Let us turn to God's Word and I direct you this evening to
words that we find at the end of Luke chapter 18. The Gospel according to Luke
chapter 18 and reading from verse 35. And it came to pass that as he
was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside
begging, and hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him that Jesus
of Nazareth passeth 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 shall do unto
thee? And he said, Lord, that I may
receive thy sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive
thy sight. Thy faith hath saved thee. And
immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying
God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto
God. We contrast this with that portion
of Scripture that we were considering in the morning hour, back in
the earlier part of the chapter, at verse 18. and the following
verses, where we read of the rich young ruler who approached
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I said this morning in these
two incidents, we discover something of the discriminating nature
of the ministry of the Lord Jesus, how he speaks so differently
to each of these men. How we see in Christ that mark
of a true prophet of the Lord. Remember those words that were
addressed to Jeremiah. If thou separate the precious
from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth. One of the marks
of the true servant of God then is that discrimination. And we see it so clearly, of
course, in Christ's preaching. He is the Prince of Preachers.
He is the fulfillment of the prophetic office. He is the Word
of God. And we read several times there
in John's Gospel of division. The division because of Him.
The division because of His sayings. How He does make a difference. And that, I say, is the mark
of the true ministry, not to address a congregation as if
all are in the same condition. There are some to whom there
must be the gospel. There are people who are prepared
for that gospel. But there are those who must
first hear something of the Lord of God. They must be brought
to see their true condition. Christ himself makes it so clear,
does he not, that he comes not to call the righteous, but he
comes to call the sinner. And all are sinners in God's
sight, but there are but few who are sinners in their own
sight. And here we see the difference
in the way in which the Lord deals with these two particular
men. With the rich young ruler, Christ
speaks in terms of law, verse 20, 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. Why does Christ
speak in this fashion? Well, look at the way in which
this man approached the Lord Jesus and what this man said
to the Lord Jesus. He comes and asks, what must
I do to inherit eternal life? He speaks in terms of his own
deeds. He speaks in terms of merit.
That's what Calvin says in his commentary. This man, he says,
dreams of merit. He thinks that there's something
he can do whereby he can merit the favor, the blessing of God.
And when the Lord comes and speaks to him in terms of commandments,
what does he say? All these have I kept from my
youth on. He has no real sense of his need as a sinner, no real
understanding of his spiritual impotence, his total depravity,
that he is a sinner through and through, unable to do anything
for himself. And so the Lord is dealing with
him here in the way of law. And he must learn that awful
lesson that the law teaches. By the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified in God's sights. Paul asked the question
in Galatians 3 and verse 19, wherefore then serve us the law?
It was added because of transgression. It was added because of transgression.
The gospel must have the priority. The law serves the gospel. The
Lord is a schoolmaster. to bring the sinner to Christ
that he might be justified by faith. As many as are of the
works of the law, they're under the curse. Cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things written in that book of the law
to do them. Oh, there's no hope in the law.
It simply comes as that that will condemn the sinner. In vain
we ask God's righteous law to justify us now. since to convince
and to condemn is all the law can do. And yet this man thinks
there's something in the law, some hope there in the law, and
he must be taught the real point and purpose of the law of God. But then in contrast, when we
come to this man at the end of the chapter, the blind man at
Jericho, We know what his name is from other accounts there
in Mark chapter 10. We see he was Bartimaeus, the
son of Timaeus. And how the Lord speaks to him
so differently. How the Lord speaks to him in
terms of the Gospel. In verse 42, Jesus said unto
him, Receive thy sight, thy faith hath made thee whole. His faith
is a true faith, a living faith, a real faith. It's a justifying
faith. It's a saving faith that this
man is in possession of. By Him, by Christ, all that believe
are justified from all things that they could not be justified
from by the deeds of the Lord. All this man has that faith in.
And so we have the contrast. And of course the chapter is
one that so clearly sets before us this contrast. Previously
the Lord Jesus speaks that parable concerning the Pharisee and the
publican, does he not? Verse 9, he spake this parable
unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous
and despised others. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a Republican. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself. He prays inwardly, he prays silently,
but in a sense he prays with himself. His prayer goes no further
than himself. When we see the content of that
prayer, he prayed thus with himself, God, I thank Thee that I am not
as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give
tithes of all that I possess. And in the contrast, the publican
standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner
or more literally the definite article remember is there God
be merciful to me thee sinner or he feels himself to be the
sinner does the publican he needs mercy and that's what this blind
man needs Jesus thou son of David he says have mercy on me and
he repeats the prayer crying so much the more thou son of
David have mercy on merit. If one might be said in some
ways to be representative of that rich young ruler, one who thinks that he's better
than others, one who thinks that there's something to be done,
something that can be accomplished whereby God's favour can be merited,
that's the the rich young ruler. In contrast then, we have this
man and he is very much like that publican. And who is the
man justified? Verse 14, I tell you this man,
the publican, went down to his house justified rather than the
other. For everyone that exalted himself shall be abased, and
he that humbled himself shall be exalted. Well, having considered
something of the Lord's dealings with the young ruler, the rich
man this morning, and sought to say something with regards
to the right ministry of the Lord of God, let us now turn
to the blind man. And so God's manifest in the flesh,
the Lord Jesus, deals with this one in terms of the gospel of
grace. First of all, observe something
of the faith of this man. The Lord says, Thy faith hath
saved thee. What is faith then? Let us not
imagine for a moment that the Lord is in any way suggesting
that faith is some sort of inferior type of work. There are those
who imagine that. In some ways that's a Bacsterian
view to say that where men fail to keep the law, God gives a
new law, the Neonomias as they are called. And the new law that
we have in the gospel, they say, is faith and works of righteousness. But faith is not a work. If salvation
be by grace, it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no
more grace. If it be of works, it is no more
of grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
Grace and salvation by grace through faith is one thing, and
works is quite another, and these are exclusive, one of the other. This faith does not save of itself,
it is the object of faith. It is the Lord Jesus who is the
Saviour of sinners. Now, what do we see concerning
this blind man? And what can we learn concerning
the nature of this man's faith? Well, there are a number of things
we can observe. First of all, what was this man
as he came before God? He was a beggar. He comes to
beg. That was his occupation, if anything.
Look at verse 35. He came to pass as he was come
nigh unto Jericho a certain blind man sat by the wayside begging. That's how he lived his life. He had to beg in arms of people. We're told, are we not, in a
previous chapter of another one who was a beggar and he's contrasted
with a rich man. Remember back in chapter 16 we
read of Lazarus and the rich man. There was a certain rich
man which was clothed in purple and
fine linen and fed sumptuously every day. And there was a certain
beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores
and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich
man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked
his sores, and it came to pass that the beggar died and was
carried by the angels into Abram's bosom. The rich man also died
and was buried." It's interesting, is it not? We're not told the
name of this rich man, but we're told the name of the beggar.
His name was Lazarus. We're not told the name of the
rich young ruler. that as I've said from other
Gospels from Mark chapter 10 and verse 46 we know that this
beggar was called Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus. Oh you see
the Lord knows them that are his. But what do we read concerning
these two the rich man and Lazarus here in chapter 16? Well we are told of their end
When the rich man dies, it simply says he was buried. And in how? Lifting up his eyes, being in
torment, he said, Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. What are we told concerning Lazarus
when he dies? He's carried by the angels, carried
by the angels into Abraham's bosom, carried by the angels
into heaven. He was a beggar. Who are those
who find an eternal home in heaven? It has been well said in one
of his letters. James Wall makes a very simple observation. He
says, but none but beggars go to heaven. None but beggars go
to heaven. That is the first mark of SideWing
5, is it not? Are we those friends who have
to come and we have to beg? We have nothing of our own, nothing
to deal in. When we come to God, we come
with great need and we have to ask God of His mercy to save
us. We have to plead His grace. We have to plead the name, the
merits of another, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the friend
of sinners, who attends to the beggar's prayer. Or do we have
such a faith as that, that we beg? We know what it is to pray. And when we pray, of course,
we can slip into this so easily in our prayers, you know. Certainly
in public prayer, one's very much aware of it. Sometimes when
we're praying in public, we begin to preach to God, as it were.
We're not to preach to God. We're to plead with God. We're
to beg of God. That's what we have to do. It
is beggars, I say, who go to heaven. That's one mark of this
man's faith. And then also we see this, how
this man pursues, pursues the Lord Jesus Christ. He will not
be denied. Look at what it says here concerning
the movement of the Lord Jesus. As he was come nigh unto Jericho,
it says in verse 35, As he was come nigh unto Jericho,
a certain blind man sat by the wayside, begging. And hearing
the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told
him that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus,
thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Here is Christ coming
to Jericho, drawing near to Jericho. And what does this man do? He
cries after Christ, but more than that, he begins to pursue
after the Lord Jesus Christ. And we see that in that other
account that we read, in Mark's account, there at verse 46 in
chapter 10, they came to Jericho, and as he went out of Jericho,
mark that, As he went out of Jericho with his disciples and
a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the highway side, begging. He's there when Christ is coming
into the city, he's there again when Christ is leaving the city. They charge him to hold his peace. But as they tell him to be quiet,
the more he cries out, he's in earnest, this man. There's importunity
here. Isn't that the mark of faith?
Where there is faith there will be that determination to have
no denial, to receive an answer. Isn't that the faith of Jacob? Or when Jacob became Israel,
Peniel, there in Genesis 32. Remember the significance of
the name that was given to him in Israel? Prince with God. And why a prince? Because he
prevails. And what do we see? He's wrestling with the angel,
or rather the angel is wrestling with him. And the day begins
to break, and he will not let the angel go. I will not let
thee go, except thou bless me. This man that we read of here,
this blind man Bartimaeus, he may begin as a beggar, but what
does he appear to be at the end? He's a prince. He's an Israelite
indeed, in whom there is no guile. He's a true son of Israel. He has the faith of God's elect.
Oh, that saving faith, it's such an active thing, is it not? It
lives, it labours. Under load, though damp, it never
dies. There's such a determination,
such a clinging and a cleaving to God where there is that real
faith. We see these various marks, then,
of his faith. Furthermore, you see how he makes
a very specific request. The Lord invites him to make
that request, does he not? Verse 40, 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 shall do unto thee? And there's
no vagueness in his answer. He knows what he wants. He said,
Lord, that I may receive my sight. He's blind. He wants to see.
He has a real need. And he asks the Lord to meet
him at the point of his need. Oh friends, let us learn of this
man what faith is. It deals in particulars. It deals
in particulars. What do you stand in need of
tonight? You need faith. Always have the thing that you
feel so much to need. You want to know that you've
got faith and you want to know that you've got real faith, genuine
faith? You want to know you have that
faith of God's elect, that justifying faith? the same sort of faith
as this man has, what are you to do? Ask. By grace are you
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves? It is the
gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast, but faith is God's gift. And you have to come, it's as
simple as that, you see. It's as simple as that. Whilst
we deny the easy believism and God, we see clearly the simplicity
of the way of salvation so simple. Ask and it shall be given you.
Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh
findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Now those
are the words of the Lord Jesus. You want faith? Ask. Be specific. Tell God. I need faith. I'm in desperate need of faith.
I'm so full of unbelief, Lord. And I know I can't believe. And
it grieves me. I want to believe. I can't believe.
Oh, could I but believe. The language of dear John Newton,
Oh, could I but believe, then all would easy be I would, but
can not. Lord, relieve. My help must come
from Thee. Oh, the Lord Jesus is that one
is enough, the author and finisher of our faith, says the apostle.
We have to ask, ask for faith. You say, well, I don't only need
faith, I need more than that, I need repentance. I feel my
heart sometimes to be so hard. And I wish sin grieved me. Alas,
alas, this old nature within me, it so loves me. and I hate myself for loving
sin and yet I cannot stop loving sin and I need the Lord to come
and I need somehow or other for this hard heart to be broken
I need to know what it is to have a real spirit of compunction
to grieve over sins you have to ask as you ask for faith what
do we read in scripture concerning Christ, Him as God exalted with
His right hand to be a prince and decide to give repentance
to Israel and the forgiveness of sins. All the Lord Jesus,
He gives it to us. He gives repentance. And yet
we are so slow to come to Him, to ask Him who alone can bestow
true evangelical repentance upon us. We have to ask Him for faith. We have to ask Him for repentance. We have to ask Him for everything.
We have to ask Him for the Holy Spirit. That's what we need above
all things, surely. We need God. We need God the
Holy Ghost. We need Him to come to us as
the Spirit of grace. To come to us as the Spirit of
supplications. To come to us as the Spirit of
Christ. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, is none of his, or are we need the Holy Ghost? And
what does the Lord Jesus say in the course of His gracious
ministry? If ye, being evil, know how to
give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? These things
are written in Scripture. This is not my word, this is
the word of God, you cannot lie. God has said it. And how true
that word is. You know how to give good gifts
to your children. Those who are five or two have
children, you know how to please your children, you want to please
your children, you love to give them gifts. He is more blessed
to give than to receive. We don't understand it when we're
little children, we like to be the recipients of the gifts. But as we grow older, and I trust
we grow wiser, we see how much better it is to give the gift.
How much more? How much more, says Christ, shall
your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
Him? You have not. because you ask
Him. It's as simple as that, is it
not? That's what James tells us. You have not because you
ask Him. You ask and you receive not because
you ask Him, Miss, that you may consume it upon your lust. Oh,
let us ask of God. Ask of God for faith, for repentance,
for all things, for the Holy Ghost Himself. This man comes
and we see his faith in this. He has a particular request to
make. When the Lord asks him, what
wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? Immediately, Lord, that
I may receive my sight, I want to see. And as he makes a specific
request, so we see also that he makes a spiritual request. What is the manner of his address
to the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus, thou son of David, No
different. No different to that rich young
ruler that we considered earlier. Oh yes, he shows all proper respect
to the Lord. Verse 18, a certain ruler asked
him, saying, Good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal
life? Eternal life, it's a respectful
way of address, is it not? But see how Christ responds in
verse 19, why call us so many good there? None is good save
one, that is God. Is this man just being respectful?
Or is he really coming to this Jesus of Nazareth recognizing
that this is none other than God? God manifest in the flesh,
how different you see with this blind man. He sees this one to
be none other than the promised Messiah, the Son of David. Jesus, the son of David, have
mercy upon them. All we address is the Lord, you
see, in a spiritual fashion. He understands who it is when
they tell him that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. This is the Messiah
and he comes first of all with a spiritual request. What does he ask for? What does
he first of all ask for? He asks for mercy. Mercy is what
he needs. And then in the second place
he asks for his sight. This man is making a spiritual
request. Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness. and all these things shall be
added unto you." Right priorities, you see, seeking first the Kingdom
of God, seeking first the mercy of God, the forgiveness of his
sins. All these things are added. He obtained mercy, did he not? And having obtained mercy from
the Lord Jesus, he received sight also from the Lord Jesus. Oh,
how different all of this is to that rich young ruler. He
could only speak of merit. Good master, what shall I do
to inherit eternal life? And then when the Lord speaks
to him in terms of commandments, the first table of the law, all
these have I kept from my youth up. Oh, what vain words these
are. But how different it is for this
blind man. He comes and he sues for mercy. That's what he desires of the
Lord. Jesus says, Son of David, have mercy upon me. And this man went to his house
justified, rather than the other. Thy faith hath saved thee. What is his faith? Why, it's
that same faith as Abraham had. Abraham is the father, is he
not, of all them that believe. And Abraham's faith had to do
only with the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember those words at the end
of Romans 8? Concerning Abraham he staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he
had promised he was able also to perform, and therefore it
was imputed to him for righteousness. Ne'er it was not written for
his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom
it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offences and raised again
for our justification. What was imputed to him for righteousness? Oh, it was the promise. It was
the promise, it was the promised Son, the promised seeds. Isaac,
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. whom he received again from the
dead, did he not? And this man's faith, you see,
it's centering in that same person, even the Lord Jesus and that
great work that Christ accomplished. We see then here something of
the faith of this man. And the Lord deals with him,
you see, in gospel terms. Let us turn to say something
in the second place concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and how
we see Christ here as that one who is so compassionate. Or here we see the compassion
of the Lord Jesus ministering the gospel. How the Lord feels
for the sinner. He feels for the sinner. Now
I said that this incident is not just recorded For us, here
in Luke 18, we have it also in Mark's gospel in chapter 10,
and then we have it again in the other synoptic gospel in
Matthew chapter 20. And when we make a comparison
between the various accounts, we get the full picture, do we
not? In Matthew chapter 20, And there again at the end, verse
30, we read these words, 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, and called
them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? And
they said 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. Now, it's only one man here,
and it's one man in Mark's account, and his name is given. How do
we explain the differences? Well, it is the same incident,
but obviously one of these men is the more vocal of the two.
And that vocal man is this one called Bartimaeus. But see what we're told concerning
the Lord, in particular there, in those words we just read at
the end of Matthew 20. Jesus, it says, had compassion. Jesus had compassion on them. They're the words that we have,
compassion. It is a word that has to do with
the inward parts of a man. Literally, it is a man's inward
parts. And really what it's indicating to us is that it's the seat of
a man's feelings that he's being spoken of. You see how the Lord
Jesus is a real man. And as a man he knows real human
emotion. He is a man who can weep. He wept, of course, at the grave
of his friend Lazarus, and they were real tears. They're not
crocodile tears that the Lord shed there. He was about to raise
Lazarus from the dead. Why did he cry? It's his human
nature, the reality of it. He's stirred in the very depths
of his being, and so he is when he sees these men. He's moved.
He feels it. He feels for sinners. what a
comfort that is friends we have not an high priest which cannot
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was tempted in all points
like as we are yet without sin always touch touch with the feeling
of our infirmities the infirmities of our humanity sinless infirmities
there is nothing of sinful infirmity in the Lord Jesus he is utterly
without anything, His nature is pure in every part, He is
holy, He is harmless, He is undefiled, He is separate from sinners,
He is made higher than the heavens and yet it's a real human nature
just as Adam and Eve when they came pristine from the hand of
their maker, they were real human beings before they sinned. There is such a thing you see
as sinless infirmity in humankind and we see it in the Lord Jesus
Christ how he feels how he feels touched with the feeling of our
infirmities oh he's moved in the very depths of his soul and
he cannot but minister to these blind men and give them their
sight but observe, observe the contrast between Christ and those
around about Him at this time. They, verse 39, they which went
before rebuked Him. They rebuked the blind man, that
he should hold his peace, be quiet. They would silence him. but he wouldn't be silent he
cried so much the more their son of David have mercy on me
and Jesus stood and doesn't tell them that they are to silence
him he doesn't agree with them he commands that they bring the
man to him and when the man comes near he asks what his need is
oh how Christ is different you see how Christ is different friends
we see previously in this chapter Look at verses 15 and 16, They
brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them. But
when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called
them unto him and said, Suffer, little children, to come unto
me, and forbid them not. For of such is the kingdom of
God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever
shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall
in no wise enter the area. He's different. Different to
his own disciples here. They're rebuking those who bring
the little children but not the Lord. What a man is this. What empathy. How he feels for
others. How he ministers to others. Think
of Christ and his dealings with that woman of Samaria. In John
chapter 4, you know there was no dealings between the Jews
and the Samaritans. Why? The bitter differences went
back many, many centuries, did they not? Went back to the time
of the death of King Solomon when the kingdom was divided.
And the southern kingdom became Judah, just made up of one tribe,
Judah, and little Benjamin attached to them. And then the Northern
Kingdom, Israel, and there the capital is eventually established
at Samaria. And now that Northern Kingdom
very quickly sinks into all manner of wickedness and sin. And now
they become intermingled, well of course they're scattered by
the Assyrians. But in the days of the Lord Jesus
there were those in Samaria, but there's no dealings, you
see, these are such a mixed people. The Jews had no time for the
Samaritans, and this was a Samaritan woman, and here is the Lord Jesus
talking with her, and we are told there how his own disciples
marveled. They're amazed that he's talking
to a Samaritan. They can't believe it. It's the
same also when we read of that Syro-Phoenician woman, It comes
with their daughter. That woman has come and what
do the disciples say? Send her a wife. Send her a wife. She troubles us. And the Lord
deals with us in a strange fashion in some respects. But ultimately
the Lord will minister to her. He's not seen such faith as hers.
No, not in Israel. You can read of it there in Matthew's
account. She comes, you see, and addresses
him as the Messiah. Behold, a woman of Canaan came
out of the same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy
on me, O Lord, thou son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. But he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away. For
she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am
not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It
is not me to take the children's bed and to cast it to dogs. And
she said, Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which
fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee, even
as thou wilt, and her daughter was made whole from that very
hour. How different the Lord is, you
see. He knew exactly what he would do, of course. He would
minister to her. He's different, is he not, to
others. He feels. He feels for these needy men
and women all about Him. He ministers to them. So often
the disciples can't understand what's going on. In John chapter
9, the man born blind, his disciples come and they ask him saying,
Master, who did sin? This man or his parents said
he was born blind. Surely this man must have been
a great sinner to be born blind or his parents must have been
great sinners for him to be so afflicted. And the Lord tells
them, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the
works of God may be made manifest in him. Oh, the Lord will manifest
those great works and those gracious works of God. He has compassion. He feels for sinners. He favours
sinners also. Verse 42. He says to the blind
man, Receive thy sight. thy faith that saves thee he
favours him that that he asked is given to him but you know
he favours him also in the in the way the manner of his dealings
or too kind to be mistaken too wise to be mistaken and too good
to be unkind what wisdom in his dealing We're told, are we not
a bruised reed, shall he not break, or quench the smoking
flax? How compassionate he is, how
tender he is. He says to the man in verse 41,
What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? Now Christ knew what
this man knew. Christ could see what this man
needed. He was a blind man. He was a man begging. He needed
not that any should testify of man. He knew what was in the
heart of man. He knew this man better than the man knew himself.
Why then does the Lord do this? Because the Lord will have this
man come and make his request. That's how the Lord deals, is
He not? He will have us to pray to. He deals with us in such
ways as to cause us to cry to Him. Even when He brings us into
the path of tribulation and trial, there's a gracious purpose. He'll have us cry to Him and
call upon Him. And He says, before they call, I will answer. Whilst
they are yet speaking, I will hear. But He'll have us to come.
He loves to hear our prayers, or the ways of the Lord, how
strange they are. Look at that word, and it's so
apt really, in the light of what we're considering. That word
that we have back in Isaiah 42, verse 16, we read this, I will
bring the blind by a way that they knew not, I will lead them
in paths that they have not known, I will make darkness like before
them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them,
and not forsake them. These ways, you see, they're
strange, mysterious ways, but oh, they're such gracious ways,
are they not? And see what we have here, we
have more than a gracious word of invitation, do we not? In
verse 40, We have the word of command. Jesus stood and commanded
him to be brought unto him. And when he was come near, he
asked him, the Lord is a sovereign, you see. In this situation we
see this is more than invitation. Thy people shall be willing,
says the psalmist, in the day of thy power. Here is the power
of Christ, where the word of a king is. There is power. He says it, does he not? All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. No exception, all
that the Father giveth me, and the Father has given him a people
in the eternal covenant, that chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And he that cometh to me shall
in no wise be cast out. You say to me, how can I know,
how can I know if I'm given to Christ in that eternal covenant?
How can I know if I'm one of those chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world? How can I know? How can I make
my election sure? Well, it's a matter of calling,
is it not? That's what Peter says. We're to give all diligence
to make our calling and election sure. He that cometh to me. Lord, you
come to him. There's the mark, you see. You
come to him. You call upon him. You cry to him. You beg of him.
This is what the man is doing here. He cried, saying, Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy upon 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. Is that how we come, friends?
That's how we're to come. That's how we're to seek Him.
O God, grant that we might know then something of this faith,
the faith of the blind man. And then we discover the wondrous
compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ. He deals with men, you
see. according to their needs, so
specific, so particular. He ministers to one in one way,
ministers to another in another way. Oh, the Lord be pleased
then to have such dealings, personal, particular dealings with you
and with me. The Lord bless to us His Word.