Start with verse 46. And while
you're turning, let me... James Gake always gives me these
things he finds on church signs. Here's one he found. Silly rabbit,
Easter is about Jesus. Hell ain't half full, is it?
Isaiah said it enlarges itself daily. I'd rather be anything as being
a religion that comes up or something like that. You'd be better off
anywhere. Anywhere. Mark chapter 10 verse 46. And they came to Jericho, and
as he went out of Jericho with his disciples, and a great number
of people blinded Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus sat by the
wayside begging by the highway side begging and when he heard
that it was Jesus of Nazareth he began to cry out and say Jesus
son of David have mercy on me and many charged him that he
should hold his peace and he cried the more a great deal son
of David have mercy on me And Jesus stood still and commanded
him to be called. And they called the blind man,
saying unto him, Be of good comfort, he rise, he calleth thee. And
he, casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. And our
Lord answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should
do unto thee? What do you want from me? What
do you will for me to do for you? And that's why we all say,
Lord, what would you will? And he says that to us. The blind
man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And
Jesus said unto him, Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his
sight and followed the Lord Jesus in the way. Oh my! Barnabas didn't have much going
for him. Didn't have anything going for
him. He's blind. He's poor. But two things he had going for
him. He had a hearing ear and he had a mouth that he could
cry out to God with. And everybody in here has got
that. But everybody in here don't know Christ. It's just like blind
Barnabas. They don't see. They can't see.
Mary and I was talking about that this morning. I can remember
being so blind. I was blind to God, blind to
Christ, blind to righteousness, blind to sin, blind to everything, blind to my own self-righteousness,
blind to my legalism, blind to my works that I thought would
make me a good standing with God. Blind to what the scriptures
said even though I read them, they could quote, blind, blind,
blind. But God in sovereign mercy passed
by me one day and told me, and I tell you what Barnabas did,
we can learn some lessons from him. You know the scriptures
were written for our learning. The things that are written for
time were written for our learning that we through the comfort of
the scriptures might have comfort and hope. And he made use of
what senses he had. He couldn't see, but he could
hear. And there's lots of things that you and I, as believers,
need to do. And we can do. The Scripture
tells us to keep yourselves from idols. We keep ourselves from
idols. Idols of our mind. Idols in our
homes. Keep yourselves in the love of
God. Keep yourselves where the love of God is preached. Where
the love of God is manifested. Where the love of God is told
to be what it really is. The love of God. And then you
can walk. We all can walk as dear children
of God. We all can walk as the children
of God. And we all can pray without ceasing. And another thing that we can
do here today. We can hear the Gospel. And we
can hear it attentively. Because with hearing comes faith. If you want faith, you're going
to have to listen. If you want faith, you're going
to have to pay attention. That's what God said. Faith cometh
by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. And I'll tell you why. He couldn't hear, but anyway,
the Lord Jesus passed by and he had ears and he had a mouth.
And he cried out. He cried out. You know, a couple
of weeks ago, I preached about, you know, our Lord Jesus said,
If a man be ashamed of me and my words, Be ashamed of me and my words.
He said, I'll be ashamed of him before my father. When it comes
down time to face the Lord, he said, are you ashamed of me and
my words? He said, I'm going to be ashamed of you. I'll be
ashamed of you. And that's why Bartimaeus wasn't
ashamed. He cried out. And I'm going to
talk about mercy. Mercy needed. Mercy sought. Mercy given. And then mercy enjoyed. And I tell you, he enjoyed it
very much. Look what he was... Let's go back over here and start
in verse 46. Just a minute. Look what it says here. What
it said in verse 46. And they came to Jericho. Who
came to Jericho? The Lord Jesus and His disciples.
The Lord Jesus and a great multitude. and a great number of people
and blind Bartimaeus you notice that says about him didn't just
say Bartimaeus evidently everybody that talked about Bartimaeus
says oh blind Bartimaeus do you know old blind Bartimaeus? I
just saw blind Bartimaeus over there the other day I had to
help blind Bartimaeus find his way over there by the wayside
begging always said blind Bartimaeus That's what he was known by.
Barnabas? Who's Barnabas? Oh, that's old
Blias, that old blind Barnabas. Yeah, I know him. I've seen him
around a while. But he's mercy needed because
why did he need mercy? First of all, he's blind. And
like I said before, if our gospel be hid, it's hid to them that
are blind, and whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds
of them that believe not. And the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know it.
Now Bartimaeus couldn't see anything around him. He couldn't see the
sun. There was nothing wrong with
the sun. The problem with him was with his eyes. He couldn't
see the Lord Jesus Christ. Not that there's anything wrong
with Christ. He was blind. He couldn't see. He could see his mother and his
father, not that there's anything wrong with them, the problem
was with his eyes. And that's where people have,
you know, they can't see Christ because they're blind. They can't
see the light of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, because they're
blind. And there's no defect in anything
that was around this man. The defect was in the man himself. And that's the way it is with
sinners. The defect is in the sinner. No defect in salvation. No defect in the scriptures.
No defect in the light. No defect in the Lord Jesus Christ. No defect in grace. The defect's
in the sinner. He's blind. And how many people
say, well, I don't see it that way. You know why they don't
see it that way? Because they're blind. People
say, I can't see grace the way you do. Well, of course you can.
And let me ask you something. Would you get mad at somebody
that's blind? Would you get mad at somebody because they're blind?
And that's why we don't need to get angry with people that
cannot see. The scriptures cannot see the
grace of God, cannot see Christ. And not only was he blind, but
look what else they said about him. They said he was a beggar. He was poor. They said he sat
by the highway side begging. Beggar. He was a poor man. And you know why he's poor? Because
his daddy was poor. We was all born poor. You know
that? And that's why our Lord Jesus
Christ says, blessed are the poor. Or to find somebody poor. Anybody here poor today? Anybody
here, I mean poor, poor, poor, got poverty before God. Ain't got nothing. Nothing, nada. Oh, to be nothing, to have nothing
besides the presence of God. And he became poor just like
we did because our father was poor. Our father Adam was poor. Now he wasn't always poor. God
made him and made him upright. God made him with an ability
to converse with him. And then he fell and when he
even dwelled he had a wonderful place to live. He had the most
blessed place to live. He lived in paradise. And then,
then, he did what God told him not to do. And I tell you what,
beloved, he got lost. He died. He got poor. In fact, he was so poor that
he couldn't afford clothes. You know what he put on for clothes?
Jigglies. And God had to come and clothe
him. He lost his house. And beloved,
he had no ability. Here's the thing about his father
and us and our father and this is the way Barnabas was. He had no ability to better himself. Adam could not make himself better
once he fell. Adam could not. And I tell you
what, Barnabas couldn't make himself any better. He may have
wanted to have sight, but he's still blind. He may have wanted
not to be a beggar, but he was. He may have despised being poor,
but he was poor. And I tell you what, not only
did our father leave us poor, but he left us in debt. It's
awful to leave somebody in debt. And that's the way our father
did. He not only left us poor, but he left us owing a debt.
A debt of sin. And oh, how needy the poor and
blind are. And it said here he was the son
of Timaeus. Don't you know his daddy would
have done whatever he could have to have helped his son? But his
daddy was so poor he couldn't do anything for him. He said,
son, if you have anything, you'll have to go beg for it. I can't
do nothing for you. I can't feed you. You'll have to
go beg. Ain't got no money for you. You're
gonna have to go beg. You want some bread? You're gonna
have to go beg. And I tell you what, what I'd
love to see somebody beg. Who in the world would ever beg
God for anything anymore? Everybody tells me I have to
beg God because God loves you and God can't do nothing without
you. Oh my soul. And let me show you
something. And he was conscious of his poverty
and he went down to bed begging, look at Revelation 3.17. I want you to see this. Revelation 3.17. You know, I thought people come
in and you start talking to them about how lost they are and how
poor they are and how no ability to have and how awful condition
they're in. They're sitting by the wayside
begging. He said, well, I'll tell you what, I'll never beg.
I'll never beg. And you'll never have mercy either. I'll never admit to being poor
and you'll never get anything from God either. Look what he said in Revelation
317. This is our Lord Jesus speaking
now. He said, because thou sayest. This is what you say about yourself.
I am rich. I'm increased with goods and
have need of nothing. I remember another fellow saying
that one time. He said, so? He said, look here, I've got
so much stuff and I've got to tear down my barns and build
some more. I've, oh, he said, I've got so much stuff. Oh, I've
got so much. And then he said, sit down, said,
soul, take your ease. And about that time there's a
voice came from heaven, said, son, tonight, your soul is required of you.
Now who's all these things gonna be? And that's what they say,
because they'll say, I'm rich, and I've got more stuff, oh,
I've got all, and I don't need nothing. Don't need nothing. And then our Lord, you know what
he said? He said, here's the way you really are. He said,
I'm going to tell you the way you really are in my sight. And
the way you really are. And knowest not, you don't know
this. And that's what Bartimaeus didn't
know. That's what people don't know. That's what I'm talking
about there. And knowest not that thou are wretched, miserable,
poor, blind, and naked. Five things God says about a
person. And oh, let's go back over now
in our text. Not only was he blind, poor,
but he was hopeless. He was hopeless. Oh my. The only way in the world, this
blind man, sat by the wayside begging, who was poor. The only
way he can receive his sight is by a miracle. By a miracle. He probably expected to die a
blind man. Expected to die poor and be carried
out and buried in the potter's field where poor people were
buried. And I tell you what, he's just hopeless. He said,
I'm blind, I'm poor, I beg. and somebody has to bring me
out here and take me and put me where I need to be to do my
begging he said if I'm hopeless I'll die blind, I'll die poor
until in verse 47 and when he heard that it was Jesus that
answered verse 40 he began to cry out but Jesus passed by Go
to die blind, go to die in poverty. But oh, he got to have a miracle. And let me tell you something,
everything about God's salvation is a miracle. A miracle. Absolute miracle. Election is
a miracle. You know that? Election is a
miracle? God didn't choose everybody. If He chose you, that's a miracle.
Why would God choose you? Why would God choose me and pass
by somebody else? Why did He hate Esau and He loved
Jacob? Election's a miracle. Oh, we
stand in utter astonishment that God would choose us, set His
affection on us, and say, you're mine. And I tell you, Christ
coming into this world to bear our sins in His own body, that's
a miracle. We certainly didn't deserve the
Son of God. We certainly didn't deserve Christ
to come into this world. We didn't deserve Him to come
born of a virgin. We didn't deserve Him to come
and live a life of poverty. And we didn't deserve Him to
go into humiliation. Didn't deserve Him to suffer
the wrath of God. But God sent His Son. And what
a miracle that Christ came. And oh, what a miracle that you
and I have life. Our life, our new birth that
God would save us and give us life? Give us life? Life from the dead? The life
of Christ? And I'll tell you another miracle.
Believing. If you're sitting here today
and you're a believer, that's an absolute miracle. It is. If you're sitting here today
and you believe, And you're trusting Christ for your eternal salvation,
that is a miracle! That's a real miracle, that you're
hearing the voice of Christ, that's a real miracle! People talk all the time about,
you know, I was working with a fellow, and he goes to a place
where they really believe in healing and miracles and all
that kind of stuff, and I tell you, The greatest miracle that ever
happened. I've never seen a miracle. I've not seen anybody with my
own eyes healed of anything. I've not seen anybody healed
of cancer. Mary asked me here a while back,
she said, have you ever prayed for God to heal me? And I said,
no I haven't. I haven't. We're in God's hands
and I, you know, and if God pleases to do whatever He pleases to
do, that's what He's going to do. He's done enough for me, He's done
enough for you to save us. To choose us. Call us. And that's what, you notice this,
that Christ commanded him to be called? Jesus didn't stretch
out His hand and say, would you please come to me? He said He
commanded him to be called. And when God commands something
to happen, it's going to happen. He commands you, it's going to
happen. And God can give you life from
the dead like that. He can heal you just like that.
But I tell you what, if He doesn't, He's going to get to glory. Ain't
nobody going to lay hands on you. Ain't nobody going to pray
for you and say, boy, they's healed because I did it. If God
does anything, Christ is going to get all the glory. We say,
Lord have mercy on us and if you please give us time, give
us health, give us whatever you please to give us. But I know
one thing for sure that God is going to get all the glory from
it. And if any man wants to take the glory, you know right then
and there he's lying on God. And that's why Bartimaeus needed
a miracle. And I tell you what, we have
a room full of miracles set here today. Next time you look yourself
in the face in the mirror and say, boy, I'm a miracle. And oh, not only did he need
mercy, but he sought mercy. Look what happens now in verse
47. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth. See, our Lord Jesus Christ was
Jesus of Nazareth. I always said Jesus was from
Nazareth. Look what happens now. Oh, he's
seeking mercy. And he began to cry out. Oh,
when he heard that it was Jesus, he began to cry out. I reckon
no soul winner went to this fella. As nobody went to this guy and
said, you know you need Jesus. You know you need Jesus. I tell
you what, if you'll follow the formula that I've got for you,
ask, believe, and confess, Let's go down the Roman road. No, no,
no. No soul winner went after Bartimaeus.
No, no. He sought the Lord. And he began
to cry out. Look over Psalm 142 with me.
Just a minute. I want you to see this. You know,
he began to cry out. There's a crowd there. And that's
one reason why he was crying out. Because there was a crowd
there. He had to cry out loud. There's a lot of noise, a lot
of tumult there. Psalm 142 and verse 2, look what
it said here. And he, you know, he sought the
Lord under great discouragement. Nobody prompted him. Somebody went before and said,
Jesus is going to be coming by here in a little while. He said,
you know, if you'll stand up and ask him real, real nice,
he may stop for you. And oh no, there's people told
him, says, Bartimaeus, shut up! He began to cry out. And they
said, oh, listen, listen, listen. You're making too much noise.
You're embarrassing people around here. You're embarrassing yourself. You're embarrassing, you got
all these people around here and here you are, you're making
all this noise? Look what it says in Psalm 142, verse 4. I looked on my right hand and
behold there was no man that would know me. Nobody would say
it. I know that fellow right there.
He's a fine guy. I think the world of him. And
all of a sudden somebody looked at him and said, man I just don't
know. Nobody would own up to knowing
him, loving him, liking him. And look what else it says now.
And refuge filled me. I didn't have no place to hide.
I didn't have no place to go. And listen to this, this is awful.
And no man cared for my soul. Now that's pretty much the way
they are with Barnabas. And look what they said. He said,
Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Oh, you fine people in
the scriptures have mercy on me. And look what happened now
in verse 48. You're talking about some hard-hearted,
cold-hearted, mean-hearted people. Now these people are following
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a crowd following Christ.
And many charged him, there's no grace here, there's no mercy
here, there's no tenderness here, there's no hope here, no help
here. And many charged him that, oh Barnabas, hold your peace. That word charge means the same
thing as shut up, and I mean shut up now. They didn't say, Barnabas, would
you please be quiet? They said, shut up! You're making too much noise.
You're embarrassing yourself. You're embarrassing these people
here. And now here we are with all these people and the Lord's
got all kinds of things going on around him and you want to
holler like that? Oh my! And I tell you, no man,
no man cared for his soul. Look what they discouraged him.
They had some kind of authority. But look what they said about
him next now. But he cried the more great deal. You know, I'm blind, I'm poor,
and if I don't see Christ, if Christ don't do something for
me now, there's no hope for me at all. That's what he's saying
here. This is my only hope for sight,
and nobody's going to stop me. Now I want you to look, and you
keep this, and I want you to look in Matthew chapter 11. I
want you to see this. You need to see this. Some of
you folks need to understand this right here. Matthew chapter
11 and verse 20. Talking about, this is the way
Barnabas was. And our Lord Himself, and Barnabas
began to cry out, Thou Son of David. You know, He called Him
who He was, the Son of David. He was David's son. He was the
one that God had promised. He was Him. And He knew that
it was Him. He knew He was the rightful King,
the rightful authority. But look what He said here in
verse 12, Matthew 11, And from the days of John the Baptist
until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent
take it by force. And that's what Bartimaeus is
doing here. He said, I'm going to have Christ, I don't care
what anybody says. I don't care. Nobody's going
to stop me. I've got to have Him. I'm going to press into
that crowd. I'm going to get His attention.
I'm going to be like that woman who said, I'm going to crawl
on my knees with all those people around me and I'm going to touch
the hem of His garment. I don't care. I don't care what
the crowd is. I don't care what goes on. I
don't care who tries to stop me. I don't care. I don't care
what goes on in my mind, in my heart. I'm going to get to Christ
and I'm going to get there now. And that's what he said. Shut
up, you fellas can tell me shut up all you want to. But he said
he cried the Lord a great deal. In fact, our Lord Jesus Christ
didn't stop. He said you know twice this happened.
Jesus thou son of David, Jesus son of David have mercy on me.
Asked it twice. Twice. You wouldn't have to ask
twice. The only reason he asked twice
was because that crowd told him shut up. He said, I ain't gonna
do it. I ain't gonna do it. Not only
did he cry out, but look what happened now. He sought the right
thing. He said, have mercy on me. Oh,
he sought the right thing. Have mercy on me. Mercy, that's
the first thing. Mercy, mercy, mercy. Oh, then
you say, well, I'd love to have that peace and joy and assurance
that some people have. Well, you receive the mercy,
then comes the peace, then comes the joy, then comes the assurance.
And you know what? God said he will have mercy.
Moses said to him, show me your glory. He said, I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. And I tell you what, this is
the first thing. The door is wide open. God said,
I will have mercy. Not only did he seek the right
thing, but he sought it from the right person. He said, Son
of David. Jesus, thou Son of David. This
was the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Jehovah Sekinu. He had heard
of our Lord's works. He had heard of our Lord's claims.
And he believed that he was who he said he was. The Son of David. And all his hopes, all his hopes
centered in this man who is passing by. He didn't holler for his
dad to get me to Jesus. He didn't holler for his mother
to take him to Jesus. He didn't stop the disciples
and say would you bring me to Christ. He didn't say, will somebody
get me up and take me to him? No. He cried out and recognized. He said, he's the son of David.
He's the Messiah. He's the Christ. He's the one
with the power. He's the one with authority.
He's got the right. He's got the ability. And I don't. And all the promises of God in
him are yea and amen. That's why he said to his disciples,
when they all turned away, he said, will you also go away?
And he said, Lord, to whom shall we go? You've got the words of
eternal life. Oh, how sweet the name of Jesus
sounds in a blind believer's eyes, ears. It soothes his sorrows,
heals his wounds, and drives away his fear. That's why we
sang in that old song, Amazing Grace, I once was blind, now
I see. And not only did he seek the
right thing, he sought mercy. You know most people start out
seeking assurance instead of seeking Christ. Most people want
some comfort instead of forgiveness. Most people want to have some
kind of a feeling instead of just trusting Christ.
You know, if I would say, if I trusted my feelings right this
minute while I'm preaching, I wouldn't have any hope of talking. Right
now while I'm preaching, if I trusted my feelings, the way I feel right
this minute, empty, lifeless, I wouldn't be on salvation for
me at all. But you see, I'm not going by my feelings. I'm like
Bartimaeus. I'll sought mercy one day. Sought it from the right
person. And then he sought it at the
right time. When was the right time? The Lord Jesus was passing
by. The Lord Jesus, he said, he heard
that Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, He came and he heard that Jesus,
he heard that it was Jesus in Nazareth. What's all this tumult
about? Jesus in Nazareth is coming to
him. Oh Jesus! He didn't say Jesus in Nazareth.
Oh Jesus! Son of David! And he saw it at
the right time when the Lord was passing by. You know, you
know when the time of acceptance is? Right now. Right now. You know, not when you feel sinful
enough. You'll never be sinful enough.
I'm more sinful now than I was when I ever was. And I talked
to an old fellow who went up in his 90s one time. I said,
boy, I said, you went up in your 90s, ain't things easy for you?
No, I'm worse now than I ever been. That's the way it is. If he's nine, he's thought he
couldn't hardly do anything. He's planting his garden, he's
down, he had to get down on the dirt to look down the hole to
plant his garden. He's sublime. We got old. Oh, you must be, surely, surely.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Some things don't bother me,
but he still said, I'm an awful officer. He saw it at the right
time. Now listen, not when you feel sinful. Not when you feel
safe enough. Not when you feel strong enough. None of those things have nothing
to do with it. All he wanted was mercy. Do you
want mercy? Do you need mercy? Would you
ask for mercy? Would you do like the publican
when he smote his breast and said, God, be merciful to me,
the sinner. He was poor, he was blind, and
he was begging, and he knew that about himself and he cried out
for mercy. And then look what happens. Oh,
bless the Lord's name. And the second time after they
told him to hold his peace, he cried the more a great deal.
He got louder. He got louder. He said, I'm going
to have Him. I'm going to have Him. And Jesus
stood still. There was a crowd around Him.
Our Lord heard that voice of one of His sheep. Oh, wait a
minute. He heard that voice of one of
His sheep. And he heard him crying out for
mercy, and he stopped. He stood still. And the next thing he says about
him, commanded him to be caught. If you find your way over here,
I'll do something for you. If you'll come crawling on your
hands and your feet, if you'll get prostrate on the ground,
no, no, no. No, He commanded him to be called.
Somebody had to go get him and pick him up and guide him and
bring him to Christ. He couldn't find his own way. could get through the crowd and
he commanded him to be called our Lord is a sovereign he commands
things he don't ask nobody for nothing and oh our Lord stood
this poor man cried and the Lord heard me that's what I said I
love the Lord why because I cried unto the Lord and he heard my
voice and my supplications and he called and then look what
they told him down there And so they said in verse 49, they
called the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort.
Rise! He. He called it then. Who's calling you? That one you
called on is calling you. Oh my. I'll tell you why. When you talk about comfort,
he says, Be of good comfort. The same ones who discouraged
him are now encouraging him to be of good comfort. Oh what comfort
that Christ calls him. What comfort that Christ says
come to me. What comfort that our Lord Jesus
Christ would call him. And I tell you He called him.
My sheep hear my voice and I know them. When Mary was looking for
him in John 20 and she thought he wasn't in the tomb and our
Lord had risen from the dead early that morning. And Mary
was walking around there crying and weeping. Where have they
laid him? Our Lord was standing there and
she thought he was the gardener. And she said, Sir, if you've
laid him somewhere, tell me and I'll go. I'll go get him. I'll
go get him. And you know what? Our Lord says,
Mary, And immediately she said, Oh
my Lord, my Lord, my Lord. Oh Lord Jesus. You know, just
heard that voice. Just like you preached last Sunday
night. There's out there on that boat. Children, you got any meat?
John said, Peter, that's the Lord. That's the Lord. Oh, is
that gas? That's the Lord. Oh my, my sheep! And oh, he heard him. You see,
there's a universal call. Whosoever believeth in his baptized
shall be saved. Then there's a character call.
I learned this from Scott Richardson. A character call. What do you
mean by character call? He said, if any man is thirsty,
let him come to me. Well, if there ain't nobody thirsty,
he's not talking to you. Right? If any man's hungry, let
him come unto me and eat. If you're not hungry, he's not
talking to you. He said, you that are weak and
heavy laden, come to me. If you're not weak and carrying
a burden, he's not talking to you. That's what, you know, that's
a character call. Huh? And oh, and then there's
the preacher's call. That's what I'm doing. I do that
three times a week here. Almost three times a week. And
preacher's call, they're used of God to describe men accurately
and to tell about the Lord Jesus Christ. It's like somebody said,
well, who told the preacher about me? And that's what our Lord
Jesus did with that woman at the well. He was talking to her.
And he said, go call your husband. She said, I have no husband.
He said, you just told me the truth. You know that? You just
told me the truth. He said, you've had five. And you know what now? The fellow
you're living with, he's not your husband. And she throwed her water pot
away and she went running into town. She said, come see a man.
Told me everything ever I did. That's what the Word does. That's
what preaching does. It exposes you. And then there's the effectual
call. He commanded him to be called. And look what happened.
They said, rise. Look down in verse 50. Be of
good comfort, rise, he called it. Oh, you'd be in good comfort
if he called you. Look what he said. And he, Barnabas,
casting away his garment. Oh my, I don't want to go in
this old beggar's garment up there, just present. This old
rotten, stinking thing. This old raggedy thing, you know,
I'm a beggar, I'll throw this away. And look what it said,
He rose. And who did He come to? He didn't come to Simon Peter.
He didn't come to John. He came to the Lord Jesus Christ. Come to Him. Came to Him. And then look what happens now.
Oh, he came to the right person. He arose and cast away his garment
and come to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we say, oh, come to
him, come to him. I come to him, I keep coming.
I started coming and I keep on coming. Don't you? To whom coming? To whom coming? And our Lord
answered, said unto him, what will you that I should do unto
thee? Would you ask him that day, what Lord? If the Lord said
to you, what would you have me do for you today? What will you
have me do for you? Would you say, like Bartimaeus,
have mercy on me? I'm blind, I need sight. And
the blind man said unto him, now he didn't make a long prayer,
He didn't get down and start talking about how awful he was,
how weak he was, how miserable he was, how sinful he was, how
mean he was, and all the sins he committed, and got down in
front of the church and told them, oh, you all just don't
know, you just don't know. No, he just said plainly, told
plainly exactly what he wanted from Christ. And how many words
did he use? Lord, that I might receive my
sight. Use seven words. How many of you have one syllable? Oh, listen. What do you want? Lord, I just
want my sight. I've been blind, I'd love to
see, I'd love to see. He told the master in plain words,
didn't use a lot of words, just tell him what you want, tell
him what you need. That's exactly what Barnabas
did. And our Lord asked him, and he was laid before this blind
man, the riches of his grace, the power of his mercy, the power
of his of His grace, of power, of His miracle working. And look
what He says to him now. In verse 52, Now our Lord said
unto him, Go your way. Just start out. Just go on. And your faith has made you whole.
You just refused to let anybody stop you. You took the kingdom
of heaven by violence. Thy faith has made thee whole.
And watch what happens now. Just as quick as he took a first,
just as quick as he, immediately, he received his sight. He said,
go your way. Go your way. Go your way. And our Lord immediately, I don't
know which way he moved, I don't know what he done, but I know
one thing, our Lord said, go your way. And he immediately
received his sight. Immediately. You know, people
say, if I could just see, I'd believe. You know, you've got
to believe before you see. He believed. He believed in Jesus,
the son of David. He believed that he had the mercy.
He believed that he had the power. He believed that he had the ability.
And when he came to him, then he got his sight. If you're waiting
to see before you come, if you've come and you see, just like,
That's what he told Mary and Martha, if you would believe,
then you would see the glory of God. Have you seen the glory of God
in Christ? Now watch what else happens now.
And immediately he received his sight. And what did he do? You
know, the first thing I believe I'd have done is I'd have just
stopped my tracks and I'd have beheld, I'd have just looked
all around me and I'd have just looked and looked and looked
and looked and looked. I'd have looked at the sun and,
you know, and I'd have looked at the dirt and I'd have looked
at myself and I'd have looked at my hands and I'd have said,
if I got a mirror I'd like to see what I look like. That's if I believe that's what
I've done. I say, I'm going to go to the
house. I want to see what my mother
looks like. I've never seen my daddy. I ain't never seen my
brothers and sisters. I believe I'm going to see what
they look like. No. You know what he did? He received his sight. The Lord
said, Go your way. And you know what his way was?
To follow the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the way all believers
do. That's the way we do. We're going to follow the Lord
Jesus Christ in the way. Go home and tell Dad, Dad says,
well, son, I'm happy for you, but that's just not for me. Well,
I'm going to follow Him. I'm going to follow Him. You
know, the love of Christ constrains us. And I tell you, He followed
Him only after He received His sight. And when you see Him,
and He performs that miracle, you know what you'll do? You'll
follow Him too. You'll follow Him in His way. You'll follow
Him in His way. You'll follow Him. Our blessed Savior, O gracious
God in Heaven, how wonderfully merciful, gracious, patient,
and long-suffering You are. And O Father, as far as any Barnabas
is here, may they cry out for mercy. If there's any Zacchaeus,
may they come out of the tree. If there's any poor, may they come begging. We ask
these things in Christ's name. Amen. Stand with me. Let's sing that chorus. Reach out and touch the Lord. Reach out and touch the Lord
as He passes by. You'll find He's not too busy
to hear. hear your heart's cry. He's passing by this moment,
your needs to supply. Reach out and touch the Lord
as He God help you to do that. See
you tonight at 6 o'clock, Lord willing.