Jesus Sees You | Robert Fergusson | Hillsong Church Online

well it is so good to see you guys and it is my huge honor and my privilege to speak to you tonight and can i just encourage you i've seen people on the chat from different parts of the world different parts of australia many of you i believe really need this message and the reason i say that is because i'm trying to encourage you to engage as if your life depended on this message a number of years ago i was encouraged to jump out of a plane and just before i jumped out of the plane the instructor gave me very specific instructions about what to do and he said i'm only going to tell you once so listen carefully and believe you me i listened as if my life depended on it because that's exactly what it did do well tonight i'm going to preach a message that i believe is going to speak right into your situation i'm aware that many many people have gone through challenging times this year and many people even now find yourself on your own well this message is for you so what i'm gonna do i'm gonna pray and wherever you are whether you're with some other people or on your own i'm going to pray that god speaks to your circumstance speaks to your situation and there's a sentence an idea a concept in this message just for you so get your bible if you have one get a notebook or or a phone if that's where you're taking your notes and listen up open your heart open your mind to god and i believe god's gonna speak to you so father i pray for every single one of these people in different parts of australia and in different parts of the world father i pray that you would reach into their living room reach into their circumstances reach into their situation i pray father that you would speak to us tonight in jesus name and everybody in all your various settings around the place said amen amen amen well i came to australia in 1990 and before i came my children were very small and they used to go to a christian school in england and one day in the christian school during one of the assemblies the headmaster asked the students whether they wanted to be filled with the holy spirit and speak in tongues now i need to explain this was a very christian school i can't imagine that would happen in many schools around the world but anyway the headmaster asked people in the class who wanted to be filled with the spirit and he would pray for them well my son who was about six years old put his hand up because he wanted to be filled with the holy spirit but he put his hand up but no one saw him the headmaster didn't see him no one saw him put his hand up so he put his hand down again disappointed he said nothing to anybody until that is we were having dinner later that night now of course i knew nothing about what had taken place during the assembly and we were just having dinner together as a family but i suddenly randomly in the middle of the meal turned to my son and i said do you want to be filled with the holy spirit and speak in tongues and he then told us the story he said this morning i put my hand up and saying i wanted to be filled with the holy spirit but no one saw me and i was able to say to him well god saw you and that's why i believe prompted by the holy spirit i've just asked you do you want to be filled with the holy spirit so do you want to be filled right now and he said yes please so we were in the middle of our meal so i said go and sit over there on the city and uh my uh eldest daughter i asked my eldest daughter who is nine and therefore experienced in these matters go and lay hands on your your brother and he will be filled with the holy spirit and that's exactly what took place she left the table laid hands on her brother and this six-year-old started speaking in tongues at the top of his voice now whether you understand being filled with the spirit or speaking in tongues that's not the point so why am i telling you the story well i'm telling you the story because every one of us wants to be seen we want to be seen it's part of our humanity it's part of our identity it's part of our value now thankfully in some parts of the world it is incorporated that idea of being seen is incorporated in our greetings in fact in a northern part of south africa i'm going to read you something that i read recently in a book by peter senge he said this among the tribes of northern natal in south africa the most common greeting equivalent to hello in english or today in australia expression it literally means i see you why don't you say that to someone who maybe in your world someone who's just sitting next to you i see you or you can say sawu bona i see you if you're a member of the tribe you might reply by saying sikona which means i am here so this is just a normal part of the greeting ceremony if someone says i see you someone else says i am here and peter saying says the order of the exchange is important until you see me i do not exist it's as if when you see me you bring me into existence so that is what happens in northern natal sadly it doesn't happen in australia when i came 30 years ago i had to get used to one of the greetings not the normal g'day but how are you good i imagine two people are walking past each other on the pavement or in a corridor someone walks past looks at you says how are you and without waiting for a response or a reply tells you what they want to hear which is you're good and then by the time you say no i'm not good they're already halfway across the room what has happened there tragically we haven't been seen and i know that there are people who are listening tonight who feel like that you feel invisible maybe it's because you're in a large city and as you walk through the crowded streets not crowded at the moment but if you walk through normally crowded streets you feel invisible or maybe you feel invisible in a large congregation a large church like hillsong church or maybe you feel invisible because of your gender or your age or your background or your skin color or your education you feel unnoticed invisible at the worst not being seen is frustrating or at the best sorry it is frustrating at the worst it is diminishing we feel as though people don't notice us don't see us one frustrating time i remember i went to buy a car it was my day off i was dressed uh very roughly just in rather dirty dr jeans and a t-shirt and i didn't look as though i was the sort of person that could buy a car but i had the cash to buy a car so i walked into the dealership to buy a car and i was the only one there it was a monday but there was about six people around the room all at their desks six salesmen who were completely disinterested they looked up at me saw that i wasn't the kind of person that could buy a car and so ignored me i felt invisible it was frustrating in the end i just shouted i know maybe you wouldn't do this but i just shouted i was here to buy a car but since you are completely disinterested in me i'm going to buy a car elsewhere well you should have seen what happened the entire room came alive i had everybody wanting my money but what had they done because of my clothes because i didn't look right they didn't see me well i've got good news for you just like the story of my son god sees you you may feel invisible in this world but jesus sees you if you are taking notes put that as the title jesus sees me and he doesn't see you because you are good looking he doesn't see you because you're tall he doesn't see you because you're talented he doesn't see you because you are special and he doesn't see you in all the way that social media promises he sees you because he values you he sees you because he wants something great in your life he sees you because he has a future for you he sees you because he wants to bless you he sees you [Music] warts and all he sees you he doesn't see you because you're good he sees you because he is good in fact he loves seeing flawed people in the old testament there's a story of a man by the name of jacob jacob who then became israel jacob means deceiver he wasn't a nice man but god saw him one day jacob's having a dream we read about it in genesis chapter 28 and verse 12. it says he had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth with its top reaching up into heaven he stole a stairway to heaven and angels were ascending and descending on this stairway and then in verse 15 it says i am with you and will watch over you wherever you go i'll bring you back to this land i will not leave you until i have done what i have promised you that's what god is saying to you i am watching over you i see you i see you in your loneliness i see you in your difficulties i see you in your challenges i see you and i'm gonna watch over you and i'm gonna bring you back to your inheritance because i have a plan and a purpose for you how cool is that that's an old testament character what about a new testament character nathaniel nathaniel we know wasn't a very faith-filled person in fact he uh he expressed as much as we'll see but look at what it says in john chapter 1 and verse 50 jesus said do you believe in me because i told you i saw you under the fig tree you will see greater things than that he then added very truly i tell you will see heaven open notice the similarity with the first story and angels of god ascending and descending but this time not on a ladder on the son of man on the lord jesus christ himself on the messiah in other words our access to heaven is jesus we can see what god sees because of jesus i've written this in my notes and i want you to get it heaven sees us in all our failings so that we can see heaven in all of its glory okay why is it important for you and i to have jesus see us why is that significant let me read you the full context of john 1 47 and then i'm going to unpack this passage when jesus saw nathanael approaching he said of him john 1 47 here truly is an israelite in whom there is no deceit how do you know me nathaniel asked jesus answered i saw you while you were still under the fig tree before philip called you then nathanael declared rabbi you are the son of god you are the king of israel and jesus said you believe because i told you i saw you under the fig tree you will see greater things than that very truly i tell you you will see heaven open and the angels of god ascending and descending on the son of man okay three reasons why it is important to know that jesus sees us firstly he sees us first he sees us first it says here i saw you before philip saw you can i just suggest that you and i spend our life worrying about everyone else's opinions worrying about what our neighbors neighbors think of us worrying about social media worrying about what other people our enemies and friends think of us but we should be saying god saw us before any of those people in fact psalm 139 and verse 16 says your eyes saw my unformed body even before some people would say you're even human although i don't believe that god saw you he saw you in your mother's womb all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be he saw you he sees us first it's his sight that should value us it's his sight that should identify us it's his sight that we should long for so this passage teaches us that he sees us first secondly he sees us best i don't know how philip saw nathanael but jesus saw into nathanael he says in verse 47 here is a an israelite in whom there is no guile he saw right into him the reality is we spent our life worrying about the clothes we wear and worrying about what everyone else is wearing as though fashion were significant or special but jesus sees into your life one samuel chapter 16 and verse 7 is the story of david king david being chosen the prophet rejected him and his brothers rejected him but god saw him god saw his potential god saw his ability god saw what he could do look at what it says but the lord said to samuel the prophet don't consider david's appearance or his height for i have rejected him the lord doesn't look at the things people look at people look at the outward appearance but the lord looks at the heart the lord looks at the heart in the days when we were allowed to fly around i was flying to brisbane one day to go and speak and i read a book an entire book on the journey i'd started it just before i got on the flight then i read the rest of the book on the flight during the course of my reading in which or through which i'd include huge amounts of information the lady sitting next to me was only doing one thing she was scrolling through one uh instagram feed from the kardashians all she was now i'm sure it was a great instagram feed but all she was interested in is what clothes she would be wearing what lipstick she would be wearing god is not interested in what we're wearing is looking beyond that he sees us best what's inside and the third reason we need jesus to see us is that he sees us last it says you will see heaven open now this is a bit of a challenging one because listen to this it says in hebrews chapter 4 and verse 13 nothing in all creation is hidden from god's sight everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him listen to this to whom we must give account we must therefore uh therefore since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven jesus the son of god who gives us access to heaven let us hold firmly to the faith we profess we spend our life worrying about other people's opinions other people's clothes worrying about other people's goods we think well they've had a nice holiday they've got a nice car but i've got my eyes on jesus because he's the last person who's going to see me on this earth i'm going to give an account to him he sees me first so i should honor him he sees me best so i should live like that and he will see me last so who cares if you've got a better car than me i'm not that worried my focus is on seeing jesus he's the person i'm gonna give an account to not to you not to anyone else so with that in mind good news jesus sees you but what does he see in you just for a few minutes i want to just go through that passage again and highlight what he sees now you may be surprised by this first one but it's important he sees our sin he didn't see a perfect nathaniel he saw a doubting nathanael john chapter 1 verses 45 to 46 says when philip said come and see the messiah he said where's he from nazareth can anything good come from nazareth he was a man full of doubt full of cynicism full of sarcasm jesus sees it and yet he still loves him you may think doubt is not a great sin but jesus says it is john chapter 16. and uh verses eight to nine he said when the holy spirit comes he will reveal to you let me actually read it um when he comes you'll prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and about righteousness and about judgment and then he explains verse 9 about sin because people don't believe in me perhaps the greatest sin is our doubt that jesus loves us has died for us and has given his life for us we mustn't doubt it and yet he sees it so please be honest be real there's no point in pretending i listen to some people's uh statements sometimes about their life i say how are you oh great everything's fantastic oh i'm living the perfect life no you're not you're full of problems that's why jesus came but thank god there's a ladder to heaven and even though we're going to give an account in heaven we've got jesus we can cling on to so number one he sees our sin secondly he sees our desire he saw nathanael approaching him even though he was a skeptic he saw him coming to jesus in john chapter 1 verse 46 to 47 he saw him coming toward jesus what can i say you've got to stay hungry god sees your desire i know we're sinners but i want to be different i know i've got flaws but i want to change luke chapter 1 and verse 53 mary is expressing her heart to god in song and she says this she said the hungry he is filled with good things but the rich the people who don't think they need jesus he sends empty away well i don't want to be those people i always want to reward hunger i was invited to speak at a baptist church about 30 years ago when i when i came to australia and i i turned up there was nobody on the front row nobody was sitting there and i said jesus said blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled and i said if you don't come forward how can i preach to you nobody moved because it was their tradition i said well if you don't come to the front row i'm gonna leave and suddenly all the people started scrambling over the seats in this baptist church why because god sees our sin but he also sees our hunger for change number three he sees our story verse 47 john 1 47 he says here is an israelite he saw his background he saw his circumstances he saw his skin color he saw all the difficulties they had been through here is an israelite jesus doesn't ignore our story or our background in john chapter 4 and verse 9 and 10 he's talking to a samaritan woman and the samaritan and he asked the samaritan woman listen he shouldn't have been speaking to her because he was a man and she was a woman because he was married and she was unmarried because he was righteous and she was unrighteous because he was a jew and she was a samaritan but he still spoke to her because he saw her he saw her story and she said how come you a jew are speaking to me a samaritan asking me for water and he says if you ask me for living water i'll give it to you can i just encourage you he sees you he sees your sin he sees your circumstances he sees your story he sees your passions he sees your desires number four he sees your faith he saw this man he said i saw you under the fig tree and and nathaniel in john 1 49 to 50 suddenly said i believe you're the son of god and he said you see you believe just because i said that you're going to see even greater things god is looking for faith right now he's looking for faith in your living room looking for faith in your heart in acts 14 and verse 8 to 10 paul the apostle is preaching in lystra and he sees faith in a man how do you see faith he saw it with supernatural eyesight he saw that he had faith to be healed and he tells them and be healed and he gets up and he is healed jesus is looking for faith have you got faith that he can change you and the final thing is he sees our future in john 1 51 i've already read it he says you've seen nothing yet you will see heaven open you'll see the angels of god ascending and descending on the son of man he sees your future he sees your potential of course we know the scripture in jeremiah 29 and verse 11 i know the plans i have for you plans to prosper you plans to give you hope and a future stay hope-filled even in tough times even in this difficult year even in this season stay full of hope because god sees you can i just reiterate here's my son putting his hand up and saying i want to be filled with the holy spirit and nobody sees him but god sees him god sees you in your circumstance he sees you in your need he sees the potential in you i can't believe that i'm standing here talking to you i can't believe as has just been announced that i've brought out a book that i know will help thousands of people i can't believe it but jesus saw me he saw my potential in a small anonymous village in the south of england and thought i can do something through him well he can do something through you can i ask you whether you have a personal real and current relationship with the lord jesus christ do you know him do you know him for real he sees you he's wanting you to do what nathaniel did and come to him and when you come to him you'll understand he saw you before you even thought of him he saw you in your mother's womb he saw you before you even took your first breath he saw you and if you can believe that you can invite him into your life and he'll change you forever are you prepared to do that why don't you pray a prayer with me i'm going to pray a prayer and i'm going to just ask you wherever you are even if you're sitting on your own say this prayer out loud and i believe this could be the beginning of an amazing journey in your life say with me oh lord jesus christ thank you that today i realize i need you thank you that you have seen me you see me now you see my faltering faith but i ask you with that faith to come into my life forgive me of everything i've ever done wrong turn my life around connect me to your father in heaven give me access to heaven in the future and blessing on earth now in jesus name amen wow why don't you give yourself a clap because that was a great prayer to pray and can i just encourage you if you prayed that prayer or maybe you're on your own just go to the chat and say i prayed that prayer and our team will back you support you help you in any way that we can your prayer is just the first step in a long journey to getting to know jesus so put in the chat i prayed that prayer and we will do everything in our power to see you can i just or to encourage you can i just say this to everyone else if you have already given your life to jesus you may have had a bad year you may have had a bad decade but you are the bible says in jesus so when god sees you he doesn't see you with all your failings and all your disappointments he sees you in jesus he sees jesus in you how cool is that so when i said jesus sees you he also sees himself in you i hope that makes sense if you've learned nothing else just remember this jesus sees me god bless you god bless you god bless you [Music] you

Channel: Hillsong Church

Views: 7,360

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: jesus, hillsong, praise, worship, online, church, god sees you, he sees you, God, robert fergusson, are you getting this, teaching, preaching, inspiration, inspire, word of god, church online, jesus sees you, Christ, Son of God, Gospel, Lord, Savior, Emmanuel, Good news, Immanuel, Who is Jesus, Perfect man, how to become a Christian, follow Jesus, how can I get saved?, does god love me, does god see me, why god, who is god

Id: eLPb95ajGxw

Length: 29min 42sec (1782 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 01 2020