Matthew 9, verse 27 through verse
33, and the title of the message tonight is, A Common Salvation. A Common Salvation. Matthew 9, verse 27, it says,
And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed Him, crying
and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he
was come into 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, Yes, Lord. And he touched 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 know it. when they were departed, spread
abroad his fame in all that country. And as they went out, behold,
they brought to him a dumb man possessed of a devil. And when
the devil was cast out, the dumb spake, and the multitudes marveled,
saying, It was never so seen in Israel." Tonight, we have before us three
men that the Lord Jesus Christ healed. Two of these men were
blind and the third was a man possessed of the devil. And we may clearly see from this
account that these men had a different experience of grace. A different experience of grace. They had different understandings
and different outward problems. And they even came to Christ
in different ways. But the three of these things,
there are three things that these men all had in common. And these are my points tonight. a common salvation, and a common
calling. These are three things that these
men had in common, and we'll see that what these men had in
common, every one of us who believe in Christ, who know Christ, we
have these same things in common with these men. A common need,
a common salvation, a common Savior, and a common calling.
First of all, a common need. These blind men that came to
the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 27, it says, When Jesus departed
thence, two blind men followed Him, crying, saying, Thou Son
of David, have mercy on us. Now these two blind men They
heard of Jesus Christ. They had heard the reports of
Jesus Christ and how He had healed many people and how He had raised
Jairus' daughter from the dead. And when they heard of Him, they
met Him at this house of Jairus as He was leaving. And they followed
Him all the way through the streets of Capernaum, crying, Thou Son
of David, have mercy on us. Now, can you imagine that sight? These men, these blind men, stumbling
around, following behind Christ, screaming out, Thou Son of David,
have mercy on us. And Jesus just continued to walk,
continued to go. Didn't pay them any mind. I'll
tell you, these men had some understanding, didn't they? They
had some knowledge. They had some wisdom as to who
this man was. They called him, now, Son of
David. And every Jew knew that Jesus,
that Messiah, was to be the Son of David. They were testifying
that Jesus was the Messiah. They knew that. They knew it.
And because they knew He was the Messiah, they knew the promise
of the Messiah as well in Isaiah 42. The promise was that He would
open blind eyes. And so when they heard that Jesus,
the Messiah, had come, they would stop at nothing. They would stop
at nothing to have Him heal their sight. These men were bound in
darkness. And they knew that the Son of
David was their only hope. And so when they found Him, they
gave the Savior no rest. They weren't going to stop crying
until He delivered them. And then we have this man possessed
of the devil in verse 32. It says, and as they went out,
the blind men, as soon as they went out, behold, they brought
him, a dumb man possessed, of the devil. Here's a man who has
a different experience. He has a different experience
than these blind men. He knows nothing. He's a dumb
man and he's possessed of the devil. He doesn't even come by
himself. Someone has to bring him and
set him before the Master. These blind men, they cried after
him, but this man, he had no idea probably why he was there.
He was brought, somebody brought Him to the Lord Jesus Christ. This man was in chains of darkness
and under the power and influence of the devil. Now these men had different experiences,
different maladies, and they had different knowledge. But friends, one thing they had
in common is they all had a need. They all had a need. And friends,
all men, regardless of their knowledge, of their condition,
of their illnesses, of their circumstances, all men, all men
have a need. A need. A common need. We are all spiritually blind
to the things of God. We are all spiritually enslaved
and held captive by our sins and by Satan. And friends, we all need mercy. I want to show this in Scripture. Go to Psalms 51, Psalm 51 and
verse 5. Psalm 51 and verse 5. And the Scripture says, Behold,
I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. David's parents weren't adulterers. known to be righteous people. They were known to be children
of God. And yet, David said, I was shapen
in iniquity. He means that he was conceived
that the seed of man is contaminated with sin. And that his father
Adam had passed death down to him, even in his mother's womb. We all are spiritually dead. At birth, at conception, we are
shapen in iniquity. In other words, sin is not just
what we do. It's not actions. It is our person. It is our nature. It is who we
are. Scripture says that the wicked
are estranged and they go away as soon as they are born, speaking
lies. Friends, we are all born blind
and with the malady of sin. that is passed down to us, loving
darkness rather than light. This is the condition of every
man. All are born under the dominion
of Satan and held captive at his will. Go to Ephesians chapter
5. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse
8. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse
8. The Scripture says, for ye were
sometimes darkness, but now are ye light, and the Lord walketh
as children of light. Friends, we know this, that no
adulterer or fornicator or any such person will enter into the
kingdom of God. And Paul says, such were some
of you. Such were some of you. You see, we all had our conversation
in time past and walked according to the course of this world.
We all walked according to the Prince of the power of the air,
the Spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
You see, we should understand these blind men. We should understand
this possessed man because we all by nature have experienced
it. We all have this in common. We
all have this in common. We all have a need. And I know we have many physical
needs, but there's one need that stands out above all other needs,
and that is mercy. We need mercy. Mercy. We all are sinners and have a
common need of forgiveness. But I'll tell you this, we may
all have the experience of depravity, but we all don't have the same
experience in depravity. Let me explain that. There are
some men, like this blind man, who have knowledge of Jesus.
There are some religious men, there are some moral men, there
are men who are good fathers, good husbands, good friends,
There are men who look to us and we respect them. They're
against immorality. They're against things like abortion
or stealing or adultery. There are some moral men. Some men are raised and they're
moral. They have some sense of right and wrong. While there are other men who
have a different experience of sin, like this man possessed
of the devil, there are some men who are engaged in open wickedness. There are some men that are prone
to it, that are prone to fits of rage, fits of anger, fits
of violence. There are some men prone to rebellion. and they're full of rage and
love to blame others for their sins. There are some men like
that, aren't there? Turn to Luke chapter 7. I want
you to see this. Luke chapter 7 and verse 40. I'll tell you, there are many
people who have different experiences in sin. Some are moral, and some
are open sinners. But I'll tell you this, both
of them need mercy. It doesn't matter what your experience
was. These blind men, they had some
knowledge, they had some understanding, but they needed mercy. And this
dumb, possessed man, he didn't know anything, but he had need
of mercy too. Luke chapter 7 and verse 36,
we have this Pharisee Simon, and he had asked the Lord Jesus
Christ to come into his home, and he was feasting with him,
and this woman, this known prostitute, this known vulgar woman of the
city came in and she started weeping and wiping the Lord Jesus
Christ's feet. And Simon says in verse 39, he
says, The Pharisee which bid him saw and spake within himself,
saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and
what manner of woman this was a touching for. She is a what? Sinner. Oh, she's open. She's
an open, vile sinner. I'm sure that this woman was
the most vulgar woman in all the city. She was known. She was known as a sinner. And Simon, he was known as what?
A moral man. He was known as a Pharisee. He
was one that people would look up to. He was one that was restrained
in his conduct. But look what the Lord Jesus
Christ said in verse 40. He said, Simon, I have somewhat
to say to thee. He said, Master, say all. He said, there was a
certain creditor who had two debtors. The one owed 500 pence
and the other 50. And when they had nothing to
pay, he frankly, freely forgave them both. Tell me therefore,
which of them will love him most?" And Simon answered, I suppose
that he whom he forgave most. And he said, you've rightly judged.
And he turned to the woman and said to Simon, Seest thou this
woman? I love that. Do you see this
woman? Of course he saw the woman. He was already talking about
her in his heart. You see this woman? I entered
into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet, and
she hath washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the
hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this
woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
My head with oil you did not anoint, but this woman hath anointed
my feet with ointment. Wherefore, I say unto thee, her
sins, which are many, are forgiven." The Lord knew she
was a great sinner. He didn't have to be told that.
Her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven,
the same loveth little. And he said unto her, thy sins
are forgiven. Friends, all men are indebted
to God's justice. Whether you owe 50 or you owe
500, you still are indebted and you don't have anything to pay. It doesn't matter your experience. in sin. It only matters if you
know your need of mercy. Your need of mercy. All men need
forgiveness and mercy. Simon needed forgiveness, didn't
he? Just like that woman needed forgiveness. Just like I need
forgiveness. Just like you need forgiveness
of your sins. Number two, they had a common
salvation. A common salvation. In Jude,
verse 3, Jude the writer here says that he gave all diligence
to write of a common salvation. Now this means that everyone's
salvation is equal. Everyone's salvation is equal. In other words, my salvation
is not better than your salvation, and your salvation is not better
than my salvation. Why? Because we have a common
salvation. We have a common salvation because
we have a common Savior. A common Savior. We have this
in common. These blind men and this possessed
man, they both had need. But the experience of grace and
how they came to Christ was different. The experience of grace of the
blind men, they sought mercy. They knew something about Christ.
They knew something about the Scriptures. They sought it. They
were convicted of it. And they sought it and would
not let it go. They were persistent, weren't
they? They didn't stop with one, Thou Son of David, have mercy
on us. Oh well, He didn't hear us. They
didn't turn around. They were persistent. Oh, they
were persistent. I'll tell you what, if man knows
he has a need, he'll be persistent. He'll be persistent. I know some
men who cry out for mercy. I've had this experience that
some men come and say, oh, I'm a sinner. Oh, I'm a great sinner.
I need mercy. I need Jesus to save me. I say,
why are you talking to me? Go to Him. I can't do anything
for you. Go get along with God. And sure enough, by and by, when
their troubles go away, where do they go? Where do they go?
You see, if a man knows his need, some men will be persistent,
and they won't stop until they have rest for their souls. You think about that Gentile
woman who came to the Lord Jesus Christ, and she kept saying,
Now, Son of David, have mercy on me, my daughter's vexed with
the devil. And she didn't stop. The disciples said, Lord, send
her away. She's crying after us. No, she
was crying after Him. And He turned to her and He said,
I'm not sent to you. I'm sent to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel." And she said, Lord, help me.
I've got nowhere else to go. You're it. You're all I've got. Help me. And he said, it's not
me to give the children's bread to dogs. And what did she do?
She said, truth, Lord. Truth. I'm a dog seeking a crumb
from the master's table. And he said, woman, be it unto
thee, thy faith is great. Thy faith is great. And her daughter
was healed. Friends, sometimes men are called
and have the experience of a great conviction and persistent. But other men's experience are
like this man that was possessed of the devil. This dumb man didn't follow after
Christ. He didn't shout after Christ,
did he? No, he was probably dragged to Christ. He was brought by
someone. Someone knew that Jesus could
heal him and he brought him to Jesus. This man didn't have any
experience about any desire to come. And there he was, he was
in the midst of Christ and Christ still had mercy on him. This word in verse 32 of our
text, it says, Behold, which means that there's a contrast
between these two. There was a great contrast. Can
you see that contrast? How these men came begging and
this man came because he was brought. And though these men had come
to Christ by different means of providence, The blind came
begging and seeking, and the dumb man came by another, but
both came to the same Savior." They both came to the same Savior. I'll tell you, there were some
of us born under the gospel. I was born under the gospel.
I mean, my parents, they were strict with me. I mean, every
time the church door opened, I tried to get out of it, but
man, they were strict. We had to be there. I mean, if
I wasn't dying, I was going to be in church. That was just all
there was to it. And as I grew up, I heard the
gospel all of my life. I heard it all my life. I was
raised under... I knew about election. I knew
that word. I knew what that meant. I knew
about redemption. I knew that the blood of Christ
was the only thing that satisfied God's justice. I knew that faith
in Christ was the only way that we would come to God and be saved.
I knew that. I knew that all my life. And I'll tell you, in my conversion,
I was under conviction for years, it seems. I knew these things
and I cried after them for years that the Lord would save me.
I did. And at the appointed time, He
did. At the right time, He did. He
called me and gave me sight. And I believed on Christ and
He revealed Himself to me. But some people, they come in
and experience grace all at once, don't they? Some men come in
and they're open sinners, they're open and vile people, and they
come in, they hear the gospel, and the Lord saves them immediately. They live a life of long rebellion
and very, very small time of conviction. I'll tell you what,
our experience matters very little, doesn't it? The experience of
that matters very little. What matters? Did you come to
Christ? Have you believed on Christ?
That's what matters. That's what matters. I hear people
talking about their experience and some people have great experiences
and then other believers look at that and they say, well, my
experience wasn't like that. It don't matter. It don't matter
what your experience is. These two people had different
experiences, but they came to the same Christ. They came to
believe on the same Christ. And He healed them both. It's
Christ that heals. It's Christ that saves sinners.
It's Christ who gives mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ opens the
eyes of those who come to Him for salvation. They come to see that He is both
the Son of David and the Son of God. That this Son of God came and
took upon Himself human nature. He took our griefs. He took our
afflictions. He took our sorrows. He became
a man so that He might obtain righteousness for us in our stead. He became a man so God could
impute our sins to His charge. So that when He died, He died
for our sins. And by His death, He satisfied
the justice of God forever. Forever. Hebrews 10, 14, 4, By one offering
He hath perfected forever. Them that are sanctified. Let me ask you, are you sanctified?
Have you been set apart by God? Have you been chosen of God?
Have you been redeemed by the blood of Christ? Were your sins
imputed to the only Son of God so that you will not be charged
with them? How do you know? How can one
know? Have you come to Christ? Have
you come to Christ by faith? Do you believe on the only begotten
Son of God? You see, faith is the only manifestation
of these things. Don't look to your experience,
look to Christ alone. Believe on Christ alone. I tell you this, I believe in
a sovereign God. I believe in a God that chose
me before the worlds began. I believe in a Christ Jesus who
redeemed me by His blood in time. I believe in the Spirit of God
who called me, who quickened my soul, who gave me faith. I
believe that all salvation is of the Lord, absolutely and completely.
And in the same breath, I tell you, all men are responsible
to believe on Christ. Acts 17.30, God says, But now
God commandeth all men everywhere to repent. This is a command, friends. This
is not an invitation. God commands you to believe.
God demands for you to believe on Christ. All who are in need of healing
must come to Christ. He is the only Savior. There is no other Savior. There
is no other hope for us. And we who come to the common
Savior, we have a common faith. Paul said to Titus, he said that
Titus was his son after the common faith. The faith of these blind men
was no different than the faith of this dumb man. And I'll tell
you, my faith is no different than your faith. And your faith
is no different than my faith. It may be different in its strength,
it may be different in someone having great faith and someone
having small faith, but our faith is all the same faith because
it's all from the same source. My faith was given of God. Was
your faith given of God? Of course it was. For by grace
you are saved through faith, and that faith is not of yourself,
it, faith, is the gift of God. This is a faith we have received
from a common source, even the Word of God. Isn't that how you
believed? Is that not how you heard and
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? By the Word of God? Was it not
these blind men, because they heard of the Lord Jesus Christ,
that they went after Him? Of course. Was it not because
of the Word of Christ that the devil was departed from this
other man? Of course. It's the same with us. We all
receive a common faith because we all heard a common gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ, we heard
the gospel. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. How shall they call on Him in
whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on
Him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? So
then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Friends, you cannot believe on
a Jesus you've never heard. And no one will ever hear unless
God sends a preacher preaching the message of Christ alone.
Do you believe on Christ as all your salvation? I pray that we, by the grace
of God, would continually cast out all hope of our own self-righteousness. Isn't that a constant task for
us to mortify the deeds of this body? Isn't it constantly popping
its ugly head up and saying, look at me! Look what I've done! No! Don't look at me. Look at
Christ. Behold Christ. It's constant. We must continually believe on
Christ. Continually believe on Christ.
Cast out all our religion and self-righteousness. Forsake sin
and even forsake relationships that would hinder us. Jesus said,
if you hate not your father and mother and sister and brother,
and yea, your own life also, you cannot be My disciple. If
anyone would hinder us in our worship of Christ, they must
be set aside and we must seek Him only. That's common faith. That's something common with
every believer. We truly believe that Jesus is both a willing
and able Savior. I believe that. I believe He
is kind and compassionate and tenderhearted to save a wretch
like me. I know that. I believe that.
Someone once told me, he said, it's like we take all of our
spiritual eggs and put them in one basket, the basket of Christ. He's everything. And we continually
trust Him. Paul said, we have one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, and we are part of one common body,
even the church, His bride. Thirdly, we who believe have
a common calling. Look at Mark chapter 16. Flip
over to Mark chapter 16 and verse 15. Mark 16 and verse 15. It says, And He said unto them,
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. All believers in Christ, all
who have come to Christ, who've seen their need of mercy, and
have come to Christ alone for mercy, we all have this in common,
we are all called to be witnesses. Every one of us. No exceptions. Go ye, singular. Not, go you, somebody else. Go ye, personal, singular, into
all the world and preach the gospel. Friends, we are all called
to witness, but we know this, we are not all given the same
gifts, are we? We are all not given the same
opportunities as other men. I know some pastors who have
great audiences. I know some pastors who have
great opportunity. And they're known all over the
world. They have great opportunities
open to them. Why? Because it's given to them. And that's good. That's their
gift. That's what they've been given. And they should be effectual
in that. Whatever opportunities we have,
we should be about our Lord's business in witnessing of Him.
And I'll tell you, in our text, there are no more eager people
to witness than these blind men. Look at that in our text. Jesus
tells them in verse 30, He says, And their eyes were opened, and
Jesus straightly charged them, See that no man know it. Doesn't that sound strange? Doesn't
that sound strange? I know it sounds greatly strange
in this world of so-called evangelical witnessing that goes on, so-called. False religion in this age sets
up by opening their own opportunities to witness, regardless if anybody
wants to hear them or not. They're very bold to enter in. And you know, how many times
you hear this when somebody is in, you're just engaged in conversation
and somebody says, Oh, bless the Lord. What are they trying
to do? They're trying to set themselves
apart in some way. They're trying to open their
own door of witnessing. Friends, we as true believers
in Jesus Christ are not to follow their method and example for
witnessing. We're not. These blind men, notice
this, they didn't have to say one word to be a witness, did
they? One day they were blind and the
next day they could see. Wasn't that a witness enough?
Wasn't it a witness enough for them to just go to work? Wasn't
it a witness enough for them to just go and worship? Wasn't
it a witness enough for them to sit and read the Scriptures
with their own eyes? It was a witness in and of itself. They didn't need to say anything.
Matter of fact, the Lord didn't want them to say anything. He
commanded them to be silent. And their silence would have
spoke a lot more than their words. Believer, just as our Lord has
a people that must and shall hear the gospel, we must recognize
that there are some people the Lord will not have the gospel
spoken to them. There are some men that God will
withhold this gospel. In Matthew 13, 11 it says, Because
it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven, but unto them it is not given. It is not given. Let us be discerning in our witness. Let us be discerning in our witness.
Discerning of the Holy Spirit in our hearts to speak to us, whether to speak of Christ or
not. When you're about to witness, do you ask the Lord if He wants
you to witness? Or do you just go right ahead?
I think it's important we enter into prayer and ask the Lord
to teach us, to tell us what He would have us to do, to move
on our hearts if we should speak or restrain ourselves from speaking. Never let us open our own opportunities
for witness because we open the door for compromise. If you open
the door for your own witnessing, you'll eventually compromise
the gospel. And you know what happened to
these men's witness? This is in Capernaum. These men,
they didn't listen to the Lord, but they went and spread His
fame abroad. Do you know what happened to their witness? Absolutely
nothing. Absolutely nothing. Capernaum,
Jesus said, thou that are exalted unto heaven shall be brought
down to hell. He said, you're worse than Sodom
and Gomorrah, your judgment will be. You see, their witness had no
effect because God didn't send them. And if God doesn't send
you, don't go. Don't go. Go where God sends
you. Go through the doors that he
opens for you to witness. We should be ready to witness.
And be ready to give every man an answer that asketh of thee. But this man that was possessed
with the devil, look at this in closing in verse 33. And when
the devil was cast out, the dumb spake, and the multitudes marveled. You see, this man was given to
speak. This man was given to speak.
And what happened? They marveled. When God gives
us liberty to speak, when he gives us gifts to speak, friends,
men will marvel at our message. Men will marvel at our message. Let us not be content, let us
be content then with the gifts that God has gave us. Let us
be witnesses of Christ in obedience to Him. And don't go beyond the
gifts or callings that we have. Let us be faithful with what
we've been given, friends. I think many times we try to
reach out, we envy other people's gifts and we try to attain those
gifts. that are not given to us, and
I think we do dishonor to Christ when we do that. Let us just
be content with what He has given us and be faithful with what
He has given us. And I know this, God will use
that. God will use that witness. I pray this is a blessing to
you. I pray this is a blessing to you as it was to me, a common
need. Friends, I needed mercy. common Savior I came to Christ
and believed on him alone and Friends we have a common calling
to witness By obedience to Christ and Faithfulness and the gifts
that he has called us to I pray this blessing to you. Let's stand
will be dismissed in prayer