If you'll turn back with me now
to Matthew chapter nine. I wanna use verses 27 through 29 as my text. And in these verses,
the Holy Ghost gives us the account of two blind men. Two blind men who having heard
something of the reputation of Jesus of Nazareth, began to follow
him until such time as he saw fit to confront them and to hear
their request. Now it would be fruitless for
me to go any further without establishing some relevance between
these blind men meeting the Lord And us, what does these blind
men somewhere way overseas 2,000
years ago have to do with you and I? You see what I'm saying? This is where a lot of times
our minds get tuned out when it comes to the scriptures. Everything
in the scriptures has a connection to you as a believer. Everything
there. And that's why we read and study
and gather and preach and we're learning these things. What are
we going to do in eternity and glory? We're going to keep right
on learning these things. That's right. Is this just another meaningless
story told concerning the greatness of the Lord Jesus of Nazareth
or is this written for our learning that we through patience and
comfort of the scriptures might have hope? God purposely leaves off, I want
to start with this, he purposely leaves off their name. A lot
of people he names, Lazarus, he named Lazarus, he called Lazarus
out of the tomb. Lazarus come forth. He didn't
call this daughter or this This ruler, he didn't call her by
name. He just went in, took her hand, raised her up. And Bartimaeus, old blind Bartimaeus,
he called him by name. A certain man named Bartimaeus.
Sometimes he recognizes men's names and that individual, and
sometimes he don't. And these two blind men, he never
mentions who they are. He doesn't say where they're
from. He just says two blind men. So God purposely leaves off their
name, telling us that it could have happened to any blind man
should the Lord have so desired. So that what we see here is two
men, two blind men, With only one thing in common, they were
both blind. Both blind. God providence had
joined them together by way of a common need. I've told you
many times and now tell you again, all men are spiritually blind.
He leaves off the names of these men and you could just as easily
insert your own. Because if he's had anything
to do with you, he's given you eyes to see. You came to him
as a blind man. And you came to him because you
heard something about him. All men are spiritually blind.
They all live out their days in the vanity of their minds,
having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life
of God through the ignorance that's in them because of the
blindness of their heart. Blind men are at the mercy of
others to see for them. You ever think about that? They
can't see. I know they've made a lot of
progress with the blind. Probably one of the biggest things
is when they invented the writings of Braille. And they've put in
many books and all this stuff into Braille, where the blind
can feel these organized little dimples and read and understand. But for the most part, Over thousands
of years, blind men are at the mercy of others to see for them.
Is the way clear, or is there some obstruction? You can't see, you don't know.
You could be standing right in the middle of a big, wide, open
field, nothing in it. Or you could be standing right
on the edge of a 3,000 foot precipice. You wouldn't know, you're blind. Is the way clear? Is there some
obstruction? Is the way safe to go ahead,
or am I about to step in a hole? Where does my way lead to? Am I going north, south, east,
or west? Don't know. Just going. Just going. Isn't that what sinners do? They
just go. They just live. They just day after day after
day, and they don't know where they're going, don't know what
they're doing. Just going, just living, just living my life. Where does my way lead? Am I
walking a trail of thieves and robbers? Or is my way hedged
about by grace? Blind men depends on the eyes
of others, and blind men depend on the testimony of others. Those two men heard that this
man, Jesus of Nazareth, had given eyes to the blind. When they
called him, I say they heard because when they called him,
thou son of David, they knew that this man, according to the
people, might very well be the Christ. And they called him by
his name, thou son of David, that promised one. They heard that Jesus of Nazareth
had given eyes to the blind and they had the need and he had
the cure. They had the malady, he was the
great physician. Isn't that what our Lord told
those folks I read to you earlier? The whole need not a physician,
the sick. Can you see yourself in these
blind men? Can you put yourself into their
place? Well, I've got three things I
want you to see in our text this morning, if you can. The first thing I want you to
see is a needy sinner. Anybody here that's not a needy
sinner? A needy sinner. What do I mean a needy sinner?
Well, I'm talking about a person with some awareness of their
condition. They didn't need somebody to
say, hey, you're blind. They knew they were blind. I didn't have to have somebody
tell me I was ignorant. I knew I couldn't understand
that book. I read it, read it, read it, had others read it to
me. I had others preach to me about it. None of them knew what
they were talking about. Nothing they ever said made any
sense. I just figured it was me. You're
just too ignorant to understand. There comes a time when God gives
a man some awareness of his condition. Do you know what happened in
the garden? I didn't. Went to church all my life. Never
heard about the fall of man in the garden. Nobody ever mentioned
it. didn't have any relevance in their messages. They didn't
preach man as a fallen creature. They preached man having a free
will. They preached man having the right to choose. Claiming his rights before God. Anybody ever showed you in a
scripture what happened in the garden? Turn with me over to
Romans chapter 5. Let me show you something. You see, when the world talks
about man, or man in general, he talks about
him with an uncertain beginning, going through the ages, progressing
by his knowledge and experience over the ages and through circumstances. And all of this they call evolution. Man has evolved. Well, I suppose if you want to
look at that in a certain light, you could say that he has. He
has evolved scientifically. In the 1800s, there wasn't any jets. The thought of a jet never come
to a man. And there can be no doubt to
the fact that man has, by invention and building on the work of others,
he's made life more complex than it was in ancient times. But
my subject is the spiritual condition of man, not his scientific and
social improvements. In Romans chapter 5, verse 12,
wherefore, as by one man Sin entered into the world. What
man? Adam. Adam. There was no sin in the world
until Adam sinned. And I'm talking about the world
of mankind. By one man, sin entered into
the world, and death by sin, that is spiritual death, and
physical death. And so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. Well, all wasn't born yet, were
they? But they sinned in their father Adam. How did they sin
in their father Adam? Because he's our federal head.
He is the one in whom the seed is that's gonna produce after
his kind. And he's a sinner. So what's
his seed gonna produce? Sinners. Is that right? Death passed upon all men for
that all have sinned. How was it passed to all men?
Because Adam being the beginning of man, the federal head of man,
or head of his race, passed to us his nature, which is the nature
of sin. In Romans chapter three, Paul
tells us what it is to be under sin. He said, I before proved
to you that both Jew and Gentile, they're all under sin. What's he talking about under
sin? He's talking about under the nature of it, under the judgment
of it. under the curse of it. None righteous. That's what he
said. Now, if you're not righteous,
you're a sinner. Is that right? Well, there's none righteous.
There's none that understand it. I just read that book for
myself, and I'll make up my own mind. Yeah, you will. Wrong. Wrong. Every time, wrong. Why? Because there's none that understand
it. And there's none that seeketh after God. They seek after their God. Same
as the heathen. But there's none that seeketh
after the living God. They're all gone astray, Paul
said. They're together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good.
Their mouths full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are
swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. The way of peace they've not
known. And there's no fear of God before their eyes. Under
sin. Well, secondly, it means they're
spiritually dead. They have nothing in the way
of eternal life in their natures. They are by nature, he says in
Ephesians 2, children of wrath, even as others. In 1 Corinthians 15, 22, it said,
for as in Adam, all die. Sin entered by one man, and death
by sin, and so death passed upon all men. And that's what he's
saying here, as in Adam. All die, his race will never
evolve out from under God's curse. He's born in sin, David said
we go astray as soon as we be born, speaking lies. I've got three children, all
three of them cried when they didn't need anything. They weren't
wet, they weren't dirty, they weren't hungry, they just wanted
attention and they'd sit there and cry. We go astray as soon as we be
born speaking lies. Man, as I told you earlier, is
spiritually blind, totally dependent upon the eyes of others and the
testimony of others. But these are, at least for the
most part, deceived and blind and dead also. Blind man don't
know if you're blind. The man that was with him was
blind. He was blind. Well, how do you know that man
with him was blind? He told him. What if he's lying? He could have solved this perfectly,
told him he was blind. Blind man don't know. He has
to. be dependent on the eyes of others
and on the testimony of others. Our Lord said they be blind leaders
of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind,
eventually they're gonna fall in the ditch. What makes sin such a terrible
thing is that those who are sinners are not aware that they're sinners. I don't hate God, one woman told
me. But boy, she despised the God
I preached. She just didn't hate her God. I don't hate God. Bible said
you do. The natural mind is enmity against
God, hostile. is not subject to the law of
God, and there, that word means authority. Everything God says
is a commandment, isn't it? He's God. Not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be. But what makes some men sensible
of their sins and some not? My nephew asked me this question
one time, he was down in Biloxi on a project. And I was spending
the night with him, hadn't seen him in years and years, and he
was fairly close to where I lived. And so I went over to visit with
him, and he started questioning me about the ministry, and he
asked me some questions. And finally, he said, well, how's
a man like me? He said, you know me. We were
raised together. He said, you know, I never darkened
the door of a church. Now he said, how's a man like
me? This one's saying that, and this
one's saying that, and this one's saying that, and this one's saying
that, and they're all saying something different, and they
all got churches, and they all got histories, and they all got
people to back them up. How is somebody like me to know
who's telling the truth? And this is what I told him.
You never will, but by the grace of God. What makes some men sensible
of their sins and some not? The grace of God. That's right. By grace are you saved through
faith. Read Ephesians chapter two. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins, walked according to the law.
Prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now worketh in
the children of disobedience, lived out your life in the lust
of the flesh. Everything you wanted, that's
what you worked for. That's what geared, you were
geared to that, that's what motivated you. I want a bigger house, I
want a newer car, I want this, I want that. But God, who's rich in mercy,
And for that great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace,
ye are saved. And he did all these things,
he raised us up together with Christ, seated us together with
Christ in heavenly places, that in the proper time, in God's
own time, in times yet to come, he's gonna show you some things.
He's gonna show you some things. He's gonna show you the riches
of his mercy, the riches of his love and grace in Christ. For by grace are you saved through
faith. You might have heard me use the
term chosen sinners before. In Psalm 65, for it said, blessed
is the man whom thou choosest Now listen, and causest to approach
unto thee. How come these two sinners came
to Christ? Why didn't they go to the Pharisees?
They were there. Why didn't they go to the high council? Why didn't
they go to the synagogue? Why didn't they go to the temple?
It wasn't that far from them. Why'd they come to Christ? Because
he caused them to come, that's why. Why did he cause them to
come? They were chosen vessels. It's the working of God's grace
in his providence and by his word and through the preaching
of the gospel and the powerful working of the Holy Ghost that
brings chosen sinners to be sensible of their needs. So here's the first thing that
I see in these two men. I see it in common with us. I
see it in common with everybody that the Lord say. They're needy
sinners, needy sinners. And then secondly, I see here
needy sinners with hearing ears. There were a lot of blind men
in that land. Only two of them saw him. These men didn't show up out
of curiosity or enticement. They showed up because they heard
that Jesus of Nazareth, according to the prophets, should give
sight to the blind. You remember he read that verse
out of Isaiah? He said, the Spirit of the Lord
is upon me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind. They heard from faithful men
that this man Jesus of Nazareth had given sight to the blind. How much did they know? Enough
to get off their butt and seek the Lord. That's how much they
knew. Get out of that house. Get off that blanket. I'll never
see sitting here. I got to find him. He's the only
one that it's spoken of that could Take care of my need is
the Lord Jesus Christ. And when chosen sinners are made
sensible of their need, they soon learn by the grace of God
and his faithful ministers that there's only one who can do them
any good, only one, only one in all eternity, only one since
the creation of the world and only one in your lifetime that
could do you any good, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, I pray that the Lord show
us this and convince us of this. There's a people out there chosen
of God before the world began, blessed in the purpose of God,
and made immutable provision for. God has made, he has put
things in place that's never gonna change. Never gonna change. Boy, we got internet today, so
that means we don't have to gather and worship God. Oh, no we don't. Don't you get sucked into that. His pastors are put here to watch
for your souls. And I have 120, 130, 140 downloads
sometimes on these messages that I preach and people following
these lessons. But I don't know who they are. I don't know where they are.
And I can't watch for their souls. But I know you. And we have interaction. And I hear you talk, and you
hear me talk, and we know each other. And with whatever knowledge
God has given me, I can watch for your souls. And when I see
things creep in, I'm gonna put a stop to it if I can, by the
grace of God. If somebody's causing trouble,
hey, out. Get out. Not gonna happen. Somebody comes in here preaching
lies, get out. Pastors, watch for your souls.
They see things that you don't see. There may come a time when
you see them. There may come a time when you
learn them in your own experience, and then you can warn others.
But meantime, that pastor watches for your soul. And you young
kids, I watch for your soul because you're blind. And you can't see
it. And you'll dive right in. You
will. It's coming. You'll be right. And you'll say,
oh no, what did I do? What did I do? Why didn't I listen? These men didn't show up out
of curiosity, they heard. That woman at the well, when
he got done with her, she went back, she said, come see a man
told me everything I ever did. These men heard from faithful
men that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, had given sight to the blind.
And they knew enough to find him. They knew enough to seek
him. There's a people out there chosen
of God, blessed in the purpose of God. A people for whom provision
has been made. He told those Thessalonians,
he said, God hath chosen thee from the beginning. unto salvation. But he didn't stop there. He
said, through sanctification of the spirit and belief in the
truth, whereunto he called you by our
gospel. All those immutable provisions
that God provides for chosen sinners, he put into play. And that's how those Thessalonians
came to be a church. God is so ordained to salvation
of chosen sinners as to fix the means whereby they shall be drawn
to Christ. He told those Jews, they started
murmuring why he said he come down from heaven. He talking
about him being manna and he don't know what he's talking
about. Talking about eating his flesh. He crazy, he's a fool.
Christ said don't murmur. No man can come unto me except
my father draw him. It's written in the prophets,
they shall all be taught of God. Oh, blessed are your ears, for
they hear. Let me read you a few verses
over here out of Romans chapter 10. In verse 13 of Romans chapter
10, I've read this to you many times. It says, for whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Any man,
any time, anywhere. If he calls on the name of the
Lord, he'll be saved. But there's some problems. How
then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how is he gonna preach if
God don't send him? Huh? That's pretty clear, isn't
it? I don't need to expound on that.
That's clear as a bell. The scripture says, we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did
foreknow them, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of His Son. And he goes on from the very
conception of salvation all the way through to the end. Provision has been made, gifts
have been given, blessings have been purposed, and all the means
ordained of God set in place and used. Media centers have hearing ears. What do they hear? Christ. Now,
I don't know where you were before you came here, or where you were
before you first heard the gospel, but there was a first time. And
you knew when you heard that, that wasn't what you'd been hearing,
didn't you? It's not, that ain't what my
preacher been preaching. I never heard anything like it. He hears Christ. Needy sinners
have hearing ears, and what they hear is Christ. He's the answer
to all your questions. Oh, my soul. He's the answer to all your needs. He's the way. He's the truth. And He's the life. And no man cometh unto the Father
but by him. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. He's my righteousness. My soul. Surely there's nobody in here
this morning still trying to walk with their own righteousness
and plead God. Keeping this commandment or that
commandment or doing this or observing ceremonies and doing
this and doing that. Surely you're not doing that.
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believes. By his own blood, the scripture
said, our great high priest entered into heaven itself, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. You know there's still people
here thinking they're gonna be rewarded when they get into glory. He'd buy you out of bondage if
he redeemed you. You owed a debt you couldn't
pay. But he entered into heaven itself
by his own blood, by his own suffering, by his own death,
by his own righteousness. He entered into heaven itself
and obtained eternal redemption for us. It's in his person, in
his possession. Somebody asked Brother Mahan,
he went to seminary with him, graduated with him. He wound
up being in the same little town up in Kentucky in Ashland. Henry
was walking to church one morning and this fella saw him and crossed
over the street and he said, you're Henry Mahon. He said,
you remember me? And he said, yeah. He said, we
went to school together. They talked for a little bit
and finally the man looked at him and he said, Henry, he said,
you still saved? And Henry said, I don't know.
He said, is Christ still on the throne? If he's still on the
throne, I'm still saved, because he's my salvation, he's my redemption,
he's my righteousness. Listen to this. Then said he,
lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
old temple and tabernacle and sacrifices and priesthood, he
taketh away the first that he may establish the second. by
the which will we're sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Having years to hear Christ preach,
his fame, his glory, his appointments, his accomplishments, his lordship. And I tell you, if you ever hear
it, you'll seek him and you'll never be satisfied to hear anything
else. And then thirdly and finally,
when needy sinners are brought to Christ by the providence of
God, by the preaching of the gospel and the powerful working
of the Holy Ghost, they're shut up to faith in Christ. A little group of disciples told
the Lord over in the book of John, they said, what can we
do to work the works of God? He said, this is the work of
God, that you believe on him whom the Father has sent. This
is the work of God. Look back here at verse 28 of
our text in Matthew chapter 9. And when he was come into the
house, the blind men came to him. And Jesus said unto them, believe
ye that I'm able to do this. They came seeking the Lord for
their sight. And here's what he told them.
Do you believe I'm able to do this? Here's what everything comes
down to. What think ye of Christ? I want to be saved. Do you believe
he can save you? Because that's how he saves you.
You believe he's able to do this? I have people telling me, no,
you don't have to hear this, you don't have to hear that,
faith, you just believe. And what Christ said, he said,
do you think, do you believe that I'm able to do this? Do
you believe in my ability to save? You believe that my death
is sufficient, my life is sufficient for your righteousness? You believe
that my person is, that I'm actually here as your representative,
as your federal head, that we're one together? You believe that? You believe I'm able to save
your soul? He's God come into the flesh. Is He presently in glory arranging
all things, working all things together for those who are the
called according to His purpose? Can He take a cursed fallen son
of Adam and reconcile him unto God? Can He redeem chosen sinners? Can He really call men out of
death and give them eternal life? Is He able to do what needy sinners
I've heard he can do. Do you believe that I can do
what you're asking me? Huh? Listen to what they say. We believe. We believe. And he touched their eyes and
they could see as well as any man on this planet. Huh? Hebrews chapter 7 verse 24 says,
but this man, the God-man, the priest of God, the priest after
the order of Melchizedek, because he continueth ever, has an unchangeable
priesthood, wherefore he is able, he is able also to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth
to make intercession for them. Is he able? Do you believe he's
able? God says he is. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. Now what about you? What about
me? Do we believe he's able to save
sinners? Do we believe his blood is sufficient
to put away our sins? Do we believe his righteousness
is enough to satisfy God? Do you believe in his righteousness
strong enough to rest your soul on it? Because whether you know
it or not, that's what you do when you believe on him. Paul said, I'm persuaded that
he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. You believe he sits upon the
throne as absolute sovereign, working all things after the
redemptive will of God? I do. I do. I don't perfectly. We believe
the disciples said, help thou our unbelief. These two blind
men said, we believe. We believe you can. That's why
we're here. That's why we sought you. That's why we wanted to
see you. And you know what the Lord said?
Be it unto you according to your faith. Be it unto you. You believe? You believe? If you do, you can thank God
for it. That's an act of his grace. And
it's the work of God. The work of God in us. Thank you.