And it's one of the best songs
ever written. If you want to turn, it's Psalm
121. The music was put to this psalm by a man named Frank Sweeney. And I love this because it's
word for word. Psalm 121. I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills From whence cometh my help My help cometh from the
Lord He will not suffer thy foot to
be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth thee shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord
is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not spite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil, thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going
out and thy coming in from this time forth and even forevermore. Even forevermore. Turn this on, okay. Turn with me if you would now
to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4, and let's have
one more word of prayer before we go to our Lord in this. Let's
pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you again, so thankful, so thankful. And Lord, we pray for your help
again. We don't ever want to assume coming before You. Would You make us ready? And
would You open our hearts and our minds? And would You speak
to us for Christ's sake? Amen. Luke 4 verse 14 says, And Jesus returned in the power
of the Spirit into Galilee, And there went out a fame of him
through all the region round about. Our Lord was a famed man. There went out a fame of him. He was famous. He was famous. Look with me at verse 33. It
says, And in the synagogue there was
a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out
with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone, what have we to do
with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
I know thee, who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked
him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out from him. And when
the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and
hurt him not. And they were all amazed, and
spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! For with
authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they
come out, And the fame of him went out into every place of
the country round about. Every place of the country there
was a fame of him. The fame went out. Look with
me at chapter 5 verse 12. And it came to pass, when he
was in a certain city, behold, a man full of leprosy, who seeing
Jesus, fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if
thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And he put forth his hand,
and touched him, saying, I will, be thou clean. And immediately
the leprosy departed from him." And he charged him to tell no
man. That's what he said to him. Tell
no man. Don't tell anybody. Don't tell anybody. Our Lord
was the true example of humility. Humility, the true example. He
was not doing any of this for himself. Not any of this. Verse 14, He charged him to tell
no man, but go and show thyself to the priest and offer for thy
cleansing according as Moses commanded for a testimony unto
them. But so much the more went there
a fame abroad of him. And great multitudes came together
to hear and to be healed by Him of their infirmities." It just
couldn't be stopped. It could not be stopped. They couldn't not tell about
Him. He said, don't tell anybody.
They just couldn't. They could not not tell about
Him. They had to talk about Him. They
had to. Now as this fame went out, can
you picture this in your mind? Can you picture this fame spreading? One man comes up to another man
and he says, Have you heard of this man Jesus of Nazareth? No. No, I don't think so. What about him? He makes lame men walk. What? I saw it. There was a man laying
in a bed who had never ever gotten up from his birth. And he came
up to him and he said, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And
he did it. My best friend is lame. Where
is he? Have you heard of this man Jesus
of Nazareth? Did you hear about him? No. Well, what about him? I saw him
make a deaf man hear. I watched him put his fingers
into the ears of a deaf man and he heard. My father's deaf. Where is this
man? Did you hear about Jesus of Nazareth? No, I don't think so. What'd
he do? There was a 12-year-old girl
who died. I mean, she died. And he walked up to her and he
took her by the hand and he said, I say unto thee, arise, and she
came back to life. Are you serious? Are you serious? Is this real? Yes. Well, if he can do that, my son
is grievously vexed of a devil. Can he help him? Yes, he can. Well, my mother has an issue
of blood. Can he help her? Yes, he can. But my whole family, we're all
sinners. I mean, we're all rebels against
God. I mean, the worst kind of no-hope
sinners. Do you really think He can do
something for them? Yes, He can. He most certainly
can. Everyone heard of Jesus of Nazareth. Everybody. Can you imagine the
thrill that came over a soul that was infected with one of
these diseases every time that soul heard about Him and what
He can do? Can you envision a man laying
on a bed with the palsy? Hearing people talk around him
about this One who raises men off of their beds. Would you tell me that again? Tell me, what did you say? How
did he do it? What did he do? What's his name? Would you mind just telling me
one more time? The thrill of thinking as that
man lays there, if I could just get to him, if I could only get to him, But I'll guarantee you every
soul that was in that condition, every single soul experienced
immediate sorrow, an immediate reaction of sorrow, thinking,
it'll never happen for me. As I lay here, it'll never happen
for me. How could I get to Him? He's
famous. He's a famed man. How could I possibly know Him? Why would He look on me? Of all
people, why would He choose me? Why would He show kindness to
me? Go with me, if you would, over
to what will be our text. Go with me to Mark chapter 10. Mark 10 verse 46 says, And they came to Jericho. And
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. Now our Lord passed right through
Jericho. You stop and think about that
for just one minute. Thousands and thousands of people. How many people in Jericho do
you believe had the palsy? How many people in Jericho do
you believe were blind? How many people in Jericho do
you believe needed him? Thousands and thousands of people. He passed right by. He walked
right through them. And as he's leaving the city,
here he is leaving the city, in the midst of all these people,
there's a blind man sitting on the side of the road. I have this man envisioned in
my mind. His back is hunched over. Very
hunched over. He's weak. He's bowed down and
the reason is because he sits on the ground all day long. That's
what happens to the body when you just sit there on the ground
all day long. He's dirty. He's very dirty,
and the reason is because he's sitting on ground level. He's
sitting actually on the dirty ground. It's a busy road. Jericho's
a big city. Lots of camels, lots of mules,
lots of horses, lots of people. All that traffic, it just kicks
up a ton of dust as they go by, just tons of dust, and he is
covered in it. He's covered in it. This man
is poor. He's a poor man. He doesn't have
a house. He doesn't have anything but
the rags on his back. That's all he has. He doesn't
have a shower. He has no hygiene. This man stinks. Everything about
him stinks. Everything in him is rotting. But do you know that he has no
idea of any of this? He doesn't realize this. He cannot
see that. This man cannot see how dirty
he is. He cannot see how dirty he is.
He cannot see how torn his rags are. He can't see how black and how
rotten his teeth are. This man is blind. He's blind. And do you know he represents
every single one of us in this room? This is the spiritual condition
of every man before God. We're weak. We're low. We're dirty. We're poor. Our filthy rags cannot cover
us. We're rotting from the inside
out. But until God reveals that to
us, we're spiritually blind. Spiritually blind. Now, because
of what Bartimaeus said in this account, we can be certain of
the fact that he heard of the Lord Jesus Christ. The fame reached
him. He knew about Him. This is what
he heard. We know this is what he heard
because the Apostle Paul said, Have they not all heard? This
is what we have heard concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. This is
the only testimony there is about Him. Bartimaeus sat there as
people went by and he heard them say, Jesus of Nazareth is the
great physician. He said he came for one reason
only and that was to heal the sick. Bartimaeus heard that and he
sat there in his own infirmity thinking, I'm sick. I'm sick. Oh, I wish he would come to me. As the fame of the Lord was told,
he heard. Jesus of Nazareth says that He's
gonna bind up all the broken, every soul that's broken. He's
gonna lift up every soul that's bowed down, every soul that's
humbled, every soul who is low in the dirt and mire and clay. Bartimaeus heard that and he
thought, I'm broken. I'm a broken man. I'm bowed down in the dirt. I'm as low as a man can get. Oh, I wish he would come to me.
I wish this man would come to me. While men and women ignored Bartimaeus
as he said, alms for the poor. He sat there crying, alms for
the poor. He heard him say, Jesus of Nazareth says, though he was
rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty
might be made rich. Artimaeus heard that and he thought,
oh, if I could find this man, if I could just get to this man,
if I could beg from him, I'm a beggar, I know I'm a beggar.
I know I am, but if I could beg from this man, if I could just beg from him, I don't have any doubt in my
mind that at some point somebody came up to him and said, blind
man, you need to get to Jesus Christ. He heals blind eyes. Everywhere he goes, he heals
the blindness of men and women. Bartimaeus thought, I would if
I could. I would, but I can't. I'd give
anything to, but I can't. I can't see Him. I can't see
the way to Him. The only thing that I can do
is sit here in my blindness. That's all I can do. Oh, I wish
He would come to me. I wish I could find this man. Now hold your place right here
and turn with me if you would to Luke 18. Luke 18 verse 35 says, 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. What's going on? Why is there
so much commotion? What does all this mean? Why
is everybody so loud? Somebody tell me, what's happening?
What's happening right now? Verse 37 says, And they told
him that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus,
thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Savior! Lord! You're my King! You, my God,
my Lord, have mercy on me. Verse 39, And they which went
before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace. Hush, blind man. Stop crying. You're causing a
scene. He doesn't have time for you.
He does not want you. You're not worthy of him. But
he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me."
Can you see this man in this moment? The Lord is passing by.
And after everything he heard about him, he cried, I'm sick! I'm sick! I'm low! I'm broken! I'm poor. I'm blind. Please. Please, Lord, help me. Please. Now go with me back to Mark chapter
10. Verse 49 says, And Jesus stood still. There's a depth to that that
cannot be described. That means so much more than
He stopped walking. He stood still. Christ stood
still for this man. He walked right through Jericho.
Thousands of people watched Him pass by. How would you like to
be one of the souls who went to the judgment throne of God
and realized, I watched that man walk past me that day. I never cried. I had no need
of Him. He walks through thousands and
thousands, on purpose, to a certain man, sitting on the side of the
road. As he goes by, his mercy causes
that sinner to cry, please, please help me. And he stood still. He looked on him. Can you see
the Lord standing there? Bartimaeus is still crying. He's
still crying. He chose him. He chose to have
compassion on this man. Virtue is going out for him. Bartimaeus has no idea. He's
blind. He's still blind at this moment.
He has no idea that Jesus of Nazareth is at this exact moment
already standing still for him. He's crying, please. The fact that Christ stood still
means His time was a time of love. Long before God opened our eyes,
at some point God opened our eyes. Long before He opened our
eyes, while all the accusations were being railed on Him, for
all the sins that you and I committed, Oh, they spit on Him, they cursed
Him, they beat Him for all the sins that you and I committed.
And He never opened His mouth in defense. He just stood still. All the way to the cross, they
led Him all the way up Calvary's mountain. Laid that cross down,
grabbed a spike. Never said a word. Stood still. Verse 49, Jesus stood still and
commanded him to be called. He's already standing still.
And now He commands this man to be called. And they call the
blind man, saying unto him... Now this blind man is sitting
here and he doesn't realize it, but he's been listening to a
message his whole time. The Gospel has been preached
to this man the whole time. Here's the message that Bartimaeus
heard. The first thing he heard was,
Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. That's what they told him.
Somebody said to him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. The one
who is able is passing by. It's his right to pass by. He can heal whom He will. He
can pass by whom He will. The second thing that blind man
heard is, hold your peace. Hold your peace. You're unworthy. You have no right to Him. Nothing
you have ever done deserves Him stopping for you. He does not
owe you anything. The third thing he heard, the
final point of that message is, verse 49, Jesus stood still and
commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man,
saying unto him, Be of good comfort, blind man. Rise. He's calling you. We can't believe
this. He's calling for you, blind man.
Stand up. He's calling you. This is a sovereign
physician. And you're not worthy of His
healing. You are unworthy of His healing. But I have good
news for you. Jesus Christ stood still for
you. Verse 50 says, "...and He casting
away His garment." Wait a minute, Barnabas, you're poor. You don't
have much. Don't you think you ought to
keep what you have and just add to it? You don't have many things.
Don't you think you ought to just hold on to that old filthy
torn garment and add something to it? No. I believe this man is going to
give me a brand new one based on everything I've heard about
him. The fame of this man has come to me. I've heard what he
does for people in need and I believe he has a brand new one waiting
for me. A perfect one. A seamless one. Why would I want to hold on to
these filthy rags any longer? That's what every sinner says
when God calls him. Every sinner. Why would I want
to hold on to my filthy self-righteousness when He has a brand new spotless
one waiting on me? Verse 50, And he casting away
his garment, rose and came to Jesus. If he was still blind,
how did he come to Christ? How did he come straight to Christ? He was led there. He was led
there. So is every beggar when God calls
him. He's led by the Holy Spirit of
God directly to Christ. Verse 51, And Jesus answered
and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And let me ask each one of us
in here this morning, what do you want Christ to do for you?
Really and truly, when this is all over, when this is all over,
we are about to meet God. We're about to go stand before
God. And when this is all over, in
our hearts, what do we honestly want Christ to do for us? Do we want the happiness of this
world? Is that what we want ultimately?
Do we want everything that this world has to offer us? Do we
want easy street? What do we want Christ to do
for us? Verse 51, Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt
thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him,
Lord, that I might receive my sight. Lord, through Your mercy,
through the mercy that comes in Your blood, I want to see. I want to see Your glory. I want to see Your goodness.
I want to see Your kingdom. I want to see salvation. I want to see eternal life. I
want to see You. Do you want to see Christ? I mean, there He is. I want to see you. Open my eyes
that I might see. Verse 52, And Jesus said unto
him, Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. The faith that
I just gave you to come to me and ask this of me and believe
that I'm able to do this unto you, that faith has made you
whole. And immediately he received his
sight. Then what did he do? He can see now. I see. Now I see. I can go wherever
I want to now. I don't need anybody else. I
can go anywhere I want to. I can go do whatever I want to
do now. What did he want to do? The end
of verse 52 says, he followed Jesus in the way. He followed
Christ. That's what every saved sinner
has a heart to do when God opens those eyes. Every one of them
wants to follow Christ. Every single one of them. Why
do we all want to do that? Is it because somewhere there's
a law in here that says we have to? It's because we love Him. I'm in love with you. Wherever you are, I have to be
there. I wonder how many times Bartimaeus
said thank you. Can you see this crowd following
the Lord? Here they go, out of Jericho
into the next town. Bartimaeus is with them. Can you see him
coming up behind the Lord and saying, Lord, I just want to
say thank you one more time. Thank you. Thank you. I can see that man going around
from that moment on. telling everybody his story.
You're not going to believe what happened to me. You're not going
to believe what happened to me. I was just a blind beggar. I
was on the side of the road. I was in the gutter. But he passed by me. Did you
do something to make him come to you? No. He just passed by
me. And he stood still for me. And
He called me to Himself, and then He opened my eyes to it
all. He just notified me after it was all over. Does that story, this story of
Lion Bartimaeus, does that sound familiar? That is my story. That's your story. If God has
come to us, if Christ has come to us and shown mercy to us,
this is our story. This is our story. Every believer. Oh, He came to me where I was.
He stood still for me. He called me to Himself and then
He told me about it. That's all the Gospel is. That's
all the message is. I'm not going to ask you to do
anything. This is about what Christ has already done. And
He did it for blind beggars like you and me. To Him be the glory. Let's all have a word of prayer
in closing. Lord, thank you for your word.
Lord, thank you for this place. I pray, dear Lord, your rich,
rich blessings on this place. Thank you for opening blind eyes.
Lord, thank you for revealing your face to us. I pray, Lord,
that you would be with this assembly, strengthen them and support them.
We thank God for them. Thank God for this loving pastor.
Lord, we pray that you will help us all. We all stand in need
daily of your touch, your mercy, your leadership, your wisdom.
And Lord, we all say thank you. Thank you for everything you've
done for us. We know that every day for the rest of our time
on this earth is ordered. It's perfect. We are living out
perfect days. And Lord, we say thank you. Bless
us and forgive us for Christ's sake. Amen. Thank you. We've enjoyed being with you.
Thank you so much.