I’m blind, but once I could see.

Steve Brown:
I’m blind, but once I could see. I’ll explain on this edition of Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
This is Key Life, here to let Christians know that God isn’t mad at them. Keep listening and you’ll hear that because of what Jesus has done, you’re welcomed home into the family of God because of His radical grace, free from the penalties of sin and never alone in your suffering.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. If you have your Bible open to the first 11 verses of the second chapter of Philippians. And we’re spending a long time in these verses, and as I said at the beginning, when we finish, we will have only scratched the surface. Now, if you’ve been listening, we have noted not only that who he was, that is Jesus, and what he enjoyed, and what he did, and what he became. We saw it yesterday when we talked about how Jesus became a man. John 13 is a wonderful chapter and it’s filled with such profound and important teaching. And if you were listening when we spent maybe three or four years in the Gospel of John, when we got to the 13th chapter of John, we paused, and went haaah, I don’t believe that. That’s the place where Jesus washes his disciples feet. And you remember he was, he donned the clothing, or the non clothing of a servant, got a bucket of water, and went around and washed all the disciples feet. The most, and then he said, you call me servant and Lord, and you’re right. Teacher, I’m that, but I want you to know that I have washed your feet, and now you’ve got to do the same for others. So, he’s calling us, and we’re going to talk about that a little bit later, to be a servant in the same way he was a servant. But when he got to Peter, Dear Peter. Peter said, Oh no you’re not. You ain’t doing that to me. You’re the Messiah. You’re the King. You go to Andrew, but you leave me alone. You’re not washing my feet. And Jesus said something that was so profound that when you get it, it’ll change your life. He said, Peter, if I don’t wash your feet, then you have no part in me. And Peter then, and John doesn’t include the cuss words he used, but I suspect there were some. He said, flopping back down in his seat, Okay, do it! But not my feet, but my hands, and my head, and all of me. You know, we don’t like that very much, do we? I mean, we want to do something. Listen, I’ll do it myself. That is the call of failure, because we can’t do it ourselves. And so, Jesus entered time and space and did what we can’t do for ourselves. And that brings me to something else that I want you to note. Note not only what he was, and what he enjoyed, and what he did, and what he became. I want you to note what he suffered. This is the eighth verse.

And being found in human form,

here it comes

he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.

Oh my. That’s what it took. That’s what it took for us to be free and forgiven and acceptable and clothed in the righteousness of Christ. I don’t think we understand that. If you had been standing on Calvary when Jesus was crucified and your human blindness had been removed. You would have seen an incredible battle going on between good and evil, between the demonic and the angels, and between Jesus and everything that was dark and sinful and horrid in the world. And it would have blown you away. And I don’t think that we understand the suffering either. Somebody talks about two blind men that were begging for dollars on a street corner. One had a sign and it said, I am blind. And the other had a sign and it read, I am blind and once I could see. He was the one who got the most donations because people said, If you could see the beauty of the world and now you can’t see, then that must be horrible. That’s what Jesus was. He was God. He had everything. He didn’t, I mean, he created everything. Everything was at his beck and call. Talk about servants, everything, including the stars and the planets and the people who lived on earth were his, and he got what he wanted, when he wanted and how he wanted. He had everything, the best, the most important, the most expensive, every bit of it. And then, he made a decision, and he entered time and space. My friend, Jill Briscoe, said in the Garden of Eden, when Eve and Adam took the first bite of the fruit, the Messiah, the King of Kings made preparations to journey to Earth. Given what he left, it is absolutely amazing. Death on a cross for us. Hey, you think about that. Amen.

It’s Wednesday, and sometimes, if I have some time on Wednesdays, I answer a question or two. As you know, Pete Alwinson will be in on Friday, and Pete and I spend that whole broadcast just answering questions. And we love to get your questions at Key Life. We take you and your question very seriously. If you have a question, any time you want to, you can pick up the phone call 1-800-KEY-LIFE and follow instructions and record your question. And often we put your voice on the air. Or if you want to, you can e-mail your question to [email protected] or mail it to

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and if you can help us financially, please do. As I always say, we’ll squeeze every dime for the glory of God. We’re a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. Both of those organizations ensure ethical monetary practices, but they didn’t have to do it with us. We were ethical before they came along. So, we’ll appreciate it if you can help us, if you can’t, we understand. Alright, let’s turn to one or two of these questions.

This is an e-mail. What has to happen before Christ returns? It seems like we’re living in the end times right now. It does, doesn’t it? Let me tell you that everything that has happened, and that was predicted before Jesus returns, has happened. And so, Jesus could come during this broadcast. You say, well, we haven’t gone through the Great Tribulation yet. Do you know what Corrie Ten Boom told me one time? I asked her if it was really bad at the death camp where she and her sister were. And she said it was a lot worse than the film or the book talked about because nobody would believe how bad it was. And then she said something I’ve never forgotten. There is more tribulation in the world right now, as you and I are talking, than is described in the Book of Revelation. She had a good point. Most of the things that need to happen, have happened. And we’ve had plenty of Antichrists. We’ve had plenty of wars and rumors of wars. We’ve seen what’s happened in the Middle East. We see what happens in Jerusalem, and we know the prophecies that have to do with all of that. Do you know what I think Jesus was doing? I think he was making sure that every generation and every place, where his people were, there would be hope that it could be today. When I was a teenager, I was a part of a Bible study that was taught by a lady by the name of Gordon. Aunt Gordy, we called her. She lived on the top of a mountain overlooking the city of Asheville, which is my hometown. And we had piles of teenagers that met every Monday night in her house. And every morning, Aunt Gordy would go to the window and throw it open and she would say, Lord, maybe today. Maybe today. I think that’s a good attitude for us all to have. It could be today. But you’ve got to be careful that you’re not presumptuous over it. Martin Luther thought it was in his day. The apostle Paul thought it was really soon. John Wesley thought it was his day. Billy Graham thought it was his day. And I think that it’s our days. And who knows? Jesus said nobody knows except the Father. And He isn’t telling anybody. So, live in the hope. Moody used to say to his followers who worked in the city, work hard. Do all you can and one of these days I’m going to join you. Jesus said to us exactly the same thing. Work hard and do all you can and one of these days I’m going to join you and we’ll clean up the mess together. Hey, Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.