Open Eyes That I May See

Q: What does the Bible say about total depravity?

Total depravity means that all humans are born sinful and incapable of seeking God without divine intervention. Total depravity, as understood in the Reformed theology, indicates that humanity is entirely fallen and sinful due to the original sin of Adam. Romans 5:12 explicitly states that through one man, Adam, sin entered into the world and death through sin, thus death spread to all men because all sinned. This implies that, by nature, humans are blind to their spiritual condition, poor in righteousness, and incapable of doing anything that pleases God without His intervening grace. As such, fallen humanity is in a state of spiritual blindness, unaware of its desperate need for redemption unless awakened by God's Spirit.

Q: How do we know that God offers mercy to sinners?

Scriptural examples, such as Bartimaeus' cry for mercy, illustrate God's readiness to respond to the desperate pleas of sinners. The biblical account of Blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10 serves as a profound illustration of God's mercy. Bartimaeus, realizing his powerless state, cries out to Jesus, identifying Him as the Son of David and pleading for mercy. This act demonstrates the essential truth that God, in His grace, is always willing to respond to those who sincerely seek Him for help. Our Lord's response to Bartimaeus, stopping and calling him over, shows that God's mercy is not only available but also actively extends toward those who know their need for it. It's the recognition of one's spiritual blindness and poverty that brings one to a place of seeking God's mercy.

Q: Why is calling upon Christ important for salvation?

Calling upon Christ acknowledges our need for Him and recognizes His power to save. Calling upon Jesus, as seen in the plea of Blind Bartimaeus, is vital for salvation because it is an admission of both our inability and Christ's capability to meet our spiritual needs. When Bartimaeus called out, he recognized Jesus as his only hope, which reflects the biblical teaching that salvation is through faith in Christ alone. Romans 10:13 states, 'For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' This act of calling signifies trust in Christ's redemptive work and an understanding that salvation is a gift of grace that cannot be earned. Recognizing one's spiritual condition and the need for mercy opens the way for God’s redemptive power to work in their lives.

Q: What can we learn from Blind Bartimaeus' faith?

Blind Bartimaeus exemplifies persistent faith that seeks Jesus amidst opposition. The faith demonstrated by Blind Bartimaeus is a model of persistence and recognition of need. Despite those around him urging him to be quiet, Bartimaeus continued to cry out to Jesus, displaying determination in seeking help. This scenario teaches that sincere faith will often face challenges and discouragement but must remain steadfast. The essence of his plea—acknowledging Jesus as Lord and asking for mercy—serves as a powerful testament to the nature of true faith; it is humble, persistent, and focused solely on Christ as the source of salvation. His faith did not seek earthly benefits but solely the restoration of his sight, illustrating that true faith prioritizes spiritual understanding and clarity over temporal gains.

Let's look back a moment at the scripture which Joe read,
Mark 10, verse 46. And they came to Jericho, and
as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number
of people, Blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
highway side begging. Someone said that this man, Bartimaeus,
was beset with two evils. First of all, he was blind. And
it's sad to be blind. But Bartimaeus was not only blind,
but he was in poverty. It was bad enough to be blind,
but how very, very sad both to see not and to have not. And this is a picture of our
state and condition by birth and by nature. You and I are
blind and poor. I know we think we're You'll
rarely find a son of Adam who does not think that he sees.
But this is one phase of our blindness, the fact that we think
we see. And this is one thing that aggravates
our blindness, of which our Lord said, if that light which be
in you is darkness, how great is that darkness. And not only
do we think we see, but this deception keeps us from seeking
help. We are blind, we think we see,
and because we think we see, we do not seek help. We do not
seek healing. And worse than that, we try to
lead the other blind people. Now you think about that. Here
we are, blind to the light of God's glory, blind to the beauty
of Christ Jesus, blind to our own wretched condition, blind
to our blindness, living in darkness, thinking that we see. And therefore,
thinking that we see, we do not seek help. We go on in our darkness,
go on in our blindness, thinking that we're in the light. And not only that, but we try
to lead other blind people, and our Lord said, they both fall
into the ditch. And we're poverty stricken. We
lost everything in Adam. We lost our birthright. We lost
our inheritance. We lost the life of God. We lost
the weight of God. We lost the truth of God. We
lost everything. And like blind Bartimaeus, we're
in rags. We're in poverty. And we sit around talking about
we're rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing.
And know not that we're miserable, wretched, poor, blind and naked. And that brings us to a third
condition. And it's terrible to talk this
way about ourselves, but it's true. We're blind and we're poverty
stricken and we're fools. Because only a fool will think
that he sees when he's blind. And only a fool will boast of
his riches while he dwells in poverty. And so Paul wrote in
Romans 1, verse 22, professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools. Well, I want to speak tonight
to people who are blind and people who are poor, but not to fools. I hope that everyone here who
is blind knows he's blind and who is in poverty, spiritual
poverty, knows something about that poverty by God's grace,
has discovered his poverty and discovered his blindness and
wants something to be done about it. We have no message for fools. They'll have to go on in their
poverty and in their blindness as our Lord said of these religious
professors, leave them alone. Lord, the Pharisees were offended
by what you said. Leave them alone. Every tree
which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up.
Leave them alone. They be blind leaders of the
blind. And if the blind lead the blind, they both will fall
into the ditch. I want you to look back at the
text. Now let me take about five or six points and apply this
outstanding illustration and picture to us today. First of all, it says in verse
46, and they came to Jericho. I was listening to Brother Barnard
preach one time years ago, and he asked us to turn to John chapter
1. Will you turn over there a minute
to John chapter 1? It says here that they came,
our Lord came to Jericho. Our Lord paid Jericho a personal
visit. He was in Jericho. He, the Son
of God, the eternal Lord of glory, very God of their God, the express
image of God the Father, the brightness of His glory, He was
in Jericho. And Ralph said in John chapter
1, verse 10, the Scripture pronounces one of the greatest blessings
that could ever be given to this human race, it says, He was in
this world. Do you grasp what that means?
He was in this world. Our Lord, the King of glory,
He, the only begotten well-beloved Son of God, He, He was in this
world. He was here on this earth. He
condescended to visit this place. He clothed Himself in human flesh
and came down here and dwelt among us. He was in this world. The world didn't know Him. The
world didn't recognize Him. The world wouldn't have Him.
But He was here. He was here. And He was in Jericho.
Our Lord Himself came to Jericho. And I say tonight to you, I believe
this is true. I believe He's visited our little
city. Ashland, Kentucky. I believe the Lord is here. You say, how is the Lord here,
Preacher? Well, He's not here in the flesh. He's no longer
on this earth in the form of Mary's son. He's no longer here
clothed in the likeness of sinful flesh. He's no longer walking
in sandals and a robe and no longer dwelling here on our earth. He is sitting at the right hand
of God, but He's here. He has been pleased to visit
with us in His Word. He's right here. Our Lord is
revealed in this Word. Our Lord is not only here in
His Word, but He is here in His Spirit. Some of you can testify
to the fact that the Lord has been pleased to reveal Himself
to you. He has come in His Word and in
His Spirit and made Himself known to you. And I say this, He is
here in the message of His minister. If I am His minister, if I have
been called of Him to preach His gospel, if I can say like
the Apostle Paul, I am an ambassador of Jesus Christ, if I can say
that at this time, in this hour, God has given me a message to
deliver to you, then Christ speaks through me. And Christ said,
He that heareth you actually heareth me. And he that rejected you, rejected
me. Is that so? It says he came to Jericho. He came to Jericho. What a blessed,
blessed time. What an opportunity. What a responsibility. If he's not here, we're wasting
our time. But if he is here, it's something
to think about, isn't it? If he's not here, he said, where
two or three are met together in my name, I will be there in
the midst of them. I trust that we're meeting in
Christ's name. I trust that our motive is not
a bad motive. I trust that our motive is not
a fleshly motive. I trust that our objective is
to meet in His name. And if we are, if we have, even
two or three of us, then he says, I'm there. And as I read this
Scripture here, and they came to Jericho, I thought, oh, wouldn't
it be something if He came tonight? If He came tonight and actually
dwelt among us? But go on, it says something
else here, and He came to Jericho, but He went out of Jericho. He went out of Jericho. I don't
know how long He stayed there. I don't know how long he was
in that city, but I do know that he was now leaving that city. And that makes me sad. Will there
come a time when our Lord will no longer confront us with the
command to repent? Will there come a time when our
Lord will no longer speak to our generation or to our nation
or to our congregation? Will there come a time when it
will be said, and he went out of their city? And he went out
of their city. It may be there's got to be a
last day. There's got to be a last sermon.
Somebody's got to preach the last sermon. There's got to be
a last visit. There's got to be a last confrontation. There has to be. God has promised
that. There's got to be a last call.
Has to be. I think, Jack, sometimes And
I believe I could back this up with the Word of God if I had
time. I think sometimes men hear their last call while they're
still living. I believe men are judicially
blinded. I know Israel was. I know Israel
was. You say, talking about a deadline
now. That's all right. Maybe. Call it what you will.
Call it what you will. But you don't tamper with the
grace of God. They being who being often reproved
and hardened at their neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that
without remedy. Our Lord doesn't constantly,
continually. The cup fills up after a while.
Their foot shall slide, He said, in due time. My spirit shall
not always strive with man. You say you take that out of
its context. That's all right. It's so anyhow. It's so anyhow. He went out of Jericho. He didn't camp there. He didn't
continue there. He visited there. He passed through
there. He was there. Bless God he was
there. Thank God he was there. I rejoice
that he was there. For the blessing and benefit
of some, he was there. But he went out. And when he
went out, the door was closed. But there was a man there. It
says here, called Blind Bartimaeus. I've already told you about him.
He was blind. He was poor. He was sitting by
the wayside and they didn't have food stamps or welfare then. They didn't have a welfare program
to take care of people. He was on the mercies of the
public. I don't know whether I could describe the condition
of that man or not, but I just imagine in my mind that that
he was just about as poor as a fellow could get, sitting there
dirty, uncared for, ragged, wrapped in a blanket. He'd been sitting
there beside that highway with his hand outstretched for somebody
to give him a little help. He was poor and he was blind.
And you know it says something here that caught my attention.
It says he was the son of Timaeus and Bartimaeus. Poor, blind Bartimaeus was the son of Timaeus. Now,
I don't have the faintest idea what that means in reference
to Bartimaeus. But I know what it means in reference
to me. Oh, poor, blind, poverty-stricken,
bankrupt Henry is the son of Adam. And that's what got me
in the mess, I mean. I don't know. I don't know, maybe
his father was blind, and he inherited that blindness. Maybe
his father was a blind beggar, and he's just like his father.
I don't know. But I do know my father was blind, and consequently
I'm blind. I do know that my father was
bankrupt, and consequently I'm bankrupt. Turn to Romans chapter
5. That's right. In Romans the 5th
chapter, let's look at it here. It says in Romans the 5th chapter,
and reading beginning with verse 12, It says, wherefore, as by
one man, Adam, sin entered into the world,
and death by sin. So death, poverty, blindness,
passed upon all men, for all sinned. No, I didn't read that
wrong. I know it says all have sinned,
but you've got another translation that's a little better on that.
It says all sinned. When Adam sinned, I sinned. When
Adam died, I died. When Adam was cast into blindness
and poverty, I was too. It says over here in verse 17,
Romans 5, by one man's offense, death reigned. Verse 18, by the
offense of one judgment came upon all men the condemnation.
Verse 19, as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So I
am the son of Adam. Here I sit. The Lord Jesus, in
His grace and mercy, has condescended to visit my town, my world. He's condescended in His glory
and beauty and holiness and wealth and riches to come into my presence,
to confront me with His very person. And there I sit, old
son of Adam, old child of wrath, in my field. He in His beauty. In my blindness, He in His omniscience. Me in my emptiness, He in His
fullness. Me in my depravity, He in His
holiness. Well, it tells me something old
Bartimaeus did. Verse 47. It says, Bartimaeus,
when he heard, when he heard, that it was Jesus of Nazareth.
He couldn't see. He couldn't see. He couldn't
see the glory of Christ or the beauty of Christ, but he could
hear. He could hear. Now let me challenge all of you,
all of you who are students of the Scripture and students of
theology and particularly students of what we call Calvinism. It's possible, and not only possible
but usually what takes place, it's possible to describe total
depravity in a way that it becomes error. When we say that men are
dead, they are dead spiritually. But let's don't ever make the
mistake of saying what I heard one preacher say one time, men
are as dead as this pulpit. They're not either. They're not
dead, is this pulpit. If there's anybody out there
tonight who does not know Christ, who is the Son of Timaeus, who
is the Son of Adam, who is born in sin and shaped in iniquity
and brought forth speaking lies, you are dead. You are separated
from God. You are in spiritual darkness.
But you can hear my voice, and this pulpit can't hear my voice.
You hear me, pulpit? It doesn't hear me. But you do. That's right, you hear me. And
you are a morally responsible human being. You are accountable.
Because you can hear. You can hear. You can think. Men think. They're not dead as
this pulpit. This pulpit does not think. It
has no will. You have a will. Your will is
adverse to God, but you've got one. Your will is a fallen will,
but you've got one. And you say, I will. You say
that every day. The preacher preaches the gospel
to you and says, you better repent. You say, I will not. You may
not say it out loud, but you're saying it in here. The preacher
says, receive Christ, believe on Christ, trust Christ. You
say, I will not. You say, I never said that, preacher.
You say it every time you hear the gospel because you haven't
believed yet. Have you confessed Christ? No. Then you said, I
will not confess Christ. Because God commands men to confess
Christ. He commands men to believe on
Christ. And when you do not do what God commands, you are saying,
I will not. So you have a will. It's bound. It's not free. It's bound by
your nature. It's in bondage to your nature.
It's in prison to your fallen nature. But you've got one. And
men think. But what do they think about?
They don't think on God. They think on themselves. They
think on the world. They think on the flesh. They
think on material things. Men love. Yes, they do love.
They don't love God. This pulpit does not love. It
has no capacity to love. It has no capacity to think.
It has no capacity to will anything. But you do. You will, but you
will not. You think, but you think not
on God. You love, but you love not God.
But you can hear. And I can't emphasize strongly
enough the importance of hearing, because faith cometh by hearing. Our Lord said, He that heareth
my word, and believeth on him that sent me. He said again and
again and again, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Let
him hear. That's all a man has to do is
hear. That's the means that God's ordained for a man's salvation
is to hear. He that heareth my word and believeth
on him. That's sent me. My sheep hear
my voice and they follow me. And Bartimaeus was sitting there
in his wretchedness, and in his filth, and in his blindness,
and in his darkness, he didn't understand or see. He didn't
know what was going on. If somebody asked him to describe
what was going on, he couldn't have described. He had to ask
them what was going on. He didn't know anything, but
he could hear. And he heard. And somebody said,
it's Jesus of Nazareth. And what did he do? He heard,
and verse 47 says, and he began to cry out. He began to cry out. And my friend, he began to cry
the right thing. He cried, Jesus, thy Son of David. There's a whole lot there. Jesus,
thy Son of David. Jesus, Savior Joshua. That word Jesus is the New Testament
word of the Old Testament name, Joshua, which is God my Savior. God my Savior! Joshua! Joshua! God my Savior! Thy son
of David. You know what he was saying there?
The Messiah. That old boy Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus
expected, like all the other Israelites, the son of David
to come. The Messiah. Who is the Christ? They said the Son of David. That's
who He is. He's the Son of David. God promised
that the throne would be occupied forever by the Son of David. And so this man Bartimaeus, he
said, Joshua, God my Savior, Christ, Son of David, expected
Messiah, have mercy. He didn't ask for justice, he
asked for mercy. He didn't plead his merit. He
pleaded for mercy. He didn't plead his heritage,
being a Jew. He didn't plead that he deserved
anything. He based the gift of God only
and solely on mercy. Jesus, Joshua, God my Savior,
thy Christ of God, mercy, mercy on me. He didn't say, show mercy
to Israel, show mercy to this fallen nation, show mercy to
this sin-cursed world. Me, the chief of sinners, me,
the publican crowd, God be merciful to me. Joshua, God my Savior,
King and Messiah, have mercy on me. Well, as always, some
folks tried I tried to sidetrack him. Look at verse 48. And many
around him. You know, there's always somebody
around to discourage a sinner from seeking the Lord. Satan's
the head of this committee, but he's got a lot of folks serving
on this committee. He's got a lot of folks doing
his will. And many, many of the folks around there charged him
to hold his peace. He didn't have any peace to hold.
That old boy didn't have any peace. He had a troubled soul. He had a troubled heart. He didn't
have any peace. This is what he was seeking was
peace. You find these false preachers
who run around crying, peace, peace. The prophet of God said,
when there is no peace, be quiet, hush, don't curse aloud, be still. He would not be discouraged,
but it says in verse 48, he cried out the more a great deal, thou
son of David, he would not be comforted except by Christ. Oh, learn a lesson here. Learn
a lesson here. If the Lord Jesus is passing
through, if He confronts you in His Word, in the message,
in His servant, don't be comforted by the servant. Don't be comforted
by those about you. Don't be silenced. Don't be appeased
until you've dealt directly and personally with the Christ. He's
the only one who can do the helpless sinner any good. So he continued
to cry. He continued to call upon the
name of the Lord, Jesus, Joshua, thy son of David. Have mercy
on me!" They said, Peace. He kept crying. They said, Hush.
He kept crying. He would not deal with anyone
but Christ. I wish preachers and soul winners
and those who have appointed themselves
God's private secretaries to speak peace to sinners' hearts,
I wish they'd go out of business. Or else they'd get in the right
business. and point men to Christ, and just turn the eyes of men
to Christ, and do like old Moses did, lift up the brazen serpent
and say, Look! And don't stand between the serpent
and the people. Let them look to Christ. Let
them call upon Christ. Let them pray to Christ. Let
them seek Christ. Let them deal directly with Christ. And this man would not be stilled.
He would not be hushed. He would not receive false peace.
He kept on crying. And I love this next line, verse
49. I think this is one of my favorite
Scriptures. I've preached on it a number
of times. I think it's four of the greatest words in the Bible.
I think it's four words that perhaps thrill my soul as much
as any four words. And Jesus stood still. Oh, what a moment. You think
about this. The Son of God, ordained of the Father, commissioned of
the Father, the Lord of the universe, the universe in which our little
old world is but a drop in the bucket, God said, but the head
of a pen. And He came down here, the Lord
of glory, the Ancient of Days, was commissioned and ordained
and sent of His Father, the perfect Holy One, came down here to our
sin infested, corrupted, hated, filthy, bowed well and walked
here in flesh and blood. But he didn't partake of the
sin. He was without sin. But he lived
on this earth. And here he is walking through
a city, a city like our city, and here he is passing by people. There are thousands of them,
hundreds of them, people everywhere. And there sits a blind, filthy,
poverty-stricken, empty-handed beggar. And this beggar cries
out the name of the Lord, the name of the Redeemer. He identified
him. He just didn't say, somebody
help me. He identified the one to whom he looked for help. He
spoke of his greatness. He spoke of his sovereignty. He spoke of his office. He spoke of his commission. He spoke of his work. Joshua,
God my Savior, Messiah, Son of God, King of Israel, Son of David,
I want you to have mercy on me. And our Lord stood still. The cry, the cry that stopped
our Lord in His journey through that city. Other people were
saying things. You don't get thousands of people
around and a controversial figure like Jesus Christ of Nazareth
and people wanting to be healed. You don't get folks, that many
people without a lot of hullabaloo and hollering and much ado and
confusion and pressing of the crowd, but Christ kept walking,
just kept walking. And I know some wanted Him to
come to their city and some wanted Him to heal and some wanted Him
to go visit their home, but He never stopped. He kept walking
until he heard the cry of a needy sinner who called upon him as
he is and called upon who he is. It was one in need. It was
one who knew his need. It was one who had faith in Christ
to meet his need. Like the woman with the issue
of blood. All those people around there.
And he stopped and said, who touched me? Somebody touched
me. And the disciple said, well Lord,
hundreds of people have brushed against you. No, he said, somebody
touched me. Somebody with a need. Somebody
with a cry for help. Somebody with faith in me. Somebody made contact with me,
a needy creature, and that woman was exposed. The thief on the
cross. Think how many people were out there. If we had a crucifixion
downtown tomorrow, it would be 32,000, 50,000 in empty Boyd
County down there to watch the crucifixion. There were people
everywhere. And a thief cried out for mercy. And our Lord, in His agony, in
his death, in his dying humiliation and in his soul suffering, stopped
and talked to that man and said, I'm taking you to glory. Taking
you to glory. The Canaanite woman, the leper
who came and fell at his feet and said, Lord, if you will,
you can make me whole. I will be thou whole. This poor blind man cried out. He heard. It's Jesus at Nazareth. That's my hope. He's my hope. He's my help. He's my Redeemer. And he cried to Him in His person,
in His office, in His Lordship. He said, have mercy on me. And
our Lord stopped. And watch this. And He commanded
him to be called. Oh my. He called Bartimaeus over here.
You know, over 160 times in the Bible, believers are referred
to as being C-A-L-L-E-D called. Not many mighty, not many noble
are called. Paul said, whom he foreknew,
he predestinated. Whom he predestinated, he called. Paul said, God who separated
me from my mother's womb, call me, call me, call me. How does God call a sinner? By
Spirit. How does God call a sinner? By
His Word. How does God call a sinner? Through
the preaching of the Gospel. How does God call a sinner? He
calls him in his heart. He calls him. God calls. And this man responded, it says
in verse 50, and he, watch this, casting away his garment. I just, in my mind, see him sitting
there and he had to prepare for cold weather, hot weather, all
kind of weather because he sat there all the time begging in
his squalor and poverty and filth and he had a big old blanket
around him and he was with his sightless eyes looking straight
ahead with his hands outstretched, and he's saying, Joshua, promised
one son of David, Messiah, I need you. I need you. Will you have mercy on me? I
can't help myself. And nobody else can now. You
just be still and I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll wash you
up a little bit. We'll take you down to our house and clean you
up a little And feed your supper. And you just be still. When this
celebration on this man Jesus is gone, we'll take care of you.
Jesus, I want your help. I want him. I want him. Well, we'll let you teach Sunday
school. Give you something to do down
at the church. You know, make you feel better. You know, keep your
mind off yourself. And we'll let you sing in the
choir. Every once in a while you can sing a special. If you
just be still now, not disturb everybody, just keep still. Jesus
is not interested in you. Now, I don't want to sing in
your choir, I want Christ. Give me Christ or I die. Jesus,
our son of David! And our Lord stopped and said,
Call him! And boy, he threw that blanket off. I don't know what
that garment implies, but I think I know what it implies. I'm thinking
it implies he wouldn't be needing that blanket anymore. Because
he didn't intend to sit there no more. He was getting rid of
it. Now, just in case the Lord failed,
I better take my blanket with me so I'll have something to
lean on, you know, something to come back to. He wasn't coming back.
And he knew it. His faith was that confident
and that strong. He threw his blanket away. He was changing his location. He was changing His habitation. He was changing his profession. He was changing his company. He was going with the Lord. Huh? That's the way it is too when
God calls. I tell you, if Christ ever crosses your path, and like
Joe prayed, and you find out who you are, and you find out
the squalor and poverty and filth in which you are abiding, And
you find out that your companions are blind too. You know blind
folks don't run around with folks that see, and folks that see
don't run around with folks that are blind. Except to help them. And folks that are beggars don't
run around with folks that are busy. And folks that are busy
don't run around with folks that are beggars. So he didn't figure
on coming back there anymore. He didn't figure on hanging around
with that crowd. He didn't figure on sitting on
that corner. He threw his blanket away! And he It says here, arose
and came to Jesus. He didn't come to the disciples,
he didn't come to the church, he came to Jesus. That was his
objective, to get to Christ. He wouldn't let anybody sidetrack
him. And when the Lord called him, he made a beeline to the
Master. He threw his garment aside. He
cast it away. He wouldn't be needing it anymore.
He didn't figure on being at that place begging anymore. He
was changing his location. And he came to Christ. And our
Lord answered and said to him, Bartimaeus, what will you that
I should do unto you? That's a powerful question isn't
it? If the Lord of Glory put that
question to you tonight, what would you reply? Notice Bartimaeus
didn't say, Lord, I've been in poverty all my life.
I'd sure like to have a place to live and some wealth. And I've been a beggar all my
life. Left to have some security. Or, Lord, I've been looked down
upon. People have spit on me and made
fun of me. I'd like to be somebody. I'd
like to be recognized. I'd like the folks to look at
me and say, say, there goes old Bartimaeus. He's a leader in
our town. He's a smart man, Bartimaeus
is. Old Bartimaeus, he's made something
out of himself. You know what he said? Lord,
I wish I could see. That's all. I just want to see. I just want to see. You know, I believe if I could
see, see what? See His glory. If I could see
His face. If I could see His purpose. That's
what Moses said. Of all things, Moses could ask
God, about Moses in that special time in Exodus 33, in that special
place. God was speaking to Moses. It
says, face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And Moses
made a request. Lord, He didn't say strengthen
my forces, make the people do what I say, make me a great leader. Give me a big congregation. He
said, Lord, show me Your glory. If I could just see Your glory. I believe that's what Barnabas
is saying, Lord, that I might receive my sight, that I might
see. You know, I've heard people sit
around and discuss this a lot about infirmities. I've heard
people say, well, I'd rather be deaf than be blind, or I'd
rather be in a wheelchair than be blind. Most people agree that
they'd rather be about anything than blind. But I'll tell you
this, I believe spiritually I'd rather be anything but blind.
I want to see. The Lord may never let me, He
may never let me amount to anything in His kingdom, but I do want
to see His glory. I may be on the bottom of the
list of those going to glory, but I want to see His glory.
I may not ever accomplish anything. I may be like the thief on the
cross in the eleventh hour, saved with the smell of the fire still
on the garments, but I want to see His glory. I want to see.
And I believe, and the Lord said, Thy faith hath saved thee. I believe true faith is born
of need. It realizes emptiness. inability,
need. Secondly, true faith, not only
is born of need, but it has the right object, that's Christ.
Jesus, our son of Christ, in his true character. Not just
any Jesus, but the Christ of the Bible. And I believe thirdly,
that faith makes the right request. It does not demand anything of
God, but one thing, I want to see. Whatever you do with me,
Lord, whatever Other than that, you do with me whatever is my
lot in life, whatever is my calling in death, whatever... And people sit around talking
about rewards in heaven. Faith doesn't ask for rewards,
it asks for sight. It's not concerned about rewards. It doesn't feel that it deserves.
Why should God reward me for something He did? That'd be God
rewarding His own self. But Christ is my reward. The
only reward that I really want is to see the Lord, to look upon
His face. Don't you? That's what Bartimaeus
said. He didn't ask for anything else.
He didn't require any other benefits. He didn't ask for any other blessing
that I might see. And our Lord said, Our faith
has saved thee. And he arose and followed the
Lord in the way. Our Father, in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, Joshua, God our Savior, Son of David, King
of Israel, fulfillment of every type and shatter and promise
and prophecy in this blessed holy book, may we in Christ be
made whole. May we receive our sight. Let
us see with God-given eyes the glory and the beauty of the Lord
Jesus Christ. See Him as He is. Glorify Him
as He is. Believe on Him as He is. Rest
in Him as He is. And trust Him as He is. From my heart, I pray that I
might receive my sign. In the name of Christ Jesus,
Amen.

Open Eyes That I May See

What does the Bible say about total depravity?

How do we know that God offers mercy to sinners?

Why is calling upon Christ important for salvation?

What can we learn from Blind Bartimaeus' faith?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Open Eyes That I May See

What does the Bible say about total depravity?

How do we know that God offers mercy to sinners?

Why is calling upon Christ important for salvation?

What can we learn from Blind Bartimaeus' faith?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book