Let me go ahead and get started.
If you would turn to Mark 10. Mark 10. I've preached from this before
and it's very familiar to you. Mark 10 and I'm going to begin
in verse 46. Mark 10, verse 46. 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. And when he heard that
it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that
he should hold his peace. But he cried the more a great
deal, Thou 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, rise, he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment,
rose and came to Jesus. And 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. And Jesus said
unto him, Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately
he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way. There are a great many people
today who will sit in places such as this. They have a religion
which they think is going to take them to heaven, but they
care not what is the basis and foundation of that religion.
They do not care to scrutinize what it is they believe or as
it is revealed in scripture. Almost all, when going to purchase
something, will scrutinize what it is they're buying. The more
it costs, the more scrutinizing that is done before they purchase
it. But when it comes to religion, men and women care nothing about
scrutinizing or examining what it is they believe to know, is
this what my hope is based on? They care nothing about what
God says in his word and care much more about what their religion
makes them feel like. Now I think most of us know this
account. Jesus Christ and his disciples
were in Jericho, and they left Jericho, and this was with a
great multitude following after them. But as they left Jericho,
they passed by this wayside, where here a man named Bartimaeus
was sitting. In other accounts, there was
one other account, I think there was two blind men, it says. This
place was evidently a place where people were known to travel.
That's why I figure they were there at this place. And I will
mainly speak of Bartimaeus today, as he is the one mentioned here.
But these men were sitting here as it was evidently a place where
more people traveled, so they were probably more apt to get
something from sitting there. And you see this today, people
begging for money, they're usually at a stoplight at a shopping
center or something like that. And they know more people are
gonna be traveling there, so that's where they're more likely
to get something. Now obviously there were no cars
or stoplights back then, but I figure it was the same premise
that they set by the wayside here. So this is the setting. And I
wanna talk about what we see in this passage today. Beggars. Beggars being told of Jesus Christ. Cries for mercy from Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ's response to one
crying for mercy. And the results of one willing
to show mercy. So beggars. Now to start with
this, I wanna go back to 1 Samuel 2, if you would. 1 Samuel 2. And as you're turning back to
1 Samuel 2, I want to point out something in this passage. This
says it is a prayer of Hannah, and it was. But I want you to
notice her prayer, this one anyway. It asks for nothing, at least
not here in this passage. This prayer is a glorying in
the Lord and giving him praise for who he is and what he does. And just to be clear, it's okay
to ask the Lord for something, because Hannah did. She asked
for a child. The answer may be no, but it may not be. It's up
to his will and purpose. But here, this prayer of Hannah
is a thanksgiving prayer, if you will, to God. She proclaims
in this prayer the glory of God. So let's read 1 Samuel 2, 1 through
10. And Hannah prayed and said, my
heart rejoiceth in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over mine
enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none
holy as the Lord, for there is none beside thee. Neither is
there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly. Let not arrogancy come out of
your mouth, for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions
are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are
broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They
that were full have hired out themselves for red, and they
that were hungry ceased, so that the barren hath born seven, and
she that hath many children is waxed feeble. The Lord killeth
and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave,
and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh
rich. He bringeth low, and lifteth
up. He raises up the poor out of
the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to
set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne
of glory. For the pillars of the earth
are the Lord's, and He hath set the world upon them. He will
keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent
in darkness. For by strength shall no man
prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall
be broken to pieces. Out of heaven shall he thunder
upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends
of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt
the horn of his anointed." I read this mainly in verse eight. He raiseth up the poor out of
the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill. Now why do I read Hannah's prayer
when talking about beggars in Mark 10? Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners and nobody else. Sinners are beggars. They are poor beggars. They have
nothing of worth toward God, so they must come to Him begging
because they have nothing to offer Him. That isn't any value
to Him anyway. What can I offer Him? My sin? That's the only thing I have
that's mine. And that I want Him to take away
from me. I come to Him asking for Him to take my sin to Himself
and propitiate me. If you are ever to be a child
of God, you will first see yourself as a beggar on the dung heap.
If you are ever to see yourself as saved by the grace of God,
he will make sure you see yourself lost. He will make sure you see
your need of him. I'm afraid that most, especially
the religious world, cannot see themselves here in this place
that Bartimaeus has found. On the wayside, begging for bread. attired in filthy rags that no
one else really wants to see, much less God. But these are
the kind of people God saves. We know this is referring to
salvation and not just having physical sight given. But those
who come to Christ will come to Him broken. They will cry
just as the publican did, propitiate me. They cannot help themselves. Bartimaeus was blind. How could
he give himself sight? He couldn't. And we are just
as blind Bartimaeus was when it comes to seeing Christ. We're
blind. We could not see him until someone told us he was passing. These two blind men asked him,
what's all this commotion about? If you read one of the other
accounts, they were told of Jesus of Nazareth. Can any good thing
come out of Nazareth? Well, yes, yes it can. A man
walking just like you and I walk, talking just like you and I talk.
But us being blind would not even know he was passing by unless
we are told Jesus Christ is who is passing by. So next we have
beggars told of Jesus Christ. So in Luke 18, we read this account
as well, and here's what it says in 36 and 37. And hearing the
multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him that
Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. Now if they would not have told
him, then he would not have known who it was. And I would dare
say he would have just kept sitting by the wayside begging for bread.
But this account is in there and reading each account of it
gives you a little more of the picture. This big procession
going by Bartimaeus made him wonder what was going on. Maybe
he even heard before this of the fame published abroad of
Jesus of Nazareth, I figure he did. One thing is for certain,
he did know a little bit about him because he didn't, He just
did not know it was him that was passing by. Because he cried
out, not Jesus of Nazareth, he cried out, Jesus, thou son of
David. He was crying out to the promised
Messiah. Why would he do such a thing?
He knew what he needed. What he cried out for was mercy. A sinner who knows he is such
will not sit by quietly when they know their master is near.
When he sends word to a beggar, the beggar will hear. What does
Christ tell us in his word in John 10, 27? My sheep hear my
voice. I know them and they follow me. So next, cries for mercy to Jesus
Christ from a beggar. Sinners who know they are sinners
know they need mercy. They also know that this mercy
must come from one place, that promised one, Jesus, thou son
of David. The beggar, the sinner, will
not wait for some other time, maybe when they're not so busy,
or maybe when Jesus is not so busy. No, when they hear about
Jesus passing by, they will not let him go on by. They can't,
their life depends on it. I often remember that message
that Mark Walker preached from Matthew 11, 12. And from the
days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffer
violence and the violent take it by force. The kingdom of heaven
is the king. Wherever the king is, is where
the kingdom is. a beggar in need of mercy will
not just let him walk on by. He will cry out even when those
around him are telling him to shut up. We know that what Christ
has already done to this man made him willing to cry out to
him because we are told, and it's Christ that said it, thy
faith hath made thee whole. We know where this faith came
from, don't we? This faith is the gift of God
because the scripture says it is. We are told in scripture
if we believe God by the faith he has given us, then what does
it say God does? Romans 4 or 5. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith given by God is counted for righteousness. Believing
means to believe that it is God that justifieth the ungodly.
So not only do I believe God does the justifying, but that
I am ungodly because he justified the ungodly. So if I'm not ungodly,
then I'm not one of those whom he has justified. What is Christ's
response to this ungodly begging sinner? The Lord of Gloria says here,
stood still. when the cry of one of his comes
to his ears, and it's not as though he did not know this one
would be crying, because he put it in this sinner to cry out. Because we are told this man
had faith, as I said. But the cry of one of his caused
him, by his own will and purpose, to stand still. You will not
get to Christ by staying silent. He will force you into a place
that you must cry out or he'll pass on by. But the God of Scripture
delights to show mercy. He's looking for his own. Turn
with me over to Luke 15, Luke 15. Luke 15, verses four through
seven. Luke 15 verse 4. What man of
you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, do not
leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after
that which is lost until he find it? And when he hath found it,
he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh
home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying
unto them, Rejoicest with me, for I have found my sheep, which
was lost. I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than
over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. I know
this passage is familiar. Walter read this passage last
week, I believe. but I already had it in my notes,
so. The Lord Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus
the son of David, did not just happen to go this way. He knew
there were sheep that would be sitting by the wayside. He had
to pass by them. In passing by them, he calls
them to cry out, have mercy on me. What did he do? He stood still. He stopped in
his tracks. A sinner, a beggar stopped the
Messiah in his tracks. But that's not all. He heard
the cry of one calling out for the mercy from him. What else
did he do? He called for him. He is about
to place this one on his shoulder. Christ here is taking a beggar
and lifting him up off the dung heap and seating him with princes. He raises up the poor out of
the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dung hill. Our Lord put Bartimaeus where
he was and he put the other blind men where he was. I'm sure Bartimaeus
had been here plenty of other times before. But there was one thing that
was different on this time. Jesus of Nazareth would be passing
by. Nothing is just happenstance.
God's purpose will be carried out always. He, that is Christ,
put Bartimaeus right where he wanted him to be. He causes us
to cry out for mercy, but he also causes us to confess our
inabilities. Here Christ asked him what he
wanted. Bartimaeus told him, I cannot see, I want you to give
me sight. That was his response. Our Lord
not only stops in his tracks for a sinner, but he is compassionate
to them to give them what they need. But look at what he does,
what our Lord does. He first of all called for him.
He told them that were there, bring him unto me or at least
tell him to come to me. Isn't that what others do for
us? Those who have already been given sight, we tell others to
go to Christ. But that's not even all. Jesus
Christ does the following. Here's what he does in other
words. He touches his eyes and he says
to him, receive thy sight. The Lord will touch an ungodly
rebel beggar and he will talk to him as one speaketh with a
friend. He is compassionate towards his
people. What did our Lord say to Zacchaeus
in Luke 9, 19, 9, and 10? And Jesus said unto him, this
day is salvation come to this house, for so much as he also
is a son of Abraham. For the son of man has come to
seek and to save that which was lost. He came to cause them that
are beggars, defiled, dead, ungodly sinners, he came to cause himself
to be found. I was found of them that sought
me not, is what the scripture says. They find him because he
sought them out. What does one such as these do
when the Lord is nigh unto them? First of all, what happened when
Christ called Bartimaeus? He first dropped everything he
had, which was not much. All he had was his filthy, dirty
rags of righteousness, and he immediately dropped it there
on the ground and went to Christ. He did not wait around and say,
wait, let me get something a little more presentable to go to him
with. I don't know if this was just
an outer garment, and I don't think it says in any of these
accounts if that's all he had on or not, if he went to Christ
naked. He knew that what he had was
not to be presented, nor none of the garments of his works
were to be presented to Christ. You remember what Moose Park
said when he was here, talking about those filthy rags of righteousness?
He said, folks today talk as if they will present their works
before God as if they were something to talk about. But it's like
wrapping yourself up with menstrual cloth with all that nasty blood
on them and presenting it to God saying, here I am God, look
what I've done. It is a disgusting thought. Our
works will not cut it. Throw off those dirty, filthy
rags of righteousness and be clothed with the garment of salvation
in Christ and by Christ." He did not just throw off his
own garment, though. What else does it say he did?
He arose. He did not just keep sitting
where he was. Arising, he had to stop what he was doing in
begging for alms because he was arising to go to the one who
could give him more than alms. This man could heal him of his
issue. So what else did he do? He came
to Jesus. There's nothing else to do for
such a beggar as this than to come to the one whom he was crying
out for. Do you see what happens though?
Jesus answered his cry. In one of the other accounts,
it says he had compassion, as I've already said, toward him.
This holy, righteous one is compassionate toward the cry of a sinner for
him. He asked him what he desires, and Christ gives him what he
desires. What is the result of Christ giving him and the other
blind man what they asked for? Did they take off and start plotting
out how they were going to do this or going to do that? No,
you know what it says? And follow Jesus in the way. No longer by the wayside, but
now following Jesus Christ in the way. That way which Jesus
Christ leads is where the sinner wants to go once God does something
for them. Sinners, beggars cannot get to
Christ on their own. It takes God coming their way,
having given them faith. When they hear he is nigh, they
will cry out for mercy. Jesus Christ, thou son of David,
do not pass me by. I need mercy from you. God will
hear their cry. Listen to Psalm 145, 18. The
Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call
upon him in truth. Do you hear that? The Lord is
already nigh unto them that call on his name. He does not leave
it up to them. No, he is the one that causes
them to come nigh unto him, but he is not far. He is already
right there nigh unto them. He gives them what they need
to believe, faith. Then he makes himself known unto
them so that they know he is there. God's people scrutinize
what the scripture says. They do this because they are
given by God a new heart, and this new heart has faith given
by God. They scrutinize it and come to
know and see they are blind, sitting by the wayside. When
they hear of one named Jesus of Nazareth is walking by, they
quickly call out to him. Him already being nine to them
because he is the one that caused them to cry out. He embraces
with wide open arms and rejoices with them because he found his
lost sheep. and placed him on his shoulders
and took him all the way home. They follow him. Here is what
it means to follow Jesus Christ the Lord. If you'll turn with
me to Psalm 100. And this kind of sounds like that house of
prayer that Joe was talking about this morning. Psalm 100, this
is a short one. And this also reminds you of
Hannah, this Psalm. Psalm 100. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord,
he is God. It is he that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep
of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless
his name. For the Lord is good, his mercy
is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations. As I said, you remember Hannah's
second prayer. She asked for nothing, but her
prayer was thanksgiving and praise to his holy name. When he answers
a cry for mercy, and he answered a cry for mercy for Hannah, he
gave her the child she asked for. That one who is his, that
one who has been his from the foundation of the world will
drop everything and follow him. They will continually give praise
to him. Do they ask for things? They
certainly do. Because we are always in need,
for we can do nothing without him. If you are in need of salvation,
and let me tell you, I'm always in need of salvation. It's not
just a one-time thing for me. I want to continually lay hold
on Him so that He does not pass me by. Don't let the Savior pass
you by. Call out to Him. He is rich in
mercy and He has the power to save you. He will save a seeking
sinner, because he has promised to do so. Amen. Our sovereign, almighty, merciful
God calls us to be thankful, dear Lord. You've given us more
than we deserve, way more than we deserve, dear Lord. But not
only that, you've, as Joe was saying, dear Lord, you bring
us into your house and give us another name, dear Lord. Open our eyes that we may constantly
see you, dear Lord. And all these things we ask in
Christ's name, amen.