Matthew chapter 9, and I usually
look at a particular verse and try to come up with a title for
the message. But if I would do that, I would
probably bring the title from what is said in verse 28. The
Lord said to those two blind men, believe ye that I'm able
to do this? Do you believe the Lord is able
to save his people from their sin? Yes, Lord. I love the answer there. They
didn't think, well, you know, it's a possibility. The Lord
said, do you believe I'm able to do this? Yes, Lord. That's the answer of saving faith.
Yes, Lord. He is the Almighty, the Almighty
Savior. So that would make a good title,
wouldn't it? Believe ye that I'm able, and I may use that
when I post it on Sermon Audio. But I'm calling this message,
The Blind See and the Dumb Speak. I'm both blind and dumb by nature,
and so are you. The blind who have eyes to see,
what do they see? What did these two men see? The
Lord Jesus Christ. What do they see that have eyes
of faith? They see Christ. Those who are dumb with no understanding
when he gives us a revelation of himself, what do they speak? They speak. The Lord Jesus Christ
is all and in all. They speak of Christ. They speak
of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as you read through the
Gospels, you see so many miracles the Lord performed. He healed
those who had need of healing. And there was a great need in
that day, and certainly this day is no different. But all
the miracles the Lord performed show us and demonstrate to us
that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah. Notice they
addressed him the same way blind Bartimaeus addressed him, thou
son of David. Now that's saying something because
the promised Messiah was to be from the tribe of Judah the house
of Jesse, and the son of David. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
the greater David, that's what I call him. But all the miracles
the Lord performed show and demonstrate to us that Jesus of Nazareth,
that Jesus Christ is indeed the promised Messiah, the son of
God, the Son of David, Son of God, Son of Man, to accomplish
all our salvation. And that's why He came. He didn't
come to make salvation a possibility. We talked about that in the Bible
study this morning. He came to actually accomplish
all our salvation. We read in Galatians chapter
4. Don't turn, let me read it to you. I've got it written down
here. In the fullness of time, Galatians 4 verse 4, following
in the fullness of the time, God sent forth his son, made
of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because
you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your
hearts, crying, he's my father, Abba father, Abba father. Now,
the Lord Jesus Christ is that promised son of David. You remember
how we started? Look back at Matthew chapter
one. Matthew chapter 1. When they're saying that thou
art the son of David, they're saying that you are the fulfillment
of the promised Messiah. Matthew chapter 1 verse 1. Remember
how we started back in February? The book of the generation of
Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham beget
Isaac, Isaac beget Jacob, Jacob beget Judas, Judah, the tribe
of Judah, and his brethren. And Judas begat Phares, and Zahar
of Tamar. And Phares begat Esrom, and Esrom
begat Aram. And Aram begat Abinadad, and
Abinadad begat Nason. Nason begat Salmon. Salmon begat
Boaz of Rahab. Rahab was the harlot. We've been
studying the book of Ruth about Boaz the kinsman redeemer. Salmon
begat Boaz of Rahab, Rahab the harlot. Boaz begat Obed of Ruth. That's what the book of Ruth
is all about. And Obed begat Jesse. Jesse begat David the
king. And the king, and David the king,
begat Solomon of Uriah, Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. So all the genealogy,
if you look back at the genealogy, the human line when he talked
about a body hath thou prepared me, that came from the tribe
of Judah. He is called the lion of the
tribe of Judah, is he not? The lion of the tribe of Judah.
Now, if you'll turn to Matthew 11, turn one page to Matthew
11, and the miracles he did proclaim him to be the Messiah. It was
never so seen in Israel. Remember we read, look at Matthew
11, verse 2. And when John had heard in prison
the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said
unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
And the Lord answered and said unto them, You go and show John
again those things which you do here and see. The blind receive
their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,
the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them,
and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. Saving
faith is not a shame to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
these miracles proclaim him to be the son of David, the promised
Messiah. Son of God. Now, by raising the
dead, as we saw last time, when that little 12-year-old daughter
of that ruler of that synagogue, when her, when his little daughter
died and the Lord went to that house and raised her up from
the dead, by raising the dead, he shows himself to be the same
God that breathed life into the lump of clay Back in the beginning,
and man became a living soul. God formed man out of the dust
of the earth. Let me read it to you in Genesis
2 verse 7. And the Lord God formed man out
of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life and man became a living soul. A living soul. So by raising the dead, he shows
himself that he is God who gives life. By giving sight to the
blind, he shows himself to be the same one that created all
things by the word of his power. When he said, let there be light,
and light was. God created all things out of
nothing by the word of his power. We don't create anything. We
just kind of move things around. God spoke all things into existence
by the word of his power. So when he gives sight to the
blind, he does so because he's the one that causes the light
to shine, and he shines in our darkened heart. By casting out
diseases and demon spirits, he shows himself to be the seed
of woman that would crush Satan's dominion and power. Remember
from the book of Genesis, in Genesis chapter 3, The Lord said, I put enmity between
thee and the woman, the woman's seed, between thy seed and her
seed, and Christ shall bruise thy head, speaking of Satan's
dominion and power, and thou shalt bruise his heel, his humanity. I love this psalm. Psalm 3. Arise, O Lord, and save me, O
my God, for Thou hast smitten all my enemies upon the cheekbone
and has broken out the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongs
unto the Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ has destroyed
the dominion of death and the dominion of the devil. Let me
read this scripture to you. This is found in Hebrews 2. For
as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
he himself likewise took part of the same, that through death
he might destroy him that had power of death, that is, through
sin being introduced, that is, the devil, and deliver them who
through fear of death are all their lifetime subject to bondage. So he destroyed him, that is,
Satan's dominion and power, and in doing that, Christ crucified,
he delivered them. He is our deliverer. He is our redeemer. That's what
a redeemer does. He redeems from all our sin,
who were all their lifetime subject to bondage. He redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us. Now, the first
miracle we'll look at here is found in verse 27 down through
verse 31. Let's read these verses together
again to refresh our mind. When Jesus departed thence, two
blind men followed Him. crying and saying, Thou son of
David, have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. And when he was coming to the
house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus saith unto them,
Believe ye that I am able to do this? Have mercy, have mercy. And they said unto him, Absolutely,
yes, you're the Lord. You are the Lord. Then he touched
their eyes. You remember in John chapter
9, you ever heard that saying, here's mud in your eye? I wonder
if it comes from John chapter 9 where there was a blind man
and he came to the Lord and the Lord just spit in the ground
and took up, made some clay and stuck it on his eyes. Here's
mud in your eye. And the Lord healed him. I wonder
if that's where that saying comes from. But the Lord healed him. Yes, Lord. Yes, we believe. Then he touched their eyes. He
didn't make a mud pie this time, he just touched their eyes. Sometimes
he just spoke a word. But he's the mean by which miracles
come. Then he touched their eyes saying,
according to your faith, be it unto you. And their eyes were
opened. And straightly charged them saying,
see that no man knows it, but when they departed and spread
abroad his fame in all the country." It was a deed that really didn't
need to be told. These men were known to be blind
men groping in the dark, and here now they're seeing for the
first time. Here we see the Lord showing
mercy. Again, I remind you, this is what the Lord does for us
when He saves us by His grace. He gives us spiritual sight to
see Him and our need of Him, and He gives us faith to look
to Him, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
These two blind men were companions. They were buddies. They were both blind. They were
both miserable. They were companions of misery. And they were also companions
of the Lord's mercy. And they were partakers of the
Lord's love, partakers of the Lord's grace, which is always
sovereign love and sovereign grace and sovereign mercy. They
were certainly in need of healing. They were blind and probably
born that way, had never seen the light of day. They didn't
know what light was. They had lived in the dark all
their life. We too, that's our condition,
we too are born blind. Not only blind, but dead spiritually
in sin. That is, we have no spiritual
sight. to see His glory, we have no spiritual life to see our
need of Christ, to believe on Him, and to know our need of
the Lord Jesus Christ to save us until He shows us and reveals
unto us our need of Him. You'll never seek Him until He
shows you your need of Him. The apostle writes about it this
way in Ephesians chapter 4, having our understanding darkened, being
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is
in them because of the blindness of their heart. Blinded in their
understanding. Paul said again in that same
epistle, that at that time we were without God, without hope,
and without Christ in this life. But now, God who is rich in mercy,
For His great love wherewith He loved us made us new creatures
in Christ. We're now made nigh by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. These two blind men certainly
followed the Lord as mercy beggars, didn't they? They followed the
Lord as mercy beggars saying, Son of David, Messiah, you're
the Messiah. We believe you to be the Messiah,
the one promise of God. Have mercy. That's a good prayer,
isn't it? You remember what the publican
prayed in the temple? God, be merciful to me, thee sinner.
I had a dear friend some years ago, an older friend. He said,
I really don't know what to pray, or how to pray, or what to pray
about. And I gave him this instruction, seven words, Lord, be merciful
to me, thee sinner. That's my prayer, isn't it? That
was their prayer. Have mercy. Have mercy on us. We come to the Lord as mercy
beggars, don't we? Let us, therefore, come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in our time of need. These two blind men earnestly
followed the Lord as mercy beggars, openly confessed that he was
the son of David. They believed him to be the Messiah. And like blind Bartimaeus, they
cried out, Thou son of David, remember the friends of Bartimaeus
said, just hush, hush a minute. He doesn't have time for you.
Just hush. And he cried the louder, Thou
Son of David, have mercy. Remember what we read in Mark
10? And Jesus stood still. That cry of mercy stopped the
Lord of glory in his tracks. That ought to encourage us to
cry out for mercy, right? The Lord Jesus Christ indeed
was made of a seed of David, declared to be the son of God
with power. He is both man and God in one
person, one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Over in Matthew
22, if you want to turn there, you can, but I've got a reference
here in Matthew 21, excuse me, Matthew 22, verse 41, Matthew
22, verse 41, while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus
asked them, They had asked him many questions, but he asked
them, saying, this is Matthew 22, verse 42, what think ye of
Christ, whose son is he? And they said unto him, the son
of David. Even those religious Jews knew
that the Messiah would come through David's line. And he saith unto
them, how then doth David in the spirit or by the spirit call
him Lord? Saying, and this is from Psalm
110, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand till
I make thine enemies thy footstool. If then, if David then called
him Lord, how is he his son? Well, that's a pretty good question. And no man was able to answer
him a word, neither does any man from that day forth ask him
any more questions. How can he be David's son and
David's Lord? Because he is the God-Man Mediator,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, verse 28, here's the Lord's
searching question and their confession of their faith in
Him. And when He was coming to the house, the blind men came
to Him, saying, The blind men came to him, and Jesus saith
unto them, rather, Believe ye that I am able to show mercy,
able to do this? And they said unto him, Yes,
sir. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Do you believe I am able to do
as The Lord promised. Do you believe? I'm asking you. Do you believe the Lord is able
to do as He promised? Saving faith, the faith of God's
elect, always says, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And amen. Now, don't turn now
and read it, but on the back of the bulletin, there is an
article that's written from 2 Corinthians chapter 1, about verse 19 or
so, Paul said, our preaching was not yea and nay, but our
preaching was yes. All the promises of God in him
are yes, and in him, amen, yes unto the glory of God by the
Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham was fully persuaded that
all that God had promised, he is able. Now here's the question,
is the Lord able? Do we serve an able Savior, an
able Redeemer, one who is able to save to the uttermost, or
is He a frustrated Savior? Is He tied up and frustrated
by creatures who act contrary to His will? No, He makes them
willing in the day of His power. Saving faith is like Abraham's
faith, giving God all the glory and being fully persuaded all
that God promised He was able to perform. All that God has
promised, not one word has failed. He performs all things. Now,
that reminded me of a testimony by the man named Joshua. Joshua followed Moses. all those years through the wilderness.
And when they got ready to cross over the river Jordan into the
promised land, God put Moses aside because he represented
the law. And Joshua, whose name means
Savior, led them into the promised land. But here's what Joshua
said on his deathbed. It's recorded in Joshua 23, verse
14. He said, I'm going the way of
all the earth. And you know, in all your hearts,
in all your soul, that not one thing failed of all the good
things which the Lord spake concerning you, all are come to pass, not
one thing hath failed." God is able, my friend. He is not one
who is frustrated, but one who does all his pleasure, all his
will. He said, I've spoken it, I bring
it to pass, I've purposed it, I will do it. God has performed
all things for us, and He's provided all things for us. Is the Lord
Jesus Christ able to redeem us from all our sin? Do you have
to think about that? No! Yes! Yes! The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin, in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches of His grace. Is
the Lord Jesus Christ able to pardon the wicked? and ungodly
sinners? Yes! Yes, he is. This is a faithful saying. We
had this on the radio this morning. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came in
this world to save sinners. And I'm the chief one. I'm the
chief offender. Is Christ able to pardon? Yes.
I love Love the prayer of Nehemiah, thou art a God ready to pardon.
Thou art a God ready to pardon. David said this in Psalm 85 verse
6, For thy Lord art good and ready to forgive, plenteous in
mercy unto all those that call upon Him. A publican did, and
God justified him. Is the Lord able to justify the
guilty and make them righteous in Christ? Yes. Yes. Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord imputes His righteousness without works. Is the Lord able
to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the
presence of God's glory? Is He able? The book of Jude
tells us that He's able to keep us from falling. He's able in
all things to present us in the presence of his glory with exceeding
joy, holy, unblameable, unreprovable in his sight." Well, that's good
news, isn't it? That's a shadow of good things
to come in Christ Jesus. Now look at verse 29, and he
touched their eyes. The Lord reached out and touched
their eyes, the touch of power, saying, according to your faith,
be it unto you, according to your confession, according to
your faith, be it unto you. The Lord Jesus Christ honors
faith because faith honors Him. Faith is the gift of God, not
of work which any man should boast. It was not according to
their merit, or according to their works, or according to
their obedience to the law, but according to their faith. Faith
in what? Faith in who? Faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You see, the strength of faith,
now listen to me carefully, the strength of faith is not in faith. The strength of faith is in the
object of our faith. That's Christ. That's the Lord
Jesus Christ. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with Him. Saving faith is always objective
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Saving faith never looks in here.
All I see in here is doubt and ignorance Unbelief. I look unto Him. Saving faith
is always looking outside of self unto Him. Being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
All things are possible to those who believe. Remember the words
of our Lord to that Roman soldier whose servant was sick. Go thy
way as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his
servant was healed that same hour. Matthew 8. Verse 13, all
things are possible to those who believe the gospel. You see,
without faith it is impossible to please God. He that comes
to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him. Now this word here that's given
to us in verse 29, underscore this word here, according, according,
according to your faith. I love that word according. I
keep promising myself I'm going to bring a message, entitle the
message, according. According. So we know that this
word according, it's not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to His mercy He saved us. That's Titus 3,
5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy He saved us. And then the other scripture
I like to quote, or at least try to quote it, is God who saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace given us in
Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. So it's not according
to this way of work, it's according to this way of God's grace. in Christ Jesus. Now let me show
you a couple places where that word according is used. Turn
to Romans chapter 8 first of all, Romans chapter 8, and we
could turn to many, many other scriptures where that word is
found, according. But Romans 8, 28, you're familiar
with this, but maybe you've never seen this word Romans 8, 28, and we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are thee called according, what? According to my goodness,
according to what I've done or what I've merited, according
to God's purpose. Purpose. For whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he called. And whom he called,
them he justified. And whom he justified, he glorified. What shall we say to these things?
Well, if God be for us, who can be against us? It's according
to God's purpose. Now, another one here in Romans,
turn to Romans 9. Romans 9, look at verse 11, for
the children, Romans 9, 11, for the children, being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God, the purpose of God according to something, according to what? Election, according to the purpose
of God, according to the election, Let me read that verse again.
With the children being not yet born, neither having done any
good or evil that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it is written,
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For He said to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that shows mercy. Salvation is according to God's
mercy. Here's another one. Let's turn
one page to Romans 11. Romans 11, a little verse. 5, Romans 11, even so then at this
present time there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. And if by grace then it's no
more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be
of works then it's no more grace, otherwise work is no more. So
salvation is either according to our works or according to
His grace. It cannot be both. It's either
one or the other. It's either Cain or Abel. We
know that salvation is by His purpose and grace given us in
Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. So, believe ye
that I am able to do this. Do you think the Lord is able
to save you? If He saved me, He can save you.
Yes! Yes, Lord. Then he touched their
eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their
eyes were opened. And the Lord straightly charged
them, saying, See that no man knoweth. But when they were departed,
spread abroad his fame in all the country. Their eyes were
opened. That is what the Lord does for sinners when he saves
them. He commands the light to shine out of darkness. He shines
in our heart that we might see the glory of God in the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember the old English
preacher John Newton? I once was lost, but now I am
found. Was blind, but now I see. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound. Now, this sight of seeing Christ
comes by revelation of God. It's a sovereign revelation of
God. And we can see that right here
close by in Matthew 11. Turn there. Matthew 11. Look
at verse 25. Matthew 11, 25. And it's a sovereign
revelation. At that time, Matthew 11, 25,
Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them
unto babes. Read on. Even so, Father, for
so it seemed good in thy sight. One more verse, 27, Matthew 11,
27. All things are delivered unto
me and my father. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son. And he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him." Sovereign revelation. Another scripture, a couple pages
over, look at Matthew 16. I'm saying the Lord must touch
the eyes of our understanding. Give us life and faith in Christ
that we might see the glory of God. in saving sinners through
Christ. In Matthew 16, verse 13, when
Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
disciples saying, who do men say that I, the son of man, am?
And they said, some say thou art John the Baptist, some Elijah,
Elias, which is Elijah, and other Jeremiah, or one of the other
prophets. But he said unto them, whom do
you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Lord
answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. You
didn't figure this thing out on your own. Flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
So salvation comes by, you know, I can educate you in doctrine,
but I can't reveal Christ to your heart. Salvation comes by
the revelation of God the Holy Spirit shining the light of the
gospel in your heart to give you life, to show you the beauty
and glory and your need of Christ and Christ alone. Now back to
the story again, and I've taken all my time this morning. Their eyes were opened, and what
did they see? They saw a sight of the Savior.
Their eyes were opened, and when God opened their eyes, opened
their understanding, we see the beauty and glory of Christ. Their
eyes are opened, and He told them, you don't need to tell
anybody about this. But they went, but they, when
they were departed, spread abroad all His fame in all the country. It was a deed that didn't need
to be told, because the deed itself, the miracle itself, told
itself out. As they went out, verse 32, they
brought to him a dumb man possessed with the devil. And when the
devil was cast out, the dumb man spake, and the multitude
marveled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees,
what did they say? The Pharisees always condemned
the Lord Jesus Christ. They said he cast out devils
through the print of devils. As a matter of fact, they called
him a devil. There was a division, therefore,
again among the Jews for the saying, and many of them said,
this is in John 10, he has a devil and is mad. Why do you hear him? The multitude marveled. The Pharisees
condemned the Lord Jesus Christ. May God Almighty give us the
spirit of understanding. May He enlighten our eyes that
we can answer this question in our heart. Believe ye that I'm
able to do this? Yes. Yes, Lord. Yes, salvation is of the Lord
and salvation is in Him.