Mark chapter 8 and verse 22. And he cometh, that is the Lord
Jesus Christ and his disciples with him, 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 aught. 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. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. This account of the healing of
the blind man at Bethsaida takes on an even more blessed aspect. when we realize that the Lord
Jesus came looking for this man, and he himself appears to have
made no effort at all to meet the Lord Jesus. The Lord came
to Bethsaida to heal this man, and he came to teach his disciples
a lesson, and he came to leave for the church a wonderful example
of a sinner's conversion. I have a friend who daily lives
with the possibility of complete blindness. And speaking to that
friend made me realise how much for granted I take my eyesight. Anyone who is blind has a great
burden to bear in this world. And I don't mean to in any way
be insensitive to that condition by comparing blindness with sinfulness. It is, however, a parallel that
I think the Bible allows us to make by comparing physical blindness
and spiritual blindness. And whether this man in Bethsaida
this day had eyes but did not see, or had no eyes at all, And
whether he became blind or whether he was born blind, we're not
told. We do know that he was now completely
blind. but how blessed he was that the
Lord Jesus Christ should come to his town and make himself
accessible and make himself approachable and bring healing to him. Some of us can personally identify
with this. Some of us know that when we
had no desire after Christ, it seems as if the Lord Jesus Christ
came after us. When we were blind to our condition,
he opened our eyes and caused us to see. We saw his glory. We saw his
suitability as a saviour when it was previously hid from our
understanding. We would not go to him, we could
not go to him, we had no desire to go to him, having neither
strength nor wisdom to do so. But mercifully he came to us. how blessed we are when Christ
comes with healing power in his wings, when he rises like the
son of righteousness, and he comes to sinners when sinners
have no desire to go to him. And there is a point there that
I think we can work out from if we are thinking about ourselves
personally, we can also think about this in the context of
others. Because here we are today, And maybe you're in your own
home right now. Maybe you're visiting with a
friend. I don't know the circumstances that find you here sharing with
us today. But we are here preaching the
Gospel. Preaching the Gospel by lifting
up the Lord Jesus Christ and declaring what He has accomplished
and achieved by His death upon the cross, by the forgiveness
of sins through the shedding of His blood and by that righteousness
which He alone gives. This is the Gospel by which men
and women and boys and girls can and must be saved. And yet it seems that the vast,
vast majority have no interest in hearing us. They have no desire
after Christ. They have no hunger after righteousness. They have no felt need of mercy
and no awareness of grace. They remain content in spiritual
ignorance. so that blindness is a good analogy
for the darkness that dwells in the soul of men and women,
except that the light of the world should come to them and
shine in on them. In the absence of spiritual light,
spiritual darkness rules. But spiritual light shone this
day in Bethsaida. Or in truth, just outside Bethsaida,
because the Lord left the town and took the man and guided him
outside of the town in order to perform the miracle. And here
is that spiritual light shone. It teaches us of the transforming
power that changes lives and that brings light and wisdom
to darkened souls, to the souls of sinners. Praise God, this
Jesus that came to Bethsaida is the same yesterday, today
and forever. May he come to us with light
that will dispel the darkness in our souls and in our hearts. These verses tell us a story. They tell a story of those who
sought for help for this man. And this is a lovely aspect in
these few verses that we have before us because here we find
that there is, was it family, was it friends? I don't know,
but there were some who for the sake of the well-being of this
man sought out the Lord Jesus Christ for their friend and they
brought him to Jesus. they brought him to Jesus and
they asked Jesus on his behalf to lay his hand upon him. We cannot bring anyone savingly
to Christ. That is the work of God the Holy
Spirit. But what I think these verses
are encouraging us to realise is that we can prayerfully bring
them to the throne of grace. and we can bring them to hear
the Gospel preached. We can endeavour to bring people
under the sound of the Word of God. And whether we do that by
our own personal testimony, or whether we do that by bringing
them to hear the Gospel, or encouraging them in some way to participate
in the hearing of the Gospel. And I encourage you, if you know
someone who would be able to listen into the service and to
join with us, to hear these words that are spoken and broadcast
on these Lord's Day occasions, then do encourage them to listen. Listen with them, bring them
into your homes to listen, but bring them under the sound of
the gospel. That is what we can do to bring
men and women to Christ. So I say, let us be content to
bring them to the throne of grace, bring them to the gospel. Because
after that, we can leave the task of the work of grace to
God, the Holy Spirit. Free will preachers, they tell
us that we ought to be soul winners, bringing sinners to Christ. But
that is the work of God alone. If we bring them to the throne
of grace in prayer, if we bring them under the sound of the gospel,
then we can leave the task to the Holy Spirit, who's much more
capable of doing the job and doing it right. Have you noticed
in these studies that we've had in Mark's gospel, the prominence
that is given to those who bring needy ones to Christ? What a
privilege we have to bring loved ones to the Lord. And I think
that that's what these instances are for. To encourage us to bring
those that we love to the Lord. And even if they have no personal
motivation to do so, which this gentleman, for all his blindness,
does not appear to have had. Someone once prayed for us. Someone once brought us. Let us pass it on. Perhaps one
of the most interesting and intriguing aspects of these few verses,
this little narrative, and it's only Mark actually that gives
us the story about the blind man at Bethsaida. But perhaps
one of the most interesting aspects is the Lord's dealing with this
man in two stages. The two stages by which he made
the man's sight whole. Now we've already noted that
this double application of the Lord's hands to the man's eyes
does not suggest in any way that the Lord lacked power or ability
to heal. We know that. Let's not even
have to spend time upon that matter. This is the great physician
and he'd done it many times before. This was no lack of ability.
But let us remember also the other lesson that we are being
taught by Mark in these chapters of his gospel. That the Lord's
disciples were being constantly taught about the nature of the
gospel and about their own apostolic ministry. And here the blind
man is a picture of a sinner bound up by sin. Graciously, mercifully, the Lord
comes with power to heal. Graciously and mercifully, the
Holy Spirit brings a call that is effectual to save. And yet
for the individual sinner, for the poor sinner, the experience
of that grace and that mercy, the experience of Christ's intervention,
of the Holy Spirit's call, is not instantaneous, but rather
it may well be prolonged, and drawn out as his opening heart
and mind begins for the first time to comprehend spiritual
light and understanding. so that by this simple lesson
of the Lord taking two stages to bring sight to this man, the
disciples were being taught not to expect uniformity in the evidences
of conversion, but that there would be a breadth of experiences
and levels of illumination in different individuals. Sometimes
we worry because we don't have the same feelings as someone
else has had. Maybe we've listened to someone's
testimony or maybe we've read a biography of some great character
who had a terrible time of conviction and went through a great process
of being brought to the Lord and we think, I don't know that. I don't know that. And it causes
us concern. It causes us to worry because
we've not had those same feelings or those emotions that that person
had or the reaction to the gospel that others have testified to
and experienced. And sometimes sensitive souls
can be attacked by the devil because we compare ourselves
adversely with these other people. But the Lord was telling us not
to do that. He was telling us that the experience
of conversion is different for different people. The Lord was
teaching his disciples this lesson and he teaches us also. And he
also teaches us that what makes men and women see more clearly
is another touch from the Lord's hand. I think this is a beautiful
little picture that we have here because I'm going to stress this
a little bit today and I hope that you'll pause and take it
on board and think about what it is that I'm meaning. But we
see more clearly every time the Lord lays his hand upon us. Let us not be rigid about the
way the Lord should deal with people, or indeed the way the
Lord should deal with us. Let us not be fixed in our minds
that there's only one way that this can be done, when the Lord
clearly shows that in the opening of the understanding and the
sight of this man, there were stages and there was delay, and
that can be the experience of others also. Weren't you surprised
at all to read, when we were looking at these verses, that
the Lord spit in this man's eyes? Well, I kind of was surprised. Of course, I'd read it before.
But when you think about it, what sort of manner of healing
was... The Lord can't heal, and did
heal by a mere word of his mouth. He said, yeah, he's better. Go
back home. What you desire has been fulfilled. Or maybe it was a touch. But
there were many ways in which the Lord healed. But spitting
in somebody's eye? What's he telling us? That the
experience of one may differ tremendously from that of another. The Lord healed with a word,
with the laying on of a hand, with the applying clay to the
eyes, by casting out demons. There were many, many ways. Brothers
and sisters, you and I are different, we are different, and the Lord
deals with us differently. It's one gospel, it's one way
of salvation, it's one Jesus Christ, but wonderful variety
and diversity in the Lord's dealings with us, and in the circumstances
of conversion, and in the unfolding of our Christian walk and life. We don't all have a Damascus
Road experience like the Apostle Paul. We don't all have parents
and grandparents who are godly, like Timothy. And we should hesitate
to be dismissive of another person's experience, and we should hesitate
at being critical of our own experience. If this is the way
the Lord has chosen to lead us, then let us learn from it and
let us accept that and take it in our stride. Romans 14 verse
4, the Apostle Paul says, Who art thou that judgest another
man's servant? To his own master he standeth
or falleth. Yea, he shall be holding up,
for God is able to make him stand. Sometimes we do have a critical
spirit. Sometimes we do look at our own lives and look at
the lives of others. But we have no right to do so.
If the Lord upholds a person and deals with a person in a
particular way, let us be content and humble enough to know that
the Lord knows best. When the Lord asked this man
if he could see anything, I don't for a moment think that it was
to discover how well the spit treatment was working. Again,
it was for the disciples' benefit and it was for our benefit. The
man said, I see men as trees walking. He's pointing to the
gradual unfolding of truth. He could see men, but they looked
like trees. They were indistinct. There was
something there, and it's moving, but I can't make it out. It's
like trees, but they're walking. And this gradual unfolding of
the truth, this piecemeal sense of grace, this gentle dawning
of an early light in this man's experience was like the first
cry of a newborn infant. And a new believer may well be
thrilled at the first flush of forgiveness and a sense that
something has changed and altered in their perception. But it will
take more touches of the Lord to open the heart to a full awareness
of grace and truth. Because first comes milk, before
strong meat. There has to be the second touch. And may we not see here a personal
opportunity as well for you and for me? Perhaps some of us have
been in the Christian way for many years, a long time. But
do you seek more wisdom? Do you seek more of an understanding
of the Lord? Do you long to know Him better? a greater understanding of spiritual
truth, to see the Lord Jesus Christ more clearly, then let
us ask the Lord for another application of his goodness and another application
of his grace. And if you hear somebody saying
that Peter Many is preaching the second blessing now, will
tell them, no, that's not right. He's preaching the third and
the fourth and the fifth and the sixth and the seventh blessing. That's what he's after. Brothers
and sisters, this is what it is to grow in grace. We're not
talking about growing in holiness or growing in sanctification
or growing in perfection. We're not talking about a so-called
charismatic experience. These are the very antithesis
of living by faith. but to see the Lord Jesus Christ
more clearly, to understand more His ways in our lives and in
the lives of others, to grasp grace and the profoundness of
grace, and to be able to anticipate glory more eagerly. Is that not
desirable? Is that something to long after
and to seek? Do you need more grace? Do you
need more grace today? James, the apostle says, he giveth
more grace. Now if the Lord Jesus Christ
is going to be giving out more grace, ought we not to be in
the line to receive that? Paul's desire for the Thessalonians
is that they increase more and more. And that they abound more
and more. Another touch, Lord, another
touch. It was for the blind man at Bethsaida. May it be so for us also. And finally, did you notice in
these verses how much care the Lord took to conceal this miracle? He took the man outside of town
to perform it. He spoke intimately and privately
to him. And having healed his blindness,
he instructs him neither to go into the town, nor to tell it
to any in the town. Now there may have been some
reason for that. The people of Bethsaida had been opposed to
the Lord on an earlier occasion. But let us just take this point
from that message. That the Lord Jesus Christ was
no publicity seeker. He never sought the limelight. He never made a spectacle of
his miracles. Why was that? Well it's because
the miracles were not a public show. They were for the disciples'
education as we are seeing. They were teaching the disciples
about the nature of the gospel and their apostolic ministry
in the years after the Lord Jesus Christ returned to heaven. He
was showing them in picture form what they would discover in their
own preaching ministry and in the reaction of the hearts of
men and women to the gospel that they preached. And it's therefore
a lesson for us as well. They were to aid the individuals
that received the benefits of the miracles, no doubt. The woman
and the man, the child, those who were benefited, the families
of those who benefited, certainly there was much appreciation on
their part. They were those that he had come
to seek and to save as he came to find this man at Bethsaida.
And the miracles demonstrated and proved to the elect of God
that Christ was who he said he was and that he was fit and suitable
to be trusted and believed upon, that he had all power and authority
given to him. But these things were always
for the elect, always for the chosen people. The Lord didn't
die for the world. He didn't pray for the world. And he didn't come to impress
the world. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ
says of himself in Isaiah chapter 49 and verse 1. He says this. This is a lovely little passage.
Isaiah 49 verse 1. Look it up later. 1 to 3. Listen, O Isles, unto me. and hearken ye people from far. The Lord hath called me from
the womb, from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention
of my name. And he hath made my mouth like
a sharp sword, and in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and
made me a polished shaft. In his quiver hath he hid me,
and said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I
will be glorified. These verses tell us that the
Lord Jesus and his gospel is a polished shaft that flies to
its destination powerfully, speedily, silently. The work of grace is
a hidden work in the heart of men and women. and the true identity
of Christ is hid from the scribes and the Pharisees, from those
who need not those things which Christ came to give. and the
work of the apostles as the work of Christ was largely hidden
from the powers of their age and the masses of their time,
and yet it sped on unhindered in accomplishing its purpose
in the salvation and conversion and in-gathering of the church. And so it is today. The gospel
that reaches a world stage or a national audience, or even
in some way enters the popular awareness and recognition, is
not the true gospel. If you see the gospel on the
TV, if you see the gospel in the news, it's not the true gospel. Our ministry is not about fame
and it's not about celebrity. It's about searching out the
ones and the twos, here and there. It's about discovering the gravel
in the dunghill that turns out to be a diamond for the crown
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not looking for a moral
revival. We're not looking to play a role
in world politics. We are looking for a lost sheep,
for a prodigal son. We are looking for a woman in
the city which was a sinner. We are looking for a poor blind
man. And as we preach the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ, by God's grace, we shall find them. Amen. May the Lord bless these
thoughts to us today.