If you would, turn to Mark again,
chapter eight this time. Chapter eight of Mark, and I
wanna begin reading in verse 22. Mark chapter eight, verse 22.
And he cometh to Bethsaida, and they bring a blind man unto him,
and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by
the hand and led him out of the town. And when he had spit on
his eyes and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up and said, I
see men as trees walking. After that, he put his hands
again upon his eyes and made him look up. And he was restored
and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house
saying, neither go into the town nor tell it to any in the town. And Jesus went out. and his disciples
into the towns of Caesarea Philippi, and by the way, he asked his
disciples, saying unto them, whom do men say that I am? I'm
gonna stop right there, but I wanted to get that last phrase in, and
Jesus went out. Now, I've entitled this, I don't
know, I had about four titles for this thing. At one time,
it was The Threefold Touch of Christ, or Thrice Touched, or
What I Got Here is Sight to the Blind, is what I put. Very clearly here, I said it
last week and I'm gonna say it again because it applies. Jesus
Christ did not touch and does not touch everyone. However, he did and he does touch
some. And guess who gets to choose
which one He touches, He does. It's all according to His will.
Here we have an account of an unnamed blind man receiving sight
from the Son of God. I said it, this man is not named,
this blind man is not named. The only blind man named in the
scripture is Bartimaeus. We don't even have the name of
the man who was blind from birth. There's two actually in Matthew
and another one later on in Matthew, blind men, there's a grand total
of five, I think, blind men given sight recorded in the scriptures. Bartimaeus was the only one named.
Here we have a blind man who is not named, why? Because this
blind man could be anyone. His name in this case was not
important. Now, I'll qualify this. This
blind man could have been anyone who knew he was blind. Jesus
was not in the habit of giving sight to people who could see. If you don't know your need,
you haven't felt his touch. And there are always blind people
around. There are always people around. What's the difference? The ones that don't come to him
don't know they need his touch. And there are those who don't
want his touch. This man knew. Jesus Christ said he did not
come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And here
in this account, we see the son of God Touch this man three times,
and with results, all three times. Starts off saying, he cometh
to Bethsaida, and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought
him to touch him. What can you say about Bethsaida?
Well, the only thing all the commentary says is it's the hometown
of Andrew, Philip, and Peter, which is true. It says that in
John 1 in verse 44. Literally, the word means fishing
house. And I kind of like that. Because
he told some of them, he said, come and I will make you fishers
of men. Here's the point. He came to
Bethsaida because he wanted to be in Bethsaida. He had a blind man to meet in
Bethsaida. It says they bring a blind man
unto him Now I don't want to read too much into this, but
I don't want to ignore it or just pass it over These men somebody
doesn't say who doesn't say whether they were disciples or somebody
else It says they brought a blind man to Jesus That's a good thing
Because here's the point That's where you take a blind man Why? I can't help a blind man. Man can't help a blind man. And men, plural, can't help a
blind man. But it's nice when you know who
can. And not only that, they brought
this blind man, they did something else. They besought Jesus to
touch him. Something went on here. It doesn't
say, like I said, it doesn't say who these people are. But
these men knew something. They knew at least that Jesus
was a healer. They knew that Jesus had some
power. And they knew something the world
never knows. The only hope of a man who cannot
see is Jesus Christ. And I will say that spiritually
as well as physically. The only hope for a man who cannot
see is the son of God. And absolutely there is no hope
at all without Jesus of Nazareth. without the Son of the Most High. You can say what you want and
you can do what you will within reason, but the seeing eye is
made by the Lord. No one else can make the blind
see. Why do we preach Christ here?
He, and he alone is the only one who can make you whole. Because with him, it doesn't
matter how blind you are. With him, it doesn't matter how
deaf you are. And with him, it doesn't matter
how dull of understanding you are. He is the only one who can
fix those things. because the touch of Jesus Christ
is like no other. The touch of Jesus Christ is
necessary to open blind eyes, open deaf ears, and to give a
living, understanding heart. The scripture is plain. Walter,
as it is written, the seeing eye and the hearing ear, both
of these are from the Lord. Life comes from the son because
the son is life. And he gives it to whosoever
he will. Then we come to this statement.
He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of town
and when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands upon him, he
asked him if he saw ought. Jesus took the blind man by the
hand. This is the first touch. He took
this blind man by the hand. Now I said it last week, I'll
say it again this week. Good things and only good things happen
to you if Jesus takes you by the hand. See, it doesn't matter
what comes after, it's gonna be good, Mason. If he takes you
by the hand, if he acknowledges your presence, He doesn't acknowledge
everyone's presence. There's that whole thing at the
end when he said, there's gonna be those that come to me and
say, Lord, we've done many wonderful things in your name. We've done
miracles, we've cast out demons, we've preached in your name.
And he's gonna tell them, depart from me ye that work iniquity.
What? Their miracles, their signs,
their preaching was iniquity. But then he says this, I never
knew you. He knew this blind man. He took
this blind man by the hand and he took this blind man by the
hand for a purpose because our Lord did everything he did on
this earth on purpose. According to in accordance with
and to fulfill the Father's will. There are no casual meetings
in the scripture, positive or negative. There are no casual
meetings. He does not touch everyone and
those he does touch, something wonderful happens. But here is
a funny statement. Because what did he do when he
touched this blind man by the hand? Says and he let him out
of the town Now this is the result of the
first touch shown here in this illustration in this true account
of something that actually happened The first touch he he will bring
you out because the first meaning and
the main meaning of the words holy and holiness is this, separation. See, last week I talked about
there was a time when Christ come in the house, he put some
people out. Well here, in this account, he
ain't putting nobody out, he's taking that man out. That blind
man, he took him by the hand and he led him out of town. The touch of Jesus Christ separates
you. From what? From who? Yes, from what and from who? The first thing to know here,
very clearly is, The town can't help you. The town can't help
you. That's why he took him out. The
town was no help. Secondly, men can't help you. Even those men that brought him
to Jesus couldn't help this blind man. Jesus had to lead this man
out of town and he led him away from some people and from a place. That's what it clearly states
here. The second thing to know here is that the work of Christ
in a man is done out of sight of other men. The work of the Son of God in
an individual is done privately. Personally, it's one-on-one. It doesn't matter if you're in
a crowd. It's one-on-one. It doesn't matter if you're in
the midst of the greatest revival, true revival there ever was.
Jesus Christ individually touched everyone that he brings out of
the world. This kind of work which shows
forth life and light being given is between Jesus Christ and this
blind man alone, no one else. No one else is involved, no one
else is asked. Others may rejoice once it's
done, but in this work, this is between Jesus and that blind
man alone, and he led him out of the town, away from other
men. Man has absolutely nothing to
do with opening blind eyes. You understand? I'll say it even
clearer. Preachers have nothing to do
with opening blind eyes. The gospel has nothing to do
with opening blind eyes. Preachers and the gospel can
only actually deal with people who can see. people who can hear
and people who understand. This is between Jesus Christ
and this blind man and he led him out of the town away from
everyone because this is between Jesus Christ and this blind man. And that's the way it is for
every child of God. It's between Jesus Christ and
you and no one else. They brought him. They did bring
him. Guess what? And Jesus took him out. What? We're in the world. But
now, by his grace, by his power, we are not of the world. Here in this account, like I
said, Jesus didn't put anybody out. He took this man out. And
guess what? This blind man will never ever
be the same again, because there's going to be a work in him. There's
going to be work in you when Jesus Christ touches you. Here's the statement. Jesus spit
on his eyes. Okay. Obviously to us, this sounds
unsanitary. I don't want nobody spitting
on my eyes. I don't want nobody spitting on me, period. And it does sound
unsanitary unless you understand who it is that's spitting. Our Lord came in the likeness
of sinful flesh. He did not come in sinful flesh.
And this is the way he chose to do this. And therefore, it
is right. He addressed this blind man's
problem directly. He spit on his eyes. That was this man's problem,
was a lack of sight. But then it says this, and he
put his hands upon him. And I'm gonna tell you this,
it was upon his eyes. It doesn't say it here in this verse, but
if you look in the next couple of verses, it says, and he put
his hands again upon his eyes. That means the first time he
put his hands upon his eyes. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
already knew what the problem was. And that he was addressing
the problem this blind man had. And it doesn't matter what your
problem is, he already knows. and he will address it accordingly. Jesus Christ knew what the wrong
was in this blind man and he knows our problem. He put his
hands on this man's problem. He knows your need. He knew this
man's need. He knows my need. He knows all
our needs. And if he will, he will put his
hands on your problem. It's up to his will. And if he wills, he'll do it. See, this is the thing, the world
around us, wants to say that Jesus wants to save everyone.
He's willing to save everyone. No, if he was willing to save
everyone, everyone would be saved. Because his will is the part
that matters. His will is the supreme will.
Nothing goes against the will of God. And Jesus Christ is God. And he put his hands on this
blind man's eyes and then asked him a question. He asked him
if he saw anything. That was the second touch. Touching
his eyes, and guess what? The second touch has a result
also. But Jesus asked this man if he
saw anything. Now, Jesus already knew what
he did when he laid his hands on his eyes. But Jesus wants this man to know
what he did when he touched him. Paul wrote it. I would not have
you to be ignorant. Who? Brethren. And Jesus Christ
will not have you to be ignorant of his touch. You're not gonna be touched and
then he's gonna leave you alone and you're not gonna know anything
about it. It doesn't happen that way. It doesn't happen that way
in this illustration. It's never happened that way. If the master touches you, you're
going to know it here. You asked him if he saw anything,
excuse me, he'll give you knowledge and he will make you aware of
what his touch has done to you. and what his touch is doing in
you, the touch of Jesus Christ has
an effect. And the blind man says, and he
looked up and said, I see men as trees walking. When Jesus Christ opens your
eyes, you're going to look up. You're gonna look up. I remember,
Walter, Earl preaching that message, and I think he just mentioned
it in passing, or it may have been what it was on, he was talking
about the brazen serpent. And he said that was in the wilderness,
and the people had been bitten by serpents, and they made a
likeness of it of brass. Later on, Moses busted it up,
because they started worshiping it. But at this time, they raised
it up on a staff, and Moses told the people, look, and live. And I remember to this day what
Earl said that. He didn't say see and live, he
said look. And this man, after Christ asked
him if he saw anything, this man looked up. You're gonna look
up after Jesus Christ touches you. This man, he looked up and he
said, I see. I see men as trees walking. Here's the result of the second
touch. I see. Jesus Christ had touched this
man's eyes. And guess what? This man said,
I see. Yes, it's a miracle this man sees. Now he says he don't
see much. Sounds like he doesn't see clearly.
But very clearly it does say, I see. I see. Now most people pass over this. Most people really don't want
to mention it because I'll tell you what most religious folks
will think about this passage is they kind of get the idea
that maybe, uh-oh, Jesus didn't quite get it right the first
time. That ain't it, okay? That's not it. Some people might
see this as, well, it was a good try, but not good enough. No,
that ain't it either. They're wrong. They're dead wrong. This touch and this man seeing
I see men as trees walking is exactly the effect that the Lord
of glory wanted in this man. This man had been totally blind
and now he sees. I see men as trees walking. Basically
what that is, it means that I see men as trees walking. It's the metaphor this man used
of his own for the sight that he had been given by the Lord
of Glory, by Jesus Christ. He could see after this touch
of Jesus Christ, but I think the way he's talking, what he
means is everything was fuzzy. But he could see. I recognize him as men, but I
don't necessarily see the detail. And I'm gonna tell you something,
this is the way God opens the eyes of the blind. And I mean spiritually blind.
You were blind, but now you see. Yes, to be sure. You may not
be sure exactly what you're seeing or who you're seeing. But this
is the thing, if he's touched you, you're starting to see. Something is different in you
than it was before. There is a change in a man whenever
the Lord Jesus Christ touches him. It's inside and it manifests
itself outside. This is not a failure of Jesus
Christ to get the job done first. This is showing a step. This
is a miracle of grace. There is a limit to our comprehension
in our fallen bodies. And guess what? Our salvation,
from our point of view, starts with little things. Little things. Some of the first memories I
have of where I believe that Jesus Christ had done something
in me is I started to see things I had not seen before. in the
scriptures and in the way people talk, whether they were talking
about the scriptures or not. It's a small thing, but it was
there. It was real. And I didn't know
exactly what was going on. I do know now, I believe he had
touched me at that time and opened my eyes to some things, but wait, there's more. After
that he put his hands again upon his eyes and made him look up
and he was restored and saw every man clearly. Jesus Christ put
his hands on this man's eyes again. This is the third touch. Now this third touch has three results. First, Jesus
made him look up. It says it plainly here. He was
restored, a second. And third, it says he saw every
man clearly. It takes the power of God's holy
son to make a man, a fallen man, look up and see. He did look up. Why? It says Jesus made him look
up. Why did he have to do that? Why
did it put it that way? Well, looking up to God, to Christ,
is not in the will of man. It is not a function of the natural
man to look up. But you will look up when the
sun makes you look up. You may feel like looking down,
you may feel like looking within. There's lots of people looking
within for answers. That ain't where they are. There's nothing
to see inside. I love these people, I have to
go find myself. No, I don't want to find myself.
No, no. You do sometimes want to ask
them where you've been, you know. That's the way of this world.
Look within. Don't you know, God's in every
one of us. No, he ain't. No, he's not. The scripture's clear on that
also. Jesus Christ looked some fellas in the eye and told them,
you are of your father, the devil, and of his works you will do.
But don't worry, God's in you. Just look within, you'll see
God. No, that's not even close to what he said. And he made
this blind man look up. Why? Because your answers and
the answers for this blind man are not on this planet. They
are in God's hands. And in this case, it was in the
man's, because Jesus was standing right there with him. But here's
the thing. You need to look up to Christ
because you're supposed to be on your knees before him. Jesus wants his people to look
up. Why? Now that's where he is.
And that is where our treasure lies. We are not to mind earthly
things. We are to mind heavenly things.
We are to look up if he's given you eyes to see. The second result is he was restored. And I looked that word up and
it means restored. It does have another word there,
which I do like. Reconstituted. The blind man's sight was restored. Yes. But it doesn't say that. It says he was restored. He was reconstituted. And here's the thing. He was
made whole. Just like that leper. The leprosy
departed and he was cleansed. This man got his sight back and
he was restored. He looked up and he was restored. I like that because here's the
point. Jesus Christ in this account
has touched this man three times and this man is not the same
man that came to him. This man has been changed. This
man is not the same as he used to be. He was separated. He was given sight and now he's
restored because the master, the one talking to him here,
Jesus Christ, the son of God is the master of restoration. He makes you whole and He makes
you complete. And it says, this blind man now
saw every man clearly. You have never seen man clearly
until after the Master has restored you. You'll get a taste of it. You'll
get a taste of it. And as it goes along, you'll
get to see more of it. Because see, when you see every
man clearly, you also see yourself more clearly. And it didn't say, I see the
good in every man. It said, I see every man clearly. Because if God has opened your
eyes so that you see, you are going to see man clearly, and
you are going to see yourself more clearly, and you are going
to see both the old nature and the new. We still have that old nature
that's blind. We still have that old nature
in us. that doesn't want anything to do with God. But thank Him
we have a new nature. We want to look up. We want to
mind heavenly things and not mind earthly things. We despise even the garment spotted
with the flesh, Ellen. But we see clearly our garment
is spotted by the flesh. Understand the only people who
can truly see are those that he has touched The world can only see the world
They can only see the old man Because the world only has and
only knows the old man But a man whose eyes Christ has open can
see the old man and the new man. He can see man clearly and good
and bad. Now it doesn't say that he saw
God clearly. Paul says this, that we see him
through a glass darkly, but we see, we see, we see. And this last verse, and he sent
him away to his house saying, neither go into the town nor
tell it to any in the town. What a great evangelical spirit. What did Jesus Christ do after
he gave this man his sight, after he restored him, after this man saw every man
clearly? Jesus Christ sent this man home. The touch of the Son of God will
bring you home. Guarantee it Because after being
touched like this after being touched by this man the Lord
Jesus Christ you are going home and He will see you home Because he doesn't just leave
us here We are kept by the power of God through faith and And it's gonna be revealed at
the last times. He's taking us home. Because now, now, because of
his touch, we have a new home. And I do like this part, neither
go into town nor tell it to any in the town. Jesus Christ just led this man
out. Don't go back in. Do not join yourself with the
world. Trust me, you don't want them
and they don't want you. There is no going back. And people
who say you can go back have never been anywhere. That's just the truth of the
matter. Those that have gone out from
us were the ones who were never of us. It's not saying they can't come
back and be with us. But it says up until this time,
they never were of us. And the world will not understand.
Because the world cannot understand. Nor tell it to any in the town.
Guess what? They'll trample it underfoot
and they'll turn and wring you. What happens next? Well, I think
the blind man went home. But it says here, Jesus left. He went out, having done exactly
what he wanted to do in Bethsaida. Now, did he do more than what
was told us here? Probably. But that doesn't matter. Here
we have recorded exactly what he wanted us to read and what
exactly he wanted us to know of what he did in Bethsaida.
And then it says he left. Our Lord does everything he does
on purpose. He wants us to understand what
was done here for this one unnamed blind man. In salvation, Our salvation. Redemption is a one-time event.
But in our salvation, in the conversion of a sinner, it's
a continuing thing. It's a continuing thing. You
don't get it all at once. There is a thing such as known
when we talk. Growing in the grace and the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And you don't get
it all at once, but He keeps giving. And you will keep receiving. What did He say? If ye continue
in my doctrine, then are ye my disciples indeed. Here it is, the Lord Jesus Christ
touches whom He will. The Lord Jesus Christ gives sight
to those whom he will. And the Lord restores whom he
will. And the Lord makes whom he will
to see every man clearly. And the Lord sends home whom
he will. And this is love, this is grace,
this is mercy, and this is power. And guess what? He does it all. And none of this is the work
of man. We only see because He has given
it to us to see. We only hear because He has given
it to us to hear. And we only understand when he
has opened up our understanding. Just as he told those fellas
in that last chapter of Luke, he opened their understanding,
what? Of the scriptures. Of the scriptures. And those scriptures will help
you see man clearly, yourself and others. But it all starts
with the touch of the master. Because without His touch, none
of this happens. But with His touch, all of it
happens. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again, this time in this place. Thankful to You, who came and
gave Himself for us, and who comes and touches us, speaks
unto us the words of life, gives us sight, hearing, mind and a
heart to understand Thank you Lord for all you've done and
all you're doing in Christ's name we pray