Back in Mark's Gospel, chapter
10, we want to consider the last seven verses in this chapter,
verses 46 through 52. The title of my message is Jesus
in Jericho. Jesus in Jericho. We already
read this and made a comment or two on it during the reading,
but I want to direct your attention back to verses 32 through 34,
just so we can have fixed in our minds when this took place
concerning the miracle by the wayside as our Lord was on his
way to Jerusalem. Verse 32 again, and they were
in the way going up to Jerusalem. I'm searching for words to describe
what was going to take place there, Joe. I mean, how can you
describe what our Lord was about to do shortly after this? Who
can understand? We have an inkling, an inkling
at most. Who can understand when He, who
was sinless, who knew no sin and did no sin, in whom was no
sin. He's unique. You can't say that
about any other. But we're also told he's going
up to Jerusalem to be made sin. Now who can understand that?
With this blessed outcome, with this blessed result, yes, he
was made sin, But oh, by that were made the very righteousness
of God in him. Jesus went before them, and they
were amazed, and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took
them again, and he took again the twelve, and began to tell
them what things should happen unto them. Behold, we go up to
Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered unto the chief
priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to
death. without a cause, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles.
And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall
spit upon him, and they shall kill him. And the third day he
shall rise again." That's the setting. He's on his way to Jerusalem. Now again look at verse 46, and
they came to Jericho. They came to Jericho. I'm reminded
in John's Gospel chapter 4, we read that our Lord must needs
go through Samaria. He must needs go through Samaria. And you know why there was a
need that he go through Samaria? Because there was a woman there.
There was a woman, an outcast. A woman whose life was wasted. A woman who had been passed from
man to man to man. A broken hearted woman. But that
was one that the father had given the son before the world began. That was one who that day was
about to experience the grace of the Lamb of God. That's why
he must go through Jerusalem. Because he's the great shepherd
of the sheep. And he said, I've come to seek and to save the
lost. And he successfully does both. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
don't forget that. Don't doubt that. In your prayers
and your witnessing for your children, your lost loved ones,
your neighbors, most of the people you know, don't forget that. The great shepherd of the sheep
said, I've come to seek and to save that which is lost. And
he's able to do both. That's why he must go through
Jerusalem, or go through Samaria, rather. And on his way to Jerusalem,
we're told, and they came to Jericho. Jericho was 15 miles
from Jerusalem. Jericho, like Samaria, where
he found that other sheep, there lived one of his own. You remember
in the parable of the good Samaritan? It was on the road to Jericho
that that man was robbed and beaten and left for dead. Jericho was notorious for such
things as that. We also read of Jericho in the
Old Testament. It was the first city that Joshua
invaded during the conquest of Canaan. Six days they marched
around the walls of Jericho, we're told in chapter 6 of Joshua. And on the seventh day, they
marched around seven times and blew the trumpets and were told
that the wall fell down flat. And Joshua led the children of
Israel in, in the conquest of that city. But even then, in
the conquest of that heathen city that Joshua himself had
cursed, there was a remnant according to the election of grace. There
was Rahab the hearted, spoken of in Hebrews chapter 11. Oh,
but our Joshua here, he comes to Jericho. Seven, they marched
around the walls seven times, or the walls of Jericho rather.
Seven, in scripture that's the number of perfection. Our Joshua,
our Jesus, the name means the same, Joshua in the Hebrew, Jesus
in the Greek, Savior, the salvation of the Lord. Our Joshua, number
seven, perfect God and perfect man. And his mission, his conquest,
is so much greater than that of the Joshua of the Old Testament,
because he came to set the captains free. He said that he came to
open the blind eyes. He came for those who sat in
darkness to see great light. He came to open the present to
set rebels free by His mighty grace. That's our Joshua. In Joshua of the Old Testament,
chapter 10, we read that during one battle that there was seen
something that had never took place before. In chapter 10,
we're told that a man commanded the sun to stand still for a
day during the battle so they would overcome their enemy. What
a miracle that was. But here, by the wayside, sat
this poor blind man, and here is a greater miracle, that at
the voice of one lost sinner, one beggar, one blind man, the
Son of God, our Joshua, at that cry of that poor lost man, the
Son of God stands still. What a miracle. What a miracle. Do you recall? Oh, I know you
do. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
when our Joshua, our Savior, Jesus, in his condescending grace,
in his matchless mercy, came to where we were. He came to
where we were. Remember that? My soul, he came
to a rebel in the mountains of West Virginia, a man lost in
sin, saddening in darkness, clothed in rags, his life empty, vain,
meaningless. He came to where I was. My soul, what grace, what grace. He comes to Jericho. May He do so today. May we who have seen Him when
He passed by our way see Him again afresh. That's my greatest
need this morning. That's my greatest need. I've
prayed about it much. Lord, show me Yourself. Show the folks who you are pleased
to gather here this day, show us yourself. Give us a fresh
appreciation of who you are and what you've done and are doing
and have promised to yet do on the behalf of your people. Show
us Christ. And may those of us here who
are yet sitting in darkness like Bartimaeus have the scales removed
May he be pleased to open blinded eyes, that they might behold
Christ the light. And if he would be pleased to
do those things, I know what the result will be. We'll glorify
God, just like the people here with Bartimaeus. We'll sing,
oh, how great thou art, how great thou art. And they came to Jericho,
verse 46, and look at the very next phrase. And as he went out
of Jericho, he went out of Jericho, he comes in and now he's going
out. He wasn't there very long, was
he? Wasn't there long. In John chapter 12 he said, While
ye have the light, speaking of himself, believe in the light,
that ye might be the children of light. And then we're told
he hid himself from them. He enters Jericho, but he's only
passing through. He's going out when Bartimaeus
hears of him. No wonder the scripture says,
today if you hear his voice, Today, if you hear His voice,
there's no guarantee that you will. There's no obligation on
His part to speak. So if today, He in mercy and
grace, the word is undeserved, unmerited favor. If He is gracious
and merciful to speak to you, today, if, if you hear His voice,
Harden not your heart. Harden not your heart. But do
like Barnabas. Follow his example and cry out,
Thou son of David, have mercy on me. My greatest need is mercy. My greatest need is for you to
come where I am and have mercy on me. Because if you don't,
if you don't, If you're not pleased to speak to my heart, if you're
not pleased to come to where I am, if you're not pleased to
do everything to save this helpless sinner, then I'll sit right where
I am in my natural spiritual darkness until the day that I
die and I'm cast out into outer darkness forever. Oh, thou son
of David, have mercy on me. Folks, these are not fairy tales. These are not old wife's fables
that I'm speaking of. This is the word of God. Every
one of us here one day will hear either enter into the joy prepared
for you. Why? Because he came to where
we were and he had mercy upon us. That's the only reason. That's
the only thing that makes one sinner to differ from another,
God's grace. But for you that don't know him,
if you don't cry for mercy, if you don't cry, Jesus, thou son
of David, have mercy on me, you'll hear him say one day, depart
from me, I never knew you. Today, if you hear his voice,
harden not your heart, harden not your heart, fall down before
him, sue for mercy. He delights to show mercy. As
they went out of Jericho, hmm, he's not going to be there long,
is he? He's just passing through. The
hymn writer expressed it this way. Pass me not, O gentle Savior, hear my humble
cry, while on others thou art calling, do not Do not, please
do not pass me by. Look at the last phrase in verse
46. And a great number of people
follow with him. Blind Bartimaeus, the son of
Timaeus, sat by the highwayside begging. Blind Bartimaeus, that
was a common occurrence in that day, that is beggars, blind,
lame, resorted to begging for their
livelihood, wasn't an uncommon scene. And sad to say, what this
represents in our day is not an uncommon scene. Our sons,
our daughters setting in darkness, not uncommon. Oh, they may be
setting in church, but they're sitting in darkness. They've
never had their eyes opened to see their need. They've never
been made aware of their blindness or their poverty. They don't
see. Remember what our Lord said to
that woman at the well that we referred to earlier in John chapter
4? She said, how are you going to
draw? You don't have anything to draw water with and the well
is so deep. And he said, Woman, if you knew,
if you knew the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto
thee, Give me the drink, you would ask of him, and he would
give you a drink, and you would never thirst again. Oh, Louie,
I look at my children, now my teenage grandchildren, my brothers
and my sisters, And I hear those words, if they only knew. And I pray God, make them to
know. Make them to know. Make them
thirsty. Make them thirsty. Make them
see their need. Make them hunger and thirst after
righteousness. And then, then, I hear the Redeemer
say, is anybody thirsty? If any man thirsts, Let him come
unto me and drink. I'll give him a drink and he'll
never thirst again. And every thirsty sinner here
that's heard that call would testify to the truth of that,
that they came to the fountains of living waters and they drank
and he satisfied their hungry, broken hearts. Did he not? And does he not continue to do
so? Oh yes, this was a common occurrence
as far as just a blind beggar sitting by the wayside. Oh, but
here's an uncommon occurrence. This day, this day was unlike
any other. I suppose Bartimaeus found his
way to this spot day after day. I'm sure he had a certain hour
of the day that he went there, when the people would be most
likely going out of the city. Barmaids would sit there. Can
you help a blind beggar? Can you give an answer? Oh, but
this day was like none other, because as we read what takes
place today, Grace and mercy personified is passing by. Think about that. This day, as
Bartimaeus said in that same spot, like he'd done probably
for years, this day was unlike any other. He hears a crowd,
a crowd of people. What? What's happening? Someone
tell me. I can't see, but I hear. What's
happening? Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus of Nazareth
is passing by. Oh my soul, Barney Mayer said,
heard of Jesus of Nazareth? He proves it by the name. He uses when he calls out, thou
son of David. He'd heard of him. He'd heard
what he'd done for others. He'd heard that he'd opened other
blind eyes. He'd heard that he had cleansed
the leper. He'd heard that he'd even raised
the dead. Maybe, just maybe, he'll have mercy on me. And he
begins to cry out, oh Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. This is all that we read of Barnabas. Here, seven verses in Mark's
account, six verses in Matthew's account, nine verses in Luke's
account. This is all we read about Barnabas. Oh, but what a biography. What
a biography. This is the highlight of his
life, before this and after this. He would, after this, spend his
days telling what Jesus of Nazareth did for him. Let me tell you,
Come around, let me tell you what Jesus did for me. I was
setting one day, as always, and lo and behold, Jesus of Nazareth
passed by and I cried out. And you know what he did? Do
you know what he did? He opened my eyes. I was blind. But now I see I was lost and
I'm now found. I was clothed in my rags of self-righteousness
and now I'm rolled head to foot in the pure garment of the absolute
righteousness of the Son of God. Let me tell you what he did for
my soul. Go home, our Lord told the demoniac. Go home to thy friends. and tell
them what great things the Lord hath done for you and hath had
mercy on you. Oh yes, verse 47. And when he
heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, Jesus, thou
son of David, have mercy on me. Faith cometh by hearing. Bartimaeus
couldn't see, but he heard. And he cried for mercy. Verse
48, they say, be quiet. Hold your peace. He doesn't seem
to have even noticed their rebuke. He would not be silenced. He
had a need. He had a need. A real heartfelt
need. A need that only Christ could
meet. Only one in that multitude of
people. Unbelievers, a mixed multitude,
wicked believers. Some followed him because they
wanted to be fed. They enjoyed his miracles, but
not his doctrine, not his words. Many walked from him one day
when he spoke to them about God's sovereign mercy and followed
him. No more, we're told. Oh, but this man, Bartimaeus,
he has a need that only Christ could meet. I wonder, do you? Do you? Do you have a need only
Christ can meet? Do you have a need that won't
be satisfied by walking an aisle? or reciting a prayer, or signing
a card, or some other silly nonsense that most churches put sinners
through today and then tell them they're eternally saved. Do you
have a heartfelt need that that cannot meet, that those things
will not satisfy? Have you been made aware that
you're a poor blind beggar? Is your hearts crying, Jesus
have mercy on me, I've got good news for you? He will. He will. I don't have a problem
with telling you, according to God's Word, everyone that calls
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The question is not
his ability to save, his merit, or his willingness. The question
is, do you have a need? The question is not, is he a
sufficient Savior? The question is, are you a sinner? Are you a sinner? Lost, helpless,
hopeless. Oh, our Lord came to save sinners. Look at verse 49. And Jesus stood still. Jesus stood still. Oh, great shepherd of the sheep. Grace and mercy flow forth from
your lips. If you speak, it's done. The Pope can't do it. All of
his little understudies can't do it. Priests. Preachers can't do it. Not this
preacher, not any other preacher can speak peace to you. Only
the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, has power on earth to
forgive sins. He can. He can. Oh, He's mighty to save. Mighty to save. And when He speaks,
it's done. It's done. When He speaks, and
says, thy sins, Lonnie, are forgiven thee. When he says it, it's done. They're gone. Bless God, when
he says, Bartimaeus, I will. See, thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. Be made whole. Bless God. It's done. It's finished. It's complete. When a needy sinner
comes in contact with a seeking Savior, I guarantee you, mercy
will be realized. This is what happens here. This
is what it's a picture of. See our great Savior? He stands
still and says, bring him to me. Bring him to me. Bring him to me. Oh, glorious gospel. Glorious
redeemer. Glorious salvation. Bring him
to me. The rest of you people, clear
path. Get out of the way. Make the
highway open and clear. Bring him to me. Step aside. Step aside. Don't be a hindrance. Bring him to me." And he does. He comes to Christ. What did
they say? Be of good cheer. Listen. He calleth for thee. Bartimaeus, he wants to see you. He wants to see you. Now in this
day, People hear that, and that's just like water rolling off a
duck's back. Because all their life, they've been told. If they
listen to many preachers in our day, sad to say, they've been
told, God's obligated to save you. God wouldn't be fair if
he didn't try to save everybody. That's the term they use, try.
God loves everybody, and Jesus died for everybody, and God's
doing everything he can to save everybody. And you know the effect
that has upon a depraved heart anyway. Well, big deal. Big deal. What's the wonder of
that? You mean he did as much for Judas
as he did for Peter? That's it? Oh, but if God ever
gets you lost, some of you have never been lost. That's why you've
never been found. Some of you have never been blind.
Like the Pharisee, you say, we see. And our Lord said, well,
then you remain in your darkness. You've never had any need of
the Great Physician because you say, I'm fine. I'm a pretty good
fellow. I'm a pretty good person. I'm
a pretty good moral person. I'm not as bad as my neighbor
down there. I'm not so bad. You've never
been stripped. That's why you've never been
clothed. You've never realized you're in darkness. That's why
you don't cry for light. You've never needed a Savior
because you've never realized you're a sinner helpless without
the mercy of God. You've never been down that road.
You've never been stripped. And I'll tell you what. If you've
never been stripped, I don't care who you are. I'm speaking
to Larry Criss. If I've never been stripped,
I've never been caught. If I've never been lost, I've
never been found. I know five points. But if I've
never been lost, I've never been found. I can know the right doctrine. If I've never been lost, I've
never been found. I can recite passages of scripture
and I can sit among God's people and I can look like and act like
they do. But if I've never been lost,
I've never been found. That includes everybody sitting
out there and this man standing right here. But here's the good
news. Jesus says, bring him to me. Bring him to me. Are you lost? Christ said, I've come to seek
and to save the lost. And we read, he came to Jesus. He came to Jesus. Come unto me,
our Lord said again and again and again, and I'll give you
rest. If any man thirst, come unto
me. Come unto me and be ye saved. Look unto me, I am God and there
is The Pharisees would say, I'm
sure they were in the crowd. They would say, that's not enough.
That's not enough. That's just not enough. I mean,
Barnabas, he's got to come to us. He can't go to God unless
he comes to us. I mean, we're going to have to
lay some rules on him. We're going to have to teach
him touch not, taste not, handle not. We're going to have to bind
him and make him twofold more the child of hell than we are
ourselves. It just can't be that simple. That can't be enough
simply to come to Jesus Christ. Oh, but it was, wasn't it? Christ
said, bring him to me. Bring him to me. One way. One life. One truth. The only mediator, come to Him. The only Redeemer, He says, come
to Me. The only substitute for sinners,
He says, come to Me. Is that enough? Is that enough,
Jeff? Bless God, it's enough. It's
enough. If that's all you got, it's enough. If that's all you need, it's
enough. I need Him because I can't be
accepted before God by any other. through any other, by any other
means, only Him. I can only be complete in Him. And let me tell you, brothers
and sisters, what you can tell me. Yes, that's enough. He's enough. He's enough. Verse 51, what would you that
I should do? What do you want, Barney Mays?
What do you really want? What do you really want? Well,
I don't want to go to hell. Nobody does. That's not the issue. Well, I want to go to heaven.
Now, what do you want, Bartimaeus? The blind man said unto him,
Lord, that I might receive my sight. Lord, my great one, is
what he asked. my great one, that I might receive
my sight. That's what I want. I'm blind. You're the light of the world.
Do for me what I can't do for myself. Do for me what nobody
else can do. That's a picture, as we said,
of what we are by nature. Lord, do for me what I can't
do for myself. Save me or I'll perish. Reach down your hand for me.
Bring me up out of this horrible pit of my depravity and sin or
I'm lost forever. Lord, have mercy on me. Please don't pass me by. Have mercy on me. Mercy. You don't have to. You don't
owe it to me. You owe me justice, but I want
mercy. Have mercy. And look what our Lord says.
Verse 52, And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way, go thy way, thy faith
hath saved thee. had made thee whole, rather.
And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the
way. Go thy way, thy faith hath made
thee whole." Whole. You hear that, brothers? Whole. Not broken. Not ruined. Not fallen. Whole. Perfect. Accepted. without wrinkle,
without spot, or any such thing. Brought nigh to God by the blood
of Jesus Christ. Now in Christ Jesus, no condemnation. Saved today, saved tomorrow,
saved throughout eternity, saved to the uttermost. Oh yes, made
whole. Would you be made whole? What
do you want? Don't want to go to hell, that's
not the issue. Want to go to heaven if it doesn't
cost me too much, that's not the issue. But is there one poor
blind sinner that wants saving from their sin? I've got good
news for you. Jesus delights to do so. Thy faith hath made thee whole. In the last sentence, and immediately
he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way. Christ's way is his way now. Immediately he followed Jesus
in the way. He followed willingly and thankfully
and lovingly. Old Bunyan, Bunyan's pilgrim that we quoted
from a week or two ago. after that burden had rolled
off his back at the sight of the cross. He went on his way
rejoicing, singing this song. Thus far did I come laden with
my sin, nor could aught ease the grief that I was in. Till I came hither, what a place
is this! Must here be the beginning for
my bliss? I must hear the burden fall from
off my back, must hear the strings that bound it to me crack. Blessed
cross, blessed sepulcher, blessed rather be the man that there
was put to shame for me. Hallelujah. What a sight.