Mark chapter 10. Let's read the
first verse there. And they came to Jericho. Now this is the Lord Jesus Christ
and His disciples that God had given to Him. And He plainly
declared unto them that He must go to Jerusalem, that He must
die, that He must be raised again. And as they came, and they came
to Jericho, and as they went through and out of Jericho with
his disciples and a great number of people, we see this one blind
beggar sitting by the highway side, old Bartimaeus, blind Bartimaeus. He was the son of a man named
Timaeus and he sat by the highway side begging, begging. Do you consider yourself a beggar?
Do you ever think about begging God for mercy? God's people who
know and believe the gospel never graduate above the state of being
a mercy beggar. I'm a mercy beggar like the publican
God. Be merciful to me, thee, sinner. I need mercy. Mercy. Moses asked the Lord, show me
your glory. You remember in Exodus 33? He
said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. God's greatest
glory is my greatest need. I need the mercy of God. Not by works of righteousness
that we have done, but according to His mercy. God saves sinners
by His sovereign, free mercy of God. Mercy alone. Now, throughout the Gospel story,
the Gospels we have here of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we see the
Lord Jesus Christ meeting certain people, meeting sinners in need,
need of mercy. And you know the Lord Jesus Christ
never turned a beggar away. Never one time. Whenever you
find the Lord Jesus crossing a path of a sinner in need of
mercy, He shows mercy. to those who are in need." And
you know, this is the very reason He came. This Scripture here,
don't turn, let me just read it to you in Luke 4, that He
said, "...the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed
Me to preach the gospel to the poor." This is why God sent Him.
"...He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance
to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind." I bet Bartimaeus
was glad for that. Recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are bruised. That's why He came.
He didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners. Sinners to repentance. We see through the gospel record
the Lord Jesus Christ meeting a leper in Matthew chapter 8. And He says to the leper, well,
what do you need? He said, if you will, you can
make me clean. And the Lord said, I will, be
thou clean. We see the Lord Jesus Christ
in Matthew chapter 9 that we read earlier meeting a cripple. And He said, Son, be of good
cheer, thy sins are forgiven. And then He healed him, not only
spiritually, but physically. He gave him legs to walk and
leap and praise Almighty God. Again, in Matthew chapter 9,
we find the Lord Jesus Christ raising a dead little girl, a
little girl who had died recently. And He walked in that room and
He said, get up and walk out and live, just like as He did
with Lazarus. Lazarus, come forth! And he that
was dead came forth. We see another story of of a
demon-possessed man in Mark chapter 5, a wild, crazy man that no
one could tame. No one could help him. He was
beyond human help until he met the Master. And then we find
this man sitting before he was running wild, clothed before
he was naked, and in his right mind and before he was crazy. You see, he met the Master. He
met the Lord Jesus Christ. Now these miracles certainly
demonstrate who He is. The works that God gave Him to
do, they manifest that He is Almighty God. He is Almighty
God in no less than Almighty God dwelling among us. They not only demonstrate that
He is God, but they also demonstrate to us how the Lord saves sinners. They're not just interesting
stories of miracles, although they are, but they show more
to us, reveal more to us. They show unto us and reveal
unto us how God saves sinners by His grace. You see, what we
read of these people, their infirmity physically is what I am spiritually
before God. You see, I'm the leper who needs
cleansing. I'm the blind man who needs eyes
to see. I'm the one who is dead in sin
who needs life from God. I'm the one that's unclean and
need of cleansing. I'm the one that is demon possessed
who needs to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ and
set in my right mind to believe God and to love the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, I don't know about you.
But I can certainly identify with my brother here named Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus. Notice in verse 46
in this story of Mark 10, notice the Lord came to Jericho. The Lord on purpose passed through
Jericho. He was on His way to that climax, an ultimate end of His
coming. He's on His way to Jerusalem
to accomplish salvation by the sacrifice of Himself for His
people. He's on His way to give His life
a ransom, as it says in verse 45, to give His life a ransom
for many. But as He's passing into Jericho
and passes through Jericho and on the way out of Jericho, here's
one little blind beggar. sitting by the highway side. While on his mission of mercy
to save many, he stopped to show mercy to one sinner. A great number of people were
there, as it says in verse 46, but Bartimaeus was singled out
as an object of his mercy. He had his eye on one man, Bartimaeus. How long has he had his eye on
Bartimaeus? My friend from eternity. He loved his people with an everlasting
love. And we see again, he passes by
the whole crowd and sets his affection on one sinner named
Bartimaeus. That's my story. That's me. Old Bartimaeus. Blind and deaf
and dumb. And God in His sovereign mercy
one day passed by and He said, at the time of love, and He said,
live by His grace. Notice something else in verse
46, Bartimaeus was in sad, a sad, sad state. He was in a sad condition. He was a son, it says there,
of Timaeus. He was a son of Timaeus. You
see, he was born of a sinner. He was born with the inherent
corrupt nature of his father Timaeus. Oh, Bartimaeus was just
like his father Timaeus, a sinner. And I can say this of myself,
Tom, son of Adam. My daddy's name was Harold. Harold
Lyman Harding. Tom, born of Harold, a sinner. A sinner. Through and through.
You see, in Adam all died sinners, only beget sinners. Born in sin,
shaping in iniquity. Something else about this man,
old Bartimaeus, he was blind. He was blind. Born blind. And
my friend, by nature, we have no eyes to see His beauty. We
have no love. We set our affection not on things
above. We set our affection on things
in this earth, on ourselves. He was blinded by nature. We
have no eyes to see the beauty and glory of Christ. Our minds
have been blinded by sin. We see things corruptly, not
correctly, corruptly. Something else about this man,
he was in poverty. It says there, he was a beggar.
He was just in his old, ragged, dusty, dirty, filthy clothes,
sitting by the side, begging, begging, would somebody help
me? Somebody come by and help me.
He was in poverty, bankrupt, desperate, begging on the streets.
That's my story. That's my story. without God,
without hope, without Christ, without life in this world. That's
how I'm born. That's what I am by nature, alienated
from God, having no hope and without Christ. Something else,
notice where he lived. He lived in a wicked place. He
lived in Jericho. You don't want to go down to
Jericho. Jericho is a bad place. Bad place. It was a notable place
of wickedness. And my friend, that's exactly
where I'm born. I live in Jericho. Born in sin. Shapen in iniquity. I live in
this sin-cursed earth. Jericho. Well, look at verse
47. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou
Son of David, have mercy. Have mercy on me. And many said
to Him, verse 48, hold your peace. Don't bother this man. He doesn't
have time for you. He's got some more important
things to do. Don't bother him. He wouldn't
hold. He wouldn't hold his peace. He
cried out to more. He cried out to more a great
deal. You see, this man was in need.
No one could stop him. Thou Son of David, Thou Son of
David, have mercy on me. Now he heard. He couldn't see
at this point, but he heard. He heard that the Lord was there. Now how did he hear? Turn back
here where it's over here in rather Luke 18. How did he hear?
How did he hear that the Lord was passing by? Passing through? This same story is given to us
And we have some more detail in Luke 18. Luke 18, verse 35. And it came to pass that as he
was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside,
begging, and hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.
And they told him... Somebody told him. Jesus of Nazareth
is passing by, and he cried, saying, Thou Son of David, have
mercy on me." Somehow, someone heard that He was coming and
declared that the Savior is coming through. Somehow he heard about
the Savior healing others, showing mercy to others, that Jesus of
Nazareth was the Messiah. And he called upon Him, Son of
David, Lord. Now I want you to find the other
place where this is recorded. Find Matthew chapter 20. Matthew
chapter 20, sometimes we have to read all four accounts of
the Gospel, and this is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Matthew
chapter 20, verse 30. Notice how he addresses the Lord
here. The multitude rebuked him, this
is Matthew 20, verse 31, because they should hold their peace,
but they cried the more. In this story here, there was
two blind men. Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou
Son of David. He called him Lord, Son of David,
the Messiah. Somehow he heard about the Savior,
the Messiah, the Lord healing others. And he said to himself,
well, why not me? He healed others. He had mercy
on others. Why not me? Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God." Someone told him about the Savior. He heard about the Lord's miracle
and the healing of others. And when he heard that this man
was coming by, he said in his heart, before he cried, why not
me? I need mercy. And he cries out
of his need. Oh, the necessity of hearing
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll never call upon
Him in whom you've not believed nor heard. And you can't believe
in Him in whom you have not heard. We must preach the gospel and
God will bless that to the hearts of His people. Notice something
else. He cried out for help. He cried
out for help. He said, Lord, have mercy on
me. Turn back to Mark 10. He says this twice here in verse
47 and verse 48 of Mark 10. He cried out for help, believing
that the Lord was able. He called upon Him as Lord and
Savior. He called out of faith. He called
out of His need. Why did He call? He was needy. And He knew that this One, this
Messiah, this Son of David could meet all His need. And my friend,
I call out of my need. And I know that He's able to
meet all my need, and it's singular, according to His riches in glory,
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. I tell you what, if you ever,
by the grace of God, see yourself as lost and doomed and condemned,
you'll call. You'll call upon the Lord and
He will show mercy. That's what the Scripture said.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He cried out for help. Thirdly,
He cried out for mercy. His desperate need determined
His violent cry. They told Him to hush, and it
says there in verse 48, He cried to Moher a great deal. You see,
He had a great need. Therefore, He cried greatly. His desperate need determined
His violent cry unto the Lord. He cried to Moher a great deal.
And I tell you this, Our Lord is able to meet all our need. He's the gracious Lord, the sovereign
Lord. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. Anybody thirsty? You know what
the Lord says? He said, come unto Me and drink.
Come unto Me and drink. Anybody hungry? He said, come
unto Me and eat. And you'll never be hungry again.
He said, are any of you weary? Come unto Me and I'll give you
Rest. Rest for your soul. Anybody need
life? Turn to John chapter 10. Look
at this here. John chapter 10. Anybody need
life? Salvation? John chapter 10. Turn and read
this with me. John chapter 10. Look at verse 7. Verily, verily, I
say unto you, I am the door, the sheep. John 10, 7. All that
ever came before me are thieves and robbers. The sheep didn't
hear them, but I am the door. I am the door. By me, if any
man shall enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in, and
out, and find pasture, shall go into life, out of death, into
life. The thief cometh not, but for
to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they
might have life, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly. I'm the Good Shepherd. I give my life for the sheep.
And through His sacrifice, we have life." You see, he cried
out of a desperate need. He needed mercy, and he continued
to cry. Now, notice back in Mark 10,
verse 49, notice this. Notice what happens. When this
man hears about the Savior coming through, and out of his desperate
need, he needs help so desperately, and he cries unto the One who
can help. And notice what happened here.
And Jesus stood still. Now you get a hold of what it
said right there. And the Master, God Almighty, God manifests in
the flesh as He's walking the Calvary Street. To do that great
work of God in redeeming His people, He stopped at the cry
of a sinner in need of mercy. That ought to encourage us to
cry unto the Lord. The cry of mercy stopped the
Savior. Our great God hears the cry of
His people. Let me show you a couple of scriptures.
Find Psalm 40. Cry unto the Lord. That ought
to encourage us to cry. You know, He hears the cry of
His people. Don't you mamas hear the cry
of your baby? You wouldn't turn a deaf ear to the cry of your
baby, would you? You think the Father, God Almighty, God who
is love, would turn His ear from the cry of His people? Psalm
40, look at verse 1. I waited patiently for the Lord,
and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. Psalm 40. I waited patiently
for the Lord. He inclined unto me and He, what? He heard my cry. He brought me
up also out of a horrible pit, out of the murry clay. He set
my feet upon a rock. He established my goings. He
hath put a new song in my mouth, even praising to our God. Many
shall see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is
that man that maketh the Lord his trust. and respecteth not
the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies." Turn to one other psalm
here. Find Psalm 138. The cry of mercy
stopped the Savior in His tracks. The Son stood still. Look here at Psalm 138, verse
6. Though the Lord be high, And He is the High Lord. He is
exalted. He is the Almighty Sovereign
of the universe. Yet hath He respect unto the
lowly, but the proud He knoweth afar off. Though the Lord be
high, yet He thinks upon the lowly. He knows our frame. He says in another psalm, He
knows that we are but dust. That's what we are, dust. We're
His dust, redeemed by His blood. Now notice something else. Look
back at verse 49. Mark 10, 49. The cry of mercy
stopped the Savior and notice this. Verse 49. And He invited him to come down
front. That's not what it says there.
The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not an invitation,
it's a command. Command. Jesus stood still and
a king doesn't invite people to come. The king commands people
to come. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of His power." And He commanded him to be called. When
God calls out His people to Himself, my friend, it is an irresistible,
effectual call of God. It's a high calling, it's a holy
calling, it's a heavenly calling, but my friend, it is an effectual
call. Those whom He did predestinate,
He called. This is one of those predestinated
ones. Oh, Bartimaeus! And he called
him. He called him to himself. It's
an effectual call. Something else it's called, not
a judgment. It's a call of grace. God who
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His purpose and grace given us in Christ
Jesus. It's an effectual call. It's
a call of grace. Bartimaeus! Come here. You see, the Great Shepherd,
the Good Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, He knows His sheep
by name and He calls them out to Himself. Something else about
this call, it's a personal call. It's a personal call. Zacchaeus,
you remember old Zacchaeus? Wasn't he a publican who wasn't
so honest in his dealings? And one day he was up that sycamore
tree and the Lord walked by and the Lord said His Eye on him
and said, Zacchaeus, make haste. Come down. I must abide at your
house. You're one of those sons of Abraham.
Oh, great mercy. It's a personal call. He calls
his sheep personally. He knows them by name. It's an
intimate call, a powerful call. It's an irresistible call. And
my friend, it's a call of comfort. Look what he says there, be of
good comfort. Oh, how sweet that is. It's like
He said to that paralyzed man, Be of good cheer, thy sin be
forgiven thee. It's a call of comfort, comfort. He, look what it says there,
He calleth thee. What a blessed call when the
Savior calls us with the Gospel and calls us to Himself and heals
us by His grace. You see, it's not many wise men,
not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God had chosen
the foolish. Things that are base. Let's see
if we can find that and read that. I think that'll be a blessing
to you. Find 1 Corinthians chapter 1.
Not many wise men, not many mighty, not many noble, but God had chosen. So you see your calling, brethren.
1 Corinthians chapter 1. The Jews require a sign, verse
22, 1 Corinthians chapter 1. The Greeks seek after wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews, well it certainly
was a stumbling block. Unto the Greeks, we don't need
a crucified Savior, it's foolish. Look what it says there, but
unto them that are called, called of God. You reckon Bartimaeus
heard that call of the Master? Oh, he was anticipating and waiting
for that call. But of them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, Christ the
wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and
the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling,
brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh are called,
that not many doctors could believe the gospel. Not many wise men,
not many mighty, not many noble are called. Doesn't say any,
just says not many. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
And the base things of the world and things which are despised
hath God chosen, yea, the things which are not, to bring to naught
the things that are. You see, the end of that, that
no flesh should glory in His presence, But of Him are you
in Christ, who of God is made unto us wisdom, everything I
need, righteousness, to stand before God. He is my holiness. He is my deliverer. He is my
redemption, that I might give Him all the honor and glory for
all of salvation. Well, there's the call. What's
going to happen? Look back at the story in Mark
chapter 10. The Lord stood still and commanded
him to be called. And they called the blind man
and they said, Be of good comfort. He calls for you. What was going
to happen? And he, casting away his garment,
rose and came to the Lord. Here's the sinner's response.
At the call of God. Now notice this. He cast away
his only possession. Probably the only thing that
he had to cover him and to comfort him and to protect him, all of
his safety, all of his refuge, he discards it, throws it away
and runs to the Lord. He arose and came to Jesus. You remember the songwriter said
this, In my hand no price I bring, simply to the cross of Christ
I cling. casting away, and this is what
happens when God saves us and when He calls us. We cast away
and we cling no longer to our self-righteousness and all of
our religious baggage of the past. We live not back there,
forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth
unto those things which are before. We say with Paul we count all
of our righteousnesses as filthy rags and we count all things
but dung that we might win Christ. and be found in Him. Be found
in Him. Oh, that we might cast away.
Cast away all things and come to Christ. And that's what God does when
He saves us. He teaches us in salvation that Christ is all
and in all. Casting away. Have you cast away
by His grace? all your so-called good deeds. Are you resting in something
you've done, some experience you had, or have you cast it
all away? And have you come to the Lord
Jesus Christ by faith? By faith. Well, it says there,
He came. Notice, it says here, He came. Where did He come? To whom did
He come? Well, He came to the one who
called Him. He came to the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He came
to the Lord. You see, my friends, salvation
is in a person. Salvation is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Salvation is in no other. There
is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved. He didn't come to the mourner's
bench, to the altar, to the church, to the preacher. He didn't come
to the ceremonies. He didn't come to the law. He
came to Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
what we're preaching here. We're preaching Christ. And we're
determined as the Apostle Paul to know nothing among you but
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He came to the Lord. I pray God
will cause us to do that every moment to come to Him. You see,
that's the life of salvation. That's the life of faith looking,
coming unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 51. And Jesus answered
and said, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And the
blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
Here's a searching, revealing question. What will you that
I should do unto you? Now the Lord doesn't ask questions
for information, but to hear this man's confession. Lord,
that I might receive my sight. Like the leopard, Lord, if you
will, you can make me clean. Salvation is a sovereign gift
of God that is received by faith, God-given faith. Look at verse
52. Lord, that I might receive. How
is salvation received? Not by doing, by believing, by
faith. And that gives God all the honor
and glory. Verse 52, and Jesus said unto him, Now watch this.
Go thy way. Go thy way. Look at the last
line. And he followed Jesus in the
way. That was his way. Go thy way. You see, his way
was the Lord's way. And the Lord's way was his way.
And Jesus said in him, Go thy way. Now watch this. Thy faith
hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his
sight and followed the Lord in the way." Now, where'd this faith
come from? Where'd this faith come from?
It's not something that bloomed in this man's heart naturally.
I want you to find II Peter 1. Now, this is important. I want you to turn and see this.
Where'd this faith, this faith that saved him, this faith that
made him whole, where'd this faith come from? We know that faith is a gift
of God. Saving through faith is a gift of God. 2 Peter 1,
verse 1. Simon Peter, a servant and an
apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious
faith. Now faith is precious. They have
obtained precious faith. Now watch this, and underscore
this, with us through through the righteousness of God. Faith
comes through the righteousness of God. What is the righteousness
of God? It's the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's how faith comes. It comes
through the righteousness of God, our Savior Jesus Christ. It's precious. It's the gift
of God. God-given faith honors God, and
God-given faith obtains what it seeks for. He received His
sight and He followed the Lord Jesus Christ. Now listen to this. There was a man in Scripture
in the book of Acts chapter 18. His name was Apollos. And God
raised this man up to be a preacher of the gospel and He sent him
to help some people. It says in Acts 20, 18, 27, He
helped them much which had believed through grace. Through grace. Faith is not of our nature. What comes to us naturally? Unbelief,
not faith. Faith is not of ourselves. Nor
is faith the product of man's free will. It is a gift of God. It's a gift of God's grace. It
is the fruit of electing grace. It is the instant of distinguishing
grace. It's owing to efficacious grace. And it comes along with the effectual
calling of grace. Faith does, through the Word
preached, the means of grace, and is supported and maintained
by the grace of God. This is the faith that saves.
And the faith of God's elect, you know what the faith of God's
elect does? Let me show you another scripture. The book of Titus.
The faith of God's elect, like repentance, both faith and repentance
acknowledge the truth in salvation. How do I know if I have true
faith, saving faith, and true repentance? They both love the
truth of salvation in Christ Jesus. Look at Titus 1.1. Paul,
a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the faith
of God's elect. There's the faith of God's elect
and the acknowledging of a truth which is after godliness that
glorifies God in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie
promised before the world began, but hath in due time manifested
his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according
to the commandment of God our Saviour." Bartimaeus, turn back
to the text. Mark chapter 10. And Jesus said
unto him, Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his
sight. and he followed the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, my sheep hear my voice,
I know them, and they follow me, and I've given them eternal
life, and they'll never perish. Neither can any man pluck them
out of my hand. I pray the Lord to bless these
words to your heart.