Sovereign Grace Baptist Church

Date: 11-8-98

Sermon Number: #126

Text: Luke 18:35-43

He Gives Sight to the Blind

(Luke 18:35-43 NASB) "And it came about that as He was approaching Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting by the road, begging. {36} Now hearing a multitude going by, he began to inquire what this might be. {37} And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. {38} And he called out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" {39} And those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" {40} And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he had come near, He questioned him, {41} "What do you want Me to do for you?" And he said, "Lord, I want to regain my sight!" {42} And Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." {43} And immediately he regained his sight, and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God."

Here we have the account of a blind beggar being healed by Christ. In another place we learn that his name was Bartimaeus. How many blind beggars have there been in the course of history? It is the bible’s contention that every man is born spiritually blind and that even Christians can only see what is revealed to them by their Father. Further the Bible reveals that all men must be beggars. For we have no strength and no resources of our own. We are totally dependant on our God. Those of us who are now saved were once blind to Gospel truth and even now we have bouts of reoccurring and temporary blindness. The children of God are often found stumbling around in darkness, unnecessarily, of course. So even though we speak to day of one man’s physical blindness we are here to consider the blindness of all humanity.

What does a blind man need. More specifically, what does a blind unbeliever need? First, he needs light or sight. He needs his spiritual eyes restored to proper function so he can see his sin and the salvation to be found in Christ. This can only come to one by the blessing of God. Therefore, He needs to get in the way of God’s blessing. He needs to make use of the means of grace appointed by God for the acquisition of His mercies. Likewise, the Christian, whose way has grown dark, also needs his spiritual eyes restored to proper function. He needs fresh light and insight. This can only come by the blessing of God. Therefore, he needs to make use of the means of grace appointed by God for the blessing of His people. The text before us this morning explains to saint and sinner alike just how one moves from darkness into His marvelous light.

The first thing I want us to think about is the use of means. The means of grace I speak of are things like, prayer, the singing of hymns, and reading one’s Bible faithfully. I speak also of faithful church attendance and of submitting one’s self to the preaching of the word of God. To this we can add fellowship with the godly. The means of grace that I speak to you about consist of all things commanded by God for worship and communion with Him both publically and privately.

In the present passage we find a blind man who is obviously without any means of support. So he does what he can. He takes himself each day to the main road leading into the city of Jericho and there he begs alms of all who pass by. Here is a wise beggar. In fact, if we were strolling through the back streets of Jericho and saw this man sitting in an ally begging we would think him very unwise. We would say to him. Man let me lead you to the main thoroughfare. There are many people passing by in that place but here there is no one. You see begging is of no use unless someone is near by to hear your request for help.

Bartimaeus could have chosen to sit at home lamenting his condition. He could have waited alone for someone to come and help him but he did not. He did what he could in his condition. He made good use of the means at his disposal. He took himself to the place he would be most likely to find those willing to help. No doubt he had done this for many years. I also have no doubt that as this day began he was just hoping to be given his daily bread. Little did he know that he had put himself in the way of both a physical and spiritual healing.

The day began like any other but then he suddenly he found himself in the midst of a large, excited crowd. Something was happening! Someone was coming but who could cause this kind of excitement?

{36} Now hearing a multitude going by, he began to inquire what this might be. {37} And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.{38} And he called out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" . . . {41} "What do you want Me to do for you?" And he said, "Lord, I want to regain my sight!" {42} And Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." {43} And immediately he regained his sight, and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God."

Do you agree that if this man had not been in the right place at the right time he would not have been healed. He would not have met Jesus. He would still be blind and helpless. He would still be unsaved. On the human side of this story Bartimaeus was healed, spiritually and physically, because he put himself in the way of God’s blessing. In other words he did what he could. He made full use of the means available to him. In this way he moved from darkness into God’s marvelous light. (I do not say these things in opposition to the Sovereignty of God in salvation or healing. My comments have to do with human responsibility and the necessary use of means. I trust you will take them as intended.)

Bartimaeus sets an example for the person who knows he lives in darkness and wishes to be saved. The lesson is this. Make use of the means of grace appointed for your salvation. Put your self in the way of God’s blessing. Pick yourself up and go begging near the entrance to the heavenly city. By that I mean go quickly to that place where Jesus is most likely to be found. For instance, get yourself to church regularly and faithfully without fail. Find out where true Christians hang out and make use of their company. For Jesus lives within them. His Gospel will be found upon their lips. When the Lord’s day rolls around do not be found sitting at home. If you truly seek salvation you must put yourself under the preaching of the Gospel. Do not be among those who make excuses saying, "He will have mercy on whom He has mercy." This is a Gospel truth, however, it is God’s ordinary practice to save those who make use of appropriate means. You must not be in the company of people who say, "Christ is found by those who seek Him not. Therefore, I will wait for Him to come to me." This truth was not intended to create laziness and unconcern for one’s soul. Remember the words of Christ in Matthew 7:7-8 NASB. "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. {8} "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened." Yes, God is Sovereign in the salvation of sinners but they are still responsible to ask, seek, and knock. Such persons will be rewarded with the salvation of their souls. We must also remember the words of our Lord in another place, "Come to Me and you will find rest for your soul." This is a marvelous promise of salvation. But you must come to Christ. You must get up and go to Him by the appointed means. You must come by faith apart from works of any kind. The blind who come to Christ for sight will surely go away with new eyes and a new heart as well. This is the lesson Bartimaeus teaches the unbeliever.

But what application can we make of this to the Christian? A great deal I think. For Christians have some very dark times in their lives. Christians very often cannot see through the darkness that has surrounded them. How do we get in this condition? I believe we get there by neglecting the means of grace. When we do this we come to places of despair and we are filled with fear or controlled by anxiety. A Christian enters the darkness by getting lazy in his Christian walk. He does not take himself to sit beside the way each and every day. Perhaps he has been neglecting the assembly of the saints for a time. This will dry up one’s soul and spirit. The world will begin to creep in and the devil will begin to gain the upper hand. This person will begin to loose the ability to resist the evil one. He will begin to cave in to temptation much more easily than he would if he was making use of the means of grace. It is at times like this that the Christian is confused and unable to rest or make good decisions. This is darkness. This is self-imposed blindness that can only be cured when he again puts himself in the way of God’s blessing by making use of the means of grace. He must begin to sit by the way-side and cry out to Jesus, the Son of David, who is always near. All we need to do is cry out for mercy and we shall have it. Through Christ our gracious Father will once again heal our aching, confused, despairing, darkened hearts. He will cause the light to shine again and He will fill us with the joy we once knew. But we must make use of the means of grace.

As we speak of the means of grace we must remember that this chapter began with two parables on prayer. In the first Jesus taught us to be faithful and persistent in our praying. In the second He spoke of the necessity of humility when we pray. In both these parables we were taught that prayer is A MAJOR MEANS OF GRACE TO SAINT AND SINNER ALIKE. This is why Jesus said, "Men ought always to pray and not faint." (KJV)

Without prayer we are all likely to faint. The convicted sinner and the troubled saint both know what it means to be near fainting or losing heart. When the sinner is being shown his true condition and future, wrath filled, reward he is in a very fearful and troubled state. He is convinced that he has sinned against a perfectly holy God. He knows that hell is in his future. For the Holy Spirit has applied the law of God to his heart. He knows that all his good deeds mean nothing and that he will never be able to bargain his way out of this one. He is near to despair and filled with hopelessness. He is near to fainting, when the same Spirit that convinced him that he was the sinner of sinners begins to tell the rest of the story. Yes, you are a condemned sinner, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly." This is good news to the sin plagued sinner. Christ died for the ungodly! Then the Spirit of God, in one way or another, tells this mournful sinner, {9} . . . that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; {10} for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. {11} For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." {12} For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; {13} for "WHOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." (Romans 10:9-13 NASB)

Sinners needn’t despair, they needn’t go on being terrorized by the knowledge of their sin and guilt. They need only make use of the means of grace. They need only call on the name of the Lord. They need only cry out for mercy. Indeed they must cry out for mercy in spite of any opposition they might meet with. Sinners must get in the way of God’s blessing. They must make use of the means of grace and let no one deter them till He has heard their prayer and answered! Luke 18:38. And he called out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" {39} And those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he KEPT CRYING OUT ALL THE MORE, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" {40} And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he had come near, He questioned him, {41} "What do you want Me to do for you?"

God blessed this determined sinner. He asked and kept on asking. He sought and kept on seeking. He knocked and kept on knocking until Jesus answered his prayer. Should the troubled Christian be any less diligent in the pursuit of His Father’s mercies? Surely not! Do we not need the mercy of God and of His Christ and of God the Holy Spirit every day and hour of our lives? Yes indeed we do. Isn’t it true that this, "crying out to God for mercy," is the means of grace to the Christian even as it is to the seeking sinner? Yes it is. We must cry out for mercy. We must take ourselves to the place where blessing is found. We must go to the throne of grace by prayer through faith in Jesus and there we must cry out for mercy. Furthermore we must do so in spite of all obstacles. We must ignore the doubt that fills our minds. We must ignore those who tell us it is a waste of time to continue asking, seeking, and knocking. For our God and His Christ tell us differently. Jesus says, "Men ought always to pray and not faint." Elsewhere we are told that Jesus is on duty at all times interceding with His Father for us. He is intent on helping us. He is concerned to meet our needs. He is the light that we need when blinded by the darkness of sin or circumstance. He will hear and answer the prayers of His brothers and sisters, the children of His Father. He will at last answer and ask, "What do you want me to do for you?"

The answer Bartimaeus gave is, "I want to regain my sight." Jesus granted his request and added, "Your faith has made you well." Some translations have, "Your faith has saved you." Others say, "Your faith has made you whole." Nearly all commentators agree that this man’s physical healing was accompanied by the healing of his soul. Bartimaeus was saved from a life of physical and spiritual blindness by faith in the Son of David.

Why do you suppose Bartimaeus called Jesus the Son of David? On the way to the answer lets recall the words Jesus spoke to Peter on another occasion. Jesus had ask the disciples who they thought He was. The answer given by Peter was an accurate one. He said, ". . . . Thou art the Christ, (the promised Messiah, the Son of David), the Son of the living God." {17} And Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 16:16-17 NASB)

Brothers and Sisters, men cannot convince other men of the truth about God and His Christ. If we know anything of God we must take the words of Galatians 1:12 to our lips and say, "For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ." Men might be the instrument by which you and I are exposed to God’s truth but only He can cause us to understand and believe it. All knowledge of God comes through revelation from God the Holy Spirit. When Bartimaeus ask the crowd what was going on they told him that "Jesus of Nazareth was passing by." But when he called out to Him he called him, "The Son of David." Why did he do that? Why would he give a title that could only refer to the promised Messiah to a man he knew nothing of? How did he know that this Jesus was the very son of God, the Son of David, the promised Savior? He knew it because God revealed it to Him. He knew it because God the Holy Spirit had given him a new heart, and faith, and repentance. It was God that caused him to cry out for mercy at the right time, in the right place, to the right person, Jesus Christ the Lord, the Son of David.

Bartimaeus believed in and trusted Christ to meet his needs because he had been enabled to do so by a work of grace in his heart. Yet notice again the words of Jesus. "Your faith has made you well." What an incredible thing this is! Believing saints and sinners alike are rewarded by God for exercising a faith that does not originate with them. They are rewarded for exercising a faith they have no strength to exercise apart from empowering work of the Holy Spirit. What grace this is? We are blessed, comforted, and rewarded for things given to us by grace! How can this be? A better question to ask is this, "How ought we to respond to such love and mercy?" The answer is simple, "Just exactly like Bartimaeus did." Hear the word of the Lord.

{43} And immediately he regained his sight, and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God." Bartimaeus began following Jesus and giving glory to God. This is the right response to grace. J. C. Ryle writes at this point, "Grateful love is the true spring of real obedience to Christ. Men will never take up the cross and confess Jesus before the world, and live for Him, until they feel that they are indebted to Him for pardon, peace, and hope. The ungodly are what they are, because they have no sense of sin, and no consciousness of being under any special obligation to Christ. The godly are what they are, because they love Him who first loved them, and washed them from sin in His own blood. Christ has healed them, and, therefore, they follow Christ." (End Quote) The saved sinner follows Jesus and gives glory to God for bringing him out of darkness into His marvelous light. This is the natural response of the saved. Hear with me a few texts that bear testimony to this truth.

(Isaiah 29:19 NASB) "The afflicted also shall increase their gladness in the LORD, And the needy of mankind shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel."

(Luke 17:12-13 NASB) "And as He entered a certain village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; {13} and they raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"
(Luke 17:15-16 NASB) "Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, {16} and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan."

(Psalms 103:1-4 NASB) (A Psalm of David.) "Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name. {2} Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; {3} Who pardons all your iniquities; Who heals all your diseases; {4} Who redeems your life from the pit; Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;" This is how the saved feel and speak all their days.

(Isaiah 43:21 NASB) "The people whom I formed for Myself, Will declare My praise." The saved will both follow and glorify the God who gave them eternal life.

Before we conclude this lesson let me return for a moment to the answer Bartimaeus gave to Jesus when He asked, "What do you want me to do for you?" The answer given was this, "I want to regain my sight." I can’t tell you how many times I have prayed this prayer since I have been saved. "Oh God please let me see clearly once again. Let me see your greatness, your sovereignty, your power, your wisdom, your good and holy providence, and your grace as I once did. Be merciful to me oh God, make these things bright, and beautiful, and real to me again. For I have come to a dark place and I need to remember, I need to see clearly again. Shed your marvelous light upon my way that I may follow you more faithfully and glorify you as I should. Lord God, "I want to regain my sight." I tell you that God has always answered this prayer for me. He has always led me out of darkness and gloom into His marvelous light. He has always restored unto me the joy of my salvation, the thrill of being a Christian, a minister of the Gospel, a shepherd of His people. He has always healed my spiritual eyes so that once again I could walk by faith in things that cannot be seen with eyes of flesh. He has always filled me with gratitude for His many graces and mercies. He has always enabled and caused me to follow Him and to seek His glory. Whether saint or sinner your need my friend can only be met by God. Therefore, follow Bartimaeus. Put yourself in the way of God’s blessing and cry out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

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