Matthew chapter 9, having healed
the woman with the issue of blood and the daughter of Jairus, we're
told in Matthew chapter 9 verse 27, that when Jesus departed
thence, two blind men followed Him, crying, and saying, thou
son of David, have mercy on us. Verse 28, and when he was coming
to the house, the blind men came to him. And Jesus saith unto
them, believe ye that I am able to do this. And they said unto
him, yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying,
according to your faith, be it unto you. And their eyes were
opened, and Jesus straightly charged them, saying, See that
no man knoweth." Now, this morning, in this portion of Scripture,
I want you to consider five things with me, and I'll be brief. The
five things are first, the seekers. Who and what they are. Secondly,
the question that the Lord asked them. Thirdly, the answer that
they gave. Fourthly, the Lord's response
to their answer. And the last thing, the result
of their request. So who are these seekers? They're two blind men. They're
seeking the Lord. They're aware of their blindness.
They're seeking Him for sight. and they earnestly desire to
see." Notice that they come crying. That's important. Crying strongly
implies that these blind men were earnest. They were sincere. They were serious in their seeking. They came pleading. That word,
crying, means pleading, begging, requesting,
appealing, petitioning for mercy. Crying implies suffering, doesn't
it? They were suffering from and
because of their condition. These men, in other words, were
hungering and thirsting after sight. Men and women are earnest
and serious about many things today. Money, possessions, career,
health, family, politics, even religion. But where is the concern
for true holiness? Where is the concern in man's
inability? Where is the concern of men and
women's unwillingness to seek after the mercy and grace of
God in Christ for salvation? Where's the earnest, the sincere
concern that men and women should have for their souls? Do you
have a sincere concern for your own spiritual sight? These blind
men came crying. They desired to see above everything
else in life. Do men and women expect to be
saved while still in darkness? You can only worship God in spirit
and in truth. There's never been a soul saved
under false preaching. Did you know that? Never a soul
saved under false preaching. We worship Christ in spirit and
in truth. The elect of God cry. They plead. They beg for their eyes to be
opened. The psalmist prayed, out of the
depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. These two men were crying
from the depths. They'd hit rock bottom. Lost
one, have you reached rock bottom? Will you cry for mercy out from
the depths? For these blind men, a hasty
request wouldn't suffice. You see, a blind sinner who truly
needs mercy will be relentless in their pursuit of it. Like
blind Bartimaeus when discouraged. I've pictured that so many times.
I still love to picture it in my mind. There's old blind Bartimaeus
on the roadside begging. Can you hear him? Jesus, thou
son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. And those around him said, hush,
be quiet, don't bother the master. And the scripture says, he cried
so much the more. They didn't discourage him. He
was relentless in his pursuit of sight. And the scriptures
say, Jesus stood still. Oh my, it's the cry of a desperate,
blind sinner that grabs the attention of God in the flesh. Will you
cry for mercy? He always hears the desperate
cry for mercy. Oh, I'm telling you, a blind
beggar will not be denied. The one who has truly seen their
need of Christ will not be denied. Have you ever wanted something
so bad that you just wouldn't be denied of it? You persisted
until you got it. And men and women are not spared
from the wrath of God with just a flippant, careless bid for
mercy and grace. No, no, no. Those who have been
made to truly see their spiritual blindness, they cry, they plead,
they beg for sight. Notice that these two blind men
followed the Lord. Now, being blind, that was not
an easy task. It was difficult. I'm sure along
the way they asked others where to find Him. Did you see which
way he went? I'm sure that their hearing,
which was probably more keen than others because of their
blindness, listened intently to every sound. Is the crowd
going this way or that way? Oh, they were obsessed with following
him. That's what a blind person who
desires to see does. And notice that our Lord went
into a house here. They didn't wait outside. They
followed him in the house. This was an urgent, urgent matter. Their desire for sight was unquenchable. They refused to be discouraged.
They did not go and would not go unheard. You see, a true cry
from a desperate soul never does. These men knew what they wanted. And there are too many blind
souls today that are still unaware of their blindness, spiritually
speaking. These two men knew who the one
thing needful was. And there was only one who could
give them the one thing that they needed most, and that was
Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. And you
see, a desperate heart seeking mercy always honors Christ. That's another thing we can see
here. Notice that they addressed the Lord as the Son of David. These blind men recognized and
acknowledged Christ as being of royal seed. They understood
that the Messiah would come of the house of David. Christ was
David's son, yet David's Lord. Let me show you that real quick.
Keep your marker here in Matthew 9 and turn to Luke chapter 20,
just for a second. I want to show you this. This
is very, very important to understand. Luke chapter 20, verse 41. And Christ said unto those to
whom he was speaking that day, he said, How say they that Christ
is David's son? And David himself saith in the
book of Psalms, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my
right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David
therefore calleth him Lord. How is he then his son? And you and I know the answer
to that. He's the God-man. He was God before he ever became
man. He was David's Lord before he was ever born into the house
of David. How can he be David's son if
David calls him Lord? Because he became David's son.
He became a man to redeem men and women. He who was David's
Lord made himself of no reputation and took upon the form of a servant
to redeem his people from their sin. He is the Lord Jesus Christ,
Lord before He was ever man. And the heart that needs divine
mercy so desperately always makes a great deal of Christ their
Savior. He's the author and the finisher
of our faith. The only cry from a troubled
soul is a cry for mercy. Tell me that's not so, those
of you who need mercy. Have mercy. Was that not their
cry? Have mercy. We need mercy. We must have mercy. It's not about merit. It's not
about personal righteousness. It's not about what the sinner's
will, way, and work is. It's about mercy. Mercy. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for
I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones
are vexed. Turn thee unto me, and have mercy
upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted. Have mercy upon me,
O Lord, for I am in trouble. Mine eye is consumed with grief. Yea, my soul and my belly." Oh,
we need mercy. No sinner will ever receive a
blessing from God as long as they feel they have a right to
it. A beggar asks for charity because they need it, right? They desire it. They've got to
have it. They won't take no for an answer.
I have to have His mercy. In crying for mercy, the child
of God is acknowledging their unworthiness, their profession. Oh God, if
you destroy me, I deserve it. Mercy and grace are never deserved. The child of God may profess,
Lord, I have no claim upon you, yet I make my petition based
only on the fact that you're full of mercy. And your word
says that you delight to show mercy. And I need it. I've got to have it. Would you
give me mercy? Have mercy on me. Oh, do you
see your need of mercy? May God show it to you. Oh, I'm
in desperate need, Lord. Only you can give what I need. Every sinner needs a gift of
free pardon, but only some will ever come to see it. So let me
ask you, do you see that you're blind? Do you see that you need
mercy? Do you see that by nature you
love darkness rather than light? Are you seeking the One who can
give you sight? And I tell you, friend, I labor
so when speaking directly to your heart. If one thing the
Lord has taught me, it's that if He doesn't make His gospel
effectual to you, you'll never see your need or who your Savior
is. That's just so. We need mercy
to even see, don't we? Oh, pray that God might be pleased
to give you a desire. That's mercy. To give you a desire
for mercy and spiritual sight. That brings us to the next consideration. These two blind men are asked
a very important question. We need to consider this question
that the Lord asked these two men, and a correct answer to
the Lord's question here was the only thing that stood between
them and their sight. Christ asked them only one question,
so it has to be a very important one. Look at the last part of
verse 28 back in Matthew chapter 9. Jesus saith unto them, Believe
ye, that I'm able to do this. Do you believe that I'm able
to give you sight? Let's consider this question
in further detail. Since it's the only question
our Lord asked, it's a crucial, it's a very critical, important
question. First word, believe. Believe. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. For by grace you're saved through
faith, that's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Faith is
God's gift to us, and without it, it's impossible to please
Him. Romans 117 tells us that the just shall live by faith.
That's how the child of God lives. Faith in and on their Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote in Romans 3, therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law. And then in Philippians he wrote,
the righteousness of God, which is of God, by faith. Now faith, it means a lot of
things to a lot of people. But scriptural faith, real faith,
is believing. It's believing. Believing God. Believing God's Word. Believing
God's Christ. Believing what God says about
you. Believing what God says about Himself. Faith. Faith is personal. Notice what
He says here. Believe ye. Do you believe? You're going to have to believe.
No one can believe for you. Remember, we talked about that
last week. We talked about your own salvation. My faith won't
profit you. Your faith won't profit me. The
question is, believe ye. Do you believe? You stand responsible
and accountable to God for your sin, your sin. You must give
an account for the things that you have done in your own body. It's personal. You need someone
to put away your sin and it will be by your believing, by your
faith, your faith in Christ's work and righteousness. That's
what a Savior, believing in Him and what He's done. And true
faith has an object. We see that so plainly in what
our Lord says here. He says, Believe ye that I am. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is the great I Am? That's the first act of faith. If you know and believe who Christ
is, now listen, if you know and believe who Christ is, you'll
have no difficulty in believing what He's able to do. Isn't that
right? When you see who Christ is, you'll
see that He can do anything, everything. Our gods in the heavens,
he's done whatsoever he hath pleased. You'll believe that
he's able to do what you're seeking him for. He's able to do exceeding,
abundantly above all we could think or ask. Ephesians 3.20.
He's able to subdue all things unto Himself. All things? All
things. Philippians 3.21. He's able to
keep all that we commit to Him. Have you committed your soul
to Him? He's able to keep you. Kept by the power of God. He's
able to save His people to the uttermost, Hebrews 7.25. Are
you one of His? You can rest in the fact that
He'll save you fully and completely to the uttermost. Having loved
His own, He loved them until the end. Why, He's able to succor
them that are tempted. He's able to comfort those who
are tempted. Why, He's able to do everything.
That's what Job said. Thou canst do everything. What a great profession to make.
Do you believe that God can do everything? The God of this Bible
can. The God of heaven and earth can.
The God that a lot of men preach can't, but this God can. Behold,
I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too
hard for me? That's His Word. That's what
He says. Jeremiah 32, 17. And God Himself asked Abraham.
He said, is anything too hard for the Lord? Friends, is anything too hard
for the Lord? Christ is the object of the believer's faith. And
when all else has been stripped away, I'm telling you there's
one question from the Lord that every seeking sinner must answer. The question is, believe ye that
I'm able to do this. Believe ye that I'm able to save
you, that I'm able to put your sin away, that I'm able to give
you my perfect righteousness so that when you stand before
God, you stand perfect, unblameable, unreprovable in His sight. Do
you believe that I'm able? He didn't ask them if they believed
that they could do something for themselves. He asked, do
you believe that I'm able to do this? That's the question. Now, do you have confidence in
Christ? In the end, that's all that will
matter. Do you believe that Christ can make you whole? Do you believe
that Christ can give you sight? Well, that brings us to the third
thing, their answer. The question, believe ye that
I'm able to do this. The answer, yea, Lord. Yea, Lord. You don't have to
give a long, drawn out answer. Yea, Lord. Yes, Lord, I believe. I believe you can do anything.
I believe you can do everything. And notice that their answer
is immediate. Their answer was given with great
confidence. You know, many ask that question
or are asked that question today and men and women rub their foreheads
and wring their hands and they swallow and they gulp and as
we say in the South, they hem and they haul before answering
yes. Yeah. Yeah. You know, that kind
of yes Sounds more like a no. The best yes in the world is
the one that's given immediately. Yes, Lord, yes. Do you believe
that I'm able to do this? Yes, yes, yes. Yes, Lord, as bad as I am, I
believe that you can save me. Yes, Lord, I know I can never
be what I ought to be, never be what I should be, yet I believe
that you can save me in spite of me. Yes, Lord, I believe,
but help thou my unbelief. You see, salvation is for the
sick. Are you sick? Many men and women
go through this life never seeing that they're spiritually sick. Our Lord said, those that are
whole have no need of a physician. Salvation's for the needy. Those
who are well have no need, but those that are sick do. Those
that are sick need the help that only God can give. Salvation
is for the weak and the ungodly. That's what Paul said in Romans
5, he said, for when we were without strength, that's weak,
no power, ability of our own, no willingness. In due time,
Christ died for who? The ungodly. Do you see that
you're ungodly? Only God can show it to you.
Only God can reveal to you what you really are. We live in a
day where men and women's answers to such statements are, well,
I'm not perfect, but I'm not all that bad. No, you're worse.
Ungodly. Ungodly. Salvation, the love, mercy, and
grace of God is for sinners, but God commendeth His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Christ came into the world to
save sinners, right? So has God shown you that you're
sick? Has God shown you that you're
needy? Has God shown you that you're weak and that you're ungodly? Believe ye that he is able to
save you? That's the question. That's the
question. And the answer of faith is always,
yea, Lord. Martha said unto him, I know
that my brother shall rise again in the resurrection at the last
day. And Jesus said, Martha, Martha,
I am the resurrection. I am the resurrection and the
life, and he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" Same question. Is Christ able to raise Lazarus
from the tomb? Martha said, Yea, Lord. I believe that thou art the Christ.
the Son of the living God which should come into the world. Our
Lord asked Peter. Peter denied the Lord three times.
Oh my, don't you know his heart was broken. He looked at his
friend and he said, I'm going fishing. I'm done with this. I'm not worthy to mention His
name. I'm going fishing. And the Lord
came to him while he was fishing. And as they walked upon the beach
together, The Lord asked Peter, he said, Peter, dost thou love
me? And Peter said, oh, Lord, yea,
Lord, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. That's the
answer. The believer has no faith in
their own ability and all confidence in Christ. Has not our Lord proven
himself time and time again? Well, let's move on to the fourth
thing and that's the Lord's response. Look at verse 29. Then touched
he their eyes, saying, according to your faith, be it unto you. Or in other words, if you believe
me, there's light for your eyes. You see, true the faith, true
the sight. If your faith is true, if your
faith is real, your cure is true and real. If your faith's complete,
your cure is complete. Determined faith doesn't open
one eye, it opens both eyes to see Him. And if you're a long
while in saying yes, you may be a long while in getting sight. Some of you, Still don't have the faith to
believe that God can save you. Or you don't have any problem
with believing He can save others. Well, according to your faith,
be it unto you. It's not our faith that heals
us. It's not our faith that saves us. It's Christ, the object of
our faith, who does. And may God enable you to seek
Christ as these blind men sought Him. May God enable you to trust
Him as they trusted Him. May God enable you to answer
Him as they did. Faith is just a simple, a look of simple trust in Christ. People today seem to have to
work up their faith by religion's emotional and spiritual cheerleading. That's what we have in most church
services today. You know, I was thinking this
morning that I never had to do that to believe that my father
loved me. I never did have to just get
in the room and go, OK, your daddy loves you. Now, your daddy
loves you. You know your daddy loves you. So, I believed that
he had my best interest at heart and he always intended to do
me good. I just trusted that he loved
me. That's what I'm talking about.
That's what faith is. It's just trusting that God loves
you in Christ. I didn't have to think about
whether or not my father loved me. I knew that he did. I don't
have to think about whether or not Christ loves me. I know that
He does. He's revealed it to my heart.
My spirit bears witness with His spirit that He's my Savior. That's simple, childlike faith. Faith is a reliance. It's a dependence. It's believing that God is able
to do anything and to trust Him in everything. You see, believing
Him in everything is trusting Him in everything, isn't it?
When we doubt, when we worry, when we fret about things, if
all things are by His sovereign will and purpose, are we not
doubting God? Of course we are. Faith is believing
that He can do anything and trusting Him in everything that He does. So, what was the result of the
prayer and the request? Verse 30, five wonderful words,
and their eyes were opened. That's the result. That's the
result. Many translations read, and their
eyes were opened immediately. And I couldn't help but to think
about how an immediate answer to Christ's question brings about
an immediate cure, doesn't it? Bartimaeus, we talked about him
a moment ago, he said, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy
on me. He cried all the more, thou son
of David, have mercy on me. And he stood and he commanded
him to be brought before, Bartimaeus brought before the Lord. And
the Lord asked him a question. He said, what wilt thou that
I should do unto you? And you know what Bartimaeus'
answer was? Oh, that I might receive my sight. That's all
I want. Allow me to see you, who you
are, what you've done, my need of you. And the Scriptures say,
and immediately he received his sight. When it comes, friends,
to love, mercy, and grace, The blind sinner is impatient for
it. They want it now. Do you want
spiritual sight now? Do you see you need it? Do you
want it now? All you have to do is ask. You
can be assured that you'll have it now. The repentant thief asked,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. Whenever that is,
Lord, that'll be fine, just as long as you remember me. And
the Lord Jesus said, today, you'll be with me in paradise. Oh, I
think of the words of Joseph Hart, which read, come ye sinners
poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus, ready,
stands to save you, full of pity, love, and power. Come, you thirsty,
come and welcome God's free bounty, glorify true belief and true
repentance, every grace that brings you nigh. Come, you weary,
heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall. If you tarry till
you're better, you'll never come at all. Let not conscience make
you linger. nor of fitness fondly dream,
all the fitness He requires is that you feel your need of Him.
Do you see and feel your need of Him? That's all God requires.
Trust in Him. Come to Him. Do you feel your
need of Christ? Are you looking? Are you seeking
to see? Then come. Come. All ye that
are heavy laden with sin, come, come to me that ye might have
life, and your eyes will be opened. Those who truly seek Him shall
truly find Him." That's the glorious thing about this message, about
this gospel that we preach. Those that truly believe Him
truly receive Him. Our Lord said, seek ye first
the Kingdom of God and all these other things. We worry about
the other things, don't we? All those will be added unto
you if you seek Him first and His righteousness. Never seen
the righteous forsaken, begging for bread. Have you? He takes
care of His people. He takes care of His own. Christ
is the righteousness of God. May God enable you to see Him,
trust Him, come to Him. Do you believe that Christ is
able? That's the question. You answer
that, yay, Lord. You can do all things. That's
the best news I ever heard.