Mike always calls me to find
out where I'm preaching from. He does so well. The Lord guides him so well in
these songs. This is the one statement that
just jumped out at me. What will ye that I shall do
unto you? Do you believe the Lord is here
this morning? Do you believe He's here? Do
you believe that He is passing by here this morning? He asked this question. What
will you, all of you who've come, what will you that I shall do
unto you this morning? Powerful, isn't it? Powerful
and condescending. to ask worms like us, what's
your need? What's your great need? What's
your greatest need? I can sum it up in this, Him.
Christ is my greatest need. If I have Him, I have, I honestly
have, all I need. Paul wrote to the Colossians
in him, I lack absolutely nothing in
Him. God has given us all spiritual
blessings, as Paul wrote to the Ephesians. All spiritual blessings
were given to us in Him before the foundation of the world.
We were taken care of in Him before God created the first
thing. That's good news. That is good news. Let's look
at these verses. When people are sorely stressed, and if you
remember, last week we looked at this chapter. Our Lord said,
I go to Jerusalem. He's going to go and be rejected. He's going to go and suffer.
And he's going to die, and he said, I'm going to rise again.
But he's going to go to Jerusalem and be made sin and suffer the
wrath of God Almighty for his elect. This is on his mind. This is what is pressing upon
him right now. And I thought, as I was writing
the introduction to this, when people are sorely stressed in
their spirit, in their hearts, they are stressed. They usually
think of no one else but themselves. Isn't that so? Well, it's so
with me. It's so with me. Woe is me is
usually my cry. That's for sure. That's my complaint. However, when our Lord drew near
the cross. He was making that final journey
to Jerusalem to offer up Himself as a sacrifice for us. And He did this. He still fought
more of others than He did Himself. I want to show you something
over in John chapter 19. John chapter 19, look in verse 25. Now remember, our Lord is now
hanging on the cross. He has been beaten. He has been
rejected. He has suffered. He's under the
wrath of God. We can't comprehend that. Now
there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister,
Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus
therefore saw his mother, he saw Mary, and the disciple standing
by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy
son. Then saith he to the disciple,
Behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple
took her unto his own home. hanging on the cross in agony
and pain. I mean, under untold suffering. And he looks down and takes care
of Mary. He thought more of others in
his darkest hours. He thought more of others than
he thought of himself. And I thought, oh, that we could
have a greater measure of this kind of compassion, even in our
own suffering. Now it says in verse 29, as they
left Jericho, as they went out from Jericho, you know the Lord
was headed to Jerusalem, and it goes through Jericho. And
even though it does not say it, it's the same as when He went
through Samaria. I must need to go through Samaria.
Every path our Lord walked was foreordained of God. And there
was always someone, someone, a sheep in that way. See, they
were sitting in the way. And there was always a sheep
in the way that He traveled that He's going to save. He came to save. So as they left
Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. And this is like religion.
You know, you can turn the TV on and it's got religion out
your ears. And they use His name. They're
just clamoring and all this commotion going on. And that's what I see
here. All this multitude, they're just
curious. They want to see something else,
want to see another miracle or something. But little did this
multitude know that in a little while they would
reject Him. They would reject Him. How fickle
is man! One minute he's bragging on you,
the next minute he's ready to cut your head off. I remember
when Tom Landry, they replaced him. I think he had 26 years
of winning with the Dallas Cowboys. And he had a bad year or two,
you're out of here. You are out of here. How fickle
is man. One minute he praises you, the
next minute he's cursing you. And why would anyone, why would
anyone seek such fickle friends? Well, this is that multitude.
They're following Him. And here's the scene. And I believe
the Lord's been speaking to this multitude. And that's why they're
following Him. He's speaking. And as He's speaking to this
multitude, two blind men who've never had their sight.
I can't imagine that. Can you imagine that? Never been
able to see any part of creation? Never been able to see a human
face? But oh, think of this. The first
time they did see, whose face they saw? His. That's a blessing. The first
time you open your eyes to look into the face of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Well, they cry out. They hear. It says when they heard that
Jesus passed by, and there's no doubt they had heard of Him,
They had heard of him. And they heard that he was passing
by. What if you had gone out this
weekend or this week and said, the Lord is passing by this Sunday
over here at Hurricane Road Grace Church? Well, most people would
probably think you're a little off. But there might be somebody
that has a need. Somebody the Lord's worked on
and they have an interest created. And these men had a need. They
had an interest, real interest in the Lord Jesus Christ that
He might give me my sight. They heard that He was passing
by. They had never seen Him. They never laid eyes on Him. Never looked into His face at
all. Never seen anybody as far as that goes. But they heard
of Him. They heard of Him. It says in
Romans 10, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Just what we are doing this morning. Frank taught the Bible class.
Now we have the Word of God in front of us, the message. Just
by sitting there and hearing the Word of God, If God is pleased
to save, faith, by hearing that word, will be created. It will
be given. They heard a hymn, and they believed
in their hearts. These two men believed in their
hearts that this Jesus could save them. This Jesus could give
them their sight. This one. And they were sitting,
it says, by the wayside, sitting there, Sitting there, no doubt
they'd been sitting there a lot of times, but sitting there hoping
that something would happen to them, something good might come
along. You know, they're blind, they're beggars. They're sitting
by the wayside begging. I know what they're doing, they're
begging. Hoping somebody will give them something. And then
they heard of Him. They heard of Him. I tell you
what, this time they wanted more than monetary value. They wanted something
more than money could buy. They wanted something more than
a physician could give, any natural physician. They wanted to see. They wanted to get out of darkness.
Can you imagine being trapped in darkness throughout your life?
You know, when God casts the wicked into hell, He's casting
them into outer darkness. When you think about it, when
God casts the wicked into hell, They will never see a glimmer
of light. Not even a glimmer of light.
It's nothing but pure darkness. And to be into that, to be born
into that, and to live like that, to me it's just, after seeing
anyway, it's unimaginable. Well, they were sitting there
hoping, hoping, hoping to get some mercy here
from the Lord when they heard He was passing by, hoping that
He would stop and listen. And I thought, here's a serious
note. This is the last time. This is the last time our Lord
is passing by. He's going to Jerusalem to die.
This is the last time He's passing by. We know not when the time
will come when it will be the last time the Lord passes by. We don't know that time. There is a time when it will
be the last time that He passes by. This time will always be
the last time for someone, for someone. And well, when they
heard that He was passing by, they didn't care about that crowd.
They did not let that crowd shut them up. They called out to Him. Recognizing, first of all, His
royalty. Son of David. They believed in
their heart. This is the Messiah. This is
the Son of David. This is royalty passing by. This is the King of Kings passing
by. They believed that. Not just
another man. This is royalty. This is the
king. And not only did they recognize
his royalty, they recognized his lordship. They called him
Lord. They cried out, Oh Lord! As Philip said, My Lord and my God.
They recognized his lordship, his sovereignty. And in recognizing
this, they recognize two things. Number one, He's got the power
to do what we're asking for. He has the right to do what we're
asking for. And He has the compassion to
do what we're asking for. He's the Son of David. He's the
promised Messiah. He's the Savior and He's the
Lord. He's the Lord. He's the Sovereign. They recognize
this also. He does not have to do this. He does not have to do this.
He can pass on by. He can just keep right on walking
to Jerusalem. He owes them nothing. The Lord owes us nothing. He does not owe us mercy. If He did, it wouldn't be mercy,
just be a debt He's paying off. That's all. So they recognized
His Lordship. They knew He could heal them
if He willed. And everyone, everyone who truly
sees this and believes this will call on Him. Everyone who truly
sees this and believes it will call on Him. And they called on Him. And they
called on Him out of need. Not out of curiosity. This crowd
is following as a whole out of curiosity. These men cried out
of need. There was no question about what
they needed. They needed their sight. They
didn't need glasses. They needed sight. They were
blind. I need forgiveness. I need pardon. I need mercy. I am a sinful man. That's what I need. I need that. I need cleansing. I need that. That old publican,
there in the temple, you remember the story of the Pharisee and
the publican. That publican knew what he needed and he cried for
it. Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner. Forgive me. Cleanse me. Save me and make
me whole. Do we ever get past that, really? They cried for mercy. They sought
for mercy. Have mercy on us. Have mercy. Anyone need mercy
this hour? I do. I do. The Lord had mercy. Well, I tell
you what, the Lord had mercy on us before we were ever born.
He's had mercy on us all through our lives. He's guided our paths. He's directed our steps. Has
He not done that at all? Has He not kept us? Are you not
preserved in Jesus Christ? Preserved, as said over in Jude,
and called, sanctified, preserved and called. That's the people
of God. And this hour, I and you still
need this same mercy. the same mercy. There'll never
be a time when I'll live good enough to say I don't need mercy
anymore. No, I'll always need it until
I lay this body, until God lays this body in the grave. I need
mercy. I need it. I need it badly. They called for mercy. They sought
for mercy. And they knew this when they
said, Lord, Thou Son of David. They knew this. They didn't deserve
what they were asking for. I don't deserve forgiveness.
I don't deserve mercy. I don't deserve that. I personally
deserve the wrath of God. We are asking for what we don't
deserve. But we are asking for Christ's
sake because He deserves it. He deserves it. They knew that it would be an
act of mercy if He would just hear their cry. They knew it
would be an act of mercy if He would hear their cry and heal
them. They knew it. Oh, they were not asking for
a favor. They were asking for sovereign mercy. That's what
they were asking for. And as they cry out for mercy,
And as they exercise faith, that's what's going on here, they are
exercising faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They aren't able. They knew He was able. And as
they did this, their faith was persecuted. They were persecuted
for their faith by that crowd. That crowd said, Hold your peace! Shut up! That's what the crowd
said. Shut up! You're not going to shut a sinner
up. I promise you, you will not shut up a sinner who needs mercy. Can't do it. And the multitude rebuked them
in verse 31, because they should hold their peace, tell them to
be quiet, shut up. You know, we've got something going on
here. You guys just be quiet. You beggars.
You're bothering our service. You're troubling. You're troubling
us. Hold your peace. But they cried
the more. They outcried the multitude.
Have mercy. They repeated it. They didn't
add to it. They repeated. Oh, impertune prayer. How often are we taught in the
Word of God to pray and faint not? Their only hope was passing
by, and they were not going to shut up. They were not going
to shut up. Not by that multitude. They were
sure not going to let the multitude shut them up. When true faith
is revealed in Christ, when it's revealed, the multitude will
rebuke you for it. They will. The multitude of religion
will tell you to shut up. Just shut up. However, true faith
will persevere until it receives what it cries for. Mercy. Mercy. Forgiveness. Pardon. If you can shut up. If you can just give up and shut
up, that's not That's not faith, is it? That's not the faith of
God's elect. That's not faith. If a sinner ever gets sight of
his great need of the Lord Jesus Christ, he will not shut up till
the Lord blesses him. Jacob said, I will not let you
go till you bless me. I will not let you go. He was
hanging on to the ankles. I can just see him hanging on.
And the Lord touched his thigh. But the Lord blessed him, didn't
he? The Lord blessed him. And they cried unto him. The
multitude tried to shut them up. But our Lord, it says in verse
8, stood still. Jesus stood still and called
them. He stood still. Their cry. If one of your children this
morning was to cry, I guarantee you, mother, father, you would
listen, wouldn't you? In fact, you could put them in
a room in there and have a bunch of them crying, and you could
pick up the cry of your child. You could pick it up. And when
these two blind men, children of God, When they cried unto
him, he stood still. He gave them his full attention. Can you imagine having the absolute
full attention of God Almighty? That which commands the attention
of the great physician is the great need of his patients. Oh, what a profound event. The
God of heaven and earth. Standing still to listen to the
prayers of two beggars. Listening to the petition of
two beggars. Two absolute worthless men. These men never produced anything
in their life. They were always begging, depending
on someone else. Leeches. That's what we are by
nature. Really, truly. We're just leeches.
Like the horse leeches over at Solomon said, give, give, give.
That's us. Our Lord listens to them. He
listens to beggars. Beggars of mercy. Cecil Roach
always called them mercy beggars. Mercy beggars. But not only did
He stand still, He called them. He called them. Effectually,
He called them. Powerfully, He called them. By
grace, He called them. Called them. But most of all, He called them
out of darkness into His marvelous light. Those who call on the name of
the Lord are those whom the Lord calls. He called them. Their need and their cry arrested
His attention. That's what arrested His attention.
The need of His children. The cry of His children. And
He says to them, What will ye that I should do unto you? What are you going to ask for?
What's your greatest need? The Lord is passing by. I'm telling
you, the Lord is passing by this morning. What will you that I
shall do unto you? This is a powerful question.
It's a searching question. What will you that the Lord shall
do for you even now? It's a soul-searching question.
He said, what will ye? Our Lord said in one place, ye
will not come to me that ye might have life. He looks at these
two beggars. And I'm looking at some beggars
this morning. You're looking at a beggar. What will ye? My greatest need as I said, is
Christ. My greatest need from Him is
forgiveness, cleansing, pardon. If I can have that, nothing else
matters. Nothing else matters. If I can
have that. Or if I can be cleansed from
all my sins, if I can be healed from my diseases of sin, Everything else will be taken
care of, really. Everything else will just fall in place. What
will ye that I do for you? Our greatest need first is to
be able to behold Him. If I can really see Him by faith. In thy light shall we see light.
If I can truly look unto Him, see Him, to have spiritual light given
to me in the Gospel, I'll see Him. I'll see my need.
I'll see who God is. I'll see who Christ is. I'll
see what I am. I'll see all that when I see
Him. Lord, give me spiritual sight
Give me spiritual understanding. That's what sight is. Spiritual
sight is spiritual understanding. That's what it is. It's to be
able to understand. Let Him glory in this over Isaiah,
that He understands and knows me. Lord, give me that understanding. Give me that sight. That's spiritual
sight, spiritual understanding. And when He asked them this question,
they confessed their need. They confessed. You know, nothing
else was on their mind. Nothing else even came to mind. You ask just the normal professing
religious person, what will you, the Lord, do for you? It will
always start with material gains. This, this, this, this. But you
ask a sinner, what do you need? Mercy. Forgiveness. heart cleansing. Oh, that's our
greatest need. That's our greatest need. And
they never lost sight when He asked them what they needed,
what they would have, what they would have Him do to them. They
never lost sight of their need of sight. They didn't say, well,
now let's see here. No, they never lost sight of
their need of sight. Never. And the result, here's the result. It said in verse 32, And Jesus
stood still, and He called them. He called them by His grace.
He called them powerfully. And He said, What will ye that
I should do unto you? They said unto Him, Lord, that
our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them. He didn't owe it to them. He
had compassion on them. And He touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes
received sight, and they followed Him. He had compassion on them. He delights to show mercy. If
we had a real glimmer of an idea of how much our Lord delights
to show mercy to us, it would absolutely astound us. He delights
to show mercy. He never turns away a needy sinner.
He touched their eyes. He touched them where their problem
was. He took care of their problem.
He took care of their problem. There is no problem that He cannot
heal us of. There is no problem. And it says
immediately, not gradually, immediately. Salvation is immediate. Forgiveness
is immediate. Immediately their eyes received
sight. It was real. I tell you this,
salvation in Christ is real. Forgiveness of sins is real. Pardon is real. Cleansing is
real. And those who need it will know
it. And when He gave them their sight
immediately, they followed Him. They followed Him. The evidence of true faith. They
followed Him. And I bet they followed Him all
the way to Jerusalem. They followed Him to the cross.
They watched Him. I bet you there's in that crowd that He was crucified. They followed Him. Well, this is the result of salvation. This is the result of the Lord
for giving a sinner. Here's the result. They follow
Him. And they follow Him all their
lives. True sight, the evidence of true
spiritual sight, understanding, the evidence of it is just this. We follow Him. We follow him.