It's reading down through verse
52, Mark chapter 10. The title of our message today.
Oh yes, he cares. It seems there are so many among
the Lord's people today. And I've talked to people with
every week here in the church and out of the church with heavy
burdens to bear. along with physical pains, emotional
stress, financial strains. There are many that Satan talks
to and suggests to you, it's obvious the Lord don't care about
you. You're not good enough. You're
not important enough. The Lord wouldn't waste his time
on somebody with all the problems you have. But we have a blessed story here
in Mark chapter 10. About a man named Bartimaeus. And again, the subject, oh, yes,
he cares. We learned that our Lord's compassion
is not based on any qualities. he finds in sinners. His compassion does not originate
with our desperation. It often comes out in our desperation,
but the Lord's compassion, his caring, is a quality within his
own heart. He was made flesh that he might
be acquainted with and experience our griefs. Isaiah said he was
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Hebrews says he can
be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. That's the
kind of Savior we have this morning, one who knows, one who cares. Now, perhaps there's someone
here today and you have struggled so long One problem after another. You feel like you're on your
own in this world. And you've practically forgotten
that the Lord even could or would care about you. And you wonder if he cares about
you. You say, but what if I'm not
one of God's elect? Well, if you're not, then nothing
I or any other preacher says will affect you one bit. Everything I have to say will
roll off you like water off a duck's back. You'll forget it when you walk
out the door, if it's not for you. But if you
feel in your heart this morning If you feel your heart drawn
to seek refuge in Christ, to rest in Him, to trust Him, to
fellowship with Him, then this is for you today. And I've just
jotted down ten things I want to note in this passage. And
my prayer is that you personally will see yourself in the place
of this man, Bartimaeus, and be able to say in the end, oh
yes, he cares. Number one, the curse, the curse. Notice in verse 46, the Lord
passes through the city of Jericho. If you'll go back to the Old
Testament, you'll find in the book of Joshua, how that God
had destroyed this city one time, caused the walls to fall down
flat. And he said back there then,
cursed is the man that buildeth Jericho again. Of course it was
built again. And now hundreds of years later, our Lord passes through Jericho.
Certainly he knew where he was. Certainly he had not forgotten
his word and the curse associated with this place. It's the last
place on earth you would think that he would manifest his mercy
and grace to anyone, a cursed place. But we find in this passage
that he does. Well, you and I live in a world
with the curse of God on it. It's amazing that almighty God
in his infinite holiness would have anything to do with anyone
in a world like this that hates his sovereign authority,
that crucified his son, that blasphemes his spirit. Mystery
of mysteries that he had ever even looked in this direction,
but he does. The cursed place is Jericho. Well, there's a Jericho in your
heart. Did you know that? And you know it and God knows
it. Not only the curse, but number two, the corruption, the corruption. And I refer to this man's depravity
by nature. He's a child of Adam. He's not an angel. He was not born of a virgin like
the Lord Jesus. He's a child of Adam. He has
the blood of sinful Adam running in his veins, just like you do
and I do. Adam, who in the Garden of Eden
represented us all and said, we don't want God. We will be
our own God. This man, Bartimaeus, was one
of us. And verse 46 says he's the son
of Timaeus. That name Timaeus means blind
and son of the blind. And that's what we all are by
nature, blind and sons of the blind. The awful corruption of
sin that we were born with. And not only born with it, but
we've all done a good job of cultivating it along the way
in our own hearts. and minds and actions, the corruption. Corruption. Number three, the
condition physically this man was in. He's not only in a cursed
city, Jericho. He's not only of a corrupt nature,
a child of Adam, but he is in a condition of blindness. He sat by the highwayside begging. That's about all a blind man
can do. Blindness is his condition, but
blindness is certainly not his curse. It's a blessing. It's what God used to mold his
heart, to make him helpless, to put him at the mercy of others.
It's what God used to bring him right here at the right place
at the right time. His blindness. How blessed that
this man was not somewhere else on this day. If he hadn't have been blind, he
probably would have been. His condition brings him outside
the gate of Jericho where he sat by the highway side begging
And from eternity, it was on the schedule of the Son of God
to pass through Jericho and pass this way at this specific time
and place. And it was on the divine schedule
from eternity that this individual named Bartimaeus be blind and
be sitting there begging at that very time. I just believe God's
that big. I don't believe there's any accidents.
I don't believe there's any coincidences in the purpose of our God. It's
ordered. It's ordered. All right. The
fourth thing would be his cry. Notice we read in verse 47 here. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou
son of David, have mercy on me. Now here in this cry we have
coming to the surface the divine revelation given to this man. Everybody called Jesus of Nazareth. Everybody referred to him as
Jesus of Nazareth as we find in the first part of the verse
when he heard that he was Jesus of Nazareth. But not everyone
called him Lord. Not everyone called him, thou
son of David. This fellow must have known something
of the Old Testament. He must have known of one to
come of the house of David. And God put faith in his heart
to believe, affectionately believe, absolutely believe that this
Jesus of Nazareth was the promised son of David, that he was the
Lord. And so this faith has his heart
prepared to make this plea when the Lord Jesus passes by. And
with no hesitation, he cries out, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. He does not remind the Lord that
he's never drank or cussed out loud much. Maybe he had, maybe
he hadn't. He does not remind the Lord that
he's always went to church when he wasn't sick. Maybe he had,
maybe he hadn't. I don't know. He doesn't fool with any of that
junk of what I've done or hadn't done. He's not trying to impress
the Lord with himself. You see, this is a crucial moment.
Jesus is passing by. What a fool this man would have
been to waste the moment screaming about his own merits. Any fool
can do that, and a lot of fools are doing it. Only one thing
will do for this man in this moment. The only thing that will do for
anyone, and that's to cry out for mercy, cry out for mercy. If you this morning, you feel
you have anything in yourself, worth anything to recommend yourself
to God, then you're a better person than
I am. I don't have it. I don't have it. You say, well,
I'm better than so-and-so. Well, who gives a flip about
so-and-so? God's standard is perfection. The only way you could get God's
attention and have God's approval in yourself would be to be able
to say and say truthfully, I'm as good as the Lord Jesus Christ. What kind of fool would do that?
Uh-uh. I have to identify with Bartimaeus. My cry is for mercy. Only mercy will do for guilty
sinners like you and I. Count on it. Count on it. Number
five in this text, this passage, notice the continuing of his
cry. Verse 48, and many charged him
that he should hold his peace. They all knew him and they said
to him, why don't you just shut up? He's not going to listen
to somebody like you. He don't have time to fool with
somebody like you. That's what the devil tells you. Some of you this morning listened
to the devil telling you that. No use in you praying. Lord's
got a lot better people than you. to deal with. He's not going
to fool with you. But now look what Bartimaeus
did. Not only did he not stop crying
out, he continued and he got louder and he got bolder. He
cried the more a great deal. Thou son of David, have mercy
on me. He continued. He continued. Number
six, the calling. Verse 49, Jesus stood still and
commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man
saying unto him, be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. Now, just who is meant by the
they here? And they called the blind man.
I don't know. And they call the blind man.
Is it the same ones that told him in the previous verse to
shut up? Maybe so. Or was it others? Or was it men
at all? Was it angels? The Lord commanded
that he should be called. Who did he command? Whoever it was, they obeyed the
command of the master. He commanded him to be called,
and he was called. The people here thought Bartimaeus
was cursed, that's what they believed in those days, because
of his blindness. They thought that any call he
would get would be a call to judgment. So it's unlikely that these men
would say to him, be of good comfort. But whoever it was commanded
to call the man, they not only obeyed, but they inserted these
words, Be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. I see an emphasis on the word
thee or you. Be of good comfort, rise, he's
calling you. He calleth thee. This is a personal
matter. This is an individual thing. While all the rest of the world
would ignore you and walk on you and not even care that you
exist, it's said to this man, He calleth thee. He wants you
to come to Him. Who? Me? Yes, even you. A sinner as bad as you. One is
depraved. One is darkened. One is desperate. One is sick. One is sorry. One is as low down as you. He
calleth thee. Number seven, the casting away
of his garment. Verse 50. casting away his garment, rose
and came to Jesus. Garments, you know, in the scriptures
are often used to describe our approach into the presence of
the Lord. Remember, in the Old Testament,
the high priest had special garments. And it was required of God that
he wear those specific garments, especially Leviticus 16 on the
day of atonement. The garments are so important. We know that Christ is our great
high priest. And the several references to
garments in the New Testament teach us that we would not, we
cannot, we must not. appear before God in our own
clothes, in our own righteousness, with any hope in ourselves or
what we are. Isaiah said that our righteousness,
our clothing, is as filthy rags. We would not come to God in ourselves. So here in verse 50, Bartimaeus,
casting away his garment, rose. and came to Jesus. He understands
I cannot come to Him in what I am. He was clothed in garments
the crowd did not see and still don't see. You cannot approach
Him in what you are. You can't approach Him in who
He is. Casting away your own merits,
it won't work. Can I say there's better people
than you in hell today? Seek refuge in Christ alone. Number eight, we see the confession
in verse 51, the Lord asked Bartimaeus. What is it you want? Why are
you crying out to me? What wilt thou that I should
do unto thee? And he answered, Lord, that I
might receive my sight. Notice in this verse, verse 51,
Bartimaeus does not receive his sight before he decides to make
Jesus his Lord. See, there's a lot of that junk
going on nowadays. Easy believism. Go to these big
crusades, make a decision for Jesus. Oh, come on down out of
those stands. We'll wait for you. Others are
coming. Why don't you come? Come on,
looking like hell and living like hell. We don't care. Just
let us count you. You just come down and make a
decision. Perfection. Say, yeah, I believe in Jesus.
And then after they do that, Then they say at some point on
down the road, if you decide to get serious about this business,
you've made him your savior. Then if you really want to, you
can make him your Lord. How hellish. You can't make him
nothing. Romans 10, 9, that if thou shalt
confess with our mouth and believe in thine heart, the Lord Jesus. He's the Lord whether you ever
believe on Him or not. Huh? He's the Lord whether He's
your Savior or not. See? And this man here calls
Him Lord first. Lord, that I might receive my
sight. That's what I want. That's what
I need. But whether you do it or not,
you're still the Lord. Now that's the right country
to be in. See? He's still blind, but he says,
Lord, that I might receive my sight. That's what I need. That's
what I'm crying to you for. Oh, you notice he does not say,
Lord, my vision is slightly impaired. I don't see like I used to. I don't
see like I wish I could. I don't see as I should. No,
he's just confessing it. Lord, I'm blind. I'm blind as
a bat. I need you this moment. Lord, that I might receive my
son. I'm helpless. I'm hopeless. Unless
you intervene. I wonder, would there be anybody
here today that desperate? Do you really believe you can't
make it without him? Not many believe it. The curse of sin has done this
to humanity. The curse of sin has done this
to our society, and we're all affected by it, whether we want
to be or not, and we don't want to be. But men believe somehow
we're going to conquer in our rebellion against God. We believe
that somehow we're going to attain to everlasting life apart from
God. We believe somehow we're going
to bypass the authority and the word and the commands of God and make this earth, this world,
heaven and bliss and live forever. I used to hear years ago, and
I know you all heard about this foolishness, about the idea of
freezing dead bodies when somebody dies until we find the cure for
that thing. And then when we find the cure
through modern science, we're going to be able to put life
back into those dead bodies that died. They're not decayed because
we had them froze. We had them in the freezer. And they're going to be all right.
How foolish, how foolish, seemingly intelligent humanity can be. Christ is our only hope. Lord,
that I might receive my sight. Number nine, the charge. In verse 52, the Lord says to
him, go thy way. He does not interrogate the man like these hell-bent preachers
do. Now, are you going to live for Him? Are you going to promise
you'll do this and promise that and the other? No. The Lord says, it's done. Go thy way. Get on with your
life. What I've done is absolutely
free. Our Lord would say to this man,
and he would say to all of us this morning, this religious
world will put binders enough on you. I won't do it. Go thy
way. You say, preacher, are you suggesting
no restraints in our lives? I'm not suggesting. I'm asserting
no legal restraints. But in God's children, love is
the motivation. That's what we teach. That's
what the New Testament teaches. That's what the Lord Jesus practiced.
And I'll show you this in number 10, verse 52. The Lord said,
go thy way. No legal restraints. But did
Bartimaeus go his way? No. Look what he says. And immediately
he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way. The restraint of love. The Lord
said, go that way. But he followed Jesus in the
way. Big difference. Big difference.
Second Corinthians 5, 14, Paul said, for the love of Christ
constraineth us. That's the proper motivation
for all we are and all we do, the love of Christ. I don't really want you coming
to church here if you don't want to come. There have been a few people
through the years absolutely miserable until they'd finally
leave. We wasn't rude to them. We wasn't
mean to them. But honey, if you don't be here, if you don't want
to be here, there's other places. I mean, stay at the house. And I don't want anybody giving,
not wanting to give. We've got to have finances to
operate. We thank God for the way he provides. We've got several
projects going. We're hoping that the Lord will
work miracles and move on hearts to give, and then we can do more
things around here. But I'm just going to tell you,
I don't want you giving, not wanting to give. The New Testament
teaches the Lord loveth a cheerful giver. If you think you can handle
it better on your own, just keep it. God will somehow survive
without you. Huh? You say, is that mean? No, it's just truth. Just truth. So after these 10 things, I want
you to go home and think about this passage. Would you be one
of the crowd telling this man to shut up while you and all
the other important folks walk through town flocking around
Christ thinking, Oh yes, he cares about me. I'm somebody. Or would you be like blind Bartimaeus,
a fallen sinner? Helpless, hopeless, a man that
hadn't always done everything right. Would you be like him? Do you have so many skeletons
in your closet you had to rent a warehouse? Does the devil tell you to shut
up? There's no hope for you. God's not interested in you.
He don't have time for you. Oh, that you could be like Bartimaeus
and cry out all the more, Lord, have mercy on me. Lord, have
mercy on me. And if you can, he will make
himself known. He will comfort your heart and
you will be convinced of this? Oh yes, he cares. Oh yes, he cares about me. That's the message, stand with
me.