Looking this morning at a story
from the Gospel of Luke chapter 18, if you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, Luke chapter 18. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ
is God, our Creator. John 1 verse 10 says, He was
in the world. The world was made by Him and
the world knew Him not. This was God who was manifest
in the flesh. Now, Scripture says that God
worketh all things after the counsel of His will. Scripture
says known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the
world. He came into this world to save
His people from their sins. He said, I am come to seek and
save that which was lost. He came to save a people whom
He described as given Him by the Father. before the world
began. He knew them. He foreknew him. For whom he did foreknow, he
did predestinate, and whom he did predestinate, he called. Here in this story is a man whom
the Lord called. Now, he knew these people, where
to find them, his people. He put them exactly where he
would pass by to meet them. and saved them. He had a woman
at a well one day. He had a man up a tree. And here
in our story is a blind man by the wayside near a town called
Jericho. Now the Lord performed many miracles
which proved him to be God Almighty. He cast out devils. the lame
he gave legs to walk, the dead he raised, many blind men were
given sight. All these are miracles which
prove him to be whom he is, but represent a much greater miracle,
the miracle of salvation. The spiritually deaf hear his
voice, the spiritually lame walk by faith, the spiritually dead
are raised to walk in newness of life. that blind are given
eyes to see. In Isaiah 29, 18, it says concerning
our Lord's coming to this earth, In that day shall the deaf hear
the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out
of obscurity and out of darkness. So this is the Lord God who came
to save His people. And He was come nigh unto Jericho,
it says in verse 35, of Luke 18. He came near to this city
of Jericho. Verse 1 of the next chapter,
chapter 19, it says, He entered and passed through Jericho. So
He came into this town of Jericho and passed through. He didn't
save one person in the city of Jericho. Could He have? Can the Lord save whom He will?
Yes, He could and He can. Absolutely. Well, why didn't
He? It wasn't His will. It wasn't His will. That's what
the Scripture says. And He saves whom He will. Romans
9, 18. He hath mercy on whom He will,
and whom He will, He hardeneth. It's the Lord's prerogative.
Salvation's of the Lord. Jericho was a thriving city full
of people. Jericho was full of businesses,
schools, restaurants, shops, things to do, things to see,
full of people. But apparently, no one was interested
in Jesus Christ. God Almighty walked through this
town and no one called on Him. No one came to Him. Do you know
that 1,500 years earlier, Joshua whose name, by the way, means
Savior. The name Jesus is the Greek name
for Joshua. Joshua was told by the Lord to
destroy the city of Jericho, to burn it to the ground. But
save one harlot in that town, one woman named Rahab. The city
was cursed, and it was burned to the ground, and one woman
was saved out of that large city. Now, there have been many major
cities Burned to the ground. Did you know that? Many major
cities like London, New York, Moscow, Hamburg, Washington,
Atlanta, burned to the ground. Who did this? Who burned those
cities? You say this happened or that
happened. The Civil War happened. No, the Lord did this. The same
Lord who, Scripture says, reserves all this world unto fire under
the Day of Judgment. People, The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. The truth is not a thing to be
trifled with, a thing to be played with. This message is a matter
of life or death. This is not something you can
take or leave. You need to seek the Lord while
He may be found. You need to call upon Him while
He is near. For the end is near, according
to our Lord in Matthew 25. When the gospel is preached in
all the world, then the end is near. Well, here in our text
in Luke 18 verse 35, a certain blind man sat by the wayside
begging. He's blind. He was blind from
birth. He could not see. He could not see creation. He
could not see God's handiwork. He could not see the world as
it was. He couldn't see himself. This
man was in rags. He was dirty. He was filthy.
He was ugly. He could not see himself. He
could not see the danger all around him. And so it is with
all mankind by nature. We're born blind spiritually,
blind to God. In Romans 1, Verse 18, it says,
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. And verse 19 says, That which
may be known of God, or that is, His creation, God hath showed
unto them the invisible things from the creation of the world,
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
His eternal power and Godhead. But they are without excuse.
When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were
thankful, but became vain in their imagination, and so their
foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools. God blinded the minds of men,
and the God of this world blinds the minds of men. He has His
temptations. Satan, I'm speaking of. He has
his temptations, his traps, his snares, his pits, the dangers,
but men and women cannot see them. But Christ came into the
world. God manifested in the flesh,
came into the world, that they which see not, He said, might
see. And they which see might be made
blind. John 9, verse 39. So this man
sat by the wayside. He was not in the way. You know,
Christ is the way, and many are near where the gospel is preached,
but not in Christ. He sat by the wayside. He's a
blind beggar. You know, all men and women are
blind by nature, blind spiritually, blind to God, to self, to the
world, to the God of this world, and beggars. What do we have
we have not received from our God? Well, verse 36 says, Hearing
the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told
him that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. Hearing, faith cometh by
hearing. Now apparently he heard of Him
before. He heard of Him before because of the way He called.
He called Him Jesus, thou Son of David. That's the cry. Scripture
says in Romans 10, 13, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him
whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? Apparently someone told Bartimaeus, that's his name,
Bartimaeus, told him before that this Jesus of Nazareth, this
teacher, this young rabbi is none other than God manifest
in the flesh, that this is the God Emmanuel who was to come
into this world, the Christ, the Son of God. the Messiah,
the Savior, the Redeemer, God who is to come. Isaiah 25 and
Isaiah 9 say, ìThis is our God. Weíve waited for Him. He will
save us.î And Bartimaeus thought, ìIf He ever passes by my way,
Iím going to call on Him, and whosoever shall call shall be
saved.î Well, he did. In verse 38 he cried, saying,
ìJesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!î He cried loud. He called from the depth of his
heart. He needed mercy. It says, they that went before
him rebuked him. Be quiet. Keep still. But he
cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Oh, to hear someone cry for mercy
today. Oh, to hear someone cry aloud
and spare not. Cry unto the Lord for mercy.
That's our greatest need. Mercy for sinners. Mercy. forgiveness, pardon. Whosoever
shall call means keep calling until he hears you. and not quit
calling all the days of your life." Well, it says in verse
40, "...and Jesus stood." The Lord Jesus Christ stopped. He stood still. Though there
was a great crowd all around Him, hustling and bustling, a
noisome pestilence all around Him, people, the cry of many
people of this and that, of the religious crowd, the noise of
the multitude, yet He stopped hearing one cry. One heart cry,
one sincere sinner cried unto Him out of that whole multitude,
and He stopped. And this same Lord is still hearing,
still hearkening to the cry, one mercy beggar. And it says He commanded him,
this man, this blind man, to be brought unto Him. He commanded
him to be brought unto Him. He turned to one of His disciples,
or two of His disciples, who it was is not important, but
He commanded them to bring this man to Himself. Salvation is
by command, people. It's not by invitation. It's
by command. Psalm 71 says, Thou hast given
commandment to save me. If He doesn't command us, we
won't come. If he doesn't call us, we won't
call him. If he doesn't give us faith,
we won't believe because salvation is of the Lord. Well, he commanded
two disciples to bring Bartimaeus to himself. Now, they didn't
go up to Barnabas and say, no, you need to come to our church.
You need to come to our First Baptist Church of Jericho. You
need to come to the Fun Family Church. You need to come to our
Fall Festival. You need to come and hear our
concert, our music. No, no. They came to bring this
man to Christ. And so it is with every true
church and every true preacher in it. They called men to come
to Christ. And they did. They went and brought
this man to cry. And he was come to cry. Our Lord
said in verse 31, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? He
asked him. And the man said, Lord, Lord,
that I may receive my sight. That's what he needed. He wanted
to see. He was tired of being a beggar.
He was tired of being blind. Oh, is there anyone tired of
following the blind, blind leaders of the blind. Anyone need mercy? Anyone seeking truth? Anyone
who wants to know the true God, the living God, the truth of
God, true salvation? Anyone, the true Christ of Scripture,
the Lord will pretty much give people what they want. You want
riches, you'll get it. You want the world, you'll have
it. But what will you have? Nothing. Vanity. In the end,
there'll be destruction. But those who cry for mercy,
those who want to see Christ, who want to see the truth, who
want to see God, we'll see Him. And the Lord said, Receive thy
sight, thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his
sight. What did he see? The first thing
he saw The greatest thing he ever saw was the face of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face,
the person, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he immediately
received his sight. And what did he do? He followed
Jesus Christ and glorified God. All those who have been saved
by Christ follow him and give him all the glory. Oh, may the
Lord open deaf ears to hear His voice, to hear the truth, open
blind eyes to see their need of Christ, their need of salvation,
and open the mouth and the heart to call upon the name of the
Lord. For whosoever shall call shall be saved. Amen.