If you're a believer, this is
your biology. And I want to be like him. I
want to have the same faith. Second thing that I know about
him is he was a blind man. He was a blind man. In all likelihood,
he was born blind because he didn't ask the Lord to restore
his sight. You were born totally blind to
the character of God Almighty. You were born completely blind
to your own sinfulness or what sin even is. He was poor. He had no merits. He had no righteousness. He had
nothing to bring to the table. He was poor. Am I giving your biography? Poor? You don't have anything
about you that could recommend you to God. Now, not only was
he blind, Not only was he poor, not only was he the son of Timaeus,
but he didn't work. He was a beggar. He was completely
dependent upon the charity of somebody else. He was a complete
beggar. He could not work. And I, oh,
I identify with this so much. If you give me one thing that
I need to do, I don't care what it is, fill in the blank, you
give me one thing that I need to do before God will have favor
on me and have mercy on me, I have no hope. None at all. He did not work. And you know, we're only given
one thing that he possessed. He possessed a filthy garment. That's the only thing we know
that he had, this garment that he found security in, that he
covered himself in. But when he came to Christ, he
got rid of that garment, didn't he? I have a filthy garment made
of filthy rags. The Lord tells us our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. And we know that the most outstanding
thing about this man is he knew who Jesus Christ was. He knew he was the son of David. He knew he was the Lord, Lord. And that word Lord is Rabboni. It's only used twice in the New
Testament. Once by Mary after the Lord reveals her after the
resurrection, and then here by Bartimaeus. It's the title of
highest respect, my great Lord. Oh, the high view he had of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And the next thing I know about
Bartimaeus that our text lets us know about him, he came for
the right thing, mercy. That is what he asked for, mercy. And let me tell you something
about this thing of asking for mercy. You only ask for mercy
when all your sin is all your fault. If it's somebody else's
fault, you're not asking for mercy. You're asking for payment. You're asking for justice. But
when your sin is all your fault, what you need is mercy. And when you ask for mercy, you
only ask mercy of an absolute sovereign. You know it's in His
hands to give or to withhold, and if He passes you by, just
and holy is His name. That's the only way you ask for
mercy. If you come for mercy thinking it's coming to you,
that you can do something that makes you earn it, you know nothing
of mercy. Now that's this man, Bartimaeus. Son of Timaeus, blind, poor,
Unable to work. All he had was a filthy garment. But he knew who Christ was. And he came for the right thing. Now, let's consider this story. The Lord Jesus was on his way
to Jerusalem to die on the cross. That's why he came. He said,
what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. For this cause
came I in to this hour. And he'd passed through Jericho.
That's where he had met Zacchaeus. I love that story where he looked
up at Zacchaeus in the tree. Zacchaeus, make haste, come down. Today I must abide at thy house. And he's on his way outside of
Jericho with a large crowd following him. And there was a beggar named
Bartimaeus. who sat by the highway begging. Boy, I'd like to take his place,
wouldn't you? Oh, I want this to be me. I want this to be my
biography. The son of Timaeus, the son of
uncleanness, the son of defilement, knowing that the only one who
can do me any good is the Lord Jesus Christ. As Bartimaeus sits
there begging, He hears a commotion. Luke's account tells us that
when he heard the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. Someone said, Jesus of Nazareth
passeth by. He's passing by right now. in
the preaching of the gospel just as truly as he was then. Jesus of Nazareth passeth by
and immediately he began to cry, Jesus, thou son of David, he
knew who he was, have mercy on me. He knew what very few knew at
this time, that Jesus was the Son of David, the Christ, the
Messiah. Isn't that what saving faith
is? Whoso believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Five times in the book of Isaiah,
we read where Messiah would give sight to the blind. And I don't
have any doubt that maybe from a youth, people felt sorry for
him. They'd lead him into the synagogue.
He'd sit down and hear the scripture read. And I have no doubt at
some point he heard that Messiah would give sight to the blind.
Five times in the book of Isaiah. It's in other Old Testament prophets
as well, but five times in the book of Isaiah. And I'm sure
that there were people who heard that and thought, boy, that's
good. I'm glad that will happen. But you know, Bartimaeus heard
it in a different way. You see, he was blind. And that
registered to him. He knew that Now, from a scriptural
description, the Messiah, he's the one who would give sight
to the blind. And he believed that at that
time, maybe from a little boy, I don't know, but he had this
scriptural description of the Messiah. This is where his information
came from. It was from the Bible. He had
this scriptural description of the Messiah that he would give
sight to the blind, and that just stuck with him, that just
resonated. The Messiah would give sight
to the blind. Well, he was sitting on the wayside, I guess every
day, begging. What else did he have to do?
I mean, he would just go there, I don't know if he had a cup, and he'd
sit there by the wayside hoping someone would throw some change
his way or give him some money. And he would hear people talk.
He didn't, that was all he'd do is listen. He'd find out what
he could about the world and about what was going on. He'd
hear people talk. And one day he heard some people talking
about a man by the name of Jesus of Nazareth that gave sight to
a man that was born blind. And right then he knew, that's
the Messiah. That's the one the scripture
speaks of. He knew that Jesus was the Christ. Now, he had not
come in contact with him, but I bet he thought if he ever comes
by, if he ever passes this way, I'm going to cry out, Jesus,
thou son of David. He is the son of David. He gave
sight to the blind. You know, you know Christ by
what he can do, what he did. He gave sight to the blind. That's
how he identified him from the scriptures. Oh, if he ever comes
by this way, I'm going to cry, Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. You know, he probably heard others
scoffing about Christ. He didn't scoff. He probably
heard others say he's an imposter. He knew better than that. If
he ever comes this way, if he ever passes by, I'm going to
cry out, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Now verse 47
of our text in Mark chapter 10. And when he had heard, faith cometh by hearing. I love
the concept of this thing of hearing. You know, hearing is
the most passive thing in the world. You're not giving your
ideas, you're not giving your thoughts, you're not giving your
opinions of things, you're hearing what is said. Faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. He that hath ears to
hear, let him hear. Well, Bartimaeus had ears to
hear. And when he had heard that it
was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou
son of David, have mercy on me. Now I can't use the language
that Bartimaeus used, I'm sure, I couldn't bring the depth of
feeling in it, but how this must have sounded when he was crying
out from the depths of his soul, Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy. on me. I know this much. He was crying out of a sense
of need. He knew he was blind. He knew he couldn't give himself
sight. He knew Christ could. And he's
crying for mercy. Remember, when he's crying for
mercy, he's saying, my sin is all my fault. And I'm not coming
to you bargaining or demanding. I'm coming as an absolute sovereign. It's in your hand as to whether
or not I'll have mercy. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. Verse 48. And many charged him. THAT HE
SHOULD HOLD HIS PEACE. MANY CHARGED HIM. YOU DON'T NEED
TO BE TALKING THIS WAY, BARNABAS. HOLD YOUR PEACE. HOLD YOUR PEACE. THIS IS THE WRONG THING TO DO. YOU NEED TO GET CERTAIN THINGS
STRAIGHTENED OUT BEFORE YOU CRY FOR THIS. You need to start doing
this, and you need to stop doing that before you start doing this.
You need to get your life straightened out. You can't just up and cry
for mercy like this. This needs to be put in place,
and that needs to be stopped, and start doing this, and all
kinds of suggestions. You need to hold your peace and
get these things straightened out. What did it do to Bartimaeus?
You know, me and you, we're gonna have people telling us, hold
your peace on that. Hold your peace on that. You
need to do this. You need to do that. You need to be this
way. You need to not be that way. You need to, before you
can have mercy, there's certain things that are gonna have to
take place. You need to hold your peace and get this straightened
out first. But what did that do with Bartimaeus? He cried no more. A great deal. It didn't stop him. You see, if you need mercy, nothing's
gonna stop you from crying. All the objections people will
give to you, all the objections you'll come up with, they're
not going to stop this cry for mercy. He cried the more, a great
deal. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. Now, I love to think of the strength
of this man's faith. You know, my puny faith, when
I'm told to hold my peace, I'll hold my peace. Maybe they're
right, maybe I'm wrong, maybe, but not Bartimaeus. He cried
the more, a great deal, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy
on me. Verse 49, and Jesus stood still. Now he had set his face as a
flint, the scripture says, to go to Jerusalem. He was on His
way to Jerusalem to go to the cross, and I don't have any doubt
all kinds of people were calling His name. I mean, if you look
in the next scene, chapter 11, they were saying, Hosanna to
the highest! Hosanna to Him that comes in the name of the Lord!
All kinds of people were saying all kinds of stuff, and Jesus
this, Jesus that. You know, somebody might have
said, Lord, look at all the things I've done. Can I be in Your kingdom?
Look at the things I've stopped doing. Christ kept moving. Nothing stopped him. I can't
imagine all the things people were saying, maybe even saying
good things about him, but he kept moving. But there was something
that stopped him in his tracks. This is the one thing that will
cause him to take notice of me or you. When by his grace we cry for
mercy, Jesus stood still. That stopped him. And if you
or I cry for mercy, and remember, mercy is not bargaining with
him. It's not asking, it's not trying to, Lord, I've done this,
now you do that. It's knowing you're in his sovereign
hand and you cry for mercy. He always, without any exception,
he always stands still. every time. You know why? Because
he delights in mercy. This is who he is. Do you know
he delights? He loves to show mercy to people
like North Emmaus. That's who he is. Isn't he glorious?
This is who he is. Jesus stood still and commanded
him to be called. bring him to me. Oh, Lord, call
me command for me to be called. I want to be in the same place
as Bartimaeus. And if I'm a believer, this is
where it is. He gives me the grace for it
to ask for mercy. I cry for mercy. He stands still. He commands me to be called,
bring him here. And they CALL THE BLIND MAN,
SING UNTO HIM, BE OF GOOD COMFORT. RISE, HE CALLETH THEE. NOW, WERE
THESE THE SAME PEOPLE THAT WERE TELLING HIM TO HOLD HIS PEACE?
I DON'T KNOW. THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN. AS A MATTER OF FACT, I KIND OF
SUSPECT THAT THEY WERE. BUT THE POINT IS, WHEN HE CALLS
YOU, YOU HAVE REASON TO BE OF GOOD COMFORT AND OF GOOD CHEER. RISE, HE CALLETH THEE. Verse 50, and he, casting away his garment, rose
and came to Jesus. Now, the only thing that we know
of that this man owned was this garment. Now, put yourself as
being without sight. Can you imagine how vulnerable
you'd feel? I mean, you just, you'd want to wrap yourself up
in that, Garment, you wouldn't know, being blind, he didn't
know how dirty it was, he didn't know how filthy it was, but he
felt so vulnerable, he felt so, he needed protection, he needed
security, and that's all he had, and he would wrap himself up
in that garment. That's the only thing this man
possessed, that garment, which I have no doubt represents his
filthy robe of righteousness. filthy rags. That's what he tried
to cover himself with. It's very similar to Adam and
Eve covering themselves with those fig leaves. This was his
covering. Would you turn with me for a
moment to Proverbs chapter 28? Why did Adam and Eve make that garment
of fig leaves to cover their sins? Proverbs chapter 28, verse 13. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso
confesseth and forsaketh them, shall have mercy. Now that verse of scripture used
to give me such trouble because I never noticed that the word
then is in italics. That means it was supplied by
the translators. They're the ones who put it there.
And I was afraid when I would read that verse of scripture
for me to have mercy. I need to confess my sins and
I have to quit committing them. I have to forsake them. And unless
I forsake my sins, I will not have mercy. Now, shouldn't we forsake our sins?
Yes. We should never sin again. But if mercy is dependent upon
me forsaking some sin before I'll have mercy, you know what
that is? Salvation by works. That's all it is. That's a complete
misunderstanding of that passage of scripture. Whoso confesseth
his sins, now covering them like Adam did, you're not gonna prosper.
But whoso confesses, they take sides with God, they agree with
God, and they forsake this thing of covering them. That's what
it is to believe the gospel. You confess your sin and you
forsake this thing of trying to cover it up with your works
and you look to Christ only. That is the person who receives
mercy. Now what does Bartimaeus do?
I think it's so glorious the way it's recorded that he had
this old garment, but when he came to Christ, what's the first
thing he did? It used to be so important to
him, it used to give him security, but now it's a worthless thing
he throws away. He doesn't want to have anything
to do with anything like that. He throws off his garment in
order to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. He now sees it as a worthless
thing. Now back to our text, Mark chapter
10. And he casting away his garment
rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, what wilt thou that I should do? unto thee now remember i
said this is every believer's biography and every believer
will have complete agreement here salvation is what he does
in every respect and that's what the lord says What wilt thou
that I should do unto thee? Now, you think about every aspect
of salvation. Salvation is what he does. He
stood as my surety before time began and took full responsibility
for my salvation. That's what he did. I didn't
have any hand in that. And he came in time, assumed
flesh, and kept the law for me. That's what he did for me. And
He died for me and put away my sins and was raised again for
my justification. And He is the one who gives me
life. And He gave me faith. He gave
me repentance. He's the one who preserves me.
He's the one who intercedes for me and represents me. Even right
now, salvation is what He does. And that is the testimony of
every believer. Here's my testimony. My salvation
is what he has done for me. What wilt thou that I should
do unto thee? The blind man said unto him,
Lord, Now, this in the original is only used twice, Rabboni. You remember when Mary didn't
recognize the Lord? She thought he was a gardener.
She couldn't see him for who he was. And he said, Mary. And she saw him. And she said,
Rabboni. My great Lord. Now, everybody that knows him
knows he is the great Lord. He's the Lord of creation. He's
the Lord of providence. He's in control of everything
that's happening, has happened, and ever will happen. Most especially,
he's the great Lord of salvation. Lord. that I might receive my sight. This is what I know I don't have
and cannot produce, and only you can give, that I might receive
my sight. That's what he asked for. And
you know, the Lord asked him, what wilt thou that I should
do unto thee? And his answer, that I might receive my sight. Verse 52, And Jesus said unto
him, Go thy way. You're set free. Go thy way. Thy faith hath made
thee whole. Now, that word made whole is
the word that's generally translated saved. thy faith hath saved thee."
Now this is one of four times the Lord makes the statement,
thy faith hath saved thee. And some people are so sound
that they will say, well, he shouldn't have said it that way
because it's not your faith that saves you, it's Christ that saves
you. And that's true. That's true. Your faith It's his gift,
but it wasn't your faith that kept the law for you, Christ
did. It wasn't your faith that died on the cross, Christ did.
It wasn't your faith that was raised from the dead, Christ
was. Your faith is not interceding for you at the right hand of
the Father, Christ is. But the Lord still said, thy
faith hath saved thee. Evidently, it's a good thing
to say. This is, as I said, one of four
times that this word was used. He said it to the woman with
the eighth shoe of blood, thy faith has saved thee. He said
it to the woman who was a sinner, thy faith has saved thee. He
said it to that one leper who returned to give glory to God.
The others didn't, he did. And the Lord said, thy faith
has saved thee. And he says to this blind beggar
who is going to immediately receive his sight, go thy way, thy faith
is saved thee. Now, I love the simplicity of
this. What was his faith? That Jesus Christ is the son
of David, the great Lord. You see, faith is what you think
of him and everything else proceeds from that. Now, why does the
Lord put such honor on faith? Because faith puts ALL the honor
on Him. If it doesn't put ALL the honor
on Him, it ain't faith in the first place. Faith looks to Him
ONLY and gives Him ALL the glory and salvation and rests in who
He is and what He did and nothing else. Faith alone. And that's why the Lord gives
such honor to faith. It puts all, not most, but all
of the honor of salvation upon him. Thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately, immediately,
he received his sight. And what I think is glorious
to think about, who do you reckon the first person he ever saw
was? The Lord Jesus Christ. First person he ever saw. And remember when the Lord said,
go thy way, what did he do? He followed Jesus in the way. That was his way. That's what
he wanted. to follow Jesus in the way. One last scripture, turn to John
chapter 9. Verse 39, now this is after he
had given sight to one who had been born blind. Verse 39, And
Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they
which see not might see, and that they which see might be
made blind. If you can see why God would
save you, you're under His judgment. If you could see, well, he'd
saved me because I've done this and I've done that. If you can't
see anything in yourself as a reason why God would save you, you are
an object of his mercy. He says this, for judgment, I
am coming to this world that they would see, not might see,
and that they would see might be made blind. And some of the
Pharisees, which were with him, heard these words and said unto
him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, if you
were blind, what do you say next? You should
have no sin. But now you say, we see. Therefore your sin remaineth. What a terrifying thought to
think of my sin remaining. But oh, what a glorious thought
to think in Christ I have no sin. And this is every believer's
biography, this thing of Bartimaeus. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
gospel of thy dear son. Lord, we say with Bartimaeus, Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on us. Lord, cause us to fling away
that filthy garment of our own righteousness and rise and come
to thy son. Bless this message for Christ's
sake, in His name we pray, amen.