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Watch 2022-2023 online sermons » Matt Hagee » Matt Hagee - Take A Closer Look

Matt Hagee - Take A Closer Look


Matt Hagee - Take A Closer Look
Matt Hagee - Take A Closer Look

If you brought your Bibles, turn them to Psalm 8:1 through 6, as this morning we begin a new sermon series entitled "Unseen realities" with this first message "Take a closer look". There are real things that are happening all around us whether we see them or not. Sometimes there's things that are unseen in our lives because they exist in a blind spot, just something we can't observe. Other things exist in our lives, and we don't give an account for them because we're not looking or paying attention. Scientists revealed some of the first images that have come from the James Webb Telescope. And they've looked so far into outer space that they are now saying that they can see lights that were in existence when the earth and the sun were formed. They've never been able to see them before.

This telescope took 30 years and ten billion dollars to build. I could have saved them a whole lot of money by simply saying that the heavens declare the glory of God. But one scientist, Jane Rigby, on the project said to the New York times that the galaxies that they're looking at now have always been in existence. They just weren't able to see them because they didn't have a telescope big enough to look that far. The Word of God is a powerful tool that will show you the reality of the world that we're living in and help you understand that in spite of the things you see, the unseen hand of God is working on your behalf. And his plan is to bless you, to prosper you, and to keep you in all of your ways. We're going to discuss these unseen realities and how they impact your life on a daily basis.

Read with me Psalm 8:1 through 6. If you're there, say, amen. "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth, who have set your glory above the heavens! Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants, you have ordained strength, because of your enemies, that you may silence the enemy and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the Son of Man that you visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands: you have put all things under his feet".

Heavenly Father, today let your Holy Spirit saturate this sanctuary, and let the truth of your word change our lives, as we, through the eyes of faith, see the things that you're doing on this earth and give you the glory and the honor that you alone are worthy of. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. And all of God's children said, amen.


You may be seated. Our lives are filled with unseen realities. Things that exist, they're there, they've always been there, we just haven't had the opportunity to see them yet. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:16, "For by him", him being God, "All things were created that are in heaven and on earth", now listen, "Both visible and invisible".

Paul is telling us that there are certain things that you'll see with your natural eye, but there are also things in existence that you cannot see because God created them invisible. It's real. You just can't see it. It took a team of 20,000 scientists, engineers, astronomers, technicians 30 years and ten billion dollars to confirm what Romans 1:20 has already told us. They're looking through this James Webb telescope, and they're seeing galaxies that are shining, and saying that this light comes from when the world began.

Well, here's what Romans 1:20 says: "Since the creation of the world, God's invisible attributes are clearly seen in what is created". Psalms 19:1, "The heavens declare the glory of God". Say that with me. "The heavens declare the glory of God". One very astute and very acclaimed astronomer from the university of Washington said that in his decades of study, he has never seen such spectacular lights in heavenly places. As a matter of fact, he told the newspaper, "I am gobsmacked". Well, pardon me. I had to look up "Gobsmacked" because I've never heard such a fancy way to say "Speechless".

What caused this Ph.D. in astronomy to be gobsmacked? He got just one glimpse of the awesome glory of God on display. When he saw what wonderful things God can do, he went "Wow," proving once again that the sun, the moon, and the stars are celestial evangelists burning and flickering and shining on a 24-hour-a-day basis, telling us our God is an awesome God. He is enthroned in the highest heavens. He rules as King above kings and Lord above Lords.

Psalm 147 says, "He counts the stars, and he calls them by name". What we can't even see, he has named and numbered. You may not be able to see it, but the eyes of the Lord are everywhere and in every place. Believe me, church, the unseen is greater than the seen. The invisible is more real than the visible. And until you recognize this truth, you will always base your decisions on what you can naturally see rather than what your eyes of faith tell you is happening. 2 Corinthians 4, Paul said this: "Do not look at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the unseen are eternal". He was saying, look at what God's doing and focus on that. Church, right now, there are unseen realities in this sanctuary. I can tell you that with absolute certainty.

For example, Jesus Christ said, "If two or three of you gather in my name, I'll be there in the midst of them". He's here today walking the aisles of this sanctuary. There are unseen angels that are standing around this building, because Psalm 91 says, "He (God) has given his angels charge over you". Listen to that. "Angels," plural, that means for the 5,000 people that are in this room, there's at least 10,000 angels standing guard around this campus. There is the awesome power of the Holy Spirit of the living God inside each and every one of us. You can't see it, but you feel it. You know he's there. This is why John said, "Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world". When we, as his children, gather in his church on his day, and we ask in faith believing, unseen realities start to become ours, as spiritual mountains are moved, as chains are broken, as captives are set free. We take authority over powers and principalities. We lay hands on the sick and they recover. We see the impossible become possible because that's the kind of God we serve!

So let me ask you: do you see what I see? Because how you see it determines how you're going to react to it. And if you see it wrong, it's hard to end upright. But if you see it properly, then you have the ability to make the necessary adjustments in your life. "The unseen," as Paul said in 2 Corinthians, "Is eternal". "The seen is temporary". He's discussing two ways to gain perspective. One, the natural way. Letting your sense of sight, your natural senses, determine your outlook. And then he's talking about the supernatural way. 2 Corinthians 5:7, it says we do not walk by sight. "We walk by faith, not by sight". That's the supernatural perspective. So what does it mean to walk by faith and not by sight?

Some people say, "Well that's just too confusing. I mean I can't walk around with my eyes closed". No, that's not what it means. What it means is you take God's word and use it like a lens. Scientists are amazed that they've got a lens powerful enough to see everything back to the beginning of time. This is a lens that everything you put it in front of gives you a clear perspective of what's going on. You use the supernatural lens of God's word, and suddenly, what you see with your natural eyes confirms and builds your faith. If all you do is look with your natural eye, then you're going to be filled with fear, you're going to be filled with concern, you're going to be filled with all kinds of strange feelings, because you're going to wonder what on earth is going on. But if you look through the eyes of faith, it will confirm that our God is sitting on a throne where he rules as king above kings and Lord above Lords.

I'll prove it to you. There's one scientists on this James Webb project that says, "Hey, we are looking back at lights that were there when the big bang occurred". Well, I can look through the lens of God's word and I can tell you right where the bang occurred. Genesis 1, God said, "Let there be light". Bang! There was light! It's a matter of living with a biblical worldview versus a secular worldview. And when you have a biblical worldview, that means that this book tells you everything that you need to know about the life that you're living. If it's in the book, you believe it, and then you behave like you believe. There are a lot of people walking around saying, "I believe the Bible," but they don't behave like they believe.

Let's consider an unseen reality, your faith. Hebrews tells us that, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen". Your faith is built whenever you begin to see, with your natural eyes, God's promise come to pass in your life. Your faith in God's word goes out in front of you. And then when you see his word come alive, you begin to recognize there's something in this book that has real power. This is why Paul was able to say, "I know in whom I have believed". He wasn't saying, "I guess and I wonder". He had experienced enough of the reality of God in his life that he was certain. He said, "I know in whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him".

Do you know him like that? If you have a secular worldview, you look at the world we're living in, and you hear about an economic crisis. Your senses go into overdrive, as you hear about 9% inflation and all of these challenges that are coming to the economy, and a recession and a depression and all of this other "Essions". God is so faithful. He's so good that we're surrounded by it to the point we take it for granted. Imagine if God was inconsistent. He's so consistent: that we do the little things and don't even engage the idea that someone is helping us. If you want to know what God does, go read Job 38. Job 38 is where God begins to speak with Job, because Job, who's just been through hell on earth, wants to know why. Why did it happen? How did it happen?

And God says to Job very clearly: he says, "Before I answer your question, I have some questions for you. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Where were you when I put the cornerstone of the planet in place and all of the angels sang for joy? Where were you when I told the winds and the waves where to stop"? Where were you, Mr. Atheist, when God Almighty did all of that? Where were you when he said, "Let there be light"? When we weren't worth putting up with, he loved us anyway with an everlasting love. So that's why, when the sun comes up, I've got to give him glory. And when the moon glows at night, I've got to give him praise. When rain falls, I've got to celebrate his goodness, because the earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof!

Now let talk about the unseen. Colossians 1:16, "All things were created", say that with me, "All things were created: both visible and invisible". Psalm 8, David is talking about the things that he can see. He says, "When I consider your heavens, and the works of your hands... I wonder who is man that you're mindful of him"? I look at all of those things that you've done in the heavenly places and here on earth, and there's just little, itty, bitty ole me. Modern man has it backwards. We want to pretend like we're a big guy, and we've got a little, itty, bitty old Lord. We want a Lord that we can put in our pocket and pull him out like an app. Whenever we want something, he'll solve it for us. That's not how this works.

David says, I see everything that you've done, and I wonder to myself: who are we that you would even think about us? And then he starts to discuss things that are unseen. He says, "You have made us a little lower than the angels, and you have ordained us and crowned us with glory". He's saying, physically, we may not be much, but spiritually, we're really something. Why? Why are we a small matter in physical substance but a significant one when it comes to relationship? Because everything was created by him, and everything was created for him. Nothing exists in this world of its own accord, and nothing exists for its own purpose. Everyone, at times, wants to know "What's my purpose"? Well the reality of it is, is your purpose is found in God. And Isaiah 43:7 tells us very clearly what that purpose is. "Everyone who is called by my name," the Lord is speaking, "Whom I have created".

If you're created by God, raise your hand. That's you. "Whom I have created for my glory". Why were you created? For his glory. Anyone living for any other reason than the glory of God doesn't know why they exist. Before the earth was formed, God created angels. And the purpose of the angels was to give God glory. And the Bible tells us how one-third of those angels refused to give God glory. They were deceived by another angel named Lucifer, who wanted to take some glory for himself. And when they didn't give God glory, God cast them out of heaven. And as fallen angels, they became demons. So let me ask you, based on that scriptural reality, if you don't give God glory with your life, are you behaving demonically? The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians, "Whatever you eat, whatever you drink, and whatever you do, do all", say those two words, "Do all to the glory of God".

Now oftentimes, people want to say, "Well, I don't understand how my life gives God glory". It doesn't matter what you do. This verse right here says, "Do all". It uses food and drink. Why? Because that is the basic function of every human being. Every one of us eats and every one of us drinks. And so what Paul is saying has not so much to do with your diet, but it has to do with everything you do. It says, whatever you do in this life, put God out in front of it. Whatever business you're in, put God in front of it. When you get up in the morning at your home, put God in front of your marriage, put God in front of your family. Put God in front of your decisions. Give him glory by putting him first!

When you and I give God glory, we are reminding every demon that they messed up. They messed up. All things, visible and invisible, all supernatural beings, all angels, all powers, all principalities, all spiritual hosts, all of them were created to give God glory. And some of those angels, having made the decision not to do so, are now awaiting judgment. But while they await judgment, they have a job. Ephesians 6 tells us what this job is. Take a closer look at the situations and circumstances in your life and tell me if you can't see the work of the supernatural at play.

Ephesians 6, it says that we should stand against the wiles devil. Now "Wiles" is a weird word in our modern world. But basically, it means that the devil is constantly plotting, planning, doing everything he can to seek your downfall. Jesus called him, "The thief who comes to steal, to kill and destroy". He wants to take every promise and every blessing that God has in your life. He, too, is a fallen angel. Isaiah 14 tells us that he was cast from heaven. Now what you need to understand about the devil is that he is not only real but he's really limited. How many people do you know say, "The devil made me do it"? Not true. Why? He's not omnipotent. He's not all-powerful. He's not omnipresent. He's not everywhere. And he's not all-knowing. He is limited.

And in his limitation, he spends his time, according to Revelation 12, as an accuser of the brethren. He spends his time before the throne of God day and night. And what he's doing is he's bringing up your name and my name in heavenly places, trying to tell God, "They're not worthy. They don't deserve your love. They don't deserve your grace. Look at them. They're behaving badly. They're talking rudely. They're doing all kinds of evil things". Accusation, accusation, accusation. Where does he get his information since he's limited, he's not all-knowing, he's not all-powerful, and he's not all-present? He's got a whole team of people powers and principalities and rulers of darkness.

Just like God has assigned angels to you, the devil has demons watching you. And those demonic forces are trying to get you to stop giving God glory. The devil has commissioned them, "Trip them up, make them mad, keep them angry, keep them bitter, whatever it takes, torment them, harass them, force them to turn their back on God". It's an organized crime family that's unseen and not elected. Separate, separate conversation. Go read Colossians 2:11, and you start to see how the unseen hand of God, through the life, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of his son Jesus Christ did the following things: one, he made us, who were dead in our sin, alive in Christ.

Two, the Bible says, "He wiped out the handwriting of the requirements that were against us," which means that as the enemy is accusing us before the throne, he's wasting his air. Because when God hears the accusation, he turns to his son Jesus Christ, and Jesus says, "Dad, they're good with me. My blood has covered them. Take all of the charges and drop them. They've been nailed to a cross. The price has been paid".

Finally, it says that he disarmed powers and principalities, all of those guys in Ephesians 6, principalities, powers, and heavenly hosts of wickedness. When Jesus died and said, "It is finished," he went down into the bowels of the earth. And there in every crack and every chasm in every corner of hell, he told every demonic force, "You are defeated. You are conquered. You are crushed. You are destroyed. You are devastated. You've been annihilated. You are humiliated". Because the Bible says he made a public spectacle of them when he defeated them at Calvary! Somebody ought to give God some praise in this place!

Take a closer look. Take a closer look. When Jesus went to the cross, he crushed sickness and disease, because by his stripes, we're healed. When he went to the cross, he dismissed every fear and sorrow: for he was wounded for our transgressions and he was bruised for our iniquities. When he cried, "Father, forgive them," he broke every chain. He lifted every burden. He destroyed every yoke so that we could stand here today and say, "Whom the son sets free is free indeed". Give the Lord a shout in this house this morning!

So what shall we say of these things? What shall we say? "Since he did not spare his only begotten son, how will he not freely give us all things"? If God be for us who can be against us? Who can be against us? Look through the lens of faith and recognize he's still working. He's still working. He's still moving. He's still keeping his promises to you. He's still working on your family. He's still working in your physical body. He's still working on that promotion you've been asking for. He's still working on that house that you want to buy. He's still working on the baby that you want to have. He's still working on the spouse that you've been praying for. He's still working on that prodigal child that's in the far country. You can't see it, but our God is faithful! He is on his throne and he's still working! And everything, child of God, is going to be alright! Give the Lord a shout of praise in this place!
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