Beginning at verse 1 of Psalm
146, we read, Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. While I live will I praise the
Lord. I will sing praises unto my God
while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes,
nor in the Son of Man, in whom there is no help. His breath
goeth forth, he returneth to the earth, in that very day his
thoughts perisheth. Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
which made heaven and earth, the sea, and all therein, which
keepeth truth forever, which execute the judgment for the
oppressed, which giveth food to the hungry, The Lord looseth
the prisoners. The Lord openeth the eyes of
the blind. The Lord raises them that are
bowed down. The Lord loveth the righteous. The Lord preserveth the strangers,
he relieveth the fatherless and widow, but the way of the wicked
he turneth upside down. The Lord shall reign forever,
even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the Lord. I picked that psalm because this
is what the closing of tonight's study is exactly about, those
who were once blind And when the Lord opens their eyes, they
go and they follow Him. They praise the Lord from that
point on. We're going to need our Bibles
tonight, folks. We've got a lot of text that
I want to cover tonight. My mom told me once, as I was
new in the ministry of pastor here at Rescue, she said, if
you can't figure out what to say, just read scriptures. Well,
I've got some things to say, but I've got a bunch of scriptures
to read as well. So we'll keep my comments to
a minimum. My comments aren't worth listening
to anyway. So let's start off by looking at our handout, if
you would. I posted in here a title tonight, It Took a Miracle of
Love. And that's what we're going to
witness in God's word in Matthew. But I want to look at some other
places first. For instance, the first section
of scripture that we'll be reading tonight will be in Joshua chapter
10. But I want to, I put the song that we read, the hymnal
that we read, It Took a Miracle. I put the words in there because
I want to read the words with you. My Father is omnipotent. That means all powerful. And
that you can't deny. A God of might, and miracles
it is written in the sky. Though here His glory has been
shown, we still can't fully see the wonders of His might, His
throne, which will take eternity. The Bible tells us of His power
and wisdom all the way through, and every little bird and flower
Our testimony is true. Isn't that true? They sure are. The greatness of our Lord is
seen in everything He made, but greater far the work He did when
on Him my sin was laid. It took a miracle to put the
stars in place. It took a miracle to hang the
world in space. But when he saved my soul, cleansed,
and made me whole, it took a miracle of love and grace. Now I looked up that word miracle,
did a King James search on it, and the Hebrew word definition,
and I found this quite interesting, mothet. That's how you pronounce
the original in the original Hebrew language. It means, in
a sense, of conspicuousness, a miracle, by implication, a
token or an omen, a miracle, a sign or a wonder. We're not
going to look at these, but I put these in tonight's handout because
I wanted to give you an opportunity to go into God's Word and see
where that word miracle is used according to God's Word and see
how versatile it is and how wonderful, how miraculous, how... Well, let's go to page two, if
you would. I've listed all the ones where
it's used there, as wandered, miracles, and so on and so on,
and gave you scriptures. You can look at that at your
own time. But right under the top of page two, the New Testament
Greek is Simeon. And it basically means the same
as it is in Hebrew, but there's an added word in there, and it's
supernatural, or supernaturally. So, and then I listed all of
those listings as well for you to look at. So at the bottom
of page two is where we're gonna pick up from this point on. It took something of a supernatural,
and that's what I wanna make a point of tonight. We're gonna
talk about two men, three men actually, who were healed of
their blindness. A miracle. Something supernatural
happened. People are afraid to say this.
And a lot of God's people fall into this very same trap. They
want to explain everything that they can figure out. They'll
see something in scripture and they'll say, oh, look, this has
got this explained out perfectly. Folks, we see the ways of God
through glass darkly. There's no way we can understand
fully a lot all, for that matter, of the ways of God. His ways
are not our ways. Until we go through that doormark
death and stand in His presence, we're going to just see drops
of what reality and what truth are. And we have His Word to
give us that truth that we do know. But sometimes we take it
a little bit too far and forget that a lot of what our Lord does
is supernatural. God manifests in the flesh. That's supernatural. I can say
it's supernatural because the Spirit was what came upon Mary
and the Lord developed in her womb. That's supernatural. That's never happened. It's not
possible to the knowledge of men for that to happen. God being
made sin, we're talking about the majesty of God. He who knew
no sin. That's supernatural. You can't
explain that. But I know it's true. And this
is the same thing we're talking about these men who were blind. I know today we have medical
science that has figured out how to give certain sights to
certain people. And there's all kinds of what
they call miraculous ways there. But no man has ever, by rubbing
his eyes, had sight given to him. That was a miracle, supernatural. Now, top of page 3, tonight I
wish to take our focus to that very point, the point of supernatural. So, if you're in Joshua chapter
10, I'd like to look at a couple of verses there with me. Verse
12, Joshua chapter 10, Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day,
when the Lord delivered up the Amorites, before the children
of Israel. So they're in a battle. They're
in a battle, and the Lord wants the Israelites to know that He's
the one who fights the battle for them. God's people must know
that it is God who has done the battle for us. And he said in
the sight of Israel, son, S-U-N, son, stand thou still upon Gibeon,
and thou moon in the valley of Ajala. And the son stood still. And the moon stayed until the
people had avenged themselves and upon their enemies. Is not
this written in the book of Jeshur? So the sun stood still in the
midst of heaven and hasted not to go down about the whole day.
And there was no day like that before it or after it that the
Lord hearkened unto the voice of man, for the Lord fought for
Israel. Now, I want to back up there
for just a moment. There's a statement there that I want to expand a
little on in verse 14. It says, And there was no day
like that before. I highly recommend, and if anybody
would like, I'll be happy to text them this message. But Brother
Tom Harding brought a message in Danville. I don't know how
long ago it was, but it was titled, There is none like it. Give it
to me. And he brought his message from
where David was running from Saul. And he went into the priest's
temple. And he asked the priest if they
had any weapons of any kind. And the only weapon they had
was the sword that David had used to kill Goliath, to cut
Goliath's head off. And David said, there is none
like it. Give it to me. And Tom brought out a message
on how the gospel is that very thing. There is none like the
gospel of God's Word. And so, I found it interesting
that after listening to that message, here in verse 14, just
as the sun stood still, and there was no day like that. Nothing had ever happened like
that before, it, or after. And the Lord hearkened unto the
Word. Now, let's go back to our handout if we would. third line
from the top. Can this be described as anything
less than supernatural? The sun standing still? That's
impossible, isn't it? That's something that man cannot
comprehend. That's not even something we
would have imagined if it hadn't been given to us in word. All
of creation Is that not a miracle? Unexplainable? Oh, we try. We
try to explain it with Big Bang Theory, coming from monkeys,
evolutionism. But in reality, it's mysterious. It's beyond our understanding.
the perfect righteousness, the perfect righteous eternal son
of God, humbling himself, manifesting himself in the likeness of man
in flesh. Listen to these words from Philippians
2, 5 through 7. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men. That verse never ceases to boggle
my mind. The very one who rules over every
molecule, the very one who his presence demands authority, demands
majesty, humbled himself, took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men. Is that not a miracle?
Not only did he manifest himself in the flesh, he did so according
to the Father's will, obediently, even the death of the cross.
Listen to these words from Philippians 2, 8 through 9. And being found
in the fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. was born and died. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name." God
manifest himself in the flesh, then died in the flesh. How mysterious
is that? What a miracle is that? just
as unexplainable as the sun standing still, just as mysterious as
the world covered with water, just as miraculous as the Red
Sea dividing into the walled water and the ground being dry
for the people of God, God's ways are not our ways. They're supernatural. They're
unexplainable. They are mysterious to the natural
man. They are outside of our understanding. Look over at Luke chapter 18
with me, if you would. Turn over to Luke in your Bibles,
to chapter 18. In Luke chapter 18, we read in
verse 18, and a certain ruler asked him, saying, good master,
what shall I do to inherit life? And Jesus said unto him, why
callest thou me good? None is good save one, that is
God. Thou knowest the commandments,
do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear
false witness, honor thy father and thy mother. And he said,
all these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard
these things, he said unto him, yet lackest thou one thing, sell
all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt
have treasures in heaven, and come, follow me. And when he
heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when
Jesus saw that he was sorrowful, he said, how hardly shall they
that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. For it is easier
for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter
into a kingdom of God. And they that heard it said,
who then can be saved? Verse 27, and he said, the things
which are impossible with men are possible with God. The things which are impossible.
Back in our handout, page three. The things which are impossible
with men are possible with God. We're talking about miracles.
We're talking about supernatural. We're talking about the things
that men cannot understand in the flesh. Now let's turn to
our text in Matthew chapter 20 and pick up where we left off
at verse 29. Matthew chapter 20. beginning at verse 29. And they departed from Jericho. Now remember, he was with a great
following of people. He had been teaching to the disciples.
And he says, and they departed from Jericho. A great multitude
followed him. And behold, two blind men, sitting
by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out,
saying, have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. And the multitude
rebuked them, because they should hold their peace. But they cried
the more, saying, have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. And Jesus stood still. Now I want to stop there for
just a moment. That's exactly what the sun, the very ball of
fire that the Lord uses to light and to heat this world, stood
still over the city of Jericho. That's what we were reading about
back there in Joshua. And Jesus stood still and called
them and said, what will ye that I shall do unto thee? They say
unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion
on them and touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received
sight, and they followed him. Back in our handout. The things
which are impossible with men are possible with God. Now turn over to page four, if
you would. Luke tells us about our Savior healing one blind
man as he approached Jericho. And you can read about that in
Luke 18, 35 through 43. In fact, we're going to look
at that a little bit later in tonight's study. Here, Matthew
tells us that he healed two more blind men as they departed from
Jericho. Mark was inspired to describe
the same event that Matthew is speaking of, but Mark only mentions
the healing of one of these men, a man by the name of Bartimaeus,
the son of Timaeus. That's in Mark 10, verse 46 through
52. Now, three blind men were publicly
healed in Jericho by the Son of God as he passed through on
his way to Jerusalem to accomplish our redemption. It is that fact
that Matthew, Mark, and Luke were inspired to record for our
learning. Three great miracles performed
by the Lord Jesus Christ, the light of the world, as he was
going to Calvary, to die in the room instead of poor, blind,
helpless sinners, that we might obtain mercy in him and from
him. Brother Don wrote this, he said,
these things are not intended merely to inform us that the
Lord Jesus Christ had and has the power to perform miracles.
They're not just intended merely to teach us that we are to look
to him as our great physician for the healing of our infirmities
of the flesh, though both of those things are true. These
three great miracles are object lessons proclaiming the gospel
of God's free, omnipotent, all-powerful grace in Christ. May God the
Holy Spirit bring these lessons home to our hearts. Now Robert
Hawker suggested the following four points of instruction. First
is, he suggested these mighty miracles were themselves a proof
of our Savior being the Messiah. Remember what the Old Testament
did? It pointed the people of Israel to the Messiah, to the
Deliverer. Listen to these words from Isaiah
35.5, Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears
of the deaf shall be unstopped. That's a pretty good argument
that Robert puts there, isn't it? that this could be, the Lord
put this here to prove that he's the Savior and the Messiah. The
fact that, going on with what Robert said, the fact that our
Lord performed these miracles near Jericho, the cursed city,
as it is stated in Joshua 6.26 and 1 Kings 16.34, may have reference
to that which we would, which he would accomplish as our substitute
upon the cursed tree. All the blessings of grace come
to chosen sinners because the Lord Jesus Christ was made a
curse for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. Page five. Listen to Galatians
3, verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Folks, we need a physician. We're just like those blind men.
And the healing of those blind men is exactly that. God, the
Lord Jesus, was made a curse. The curse of the law being made
a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. And then we read these familiar
words from 2 Corinthians 5.21. For He hath made Him. For God
hath made His Son to be sin for us. You know, back up. For he hath made him sin for
us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. I took those words to be out
just now. Those weren't in the original
language. I think it reads better that way. I don't want to argue
with anyone about that. But I just think it reads better.
For he hath made him sin. What a miracle. What an unexplainable
thing. Oh, the conduct goes on, Robert
goes on to say, of those blind also hold forth many sweet instructions. They were in the highway begging.
It is good to be found in the highway of ordinances where Jesus
passeth by. The cry of those men under the
sense of their misery and Jesus's power afford great lessons to
teach men how to pray and not to faint. But who taught them? that Jesus was the son of David,
that is the Messiah which should come, who indeed but he to whom
they came could lead them to himself. These blind men are
great examples to you and I of faith in Christ. Faith is frequently
found where it is least expected. I was talking with a dear brother
who measures his faith. And I say it because, I say it
that way because we all do to a certain degree, don't we? Oh,
my faith is weak today. I just, I have fallen so much
in this sin of this flesh today, my faith is just, it's almost
not even visible. And then the Lord does something
in our lives that just shines His glory, and we turn to Him
and we say, praise God that He's God. Praise the Lord that He's
loves a people for himself. And we see that in our weakness, his love and
his grace shine strong. There were great multitudes who
followed the Lord Jesus back in our handout again as he walked
along and taught the people, some for loaves, some for love,
some out of curiosity, some out of conviction, some for greed,
and some for grace. But there were few, there were
a few, very few, who believed on the Lord Jesus. Many, many
saw His miracles, yet believed not. Listen to these words from
Matthew 11, verse 20 through 24. Then began he to upgrade the
cities wherein most of his mighty works were done. You'll recall
in the book of John, the Lord tells some unbelieving Jews,
the works that I did proved who I am. They proved the works that
I did in my father's name proved that I am. He says, I didn't
hide it from you. I told you plainly who I am.
But you believe not. because you are not my sheep.
This is what he's talking about here. Then began he to upgrade
the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because
they repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For
if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sodom at the day of judgment
than for you. And now Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if
the mighty works which have been done in thee have been done in
Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto
you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom. in the
day of judgment than for thee. That's Matthew 11, 20 through
24. And then in John chapter 2, 23 through 24, we read these
words. Now, when he was in Jerusalem
at Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name when
they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit
himself unto them, because he knew all men. But here, Here we are reading
about three blind men who had never seen any of the Lord's
miracles. They knew Him only by hearsay,
by the testimony of others, yet they believed Him. Page six.
These men simply heard other men and women talking about the
Savior. They heard people in the streets
talking about the Son of God and the great wonders of mercy
He had performed. When they heard that Jesus passed
by, verse 29, Spurgeon called it blessed gossip. Would it to
God that we had more of it. We know that faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God, as stated in Romans 10, 17. It
was when they heard that Jesus passed by that they cried out,
saying, have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. Perhaps they
heard how the master had healed a blind man on his way into Jericho. And I went on ahead and recorded
it here for you to read. Luke 18, verse 35 through 43. And it came to pass that as he
was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat at the wayside,
begging. And hearing the multitude pass
by, he asked what it meant. And they told him that Jesus
of Nazareth passed us by. And he cried, saying, Jesus,
thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And they which went before
rebuked him. that he should hold his peace.
But he cried so much the more, thou son of David, have mercy
on me. And Jesus stood and commanded
him to be brought unto him. And when he was come near, he
asked him, saying, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee?
And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said
unto him, receive thy sight, thy faith, have saved thee. And
immediately he received his sight and followed him. glorifying
God and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto
Him. Without question, they had heard who He is. They called
His name, Jesus, Savior, openly acknowledging Him to be both
their God and the Messiah. John Gill tells us that the things
stated by these men declare their faith in Christ, calling Him
Lord. expressing their sense of deity,
dominion, and power, and son of David, thereby owning and
professing him to be the Messiah. And he gives us three verses.
I'll leave that for you to look up on your own. Isaiah 35, 42,
and Isaiah 61, page 7. They looked to him as their God
and Savior, the only one for whom they hoped to obtain mercy. that only God could perform.
They looked to Him, hoping that He would cause their blind eyes
to see. No doubt they heard about His
mighty miracles of mercy, and they heard that Jesus passed
by. Knowing that He might never pass that way again, they seized
the opportunity before them and sought His mercy. Again, I give
you a quote from our brother Don. He says, the cry of these
blind men was the cry of fate. They believed on the Son of God.
Their faith puts me to shame, writes Don. I have books of evidence,
a library full of good commentaries and books on theology, volumes
of biographies, yet how little there is of this child-like confidence. Remember how it was we started
this chapter 20? Remember how it was the Lord
took the child and set him in the midst of them and said, you
must be as this child to enter into the... That's what these
blind men are doing. That's what God's people do.
Out of faith, we put our entire trust We completely take no confidence
in this flesh. Whatever you're struggling with,
whatever the struggles you have, ask yourself this question. Is Jesus Christ God Almighty
in the flesh? Answer it to yourself. Did Jesus
Christ save, without question, His people? Answer that to yourself. Was the sacrifice of Christ accepted
by God the Father? Answer that to yourself. Is He
sitting at the right hand of God right now making intercession
for you? Answer that question. I know
we've all got through the times of doubt. But it really comes
down to the simplicity of our faith. Not how much. But whom? Whom is our faith in? Whom do we know? It's not how
much we know, but who we know. Oh, that's what this is talking
about, folks. Childlike confidence and faith
in Christ, as we go on in our handout there, the quotation
from Don. Even among true believers, he
writes, simple, confident, unhesitating faith is found where it is least
expected. The humble soul believes God
and walks in peace, while learned, well-read theologians are often
harassed with doubts and questions. I'm not ashamed to say I don't
understand almost everything I read in this book, but I believe
it. whom I believe. I know what's
in my heart when it comes to belief on who He is and what
He's done and where He is now. That's where we want to get to,
folks. That's where we want to get to is that simplistic belief
in the Lord Jesus Christ, looking to Him for everything. Mid-page
of page 7, I know that God is sovereign. I know that salvation
is of the Lord. I know that every chosen, redeemed
sinner shall be saved. I'm fully aware of these facts,
yet the Scriptures clearly teach us that every man is responsible
for his own soul. Where that line comes between
grace and responsibility, I have no idea to tell you. But I know
it's true, and it's taught both ways. Both things are taught. When these two blind men heard
that Jesus passed by, they were found sitting by the way. What wisdom they displayed. They took up a hopeful position
by the way. There they would be likely to
hear any good news that might be spread among the people. There
they would most likely be to meet with and be seen by the
compassionate one. Though they were blind, they
were not deaf, and they used what they had for good. Do not
forsake the assembling of God's saints and the preaching of the
gospel." That's what we read here at the bottom of page 7.
which is in Hebrews 10 through 20 through 25, by a new and living
way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that
is to say, his flesh, and having a high priest over the house
of God, let us draw near with a true heart, full assurance
of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us
hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he
is faithful that promised, page 8, and let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching. Don't forsake the reading of
Holy Scripture. That's what it's telling us in
Romans 10, verse 17, where we read, so then faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Don't forsake private
prayer. As we read in Luke 18, 1, and
he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always
to pray and not to faint. These are God's ordained means
of grace. To despise them is to despise
His grace. To neglect them is to neglect
His grace. To use them is to be in the path
of mercy. Listen to this, Matthew 18, verse
20. For where two or three are gathered
together in My name, there am I in the midst. So Jesus had
compassion on them. Just as the sun stood still on
that wicked city, recorded in Joshua, the Lord of all glory,
the son of the living God, the light of the world stood still
before these wicked men. What a miracle of love. What
a miracle of grace. When we heard their plaintiff
cry, or when he heard their plaintiff cry, he heard his heart was moved
with pity for them. Their need drew forth his tenderness. And he touched their eyes, and
immediately their eyes received sight. Once I was blind, but
now I see." Turn over to Ephesians chapter 1 with me, if you would. Let's go back to our Bibles for
just a moment, and then we'll close with the last two paragraphs
of page 8 in our handout. In Ephesians chapter 1, Beginning
at verse 15, Paul was inspired to write these words to the church
at Ephesus. He says, wherefore I also, after
I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love, and love
unto all the saints. How is it men will know that
we are children of God by the love that we have for each other,
especially for the Church of God. After I had heard your faith
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love for all the saints,
I ceased not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in
my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom. Who is our wisdom? Our Savior. Isn't that what we read in Isaiah
chapter 6? I always get it backwards. Is
it 6 or 9? 9 and 6. Either way, you know
which one I'm talking about. He is our wisdom. Unto us a son
is born. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. That's
speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. And his name shall be called
Wonderful. He's our wisdom, as it says in 1 Corinthians chapter
1. He's made unto us wisdom. And the revelation in the knowledge
of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that means
open, eliminated. That's exactly what the Lord
did to these three men, these three miracles performed in the
city, that their eyes the eyes of their understanding being
enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling,
and what the riches of His glory of His inheritance in the saints,
and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe
according to the working of His mighty power. which he wrought
in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at
his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality,
and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in the world which is to come,
in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his
feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
which is the body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all."
Back in our handout, I'll bring this to a close. With all the
ease of omnipotence, that means all power, all the ease of the
power that he has that wields in his very hand, in his very
thoughts, the Son of God caused these poor blind men to see how
merciful our Savior is to our souls, truly. The love of Christ
passes knowledge, as we read in Ephesians 319. Faith always
gets, always gets what it seeks from Him, mercy. Having obtained
mercy, they followed Him. That's what that Psalm that we
read. in the beginning was talking about. He was talking about one
who had been enlightened and praised the Lord from that moment
on to the rest of the days. Every single one of us who has
had the shining light of Jesus Christ shine in our heights will
spend the rest of our eternity praising Him for what He's done
for us. He who gave sight to their eyes
gave life to their souls, and they followed Him. May God ever
give us eyes to see and hearts to desire our Savior, that we
may follow Him by faith here until with open vision we see
Him as He is and dwell with Him forever. Amen.