Well, good morning. Take care
to open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 9. That's where our lesson
will be from this morning. Matthew chapter 9. Before we
begin, let's bow together in prayer. Our Father, how thankful we are
that out of your goodness and mercy and grace to your people
that you have provided for us another day that we can meet
together with our brothers and sisters and hear your gospel
preached and by your spirit being able to worship you. Father,
I pray that this morning you would indeed enable us to worship
you, to worship in spirit and in truth. I pray that you would
deliver us from just going through the motions of religion and doing
on a Sunday morning what we do out of mere habit. But Father,
give us a heart desire to worship you, a heart that would receive
Believe the gospel that we here preach this morning. Father,
I pray for myself and our teachers in this hour that you would enable
us to rightly divide the word of truth, that you'd send your
spirit upon us and speak to our hearts, that we might speak comfortably
to the hearts of your people, that we would be instructed to
one more time, look to, cling to, and rest in our Lord Jesus
Christ, that he Indeed, is all and in all. Father, we thank
you for this place that you've given to us, a place where your
gospels preached, a place where your people meet together in
love and unity with the heartfelt desire to worship the Lord together,
to hear the gospel, to support the gospel, that the gospel,
the saving gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ would go forth from
this place. Father, I thank you. Pray that
you'd give us the wisdom and the grace of heart to earnestly
protect the unity of the brethren here. Cause us to love one another,
forgive one another, care for one another. Father, bless, continue
to bless in the future as you have in the past. Father, we
dare not forget to thank you for all the material blessings
of this life you've given us, how abundantly you've blessed
us. We pray your blessing on those who you brought in the
time of trouble and trial. Be with them, Father. Comfort
their hearts, and as soon as it could be thy will, we pray
that you would deliver them. All these things we ask, and
we give thanks in that name which is above every name, the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's in his name and for his
glory, we pray and give thanks. Amen. Hebrews chapter 9. I titled the lesson this morning
Receiving Mercy, Receiving Mercy. Now, here in Matthew chapter
nine, Matthew has given us a series of healings, and the Lord has
in each one of these cases healed these people, both in power and
in mercy. And each one of these healings
teaches us a different aspect of God saving mercy. The chapter
began with the Lord healing the paralyzed man. And that shows
us that paralysis, physical paralysis, shows us our spiritual inability,
that we are unable to come to Christ for salvation. We're not
able to believe on Christ for salvation. So God and his power
and his mercy must make us both willing and able to come to Christ
and to believe Christ. In the end, the Lord healed the
woman with the issue of blood and that disease, the issue of
blood, shows us that sin is not what we do on the outside. Sin's
in the heart. Sin is an evil nature that's
in us. And the outward sin that we do
happens because of the sin nature that we have. We can't do anything
but sin. So if we would be saved, not
only must we be forgiven our sin, we must be healed of our
sin sickness. And with men, this is impossible.
But with God, all things are possible. If we would be saved,
we must be given a new nature and only God has the power to
give it. And then the Lord raised the daughter of Jairus. He raised
her not just from her sickbed, but from the dead. And that shows
us how we're born dead, spiritually dead and trespasses and sins.
And we can't do anything to earn God's favor. We can't do anything
to deserve God's mercy because we're dead. Dead man can't do
anything. The only thing a dead man can do is stink. be offensive. So the saving of a sinner is
God miraculously giving spiritual life to the dead. And now this
morning, we're going to look at two more healings. We're going
to see two blind men and then a demon possessed man. And all
three of these men receive mercy. Every person, God says, receives
the same mercy, the same grace, but the experience of it can
be very different. And this is the one point that
I want to make this morning. I'm going to tell you what it
is now and tell you again at the end. This is my one point. That
salvation is purely in the mercy of God, purely in God's mercy. Salvation is not an experience. Salvation is not based upon something
that we do. Salvation is purely in the mercy
of God. So first let's look at these
two blind men, Matthew chapter nine, verse 27. And when Jesus
departed thence, two blind men followed Him, crying and saying,
Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. Now, blindness in Scripture,
I tell you this often, every physical disease we see the Lord
heal is a picture of spiritual disease. And blindness in Scripture
is a picture of our spiritual blindness, our spiritual darkness. And every son of Adam is born
with this blindness. Now, a blind person can't see
a thing. You have to tell a blind person
the light's on. I mean, they can't see the light.
Well, a spiritually blind person can't see. They can't see salvation
in Christ, even though it's made obvious to them in Scripture,
they can't see. The Apostle John said, when Christ
came, the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended
it not. When men were in such darkness
and blindness, they couldn't tell the light. Christ, the light
was shining in the world. A blind person can't see light.
A blind person can't see faces. A spiritually blind person can't
see Christ. They can't see the glory of God. They can know something of this
man, Jesus of Nazareth, but they never see him as he really is
because they can't see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And spiritual blindness has more
to do than with just sight. Spiritual blindness affects the
understanding. It's a blindness of understanding,
a darkness in understanding. A blind person can't see colors,
so they can't understand colors. How can you understand colors
if you can't see? A spiritually blind person can't
understand. They can't understand how it
is that God saves sinners in Christ. all by Christ. They don't
understand how it is that God must save sinners in such a way
that he's both just and justifier. They can't understand that. A
spiritually blind person can't see. They can't understand the
spirituality of sin. They think it's just all outward.
And they don't understand the spirituality of salvation. They
think it's got to be something that's all outward because they
don't understand the heart. They don't understand the work
of grace in the heart. because they haven't experienced
it, they haven't seen it. They don't understand that the only
way we can see God is in Christ. They don't understand that because
they're blind. But now it's obvious from our
text, these two blind men knew some things. First, they knew
they were blind. I just, I can't imagine something
more miserable than blindness. I mean, I think about, I mean,
I spend my day reading and, you know, looking at things. I mean,
you know, I like to look at the smiling face of my wife. It would
just be hard for me to imagine. I mean, I don't see that anymore.
You know, just how miserable and helpless a blind person would
be, especially at this time. There are no social programs
to help them. Buddy, they're on their own. How are they going
to make ends meet? How are they going to work? They're
so helpless and so miserable. These men knew they were in darkness. Now a lot of people in spiritual
darkness don't know they're in darkness. These men knew they
were in darkness and they wanted light. Second, they knew this. They knew they needed somebody
else to give them sight. They knew they were blind and
they knew there's not one thing in this world they can do to
give themselves sight. They knew they needed somebody
else to give them sight. And thirdly, they knew they needed
somebody to have mercy on them. Their cry is for mercy, isn't
it? And they didn't need just anybody to give them sight. They
didn't need just anybody to be merciful to them. They needed
the Messiah. They needed the Savior. They
needed the power of God. They knew those things. Now,
how did these blind men know all this? Remember, I told you
blindness has something to do with understanding. How did these
two blind men know all these things? Well, they didn't know
it yet, but God's mercy had already started working on them. God's
mercy had already started drawing them to Christ. I know that so
because they came to Christ. They were physically blind, but
they could hear. They could hear. Faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. In this matter of
salvation, we say seeing is believing. Well, faith is not seeing is
believing. Faith is hearing is believing,
hearing, hearing the word of God, not just hearing any religious
jargon, hearing the word of God. I'll give you some evidence as
God's mercy is already working on these men. Number one, they
came begging for the right thing. They came begging for mercy.
They cried and asked the Lord, have mercy on us. They didn't
ask for merit. They didn't say, Lord, we didn't
deserve this blindness. We didn't deserve it. Make this
right. They didn't say, Lord, give me a second chance. They
asked for mercy. I thought this was very interesting
when I read this this week. It's not even recorded, they
asked the Lord to give them sight, is it? They didn't ask the Lord
to give them sight. They asked the Lord for mercy
and let the Lord decide what to do. Maybe they'd heard what
the Lord told that paralyzed man. Son, bid for cheer, thy
sins be forgiven. Maybe they heard that. I don't
know what all the reason is for this, but they begged for mercy. They didn't ask for any physical
blessing, they asked for mercy. And here's how you know when
God's the one who's working on a sinner's heart. It's when that
sinner cries for mercy, for mercy. A person will only cry for mercy
when they're miserable. I mean, they're miserable. They're
miserable because of who they are. They're a sinner. That makes
them miserable. They're not just asking for mercy
because they're afraid God's going to punish them and send
them to hell. They're crying for mercy because they're miserable
being who they are, a sinner. They're miserable in their sin.
When a person starts crying for mercy, that's the beginning of
mercy. God's mercy is already working on their heart. Because
only God can make us miserable. All we've ever known is sin.
So we're not miserable in our sin until God makes us miserable
of it. We'll never realize we're helpless
until God makes us realize that we're helpless. God's the one that's got to make
us realize I can't quit sinning. I can't sin less to make God
happy with me. I need mercy, pure mercy, even
though I do not deserve it. I need mercy from God. They begged
for the right thing. And number two, they came to
the right person. They came to the Lord Jesus.
You know why they came to him? They knew he's the Savior. They
knew he was God's long promised Savior. Because what did they
call him? The son of David. See, these
men knew about God's promise to David that the Messiah would
come through his loins and that the Messiah would sit on David's
throne forever. Now, they knew that this is not
speaking of an earthly throne. They knew that meant this one
who's coming, the son of David, is the sovereign savior. Nothing
will ever threaten his rule. He rules over all. He's the God
man. He's the son of David and he's
the son of God. And they came begging Him for
mercy, Him, because they knew Christ was the source, the fountain
of all of God's mercy. Now these men are blind, aren't
they? But they knew what the Pharisees never did know, even
though every one of them had two good eyes. They knew that
Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. This is the Savior. They knew
how Jesus of Nazareth could be both the son of God and son of
David. They knew how he could be the
son of David, yet David would call him Lord. The Pharisees
didn't know that. These blind men did. Like I said
a minute ago, here's how they knew that. Faith cometh by hearing. They believed him to be the Christ. Faith cometh by hearing. It's
a gift of God. Faith, saving faith, the knowledge
of Christ does not come by our natural understanding, our natural
abilities. It comes through God given faith
and God gives it through the preaching of his word. All right. Thirdly, here's how I know this
is God's mercy already working on them. They wouldn't quit seeking
mercy. They wouldn't quit begging for
mercy. These two men had not read any theological books. They may have never heard of
the term importunity before, but they knew what it meant.
They knew what it meant. And importunity is just a great
big religious word that means don't quit. These two men knew
how to beg for mercy and they knew not to quit begging for
mercy. They knew just don't shut up
and don't let God rest until he has mercy on you. These men
are blind. but they still followed Christ
everywhere he went. How'd they do that? I don't know, but they
did. They went everywhere he went
crying for mercy and they wouldn't quit crying for mercy because
they knew he is their only hope. Look over at Luke chapter 18.
See, it was their need that made them not quit begging God for
mercy. Need is a good teacher. It was
their need. You know, the Pharisees could
not understand the parable of the unjust judge and the widow,
but these needy men knew it. Even though they hadn't heard
it, they knew the meaning of this parable. Luke chapter 18,
verse one. And he spake a parable unto them
to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint. See,
they knew to keep, to beg and keep begging and don't quit begging.
Saying there wasn't a city, a certain judge, which feared not God.
neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that
city, and she came unto him saying, avenge me of mine adversary.
And he would not for a while. But afterward, he said within
himself, though I fear not God and nor regard man, yet because
this widow troubleth me, she just won't shut up. I'll avenge
her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said,
hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God, the righteous
judge, shall he not avenge his own elect, which cry day and
night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you, he
will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of
Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Now these two blind
men understood what the Lord's teaching. Men ought always to
pray. They ought always to beg and
not quit. Don't quit begging God for mercy.
You just keep crying unto him. their need for mercy taught them
that. And when the Lord's the one that
shows us our sin, when the Lord is the one whose mercy begins
working on our heart, I tell you what we'll do. We're going
to seek him. We'll seek Christ with all of our heart and we
won't quit seeking him. It's our need that teaches us
that I need him. If God ever makes me need Christ,
I'll never quit seeking him. I'll never quit begging him.
If God's the one that teaches me something of my sin, something
of who Christ is, I'm going to beg God for mercy. I'm going
to keep begging him. I'm going to keep begging him.
And I won't let him rest until he shows mercy to me. Now, is
that presumptuous? Is that is that wrong to do that?
I mean, you think, well, I'll just ask God for mercy once or
twice. And then, you know, God's sovereign. He has mercy on whom
he will. He hasn't had mercy on me, so I'll just quit. You
know, I'm just going to quit bothering. Is it wrong? to keep
begging God for mercy and not let him rest until he shows mercy
to you. Is that wrong? Is that presumptuous?
It's what the Lord told us to do. Then it's not presumptuous,
is it? It's not presumptuous at all.
Actually, it's only right. It's only right. The only right
relationship between God and you and me is us at his feet
begging him, begging him. Begging for everything we need.
It's the only right relationship. It's only right we beg God for
mercy and don't quit. It's only right relationship
we have. It's only right because Christ is our only hope. Begging
for mercy. A beggar who will not quit begging
for mercy. That's the violent who take the
kingdom of heaven by force. You know that it's not their
force. It's refusing to quit begging God for mercy. And the
Lord says, that's what I'm telling you to do. That's what the needy
beggar will do. He won't quit. Nevertheless, when the Son of
Man cometh, shall he find that kind of faith on earth? Yeah,
he will. He'll find it. And you know where
he'll find it? Right where he gave it. Right
where he gave it. And then fourthly, here's how
I know this is God's mercy working on the heart of these two blind
men. Their faith was in Christ. Back in our text, Matthew chapter
9. Their faith was in Christ. Verse 28. And when he was coming
to the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus saith unto
them, Believe ye that I am able to do this. And they say unto
him, Yea, Lord. These men believed Christ. Now
there can be no salvation without faith in Christ. Salvation is
not by works, it's by faith. Faith in Christ. But without
faith, it's impossible to please God. God cannot be pleased with
sinners as we are. The only way God can be pleased
with sinners is in Christ, because the Father is only pleased with
Christ. The only way He can be pleased
with us is through faith in Christ, by being joined to Christ by
faith. And the issue, the issue for
every heart here this morning, It's not what you believe about
anything. The issue is not what you believe
about any issue on earth. It's not the issue. The only
issue is what you believe about Christ. That's the only issue
that matters. Earl and I were talking about
how we can talk about social issues, political issues, economic
issues. And they give us a lot of ammunition.
But in a hundred years, all of us are going to be dead. And
it didn't matter what the economy was. It didn't matter what political
party was in office. It didn't matter. It didn't matter
what was going on in the world. All that mattered is what think
ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Do you believe
him? That's the only thing that matters. That's what the Lord
asked these two blind men. He didn't ask them, well, you
know, do you believe your eyes could see again? He didn't ask
you, well, you know, what do you think about these Pharisees?
Are you going to side with me? He didn't ask them that. He didn't
ask them, well, where do you stand in this matter of the law?
He didn't ask them that, did he? He asked them, do you believe
I am able to do this? Do you believe Christ? It's the
only issue. And that's saving faith. Saving
faith believes Christ. Saving faith believes He's everything
He says He is in His Word. So he's able. Saving faith believes
that Christ is all of my salvation. I don't know how the Lord does
a lot of things, but this is what I know. He's able. He's
able to save even me. He's able because he's God and
with God, all things are possible. So it's possible for him to even
save a sinner like me. And the question the Lord asked
these two blind men is the same question I posed to you and me
this morning. Do you believe that Christ is able? Do you? Do you? Look at Romans chapter
10. If you believe Christ is able,
you're going to say so. You're going to commit your soul
to him and you'll confess him publicly just like we'll see
these men do in just a moment. Romans chapter 10 verse 6. But the righteousness which is
the faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in my heart, who shall
ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down
from above. Who shall ascend into the deep?
That is to bring Christ again from the dead. Saving faith doesn't
ask those questions because it already knows the answer. It
already knows the answer is Christ. That's what saving faith. Saving
faith believes him. Now, verse eight, but what sayeth
it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart. That's the issue, is it, in your
heart. That is the word of faith which we preach. That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
under righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
under salvation. Now saving faith is in the heart. Our outward confession does not
add to salvation, not one bit. Salvation is in the heart, but
faith in the heart will be confessed. It will be. It'll be confessed
with the mouth. It'll be confessed in the life. It'll be confessed
by following the Lord's commandment to obey him and following him
in believers baptism. Saving faith is in the heart,
but it's confessed with the mouth. It's confessed in the life. And
I just wouldn't give you a plug nickel for any profession of
faith that hadn't been followed up with a confession of Christ.
These men are going to confess him. They believed Christ and
they received mercy. Verse 29, back in our text, Matthew
chapter nine. Then touched he their eyes saying,
according to your faith, be it unto you. And their eyes were
open. And Jesus straightly charged
them, saying, See, no man knoweth. But they, when they were departed,
spread abroad his fame in all that country. Now these two men
received everything their faith believed. They believed, cried
to Jesus to be the Christ. They confessed, Yes, Lord, I
believe. And they received everything
their faith believed. And every believer will have
the same thing. Every believer will receive everything their
faith believes about Christ. They'll receive forgiveness in
Him. They'll receive righteousness in Him. Life and peace through
Him. And we'll receive those things not because we believe
now. It's not because we believe.
Don't make faith into a work. We're not going to receive these
things because we believe. We receive these things because
of who Christ is. Who He is. Now most people, I
did some reading on this this week, and most people think the
Lord told these men, see that no man know it, because he didn't
want the people, the throng, you know, the crowd around thronging
him trying to make him king. I just, I just don't know about
that. I mean, I just don't know about
that. The Lord knew the people are
going to do that anyway. The people are already going
to try to make him king. I don't know why the Lord told him that.
That just don't ring true to me. I take that for what it's
worth. I don't know why the Lord told
them don't tell anybody, but this is what I do know. They
could not keep this to themselves. Can you imagine how overjoyed
they were to see, to be able to see? And everywhere they went,
they went singing this song. He touched me. Oh, he touched
me. And oh, the joy that floods my
soul. Something happened. I can't tell
you everything did happen. Something happened. And now I
know he touched me. He's the one that made me whole.
Now, that's a common story of mercy. Many of you might see
the way the Lord showed mercy to you in that story. That could
be the way God showed mercy to you by making you come and beg
and beg and beg God to show you mercy. And then he did. He touched you and you saw and
you believed. But now there's another man who received mercy
this day. Let's look at him, verse 32. As they went out, behold,
they brought to him a dumb man, possessed with the devil. And
when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake. And the multitudes
marveled, saying, it was never so seen in Israel. Now this man
was possessed of a devil. Well, if there's anything worse
than being blind, it's being possessed with a devil, isn't it? Oh, my
soul. Again though, that's a picture of all of us by nature. We're
under the power, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. And because
this man was possessed of a devil, he could not speak. He couldn't
utter a word. So this man, he couldn't follow
the Lord and continually cry for mercy, could he? He couldn't
do that because he couldn't speak. This man could not confess faith
in his heart. He can't speak. He couldn't do
anything that these blind men did to receive mercy. He couldn't
do one of them. Well, does that mean that he can't receive mercy
then? Because he can't call on the Lord for mercy? He can't
come begging Him? He can't do these things? Does that mean
he's not a candidate for mercy? Not at all. Not at all. You see, you can't do anything
to deserve mercy. You can't do anything to get
God to show you mercy. If that were so, it wouldn't
be mercy, would it? No, if God showed you mercy because you
asked just right, because you kept calling, well, that would
be works, wouldn't it? That wouldn't be mercy. Now this
man, a candidate for mercy, his friends brought him to the Lord. I just give you this little,
uh, bit of advice for parents, have children that don't know
the Lord, you got friends that don't know the Lord. If you want
mercy for your children, you want mercy for your friends,
bring them to hear the gospel, bring them to the Lord, just
like these friends did for this man, because the only way our
lost friends are going to have mercy is by hearing, by the hearing
of Christ. These friends brought their silent
friend to the Lord and the Lord immediately cast out that death. The Lord saw this poor, helpless
man and he immediately had mercy on him. And as soon as the Lord
had mercy on him, then he had a lot to say, didn't he? Oh,
then he had a lot to say. And you know, you, you heard
people who talk a lot and don't really say anything worthwhile.
Now this man's got something to say. And you know, this man,
I don't know how long he'd been possessed with this devil, but
he hadn't spoken from the moment it happened. And suddenly, he
starts singing. Oh, he touched me. He's just
singing right along with these two blind men. He touched me.
He made me whole. And the scripture was fulfilled,
which said, I was found of them that sought me not. I was made
manifest unto them that asked not after me. They weren't asking,
but I had mercy anyway. And all the people were amazed.
They were amazed at the Lord's mercy. And isn't that always
the case? The Lord had mercy on you. The
Lord was able to save you. Oh, what mercy, what power. Now,
these three men, they all needed the same mercy, didn't they?
They needed the power of sovereign mercy. And all three received
the same mercy, didn't they? But the experience of receiving
the mercy, It was very different, wasn't it? Jude calls God's salvation the
common salvation. There's nothing common in the
way that it's ordinary. There's nothing ordinary about
salvation, but it's common. Every believer is saved by the
same mercy, the same grace in Christ alone. But the way in
which that mercy and grace comes to us and is revealed to our
heart can be very different. Take three people. Three people.
One of them could have been raised in false religion. Could have
been real good at it too. Real good at this works religion.
One of them could have been raised in no religion at all. Another
could have been raised under the sound of the gospel. All
three are equally lost. All three are equally dead. All
three need the same mercy from God. And the Lord may speak in
thunder to one like he did the apostle Paul. Or he could speak
very quietly to Lydia down there by the riverside. Same mercy,
but it's revealed and it comes in a different way. The Lord
may make one beg and beg and beg and beg before he has mercy
on him. And he may save the other immediately. But either way,
they're going to be saved by the same Savior. Same mercy,
same grace. Just the experience of it could
be different. Now the experience of grace may
be different. So who saves? What saves? It's not the experience,
because the experience is different in many different believers.
So what saves? Who saves? It's Christ. In every case, the common denominator
is Christ showing mercy to his people. The experience is very
different, but how could the need of both be met? Mercy. Mercy meets every need. And how
does mercy come to sinners? Well, it's not by us doing something
right. Mercy comes to sinners because God sovereignly sends
it to them when he will. And here's how he does it. Here's
how God sends mercy to his people. Here's how God reveals the Savior
to his people. It's through the preaching of
the gospel, through the preaching of the word. You know, the well,
verse 34 says the Pharisee said he cast out devils through the
prince of devils. And you can read Luke's account
of this this afternoon. The Lord sets him straight on
that. But by what power? Well, you know, it's not by the
power of devils that the Lord cast out devils. A house divided
against itself cannot stand. So how is it that the Lord cast
out these devils? How is it that he heals all these
diseases? How is it that God saves his
people? Verse 35 tells us it's through
the preaching of the word. And Jesus went about all the
cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching
the gospel of the kingdom. And that preaching of the gospel
of the kingdom healed every sickness and every disease among the people. And notice in that first came
teaching and preaching. Then came healing. Then came
salvation. God saves his people. He heals
his people through the preaching of the word, through the preaching
of Christ. And the experience of how we receive it, how God
gives it to us, could be very, very different. But salvation
is in the same Savior, in the same mercy. That's the point
I was wanting to make this morning, so I hope I made it. All right,
the Lord bless you.