00:00:00.000 - 00:00:40.420

[Silence] (dramatic music) [ Music ] ♪ But I want to see Jesus ♪

00:00:40.420 - 00:00:55.740

♪ I want to see Him ♪ ♪ Oh, to see the face of Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, what joy that would bring ♪ ♪ I was crying for heaven ♪

00:00:55.740 - 00:01:10.480

♪ For a man, He would be ♪ ♪ Just to see the face of Jesus ♪ ♪ The almighty King of kings ♪ ♪ I want to see Jesus ♪

00:01:10.480 - 00:01:24.900

♪ I want to see Him ♪ ♪ Oh, to see the face of Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, what joy that will bring ♪ ♪ I'm striving for heaven ♪

00:01:24.900 - 00:01:40.640

♪ What can he for me ♪ ♪ But to see the face of Jesus ♪ ♪ The almighty King of Kings ♪ ♪ I want to go up and dwell in heaven forever and ever ♪

00:01:40.640 - 00:01:56.620

♪ To be with God the Father and His Holy Son and Son ♪ ♪ I want to see the face of Jesus ♪ ♪ The God in our midst ♪ ♪ The one who's like the mercy ♪

00:01:56.620 - 00:02:10.700

♪ That is the way of mercy Jesus ♪ ♪ The almighty King of kings ♪ ♪ I want to see Jesus ♪ ♪ I want to see Him ♪

00:02:10.700 - 00:02:24.480

♪ Oh, to see the face of Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, what joy that will bring ♪ ♪ I'm striving for heaven ♪ ♪ For many a king ♪

00:02:24.480 - 00:02:38.280

♪ Just to see the face of Jesus ♪ ♪ The Almighty King of Kings ♪ ♪ I want to see Jesus ♪ ♪ I want to see Him ♪

00:02:38.280 - 00:02:51.840

♪ Oh, to see the face of Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, what joy that would bring ♪ ♪ I strive in forever ♪ ♪ For faith in my being ♪

00:02:51.840 - 00:03:05.320

♪ Just to see the face of Jesus ♪ ♪ The Almighty King of Kings ♪ ♪ Just to see the face of Jesus ♪ ♪ The Almighty King of Kings ♪

00:03:05.320 - 00:03:16.860

♪ Just to see the face of Jesus ♪ ♪ The Almighty King of Kings ♪ - Amen, amen. Amen.

00:03:16.860 - 00:03:46.700

And if your hand should cause you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have two hands and go to hell, into the fire that cannot be put out. And if your foot should cause you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life lame

00:03:46.700 - 00:04:09.260

Than to have two feet and be thrown into hell And if your eyes should cause you to sin, tear it out It is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell Where their worm does not die nor fire go out

00:04:09.260 - 00:05:09.220

Mark the ninth chapter and the 43rd through the 48th verses, reading from the Jerusalem Bible translation. The subject of the message, help through handicaps, are handicaps that help. Handicaps are generally considered hindrances. Persons with handicaps are often objects of pity, unable to function as other persons, the handicapped have been criticized and ostracized from the

00:05:09.220 - 00:05:44.500

mainstream of society. Handicapped persons are not in great demand because they are deprived of something which is considered essential to their well-being. But as we have grown in compassion we have established rules that public buildings must provide for the handicapped. Special parking places are now set aside. There

00:05:44.500 - 00:06:14.940

There are special schools, special institutions, and exceptions are granted in order to include handicapped persons. All of this is done because in the eyes of many, handicaps are generally considered hindrances. So we need to provide for the handicapped through special rules and regulations, certain

00:06:14.940 - 00:06:42.220

acts of grace. So we have come a long way in learning compassion, come a long way in our understanding and appreciation of the handicapped, but we have a long way to go. For the most part, we like to avoid handicaps.

00:06:42.220 - 00:07:23.600

They're looked upon as a kind of curse. But here, Jesus looks upon handicaps as a means of help. He looks upon them in a way different from the average way of considering the handicap. In his perspective of life, he speaks of handicaps not as a hindrance, but as a means of help.

00:07:23.600 - 00:08:14.380

fact Jesus suggests that many people would be better off if they are what we normally consider as handicapped. He says if your hand should cause you to sin cut it off if your foot should cause you to sin cut it off if your eye should cause you to sin pluck it out tear it out now person with one hand one foot one eye we

00:08:14.380 - 00:08:48.660

think of them as being handicapped. We consider this kind of person one with a condition that is a disadvantage in our society. We would suggest that everything possible be done to preserve all of the members of our body. That's natural for us to look at it that way. I can remember once when I thought I was gonna lose a

00:08:48.660 - 00:09:11.580

member of my body I was we lived across the street from well across from the railroad track be exact and occasionally I would hop on a freight train and I decided to hop on one one day and when I went to put my foot in the place where I missed it and then the wheel was turning and I could see the wheel running over

00:09:11.580 - 00:09:41.020

my foot and I could see all that in the flesh of losing my foot and from that day on I promised myself I would never never never try to hop on a freight train. We want to preserve our hands we want to preserve our feet both of them and keep our eyes as long as we can that's the natural way to look at it. So

00:09:41.020 - 00:09:54.320

If we are to understand this word from our Lord We need to look at it other than just From a a literal interpretation of it I can remember when I was a boy

00:09:54.320 - 00:10:11.200

there was an account in the newspaper of a person who read this particular passage of Scripture and Had done something wrong with His hand and he took his hand and cut it off. I said well, that's what the Lord said And he cut off his hand

00:10:11.200 - 00:10:27.200

Many people Misunderstand the scripture and they miss the truth, but the scripture has in it some religious truth And

00:10:27.200 - 00:10:54.560

We are to sort of Seek to discover what that word is what that spiritual help is that God has in couched in his holy word. Now this word of our Lord is very personal. Jesus has previously spoken to his disciples about offending one of his little ones and he

00:10:54.560 - 00:11:19.520

said it is better that a millstone be cast around his neck and he be drowned in the midst of the sea than to offend one of these my little ones. He has talked to them about responsibility in the treatment of others and so now he talks about moral responsibility that responsibility which we have to

00:11:19.520 - 00:11:40.380

ourselves so we have Christian responsibility and our dealings with others and we have Christian responsibility in our dealings with ourselves you know you I used to hear it all the time when I was a boy you know he's such a good man, he's such a good, she's such a good woman, but the only

00:11:40.380 - 00:12:15.360

harm they do is to themselves. Is this that sort of an excuse? But Jesus here is pointing out our responsibility both to ourselves and to others. He says that we can help ourselves by cutting off our hands, cutting off our feet, plucking out our eyes. We can help ourselves by creating some handicaps for ourselves.

00:12:15.360 - 00:12:52.720

Now this doesn't mean that we only have to do that but he says that it is better as he makes a comparison that this be done than to miss the glorious reward which God has prepared for us. You see what Jesus is demanding of his followers is radical obedience. This is no normal course of action to cut off a hand, cut

00:12:52.720 - 00:13:29.080

off a foot to pluck out an eye, that's radical, very radical. And to be a Christian demands radical obedience. It's necessary. What we consider a burden in this world is a blessing in the kingdom of God. It's really a blessing. You know some people may look upon it as as a curse but many times sickness is is a

00:13:29.080 - 00:13:56.140

blessing some people would never think about the Lord until they get flat of their backs in a hospital somewhere and it suddenly comes home to them the goodness of God and what they need to be doing with their lives and time and time again I've heard it say you know Reverend if I ever get up from here I'm

00:13:56.140 - 00:14:20.300

gonna do better and many people get up and do better and so the sickness becomes a blessing not only is it a blessing in a spiritual way but many times in a physical way because there are things that are wrong with us that when we get sick we get them corrected physically we we understand what it

00:14:20.300 - 00:14:46.500

means to give up a member of the body in order to save the entire body. Sometimes we have to give up a limb in order to keep living we have to lose a leg. Sometimes one has to lose a lung in order to keep living or a kidney or some part of the body that has to be taken and so you see the sacrifice is

00:14:46.500 - 00:15:08.200

essential to the salvation of the body and this is also true of the kingdom of God. Sometimes we have to sacrifice some things. We want to keep living sometimes you have to sacrifice eating salt and follow a low-sodium diet. Some people after smoking many years they finally hear the words from the doctor that if

00:15:08.200 - 00:15:24.800

you really want to live you're gonna have to give up those cigarettes and they finally do something that they had wished they'd done many years before. Somebody else is told so well now you're gonna have to put that bottle away because if you intend to keep living you're going to have to completely give

00:15:24.800 - 00:15:46.880

up drinking liquor. In fact an alcoholic I remember attending an institute at Baylor on alcoholism a number of years ago and this is one of the things that they pointed out at the time you see an alcoholic is just born an alcoholic You're born that way. There's certain people you're the the composition of

00:15:46.880 - 00:16:09.880

your body is of such that you can't take one drink and stop there. That you just have to keep on drinking and you can't stop and so the only way you can really keep yourself from being a complete victim of alcohol is not to touch the stuff at all. Sometimes some have to make a certain kind of sacrifice in

00:16:09.880 - 00:16:31.520

order to get into the kingdom If your hand offends you cut it off Now in other words the hand is associated with deeds There are certain deeds there are certain deeds that we may perform

00:16:31.520 - 00:16:50.860

Certain little things that we've got in the habit of doing and they have become so much a part of us that we think that we've just got to do them and We want to keep on and keep on doing them and those little deeds are those big deeds as they may be They have become an idolatry

00:16:50.860 - 00:17:17.860

They have become so strong in our lives that they have taken the place of God and they are wrong And Jesus is saying that it is better for you to cut off your hand and get into the kingdom with one hand Than to go to hell with two And the question Jesus is raising here is that

00:17:17.860 - 00:17:33.140

Is what you are doing that's so wrong Is it so important to you that you want to go to hell for it? Give it up Cut it off

00:17:33.180 - 00:17:50.180

Get rid of it. Well, it's better to go to heaven with one hand than to go to hell with two hands Give it up and work with one hand Well, that's a handicap But it's a help

00:17:50.180 - 00:18:03.260

Because it puts one on the right path It puts one in right relationship with oneself and it gives Want an opportunity to be in relationship to that great

00:18:03.260 - 00:18:16.940

Reservoir of power which is available to every person It makes one more aware of the need And makes one appreciate more divine help

00:18:16.940 - 00:18:35.980

if your foot Offends you cut it off now the foot has to do with traveling in the wrong direction Going where we should not go Bible talks about feet that are quick to mischief

00:18:35.980 - 00:18:57.540

The foot you see has to do with walking if we would enter the kingdom of God we must walk upright leg One must travel the upward way and walk in the straight and narrow way And if the foot is taking you in the wrong direction it is better to cut it off and to enter into the kingdom of

00:18:57.540 - 00:19:25.460

heaven with one foot than to go to hell with both feet. This is rather strong medicine. That's the way Jesus meant for it to be. Radical obedience. You remember the story that's in Genesis how Jacob wrestles with God and as he wrestles with God it's a story of Jacob wrestling with the angel and as he wrestles he

00:19:25.460 - 00:19:53.780

says let me go and Jacob says no I will not let you go until you bless me and it is said that from that time forth that Jacob walked with a limp. A limp. He was handicapped but it was a help because he became a prince with God he became one who had power with God and sometimes it's the handicap that we that we have

00:19:53.780 - 00:20:16.940

the handicap that we must have in order to get into the kingdom of God and that handicap can be the best help that we've ever had because it causes us to rely more on God. It's hard for some people to rely on God when they've really got good health and everything's going fine. It's hard for some people to remember the

00:20:16.940 - 00:20:47.300

Lord. Such a great temptation you know just to stay at home look at TV and to do all other kind of things and just to put the church off to some little corner. And sometimes it's that handicap that makes us recognize the need to depend upon God. The handicap. You know the story of Paul?

00:20:47.300 - 00:21:23.300

He said, "I had a thorn in the flesh." I was aggravated, I was disturbed, I was annoyed by the pain that came from this thorn in the flesh, and I prayed to God, "Lord, take it away." Take it away! I don't know what it was, whether it was sinus or arthritis, or whether it was rheumatism, or high blood pressure, whatever it was, it was something awful that Paul wanted to get rid of. And he prayed to God, God said no, three times, I won't leave it there.

00:21:23.300 - 00:21:45.220

Because he said my strength, my strength is made perfect in weakness. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Because of that physical infirmity, because of that weakness, then you can rely more and more and more on my strength.

00:21:45.220 - 00:22:18.700

handicaps that help. I was reading of a quadriplegic who at first was somewhat despondent but but after being in that condition he thought about making more use of his mind and not to depend so much on the body and so he went into to computer science and made greater use of his mind and because of that handicap it opened

00:22:18.700 - 00:22:55.340

unto him new possibilities that he would have never never discovered had he not had that handicap. So sometimes it's the handicap that really helps us. So sometimes it's necessary he said if you're right if your hand offends you cut it off if your foot offends you cut it off and if your eye offends you pluck it out. Now this eye has

00:22:55.340 - 00:23:18.100

to do with an evil eye, an eye of envy and some people have that. It means that you dislike somebody because they've got something that you'd like to have and so you dislike them you know I oh so-and-so is dressed up she thinks she looks so cute and it's really you are jealous because you wish you had what she's got

00:23:18.100 - 00:23:50.620

oh he's doing this and he's got such a fine job he thinks he's this because he drive this kind of car and really deep down within you wish you had that car yourself. And so you dislike him because he's got something that you'd like to have. That's an evil eye, an eye of envy. And if you've got that kind of eye, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter into the

00:23:50.620 - 00:24:22.120

kingdom of God it's better for you to go to heaven with one eye than to go to hell with both eyes. That's what the master says. Because you see for the kingdom's sake it's better to be odd than even. I want say that again it's better to be odd than even so many of us want to be like

00:24:22.120 - 00:25:01.380

even Steven but it's better to be odd better be a oddball better than have one eye better to have one foot better to have one hand better to have a hearty about you than to have that evenness and find oneself going on the road to destruction Well you can make it. Many times you can make it better with handicaps because you recognize your own weaknesses and your own shortcomings. Elizabeth Barrett

00:25:01.380 - 00:25:30.880

Browning suffered from a back injury at the age of 15 and she developed her writing skills and became a sensitive and well-known poet and she developed as a better poet because she had that back injury a handicap that was a help Beethoven even though he went deaf he continued to write and play beautiful

00:25:30.880 - 00:26:00.100

music and his deafness you see was more of a help than a hindrance. Helen Keller developed as one of the most outstanding persons of her time with all of the problems that she had her blindness and the deafness and all of that she was able to overcome and to live an outstanding life. George Washington

00:26:00.100 - 00:26:18.800

Carver that said would have been sold he was sold for an old broken-down racehorse because he was such a sickly child He thought he wouldn't live But he lived to a good age and became a distinguished scientist They they were able to deal with those handicaps and the handicaps

00:26:18.800 - 00:26:40.140

Were looked upon more of a help than a hindrance So when we speak of handicapped persons entering the mainstream the schoolroom and in society. Jesus is talking about handicapped persons like you and me because all of us have some shortage in our lives.

00:26:40.140 - 00:27:07.620

He's talking about how we can enter into the mainstream of abundant living that if you want to really go to heaven it's necessary to to make a radical decision that involves cutting off hand and cutting off a foot and tearing out an eye but the sacrifice is not too great if you want to go to

00:27:07.620 - 00:27:32.120

heaven some people gonna miss heaven because they don't want to give up anything they won't keep everything just like it is and they gonna miss it somehow if they give it up, that something gonna get away. But if you give it up, whatever you give up, God says you're gonna get far more than you're giving up. So what we may consider

00:27:32.120 - 00:27:57.840

handicaps will really be a help. The main thing is to get into the kingdom. The main thing is to go to heaven. The main thing is to miss hell. The main thing is is to give yourself to God. As the song says, "There are some things I do not know, there are some places I do not go, but this one thing I know, that God is real."

00:27:57.840 - 00:28:21.240

That you can depend on Him, that if you really lean on God, He'll help you over the hills, He'll be with you in the midst of the handicapped, and He'll make those things that we look upon as handicaps, He'll make them a means of help if we really depend on him so you can give up that bad habit. People who

00:28:21.240 - 00:28:40.880

lean on the bottle you really don't have to have that. Somebody said well you know I've got to have a good strong drink somebody in my family has died and I gotta have a good strong drink to sort of brace me up Reverend. You don't need that that's more of a hindrance than a help. You can give up the bottle and

00:28:40.880 - 00:29:07.480

those who are out today who are pushing drugs and who think they have to have that to get on a high, you can give it up. You can give it up. If your right hand offends you, cut it off. If your right foot offends you, cut it off. And if your right eye offends you, cut it off. Whatever that habit is that has become an idolatry in your life, give it up.

00:29:07.480 - 00:29:40.080

Give it up. Don't let jealousy and envy and malice keep you out of the kingdom of God. Give it up, for it is better to enter into the kingdom of God maimed than to go to hell healthy. Because our God is our helper and healer. He makes the dumb to speak. He makes the crippled whole again. He makes the lame to walk. He causes the

00:29:40.080 - 00:30:06.400

blind to see. And so we can praise God from whom all blessings flow because somehow we can recognize our need for him and we can rely upon his power because somehow he has spoken unto us how we can overcome our handicaps by the cross. He has put the cross in the center of his story. He said here, here, here is

00:30:06.400 - 00:30:29.680

my son. He places him on a cross and they nail his hands to that cross. They pierce him to the side, they nail his feet. That's handicapped you'd say. His hands cannot move, his feet cannot move, he cannot continue to do his work, he cannot go Nowhere he used to go, his hands and feet are nailed.

00:30:29.680 - 00:30:49.160

And not only that, but he experiences the greatest handicap because he dies and is buried in Joseph's tomb. But early, early, early, early that Easter morn, he got up and he began to walk the streets again

00:30:49.160 - 00:31:15.440

and continued to bless. He's still speaking to us as he spoke to the disciples in the days of old saying in this world you shall have tribulations but be of good cheer I have overcome the world. So as we extend now the privilege of the church we invite

00:31:15.440 - 00:31:40.520

you to accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. We invite you to to follow him in radical obedience, to break with the old, to begin the new with him. The opportunity to live courageously and victoriously in overcoming the obstacles of this life.

00:31:40.520 - 00:32:28.520

[Music] Whatever may be the shortage in our dimensions, we can make up for it. [Music] For he here for the cross I'll bear, and all the earth will burn.

00:32:28.520 - 00:32:46.080

♪ For the Lord's good love ♪ ♪ The praise of God ♪ ♪ He will give to all ♪ ♪ Not of all ♪

00:32:46.080 - 00:33:02.520

♪ Use me, Lord ♪ ♪ Use me for Thy glory ♪ ♪ Use me, Lord ♪ ♪ Help me tell the story ♪

00:33:02.520 - 00:33:23.040

♪ Live a little less ♪ ♪ To have a little faith ♪ ♪ You'll be a lord I pray ♪ ♪ Dear Lord, you've done so much for me ♪

00:33:26.340 - 00:33:47.260

♪ Beneath the world can see ♪ ♪ And for all the years ♪ ♪ I long to return ♪ ♪ Only to find the way ♪

00:33:47.260 - 00:34:06.300

♪ Use me Lord ♪ ♪ Use me, God, with glory ♪ ♪ Use me, Lord ♪ ♪ Help me tell the story ♪

00:34:06.300 - 00:34:25.060

♪ Raise me to the heavens ♪ ♪ Out of the bottomless ♪ ♪ Use me, O Lord, I pray ♪ ♪ Born to play, born to be ♪

00:34:25.060 - 00:34:45.700

♪ And the world might see ♪ ♪ What a gold ♪ [ Silence ] [BLANK_AUDIO]