Online Reporter
Sunday Sermon with Apostle Chisale
GREETINGS beloved nation, in the name of Jesus Christ. It is crucial that we come to know God, especially in these challenging times. If we fail to know Him, we jeopardise our very existence and destinies. While there are many levels or dimensions of knowing God, I would like to share two. Understanding God will ultimately help us comprehend ourselves and our purpose in life.
We cannot fully grasp our purpose or our identity without first knowing God. In the book of Exodus, Chapter 3, we find Moses after he has fled from Pharaoh, tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. As he led the flock to the backside of the desert, he came to the mountain of God called Horeb.
Being on the mountain means you are in a position to hear and see the extraordinary things surrounding God. This dimension of hearing and seeing is instrumental in revealing who God is.
Exodus 3:3-4 states, “Then Moses said, ‘I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.’ When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’” Here, we see that Moses begins to witness a miraculous occurrence as well as to hear God’s voice.
There are two crucial points: (i) Moses sees a unique miracle on the mountain of God, and (ii) he begins to hear God’s calling. It is not enough to hear about God; we must also obtain the grace to see Him so that our conviction may be complete. This is why Moses could stand boldly — he not only heard God but had also seen and encountered Him.
We live in a generation that often knows only rumours about Jesus, which makes it difficult for them to endure afflictions and trials because they are uncertain about the truth of what they have heard. It’s insufficient to hear; we must also see Him.
Many individuals feel compelled to attend church out of obligation; some claim they cannot attend because they lack transport money. Their way of praying, praising or clapping reveals that many are merely moving through life based on what they have heard, rather than experiencing the deeper knowledge of Him. In Hebrews 11:27, it is written that Moses “forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” We too must strive to enter this dimension of seeing the invisible God as Moses did.
When we begin to see Him who is invisible, the Church will fearlessly proclaim the truth because they have had genuine encounters. Remember, Moses stood before a formidable king governing Egypt, which is no small feat. We often try to convince powerful individuals without having first encountered the invisible God. This lack of experience in knowing God can lead to our voices being unheard, as we communicate from the one-dimensional perspective of mere hearing.
Let us not stop at merely hearing about Him; may the Holy Spirit transport us to the point where we can see Him as well. In the book of Job, we observe that one of the reasons Job triumphed amidst affliction was because he operated in these two dimensions of knowing God.
In Job 42:5, he makes a significant confession, saying, “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye seeth Thee.” This illustrates why the historical figures of faith often triumphed; they had both the capacity to hear and to see God. The scripture reminds us that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Many Christians stop at the first level of hearing and, as a result, may feel discouraged or tempted to give up. My prayer is that you receive the grace to move into the second level of truly seeing Him.
In John 1:45, we observe the journey of Nathaniel. Initially, he hears about Jesus and dismisses his origins. However, Phillip encourages him to come and see. This indicates that sometimes we mishear and miss out on His presence. Nathaniel’s desire to see leads him to encounter Jesus in verses 50-51, where Jesus reveals, “You shall see greater things than these; you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” This moment for Nathaniel marks a profound encounter, moving him into the dimension of seeing.
Lastly, in Matthew 11:4, Jesus instructs the disciples of John to tell him “the things you have heard” (the first dimension) and “the things you have seen” (the second dimension).
Ladies and gentlemen, in the gospel of the Kingdom, we must possess both the grace to hear and the grace to see. We are called to be a people who testify that the blind see, the dead are raised and the deaf hear.
In 1 John 1:1, one of the apostles shares, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the Word of life.” This illustrates that the apostles not only heard but also saw and interacted personally with the Word of Life.
Even Paul, who authored a significant portion of the New Testament, experienced both seeing and hearing. This deep engagement with God is what gave him such remarkable insight and revelation.
I invite you to receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour. If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that He is your Lord and Saviour, you shall be saved. May God bless you all.
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