Shall we turn tonight to Luke chapter 18.
Luke tells us that Jesus now spoke a
parable to them to this end.
In other words, the purpose of the parable
was to encourage people to pray and not
to faint.
That men ought always to pray and not
to faint.
It is interesting to me that so often
when people come almost fainting over the dilemma
that they are facing, you know, they're just
breathless, they're at the end of the road,
They're desperate.
They're almost beside themselves as they begin to
pour out.
They're just so full.
They're just pouring out all of the woes
and the problems and the difficulties and all.
And that release valve has popped and it's
just all over the place.
And then you say to them, when they
finally have come to some kind of an
equilibrium, you say, well, now, have you prayed
about it?
No, no, but you know, we got to
do something.
We can't pray.
You know, we got to.
And yet that's exactly what the Lord is
saying.
We ought to pray and not to think.
You know, I have found that the Lord
doesn't give needless warnings.
Now, many times when he warns, I think
that they are needless.
I think, Lord, you don't need to talk
to me about that.
I've got that one wired, Lord.
No problems there.
And yet it is in that area where
the Lord has given me warning that I
ultimately end up in trouble because I didn't
listen.
I didn't think I needed the warning.
As I read through the Scriptures, I find
that those things that the Lord warned the
kings about were the very things that ultimately
they got in trouble for.
God knows.
He knows what lies down the road.
And he doesn't warn us needlessly, nor does
he exhort us needlessly.
And in this parable, to the end that
men ought always to pray and not to
faint, that is, the area where so many
people have problems, they're always fainting and not
praying.
Just turning it around.
Now, in the parable, do not make the
mistake of thinking of it in
parallelisms.
Because Jesus, first of all, speaks of a
wicked judge.
The Roman judges, those that were appointed by
the Roman government, were notoriously crooked.
In fact, there is a Greek phrase that
means the judge of honor.
But by just a slight change, the phrase
is the robber judge.
And so, it was very common.
And in the classical Greek, you can read
often this switching of the phrase.
And they would, rather than saying the honorable
judge, they'd say the robber judge.
Because they were so notoriously wicked.
Always, well they said you could buy them
with a pound of beef.
They were just wicked men.
And they used their position.
And so, Jesus is talking about this kind
of a judge.
And he said, there was in a city
a judge which feared not God, neither regarded
man.
And there was a widow in that city,
and she came unto him saying, avenge me
of mine adversary.
And he would not for a while.
But afterward, he said within himself, though I
fear not God, nor regard man.
Shows what kind of a person he was.
Yet, because this widow troubles me, I will
avenge her, lest by her continual coming she
wears me out, she wearies me.
And the Lord said, hear what the unjust
judge said.
And then, he gives his lesson in prayer.
Now, I said be careful that you don't
get into parallelisms with this parable.
And think that this unjust judge represents God.
That is not the case.
Jesus often taught in parallels with sharp contrast.
And this is one of those parables, not
of parallelism, but of sharp contrast.
For surely he would not put God in
the light of an unconcerned, unjust judge.
Unfeeling.
That's the exact opposite of what he teaches
us of the Father who loves, who cares,
and who is concerned.
So, this parable is one of contrast.
The contrast is this.
If a wicked man, hard, who regards neither
God nor man, if he can be persuaded
just because of the persistency of this little
widow, in sharp contrast, shall not God avenge
his own elect which cry unto him day
and night, though he bear long with them?
I tell you that he will avenge them
speedily.
Now, Jesus isn't really then teaching that you've
got to persist in prayer and continue and
continue and continue until you get your answer.
He is saying that God will avenge speedily
those who call unto him.
So, don't in your mind draw the parallel,
this God is like this judge and I've
got to just keep pestering him until I
get what I want.
If your cause is right, if your cause
is just, I believe that God is only
waiting for you to open the door through
prayer so that he can do what he's
been wanting to do the whole time.
You see, I'm convinced from the Scriptures that
God knows what I really need long before
I ever know it.
God knows what I'm going to be needing
six months from now.
God knows what I'm going to be needing
five years from now.
Prayer is not really informing God of my
needs.
Jesus said, your father knows what you have
need of before you ever ask him.
Yet so often we think of prayer, we
think that we are informing God now of
what my need is.
God, let me tell you what I need
here.
And I'm going to cue you in, Lord,
so you can understand what I really need.
And I'm using prayer as a means to
inform God.
How ridiculous.
God doesn't need that I should inform him
of anything.
For he knows everything.
God loves me.
He is my heavenly father.
His chief concern is my eternal good.
Notice, eternal good.
Not my temporary good.
Now, there are some things that I may
feel would be temporarily beneficial to me, but
God knows that eternally they'd be damning to
me.
And so I try to inform God of
my temporal need, and all the while he
knows my eternal need.
Now, if I could by persistence, just by
dogged persistence, by bugging God through prayer, break
God down, so that he'd finally say, oh,
answer that nut, I'm getting tired of him
calling, you know.
Then I could be bringing into my life
all kinds of hurtful, harmful things.
And God loves me too much to be
dissuaded from his perfect will for my life
by responding to my prayers when they are
not in accordance with his eternal plan.
I want to share something with you.
I don't want God to switch his plan
as the result of my continued request.
I want God's perfect will for my life.
And prayer is not really intended to get
my will done on earth.
Prayer is intended to get God's will done
on earth.
And so true prayer begins with the purpose
of God, the plan of God, the will
of God.
And he makes that known to my heart,
and I express it to him in prayer.
And by my expression in prayer, what I
am actually doing is opening the door and
giving God the opportunity to do what he's
been wanting to do, what he's desiring to
do, but will not do against my will.
You see, God has given to you this
business of free will, the power of choice.
God will not violate that choice.
Therefore, prayer opens the door for God to
do those things that he desires to do
in my life.
In the 15th chapter of John, that glorious
chapter of the relationship between the believer and
Christ, Jesus said, You have not chosen Me,
but I have chosen you and ordained that
you should be My disciples, that you should
bring forth fruit, because that's that fruit-bearing
chapter, I'm the vine, you're the branches, and
that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever you
ask the Father in My name, He may...
Notice, He may, not He shall.
He may give it to you.
You see, it opens the door that God
may do now what He's desiring to do.
Your prayer has opened that door for God
to act freely without violating your will.
So, I am of the opinion that the
wisest prayer any of us can ever offer
to God is, Lord, just work out Your
complete perfect will in my life.
Have Your way, Lord, in my life.
Do for me what You want to do.
I think that many times our prayers can
be limiting God.
We limit Him in our prayers.
They're putting the boundaries and the restrictions on
God.
Like the children of Israel who limited the
Holy One of Israel.
So we so often do that in our
prayers.
Oh, Lord, I need $100.
I need it desperately, Lord.
You know the bills are overdue, and I
need $100.
God, please send $100.
Why don't You just say, Lord, please send
what You know I need.
Why limit Him to $100?
He may be wanting to give You $1
,000.
So there are some times when I think
that being very specific is not so good.
For years, I prayed for a church of
250 people.
I thought that was the ideal size, and
oh, how I dream of pastoring a church
of 250 people.
Prayed for that number for years.
Limiting God.
God had other things in mind.
I didn't know what He had in mind.
Oh, that we would understand how much the
Father loves us.
Oh, that we would trust His wisdom in
His dealing in our lives.
Oh, that we could come to that place
of total commitment of ourselves to Him.
Lord, You do what You want for me.
Lord, I rest in You.
I'm not making any demands on God.
I'm not trying to command God.
I'm not trying to sit on the throne
and be sovereign myself.
I'm not trying to get my will done
on this earth.
That's not why I'm here.
And that's not the purpose of prayer.
It's to work in harmony with God to
get His program accomplished on this earth.
It's to link together with God and join
with Him in His great program of reaching
this world with the love of Jesus Christ.
God, Your will be done.
Your purposes be accomplished.
Use me as ever You see fit as
Your instrument, Lord, to do Your work.
Here I am.
I'm available to You in whatever You want,
Lord, for my life.
Whatever You want to do in me, whatever
You want to do through me, Lord, I'm
available.
Here I am.
Your will be done.
Commitment.
Now, I don't always understand the difficulties that
I am going through.
I don't always understand my trials.
There are times when I cry out of
my distress, and yet, there is always that
understood relationship that I have with God that
even though I don't understand, Lord, Your particular
working in my life at this moment, You
just keep on working.
Like my wife says, if I scream and
yell and holler, don't let me have another
bite of chocolate.
And that's pretty much, Lord, if I scream
and yell and holler, don't do anything contrary
to Your will.
I don't care how much I scream, how
much I holler.
Lord, Your will be done in my life.
That's supreme.
That's paramount.
So, Jesus is not saying that God is
like this unjust judge.
He's saying He's totally unlike the unjust judge.
But He's illustrating by contrast, if a man
who is so hardened, so calloused, so crooked,
that he has no regard for God or
man, if he can be persuaded by the
persistency of the little widow, shall not God
avenge His children speedily?
Yes, He said, I say He will.
But then Jesus asked an interesting question.
He said, nevertheless, when the Son of Man
comes, shall He find faith on the earth?
We are told in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 24,
one of the signs of the end of
the age would be the iniquity in the
earth abounding, causing the love of many to
wax cold.
That goes along with this question.
I believe that we are living in the
hardest period of history to live a consistent,
consecrated Christian life.
I don't believe that ever in history has
there been more temptation placed so freely before
men.
Through the media, through the movies, through television,
through magazines, we have been overexposed to sexual
enticements.
That area has been stimulated and aroused.
And at the same time, there's been a
deteriorating of the moral standards, a broad acceptance
of relationships in the society in which we
live.
And I do not believe that ever in
the history of man has there been such
a broad exposure and a more difficult time
to really live a truly committed life to
Jesus Christ.
And because the iniquity in the world is
abounding, the love of many is waxing cold.
And the question then that Jesus asks becomes
very significant.
When I return, or when the Son of
Man comes, shall He find faith on the
earth?
True, genuine faith and trust in His Word.
And He spake this parable unto certain of
those which trusted in themselves that they were
righteous and looked down on others.
These are those people, and you've met them,
that look down on...
They are so critical of everyone else.
They are like Job said to his comforter,
surely you are the people and wisdom is
going to die with you.
People who are self-righteous, they feel no
need of any help in that area.
And they are critical, condemning and look down
on everybody else.
It's interesting that Luke begins to explain to
us the direction that the parables are taking.
So this parable is to those who trust
in themselves that they are righteous and despised
others.
And there were two men who went up
into the temple to pray.
One was a Pharisee, and the other was
a hated publican.
The word publican became synonymous with sinner.
Of the rankest sort.
The tax collector.
The crookedest man in town.
So the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with
himself.
God, I thank Thee that I am not
as other men are.
Extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as that publican
over there.
For I fast twice every week.
I give tithes of everything that I possess.
And the publican, standing afar off, would not
so much as lift his eyes to heaven,
but he smote on his breast saying, God,
be merciful to me a sinner.
Jesus said, I tell you, this man, that
is the publican, went down to his house
justified rather than the other.
For every one that exalteth himself shall be
abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be
exalted.
I find it very difficult to
not assume this pharisaical attitude when I look
at our church.
I am very prone to say, Lord, I
thank you that our church isn't as other
churches.
We don't beg and done the people for
money.
You know, and just tell how wonderful we
are.
Because really in my heart, I thank God
that we're not like a lot of other
churches.
I mean, that's just plain honest.
And I think we are better.
So I have a problem with this parable.
Yet, yet, I realize my own need of
God's mercy.
It's not my righteousness.
It's not by the works of righteousness that
I've done.
I don't ever come to God and say,
now Lord, look what I've been doing for
You.
Look at the hours that I've put in
this week.
Look at the sacrifices that I have made.
Jesus talked to us about that last week,
didn't He?
When the servant comes in, the Master doesn't
say, sit down and eat.
He says, go fix me my meal.
And then after I've eaten, you can eat.
And after you've done all these things, just
say I'm an unprofitable servant.
So I never try to tell the Lord
what I've done, nor come to the Lord
on the basis of my commitment or what
I have done, because that is a trap.
It may bring me confidence that sometimes to
come to God, but then most of the
time, I feel no sense going to God.
I haven't done anything, or what I've done
is negative.
So I always come to God on the
basis of His grace and His mercy towards
me.
Whenever I come to God, it is always
seeking His mercy.
You see, justice is getting what you deserve.
I never come to God and say, justice
God, I want justice.
I'm afraid I might get it.
I come and I say, mercy Lord, mercy.
God be merciful.
For mercy is not getting what I deserve.
But then I say, oh God, grace, because
that's getting what I don't deserve.
So you see the fine difference between the
three.
Justice is getting what you deserve.
Mercy is not getting what's coming to you.
And grace is getting what's not coming to
you.
God just giving to you on the basis
of His love and grace towards you, you
don't deserve it, but He'll do it anyhow.
God be merciful to me, a sinner.
And then everyone that exalts himself shall be
abased, but he that humbles himself shall be
exalted.
And so they brought unto Him also infants.
We brought little Jeremiah Draper tonight.
No, Jeffrey Draper.
They brought unto Him also infants that He
would touch them.
But when His disciples saw it, they rebuked
them.
But Jesus called them unto Him and He
said, allow the little children to come unto
Me and forbid them not, for of such
is the kingdom of God.
Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not
receive the kingdom of God as a little
child shall in no wise enter in.
I love to observe children.
There is a beauty.
There is something almost sacred and divine surrounding
that little child.
There's just such a purity.
Sitting today at the table with some of
my grandchildren, listening to them talk about the
Lord, listening to them offer their prayers to
God for the food and for every other
item that they could think of while they
were praying for the food.
In fact, one even forgot the food.
But their beauty and the simplicity of their
opening up their hearts to God is just
glorious.
I love children.
And there seems to be within a child
a very keen sense of discernment.
If I see a person that children shy
away from and won't go to, I become
suspicious of that person.
Same with a dog.
If I see a person, the dogs are,
you know, they won't go.
I get suspicion.
They seem to have a good sense of
judgment.
And Jesus said, unless you receive the kingdom
of God as a little child, you're not
going to enter therein.
But Jesus was always interested in the children.
Mark tells us that when the disciples were
keeping the people away from Him, bringing their
children to Him, when Jesus saw what they
were doing, He was angry.
He was upset.
He rebuked His disciples.
He was really upset with them.
Let those little children come to Me.
Don't forbid them.
And He took them into His arms and
He blessed them.
Now there was a certain ruler and they
asked him saying, good master, what shall I
do to inherit eternal life?
And Jesus said unto him, why do you
call Me good?
There is none good except one and that
is God.
You know the commandments.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not kill.
Do not steal.
Do not bear false witness.
Honor thy father and thy mother.
And he said, all of these I've kept
from my youth up.
And when Jesus heard these things, He said
unto him, yet you lack one thing.
Sell all that you have.
Distribute unto the poor.
And you will have treasure in Heaven.
And come and follow Me.
And when he heard this, he was very
sorrowful, for he was very rich.
And when Jesus saw how that he was
very sorrowful, He said, how hard it is
for those who have riches to enter into
the Kingdom of God.
It is easier for a camel to go
through the needle's eye than for a rich
man to enter into the Kingdom of God.
And they that heard it said, who then
can be saved?
And he said, the things which are impossible
with men are possible with God.
Now again, let's not misunderstand Jesus.
For when this young ruler came and kneeled
at Him and said, Good Master, what shall
I do to inherit this age-abiding life?
He's talking about a quality of life, not
the quantity.
That quality that he observed in Jesus.
There's something eternal about the way this man
lived.
His life crossed the dimensions of time.
They stretched into the eternal.
What must I do that I might have
this age-abiding, this quality of life that
you possess?
And Jesus said, why did you call Me
good?
None is good except one, and that is
God.
Now, do not jump to the conclusion that
Jesus is saying, I am not God.
Or I think a careful observation, you'll discover
He's saying just the opposite.
You see, He is saying one of two
things.
He is saying, I am no good.
Or He is saying, I am God.
So the question, why do you call Me
good, is to arouse and to elevate the
conscious level of this fellow's mind.
Look, you've called Me good.
Why did you call Me good?
You're looking for age-abiding life.
Now you've called Me good.
Why is it that you call Me good?
You see, there's only one that is good,
and that is God.
Why did you call Me good?
Because what you see in Me, this quality
that you are attracted to, this quality that
you have discerned, is that I am God.
This is...
You remember when Peter said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus said, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah.
Flesh and blood did not reveal this unto
you, but My Father which is in heaven.
And as much He is saying to this
young fellow, Look, you've had a divine revelation.
Why did you call Me good?
There's only one good, and that is God.
Oh, that's right.
Could you?
Ooh, you see.
So He's trying to draw out now.
Hey, you're coming along.
Getting warm.
Warmer, warmer, you know.
Pulling him in.
Letting him really expand this awareness.
Then Jesus flashes across him the six commandments
in the second table of stone.
Those commandments that deal with man's relationship with
his fellow man, which constitutes righteousness.
And as Jesus flashed across him the second
table of the law, Thou shalt not kill.
Commit adultery.
Bear false witness.
Honor thy father and thy mother.
Don't steal.
He said, I've kept all of these from
my youth up.
Mark tells us that he asked the question,
What lack I yet?
And Jesus, when He heard these things, said
unto him, You lack one thing.
Go and sell all that you have and
distribute to the poor.
You'll have treasure in heaven.
Now, again, don't misread this.
Is Jesus saying that his lack was poverty?
No, because we could all get in easily
then.
Go back.
Why do you call me good?
There's only one good that is God.
Now Jesus said, Go.
And let's leave out what He said at
that point.
Just go.
And then He said, Come, follow me.
Now the essential word of Christ to this
young man is Come, follow me.
You see, your problem is God is not
at the center of your life.
You have another focal point upon which your
life is revolving.
In His case, it was money.
His riches.
His life was revolving around His riches.
His riches were at the center of His
life.
And Jesus touched the thing that was at
the heart of His life.
And He said, You've got the wrong God.
Follow Me.
Get rid of that false God.
Follow Me.
If you want to be perfect, get rid
of those idols.
Get rid of those things that are standing
in the way.
Those things that are keeping you from total
commitment.
Follow Me.
Put Me at the center of your life.
And so the word of Christ would be
the same to you tonight.
It would be, Go.
And then He would put His finger in
your life at that which is hindering you
from completely following Him.
Maybe it would be selling that little sports
car.
Or getting rid of this.
Getting rid of that.
To some it might even be dropping out
of your educational pursuits.
If that's become the center of your life
and the chief focal point and your life
is revolving around that, that's the thing He's
putting His finger on.
Look, you'll never find it there.
You'll only find it when you follow Me.
It's not that these others then cannot be
added and become a part of your life,
but they should not and cannot be the
center part of your life.
I've got to be at the center of
your life.
Come, follow Me.
The young man went away sad.
Now it is wrong to assume that he
was lost.
I don't know if we'll meet him in
Heaven or not.
It may be that he was sad at
the thought of what he had to do
next.
It could be that he went to his
accountant and said, Hey, get rid of everything.
Distribute it to the poor.
I'll see you later.
I've got to follow a man that I
met today.
Nothing else counts but following Him.
Or it could be that he went away
sad thinking the price is too great.
Can't do it.
I wish I had it, but I can't
pay that price.
And he had reason then to be sad.
Jesus then said, How hard it is for
those who have riches, tough, to enter into
the Kingdom of God.
Riches can be such a powerful God in
a person's life.
They can get such a strong hold upon
a person.
They can possess you so quickly.
Tough.
The people said, Lord, who then can be
saved?
Of course, he talked about the camel going
through an eye of a needle.
And Jesus said, With man it is impossible.
Luke said, He said, All things which are
impossible with men are possible with God.
Now, I get upset today when we travel
to Israel and the guides will tell you
about the sub-gate that they call, they
said, the eye of the needle.
This is a concocted story as are so
many of the stories that the guides tell.
They're interesting.
They are paid to know, and so they'll
tell you something even if they don't know
because they're expected to know.
And I have looked at some of the
various sites and I've had four or five
explanations given to me of what caused it
and all by the four or five different
guides that we've had over a period of
time.
So, they're not really that authoritative.
There's just an awful lot of guesswork still
in archaeology as to periods and times and
datings and so forth.
There's just an awful lot of guesswork of
what that really was and what that was
intended for.
And they'll tell you, Oh, well, that was
to do this or that.
And, you know, as they say, they've got
to have some answer.
Like the guide who was showing the minister
through the cathedral in Milan and St. Ambrose
Cathedral there and he showed him this case
and the skull in the case and he
was assuring the people that that was Peter's
skull.
That somehow it had been rescued when he
was crucified and preserved and highly revered.
One of the fellows spoke up and said,
Hey, we were down in the area of
Rome the other day and they showed us
a skull and they said that was Peter's
skull.
He said it was smaller than this one.
He said, Oh, yes, but that was when
Peter was a boy.
So, they'll have an explanation for you.
So, they point to a small little cut
in the bottom of the gate and they'll
say that's the needle's eye and it is
small enough that to get through the gate,
to get through this little hole, you'd have
to get down.
It's like, you know, these cat things that
they have in the house, you know, where
the cat can come through and all.
It's like that.
You get down and you can squeeze and
crawl through the thing.
You'd never get a camel through one of
those things.
But they say, Oh, there was this sub
gate and after the, you know, at night
when they closed the main gate of the
city, the only way a guy arrives at
the city late, the only way you can
get in, they won't open the main gate
at night, so the only way you can
get in is to, you know, take all
of the baggage off the camel and you
get him down on his haunches and some
guy's pulling on him and other guys are
pushing and you, you know, you push the
thing through and with a lot of effort
and a lot of work and a lot
of strain, you can push him through the
needle gate or the eye of the needle
gate.
Wrong.
Jesus said, With man, it's impossible.
You know, there are a lot of people
that would like to believe with a lot
of struggle, a lot of effort, a lot
of guts and drive and determination, you can
save yourself.
Wrong.
You can't save yourself.
I don't care how much pushing and pulling
and effort you make, you can't save yourself.
With man, it is impossible.
You can't enter into the kingdom of heaven
on your own works.
With man, it is impossible.
But thank God, with God, all things are
possible.
Now Peter said, Lo, Lord, we have left
all and followed Thee.
You know, we gave up our houses and
homes and all.
And He said unto them, Verily I say
unto you, there is no man that has
left house or parents or brothers or wife
or children for the kingdom of God's sake.
Now notice that.
For the kingdom of God's sake who shall
not receive manifold more in this present time
and in the world to come.
Life everlasting.
The qualifying phrase is the kingdom of God's
sake.
Then He took unto Him the twelve and
He said unto them, Behold, we're going to
Jerusalem.
And all of the things that are written
by the prophets concerning the Son of Man
shall be accomplished.
Now they are on the final leg of
their trip to Jerusalem.
They're down at the Jordan River and they
are now going to go on up to
Jerusalem to the feast of the Passover where
the Scriptures are to be fulfilled.
Not the Scriptures of the establishing of the
kingdom as the disciples thought.
Not the Scriptures of sitting on the throne
of David.
But those Scriptures that related to His being
delivered to the Gentiles to be mocked, spitefully
entreated, and spit upon.
Jeremiah speaks of this mockery and the spitting,
the plucking of His beard.
They shall scourge Him.
Isaiah tells us that in chapter 53.
And put Him to death.
Isaiah 53 and Daniel 9.
And the third day He shall rise again.
And they understood none of these things.
And this saying was hid from them.
Neither knew they the things which were spoken.
They were blind to it.
Okay, fellows, we've got to go up to
Jerusalem.
That the Scriptures, all of the Scriptures concerning
Me might be fulfilled.
Alright!
Let's get on with the kingdom.
And He then tells them what He's referring
to.
I've got to be delivered to the Gentiles.
I've got to be mocked, spitefully entreated.
I'm going to be spit upon.
I'm going to be rejected.
I'm going to be scourged.
I'm going to be slain.
But the third day I'll rise again.
Let's go to Jerusalem, you know.
Set up the kingdom.
So anxious were they to...
You see, I am somehow encouraged by this
though.
These men that Jesus chose to be nearest
to Him.
These men that Jesus chose to establish the
church were not spiritual giants.
They were not perfect men.
They did not have keen spiritual insight.
They were people just like you and me.
God uses ordinary people.
God uses you.
If you'll just let Him.
And so here they were.
They really didn't understand what He was talking
about.
In fact, they were just miles apart in
their thinking.
And so it came to pass.
Now remember, He's on His way to Jerusalem.
He's coming first to Jericho about 18 miles,
20 miles from Jerusalem.
It came to pass as He was come
near to Jericho a certain blind man sat
by the wayside begging.
Now this obviously is not the one in
Mark's gospel, Bartimaeus.
Or the one in Matthew's gospel, or the
two.
One account gives two blind men.
One tells of Bartimaeus.
And this is a different account, however.
For in this case, Jesus is entering Jericho
and the other two blind men He met
when He was leaving Jericho.
So as He was on His way to
Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting by
the wayside begging and hearing the multitude pass
by, he asked what it meant.
What's going on?
What's happening?
He couldn't see.
And they told him, Jesus of Nazareth is
passing by.
Now he had heard of Jesus.
I think that everyone who has some kind
of a physical disability is attuned to possible
cures.
Unfortunately, because of this deep desire to be
cured in the present day, they often become
victims of evil charlatans who promise them cures.
And it's amazing how a person who is
desperate will hope for anything.
And there are people who are willing to
take advantage of that hope and give to
them a false hope.
But somehow, he had heard of Jesus of
Nazareth.
The name registered.
And so he began to cry aloud saying,
Jesus, and used the Messianic title, Thou Son
of David, have mercy on me.
And those that went before, those that were
around him rebuked him that he should hold
his peace.
But he cried so much the more using
now just the Messianic title, Son of David,
have mercy on me.
And Jesus stood and commanded him to be
brought unto him.
And when he was come near, he asked
him, What do you want that I should
do for you?
And he said, Lord, that I may receive
my sight.
And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight.
Thy faith hath saved thee.
And immediately he received his sight and followed
him glorifying God.
And all of the people when they saw
it gave praise to God.
Notice that.
Jesus said, let your light so shine before
men that when they see your good works,
they will glorify your Father which is in
heaven.
If people are constantly coming up and praising
you for being such a wonderful person and
you're so marvelous and you're so this and
that, then you better take a quick self
-examination and find out how you're letting your
light shine evidently in the wrong way because
it's attracting attention to you.
It's bringing praises to you.
Let your light so shine before men that
when they see your good works, they will
glorify your Father which is in heaven.
And Jesus was somehow doing it that way.
So when they saw this blind man able
to see following Jesus in the path, they
glorified God.
They praised God.
They gave praise unto God.