Rev. Michael McGuire - In Our Own Sight

i'm going to open the word of the lord and there is power in the word of the lord we're going to mix what we feel we're going to mix our praise and the word of the lord and god's getting ready to do something in this place do you believe that amen and amen numbers chapter 13 and 27 again we want to welcome every guest that's come to be with us this morning thank you thank you for coming being a part of apostolic pentecostal church today and we welcome you to join in with us and praise him and worship him and exalt him we we want you to pray with us and and pray during this time and then of course you can respond to the word of god and we believe that his word is powerful and that it speaks to us and that it gives us direction numbers chapter 13 and verse 27 it says and they told him referring to moses and said we came unto the land whither thou sent us and surely it flows with milk and honey and it is the fruit of it and this is the fruit

of it nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land and the cities are walled and very great and moreover we saw the children of anak there the amalekites dwell in the land of this to the south and the hittites and jebusites and amorites dwell in the mountains and the canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast of jordan the bible says in verse 30 that caleb stilled the people before moses and he said let us go up at once and possess it he said for we are well able to overcome it but the men that went up with him said we be not able to go up against the people for they are stronger than we they brought an evil report of the land which they had searched out unto the children of israel saying the land through which we have gone to search it it is a land that even eateth up the inhabitants thereof and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature verse 33 and there we saw the giants son of of anak which come of the giants

and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers and so were we in their sight they brought the report to the children of israel and they said we were in our own sight as grasshoppers and so were we in their sight and i want to preach this morning on this thought in our own sight in our own sight his power is here today and his presence has filled this room would you ask god to speak into your life today lord i thank you for the anointed word and the word that you've given me today for this church i pray that your anointing would come in this place i feel it already i pray that your anointing would come and would work and would touch our hearts direct us and guide us and encourage us and help us here today we pray and we thank you for what you're going to do hallelujah would you lift your hands one more time and just thank him lord we thank you we thank you for your presence and for your word and we give you praise and glory and honor amen and

you may be seated out of all the senses in the human body many agree that our vision is the most important humans are unique in their reliance on sight as the dominant sense and that is reflected in how complicated our eyes are relative to other creatures many animals gain most of the information about their environment through their sense of smell your dog's nose tells him much more about his world and who it and who's in it than in his eyes in preparation today i researched uh how the eyes work but i did choose not to bore you with all of those details simplify i got an amen over there simplified when we look at an object all the data that our eyes have collected is sent along the optic nerve to our brain which begins to process and tell us what we are looking at the eyes are the physical portal through which data from your environment is collected and sent to your brain for processing eighty percent of what we perceive comes through our

sense of sight once we see something we begin to process that information and we begin to make decisions with the data that we have seen and the knowledge that we have and though our site or i'm sorry all day long all day long you and i are making decisions based on what we see and know and though our sight is a wonderful thing and i would not want to lose it sometimes our eyes are an obstacle when we are walking this road called life and we are trying to walk by faith second corinthians 5 and 7 says for we walk by what faith and not by sight and because our eyes allow us to function the way we do day by day we seem to grow a dependence on our natural sense of sight rather than trusting what god says and what god sees an example of that is the children of israel as they're leaving egypt god's people have been in bondage for 430 years and god declares that he will deliver them and he will bring them to the promised land and as they're making

their way through the wilderness they saw the miraculous continually as they're leaving egypt god sends a pillar of fire and a cloud to be with them that's the miraculous they cross the red sea as the waters are parted as moses stretches his rod over that's the miraculous bitter waters are made sweet so that they could drink when they were in need and that was the miraculous manna and quail fell from heaven and fed them and nourished them and that was the miraculous and water flows from a rock as they're in the wilderness and that was the miraculous on and on and on miracles are taking place all around them there is no shortage of miracles in the wilderness yes there was hard times but it seemed that there were miracles at every turn but it does seem to me like their focus was on hard times rather on the miraculous a shift was needed and their focus hear me somebody if you're going through the wilderness when we go through the wilderness

when we go through barren times and dry times if we will look around we will see the miraculous the miracle working god in our midst we will see the miraculous in our midst but like the children of israel it's hard for us when we're going through it when we're going through trials and temptations and when we're going through it it's hard for us to see anything else besides what we're going through but hear me today there are miracles in the midst of the wilderness finally they overcome the obstacles and the wilderness and they arrive at the land which god had promised them and their fathers a land the bible describes as flowing with milk and honey deuteronomy 1 and 20 says i said unto you you are come to the mountain of the amorites which the lord our god doth give unto us behold the lord thy god hath set the land before thee go up and possess it as the lord god of thy fathers hath said unto thee fear not neither be discouraged god told

them you've come to the land it is your land i have given it to you it's time for you to go and possess it no matter what the land looks like no matter what's in the land god said do not fear and do not be discouraged but go and possess the land that i have given you god had told them about the inhabitants of the land he told them about all the people that lived in the land nevertheless he said i'm giving you that land that is your land and now it's up to you to go and possess it verse 22 moses says ye came near unto me every one of you and said we will send men before us and they shall search out the land and bring us word by what way we must go and into what cities we shall come they wanted to see the land they wanted to put eyes on the land and moses agreed with them and sent them to spy out the land i do not believe that it was god's idea to send the spies it was not god's idea to put eyes on the land to see the land to check out the

land it was israel's plan moses agreed and god allowed it and numbers 13 and 17 moses sent them to spy out the land of canaan and said unto them get you up this way southward and go into the mountain watch what he said here and see the land i want you to look at the land go check it out put your eyes on the land and see what it is he said i want you to see the people that dwell therein and if they be strong or weak or few or many what god had already told them who was in the land he already told them about the inhabitants of the land but moses said i want you to go check it and i guess make sure that god's telling us the truth go put your eyes on the land and see who's in the land 19 he says what the land is they dwell in whether it be good or bad or whether there be cities whether they're dwelling in tents or in strongholds verse 20 what the land is whether it be fat or lean whether there be wood therein or not moses is asking them to bring

back a report that god has already given them it doesn't matter if the people are strong or weak or fewer many god said go and possess it it's yours and i'll be with you evidently if he told him to go and possess the land that he was going to be with them and he was going to help them and he was going to do the miraculous in their midst again they were going to be victorious but they wanted to see it and once they see it they will process it and once they process it they will make a human decision if they are able to take it or not he said take a look at the land and see if it's good or bad or fat or lean or wood or no wood but god already saw the land and he already said this land flows with milk and honey speaking of the fertility and goodness of the land but israel and moses wanted to see it for themselves they saw the goodness of the land but as they began to look at the land doubt and fear began to grip them as they looked on with the

human eye defeat and hesitation began to creep in they began to focus their eyes on who dwelt in the land and the walls of the land and the giants that are in the land and they made the decision because of how it looked in their sight rather than what god had said to them so the decision was that they were not able to possess it because of what they saw because they were walking by sight and not faith they saw themselves the bible says as grasshoppers they saw themselves as insignificant they saw themselves as the enemy saw them they saw themselves as defeated in their own sight but joshua and caleb said let us go up and possess it why because god has given us this land joshua and caleb did not just make a decision by what they saw they went with them and they saw what they saw but they adjusted their vision to align with what god said and to align with what god saw i wish somebody would hear what i'm saying this morning as we look at saint

louis and our city and our community and our field we see hopelessness and unrighteousness and ungodliness we see atheism and other religions that are going on we see walls that people have built between themselves and the church we see political corruption we see addiction to drugs and alcohol and pornography we see divorce and abuse and hurts we see what it is as red seas that need to be parted giving all these situations the impossibilities and struggles when looking through our natural eyes it would be easy for us to disqualify ourselves from receiving the promise that god has in store for us here miss somebody i said by looking at all the things that are going on around us it would be easy for us to disqualify ourselves from receiving the revival that god wants to do at apc but when god looks out our field do you know what he sees john 4 and 35 say not ye there are yet four months then cometh harvest behold i say unto you what does

he say lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white already to harvest god isn't looking at all the disappointments god isn't looking at all the obstacles god isn't looking at all the unrighteousness that's going on god is looking at the field and he's telling the church it is white it is ripe and it is ready to harvest if you believe that would you clap your hands hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah i said god sees righteousness prevailing god sees walls being torn down god sees addictions and chains of addiction being broken he sees helpless people being filled with hope he sees broken people being healed he sees hurting people being restored i said god is looking on the field and he's saying it is ready it is white and it is ready to harvest when god looks at our field i felt this in the holy ghost when he's looking over there and over there and over there in our community you know what he's saying hey there's the

next preacher there's the next soul winner there's the next intercessor there's the next celebrate recovery leader there is the next griefshare leader there's the next musician there's the next prayer warrior there's the next pastor there's the next sunday school teacher there's the next evangelist he doesn't shut out what's going on around him but he says hey it's ready this is your land this is hear me apc this is your community this is your field this is your land and it's time that apc rise to the caucasian and we possess the land it's time that we possess the land can you see it with our natural eyes sometimes it's so hard for us to see but we've got to align our eyes with what god says and with what god sees our focus can so easily be on the things that are going on maybe covet or past failures or obstacles or dry seasons and we can focus on that or we can adjust our focus on the miracles that are going on all around us we can focus

on what god said and what god promised and what god sees would you lift your hands and would you tell god i want to focus on what you said i want to focus on what you promised i want to focus on what you see hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah the spies that came back mentioned that they were grasshoppers and their what own sight but they did not stop there they said we were in their sight as well they went a step further they not only said that we see ourselves as insignificant and small and grasshoppers in our own site but then they begin to buy into what the enemy and how the enemy saw them and that they are we are grasshoppers in their sight too they were making a decision about a promise that god gave them on what they saw the giants and the walls and the land and how they and how they saw themselves as grasshoppers and now they shifted that and they're focusing on what the others thought about them if we base our

decisions on how the enemy perceives us and sees us we are going to feel i said if we base our decisions on how the enemy sees us then we are going to fail this is going to be very transparent and i'm going to the only reason i'm saying this is because i hope that i'm going to help somebody but in the last few weeks that enemy has come and spoke some things into my mind things that he said he saw in me that i want to just give up things like you're not a capable leader you're not that good of a preacher you don't have the anointing that you really thought you had you're not the greatest father in the world you're not a very good husband and and i think deep down inside i know that those things are false i know that those things aren't true but the enemy was attacking me and trying to push me down and trying to intimidate me and trying to disqualify me from being what god wants me to be can i be transparent with you it was a couple of days

that i felt down in the dumps and i felt depressed because of what he was speaking into my life but there was something that began to stir inside of me that said i don't care what you say i only care what he says i don't care what you see i only care what he sees do not disqualify yourself because of what others see in you or what the enemy has said to you you are a child of god god has called you and you are victorious yes you are victorious it doesn't matter how many times you failed you get back up and let god use you it doesn't matter if you messed up and you think i'm never going to be anointed i'm never going to be used i'm never going to be able to do this that's a lie from hell you stand back up and you let god speak to you you see what god sees in you i'm sick and tired of christians giving up their walk with god because they messed up or they failed or the enemy got them down and against the wall i'm sick and tired of it it's time

that we the church stand up it's time that we the church stand up and we realize who we are and what we have and the god that we serve it's almost like we have this fall we want to know what others see in us we take that information and we calculate our next move but david showed us david showed us that when others don't see you as god sees you that god makes up the difference when the enemy doesn't seize you as god sees you god always makes up the difference samuel is sent to anoint the next king of israel he goes to jesse's house to find the next king and the bible says that he sees eliab and he says surely this is the next king of israel i imagine that that man or boy was standing tall and strong and by looking at him he looked like a king and he was the firstborn of jesse's house so he has to be the king but the word says the lord said to samuel what do not look at his appearance or had his physical stature because i have refused him

for the lord does not see as man sees we've got to get that in our spirit that man does not see like god sees what we see isn't always what we've got to adjust our vision that's why we've got to adjust our vision to see what god sees he says man looks at the outward appearance but the lord looks at the heart not only did samuel look at the wrong boy to be king jesse didn't even have david present and had already disqualified him from being anointed he didn't even bring him in he left him out to tend the sheep so now the prophet uh doesn't see him his dad doesn't see him david could have laughed and went back and said no uh you didn't call me out here in the first place so it must not be god's will no soon as they brought david up that prophet knew the lord spoke to him that that is the one that's the next king of israel david arrives on the battle scene as goliath is defying the army of god and his elder brother disqualifying him because

of what he sees in him he's just a shepherd boy with a few sheep he said he said i've seen the pride and the naughtiness in your heart david could have left and went back home knowing what his brother thought about him and seen in him but he could not let the enemy speak to the army of god that way he had to do something about it he goes to king saul and he says saul let no man's heart fail thee because of this giant he said thy servant will go and fight saul said to david here we go thou art not able to go against the philistine to fight with him for thou art yet but a youth and he is a man of war from his youth now the king is disqualifying him because he sees david's youth and he sees the enemy's qualification as a soldier david said i killed a lion and a bear and this philistine will be the same thing seeing he hath defied the armies of the living god the same god that was with me then is going to be with me now hear me somebody the

same god that was with you then is going to be with you now you do not have to fear and you do not have to be discouraged because god is on your side and when you have god he makes up the difference david is comfortable with who he is even though everyone else sees a young man and have no confidence in him that does not stop david he keeps doing what he knows he should do because he has bought in to how god sees him first samuel 17 and 42 and when the philistine looked about what he do he saw david he looked at david he disdained him that word means he considered him to be unworthy when the enemy saw him he already made he already made up in his mind that he is unworthy to go against me for he was but a youth rudy and fair countenance the philistines said to david am i a dog that thou cometh to me with stabs and the philistine cursed david by his gods when you read the rest of the story you find that david wasn't afraid by what he saw and

he didn't care how the enemy saw him god was with him and he was going to do the work of god no matter how everybody else looked at him israel disqualified themselves because of the giants saw how the giants saw them but david was qualified because of what god and how god sees him it's time that we the church of the living god quit focusing on how the enemy sees us and how others see us and start focusing on how god sees us because god said this is how god sees us we are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a peculiar people that that we should show forth the praises of him who has called us out of darkness and to his marvelous light we're a chosen generation and that's how god sees us now it's time for us to go and possess the land now it's time for us to go and put action it's time that we realign and we refocus our eyes on what god sees and what god says finally jesus sees different than we see this is detailed in the story of lazarus

the sisters of lazarus sent word to jesus saying that he was sick the bible tells us that jesus abode two days john 11 and 11 these things said he after he saith unto his disciples our friend lazarus sleepeth but i go that i may awake him out of sleep the disciples as you know the story were confused they thought that if he is sick then rest would be good for him but then jesus just had to say to them plainly lazarus is dead when jesus looked at lazarus he saw a man that was sleeping but everybody around him saw a dead man hear me i'm trying to show you what god sees what jesus sees when jesus heard and saw lazarus he only said well he's sleeping and everybody else thought that he was dead jesus was speaking of death but when he sees something that is dead there is a possibility that it will come back to life therefore it is only a sleep when we look in our own eyes at situations and things going on around us we see death we see the end

we see finality but when we see edge jesus sees we will see something that is only just asleep and that needs to be awakened out of sleep would you stand with me jesus came and he asked where have you laid him and they said come and see we'll show you jesus said take away that stone martha the sister of him that was dead said lord by this time he stinks for he has been dead for four days already martha had disqualified the power of god because of what she saw in her own eyes he was a dead man his heart stopped beating the blood stopped pumping and flowing lungs stopped filling with oxygen and air he was brain dead there was no function in his body they saw a body that was decomposing and beginning to stink and because of what they saw and knew they disqualified the power of god because of what they saw and knew they excluded his glory and they counted him out and lazarus was too far gone they chose and decided to buy into what they saw rather

than what jesus said and what jesus saw jesus said the sickness is not unto death jesus said lazarus is just asleep jesus said basically everything is going to be okay jesus said he's just sleeping but they saw a dead man they didn't see how jesus saw far too many times we have based the outcome of our family our city by what we have seen with our own sight we've seen spiritually dead family members that have not walked into church in years they've lived in moral lives they've lived a life of sin they've struggled with addictions we see a city that is ravaged and torn by sin we see addictions to drug and alcohol and pornography and murder and rape and molestation and adultery and fornication and unclean lips and pure motives and we look at them there is no doubt that they are dead spiritually but when jesus looks at them he doesn't see them as too far gone aren't you glad that he didn't look at you and see you too far gone he doesn't see

them i don't care how far you how far they have walked away from god they are not too far gone when jesus looks at them he doesn't write them off because they're spiritually dead in fact he sees something that just needs to be awakened out of sleep i tell you somebody look up adjust your vision and start seeing how jesus sees because when we see death he sees life when we see shackles and chains he sees deliverance when we see infirmity and sickness he sees healing when we see an impossible situation he sees a miracle when we see sin he sees forgiveness of sin when we see relationship problems he sees restoration when we see hell bound he sees heaven bound when we see wilderness he sees promised land when we see obstacles and trials and temptation he sees victory when we see immorality in the city and death in the city and obstacles in the city do you know what he sees he sees the greatest revival that has ever swept this city and i believe

that it's going to happen here today would you lift your hands right now would you ask god to help you adjust your vision god help us today to adjust our vision to readjust and realign our vision to what you are i seeing know what you're going through today if you have infirmity there's healing here if you have an impossible situation you ought to see it like he sees it there's a miracle here if you have lost loved ones that you've been praying for that seemed dead hey there's restoration here i wonder if you would mind coming to the front and why don't we lift our hands and why don't we intercede for our family why don't we intercede for our city if you need healing it's here if you need restoration it's here if you need peace it's here