that wonderful? Lower your expectations of yourself and your brothers and sisters, but we are going to deal with it. We’re not going to talk about it. We’re going to deal with spiritual things that are unseen, as I have never personally worked with a group of people. That’s a promise, and I’ll probably not keep it, but that’s what we’re going to do.

As far as your notebooks are concerned, this is all I’m going to ask of you, but I’m going to ask you to do it. I’m not particularly going to ask you to make notes, but every time we come to a meeting, I’m going to ask you to put down the date, and then I’m going to ask you to put down the scripture references. Then, not in this meeting, because I think it might be distracting, but between now and the next meeting, I’m going to ask you to write out those scriptures. That’s what you’re going to have to do to help me, because I may not be able to read to you tonight. I could, but I’ll tell you, saints, I wouldn’t put up with anybody who reads as slow as I do. It’s nerve-wracking to me. It’s going to be nerve-racking for you. I’m going to give you some scriptures. I want you to write down the references, and later, I want you to write them down. Tonight, there won’t be many, but tomorrow night, by the way, is anybody here who could do some typing for us sometime tomorrow?

It’s called today’s English version put out by the American Bible Society, and man, I don’t know where I’m headed. This thing (large print Bible) is huge, bigger than anything you’ve got, and it’s not big enough. I’ve got a large print New American here. Well, I tell you what, let’s do. I’m going to read a few of these. Who’s got a good voice? You’ll tell me who would make a good reader. Don’t anybody volunteer. You volunteer somebody else who would be a good person for us to call on to read. Mike, let’s go to Romans 8:24. I’m going to ask you all to write that down, and later I’ll ask you to fill it in. Are we going to talk about these? These things? I figured out now where I need to put this light on top of my head, like these guys who work in the mines. No, no. I won’t mess with it.

Audience: Romans 8:24. “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope. For why does one also hope for what he sees?”

Who among us hopes for something we see? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. I’m sorry, thank you. I didn’t put down number 25 here, and it’s part of it. Well, please underline this. This is not a good translation I’ve got here. What have you got for 25, Mike? And what are you reading out of?

Audience: But if we hope for what we do not see with perseverance, we wait eagerly for it.

Okay. I want you to underline this in your New Testament. Forget the “if”. We hope for what we cannot see. We hope for what we cannot see. Now, saints, hold on to that. I tell you what, we’re just going to do a little…we’re just out here where I’ve never been. Do you want to call this St. Cloud or Orlando? We’re going to decide tonight. You feel that way about it, huh? Okay. For those of us who live here in St. Cloud, look for that which we cannot see. Let’s go ahead and do some more violation of scripture here. We will look for what we cannot see. We will find what we cannot see, and we will see what we cannot see. Now, you might want to underline that verse. That’s the first time I’ve ever read to you as a church. This is where we started. That’s a good place to start. Romans 1:20. Some of this will be very fragmented, and again, I feel like I’m totally out of control here.

Audience: For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

In verse 20, do you know what this verse says? It says His invisible what? That’s New American? Okay, this is a little better. His invisible qualities. Anybody got anything else? We’re doing something I’ve never done before. You were in a teachy type situation. I’m scared to death of that kind of thing. Alright, His invisible attributes, His invisible qualities. And was there something else?

Audience: His eternal power.