Transcript
Speaker: If you would turn with me to Luke chapter 18, that's where we're going to be in God's Word today. i think seeing that presentation from South Texas Children's Home, it softens our hearts. it let us and it lets us know what is the kingdom of God all about?
Speaker: How can Jesus change a life and give someone hope that's looking for hope? So I want you to look with me at Luke 18 verses 31 down through the end of the chapter.
Speaker: Next Sunday, Lord willing, Josh will be bringing a message on a little guy that was in a sycamore tree, I think, maybe. So anyway, you might want to brush up on the song. I don't know if Marshall will lead us in that one.
Speaker: But you know, Psalm 94 verse 9 tells us that God formed the eye. Did you know he formed your eyes? Your eyes and my eyes, they are a gift from him.
Speaker: Proverbs 20 verse 12 says that the Lord made the hearing ear and the seeing eye. Have you ever stopped just to pause and say, thank you, God, that you gave me vision, that I can see?
Speaker: Why don't you say that to him right now? Would you bow with me? Let's just say thank you to the Lord. Lord, I'm so grateful that you've blessed us with eyes, eyes that see, with ears that hear.
Speaker: We know that today we're going to look into your word and we're going to learn that there's another dimension to seeing and to hearing. And I believe it's going to stretch us.
Speaker: So Lord, restore to us our vision and our sight so that we could see what you're doing. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You know, it's really interesting in the New Testament, you see lots of miracles, right? You're going to see a miracle in this passage that we're about to read.
Speaker: But did you know that the Lord never healed anyone of blindness in the Old Testament? He never did. But do you know that Isaiah pointed to a coming Messiah?
Speaker: And in Isaiah 35 verses 5 and 6, he said, when the Messiah arrives, that is Jesus, when Jesus comes, he is going to restore sight.
Speaker: He's going to heal those who are blind. And we're going to see. Luke recorded in chapter four, verses 16 through 21, time when Jesus went into the temple there, not the temple, but the synagogue, and he opened the scroll and he read from the scroll a passage from Isaiah.
Speaker: And when he sat down, here's what he said. Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. And one of the things that was read was Luke 4, 18, where it says, and recovering of sight to the blind.
Speaker: you know, that's what Jesus does well. He helps people who cannot see to be able to see. The New Testament contains eight individuals who were healed of blindness.
Speaker: There were two men in a house in Matthew 9, a blind man at Bethsaida in Mark chapter eight, a demon possessed man in Matthew 12. We're gonna see in a moment in Luke 18, a blind beggar on the road that lead led into Jericho.
Speaker: There was another man who had a friend. He and his friend were both blind. His name was Bartimaeus in Mark 10. And then also there was a man by the pool of Siloam in John chapter nine who was healed.
Speaker: And then in Matthew 15, we don't know how many, but it just says that many were healed of blindness there on that mountain in Galilee. And we don't know how many men in the temple in Matthew 21, but there were several who were healed there as well.
Speaker: Paul's testimony. given to the King Agrippa in Acts 26, 18 describes his call to share the gospel. Just like South Texas Children's Home, just like our our church and our Sunday school classes, every one of us as a member, we're all called to share the gospel with those who are spiritually blind.
Speaker: Acts 26, 18 says that part of God's call to Paul and to you and me with the gospel It's all about what Jesus can do once someone says, trust you, Lord. believe you died for me.
Speaker: that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me it's all about what jesus can do once someone says i trust you lord i believe you died for me I don't know if you're like me, but sometimes it's easy to become frustrated or discouraged, either way you wanna go, by non-Christians in our country when they simply can't see the truth that you and I see so clearly in Jesus Christ.
Speaker: Why is that? Why can't they just see it just as clearly as we see it? Well, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4, for the reason. He said, in their case,
Speaker: The God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Speaker: You know, i wonder how many of us in this place would raise our hand if I was to say, okay, let's do an experiment. We're going to ask the ushers to come and put blindfolds on everybody who's here today. And we want to see how many of you think that you can make it home in your car safely if we put blindfolds on you.
Speaker: Don't worry, we're not going to do it. It's joke, okay? It's just hypothetical. But you know, sometimes even God's people can be deceived by, let's say, physical circumstances if they do not depend upon spiritual discernment from the Lord.
Speaker: Like the time when the army of Syria surrounded the Old Testament prophet Elisha and his servant woke up in the morning, I guess he was getting ready to put the coffee on, and he looks around and he says, oh my goodness, look at all those Syrians. The Syrian army had them surrounded.
Speaker: Because everything that they planned to do, they found out the prophet Elisha, he would say, Syrian's going to be over there. Syrian's going to be over there. They're going to be over there. And so they said, you know what? We got to eliminate that prophet.
Speaker: And so when that guy woke up in the morning and looked up, he saw all those guys around him. He said, oh no. He started having a panic attack. But you know what? The prophet, when he woke him up, you know what he said?
Speaker: He said, do not be afraid for those who are with us. Then Elijah prayed and said, 2 Kings 6, verses 16 and 17. them then elishah prayed and said oh lord please opened his eyes that he may see so the lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around elihah second king six verses sixteen and seventeen You know, this morning, as we begin to look at this passage where the Lord's going to restore the sight to a blind man, it might be a good time for you to pray Ephesians 118 and to simply say to the Lord, Lord, I need you to help me with my spiritual vision.
Speaker: It's waning. It says, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he's called you. with What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints?
Speaker: That's in you. See, the author of the hymn, Blessed Assurance, was totally blind from the time that she was six weeks of age. She had an eye infection and they tried to help her, but somehow the doctor didn't quite get it right.
Speaker: And so she was improperly treated by a local physician and it led to permanent disability of blindness for the rest of her life. How could that lady...
Speaker: who wrote blessed assurance, be sure about anything if she couldn't see it know, that same author wrote another hymn that reminds me of what we're about to read in Luke 18.
Speaker: She wrote a song called, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior. And it goes like this, Pass me not, O gentle Savior, hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by.
Speaker: You know, maybe you've seen other people in this church family, their lives are changing. God's doing great things. But it's like nothing's happening in your life. It can happen. If you'll cry out to him, just like this song says, Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry.
Speaker: While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. If that's your prayer today, I guarantee you the Lord's going to answer that prayer. So I want us to stand. Let me read this passage of Scripture in Luke 18, verses 31 to 43. We're going to talk about spiritual blindness.
Speaker: going to talk about the need for the Lord's help that we could have discernment and we could see things. Well, here's what he says in Luke 18, verse 31.
Speaker: In taking the twelve, he said to them, see, We're going up to Jerusalem and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.
Speaker: For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him.
Speaker: And on the third day, he will rise. But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them and they did not grasp what was said.
Speaker: As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant.
Speaker: They told him Jesus of Nazareth is passing by and he cried out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
Speaker: But he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, what do you want me to do for you?
Speaker: He said, Lord, let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, recover your sight. Your faith has made you well. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God and all the people. When they saw it, gave praise to God.
Speaker: Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we need your help to see things spiritually. We can't see them apart from you. Just like this blind man, we may not even realize that we can't see the way you want us to see.
Speaker: So Lord, take these verses of your word and open our eyes. Open our eyes to one of five different things that I think we may be overlooking because we just can't see them In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Speaker: Thank you. You may be seated. Well, I would say one thing that you would see in this passage. would be the prophecies of the atonement, the prophecies of the atonement.
Speaker: Do you realize that in verses 31, 32, and 33, this is the third time that Jesus has given this prophecy. He's talking about his suffering. The first time was in Luke chapter nine, verse 22.
Speaker: He emphasized his rejection. And then the second time was in Luke chapter nine, verses 43, 44, and 45. He was talking about his betrayal. That was the focus.
Speaker: But the primary difference of this prophecy in verse 31 is the plan. The plan. Do you know that God has a plan for you to have all your sins forgiven?
Speaker: A plan for you to be in His family? A plan for you to join Him someday in heaven? It's incredible. It says, seeing we're going up to Jerusalem and everything that is written about the Son of Man, that's Jesus, by the prophets, that's in the Old Testament,
Speaker: will be accomplished, will be accomplished. See, that's the difference. Do you know that the first prophecy about Jesus and about his suffering, you remember when it was?
Speaker: It was in Genesis, way back in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 in the time of Adam and Eve, 6,000 years ago. Can you imagine how many different generations and how many different families, how many different communities and countries they lived and died.
Speaker: And yet they never got to see the Messiah that we see. They never knew that Jesus was gonna come and die for them. You know, Ephesians chapter three, verse two begins like this. Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me, how the, get this, the mystery.
Speaker: See, a mystery something you don't understand. You can't see the end. How the mystery was made known to me by revelation. as i've written briefly when you read This you can perceive my insight into the mystery of christ which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit this
Speaker: mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Speaker: Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ Isn't that incredible? That we have already been told the answer the mystery. It's like we have the gospel.
Speaker: who created all things that incredible that we have already been told the answer to the mystery it's like we have the gospel I want you to see the gospel.
Speaker: I want you to know that the difference in this particular thing is God's trying to say everything's going to be fulfilled. Before this time, it wasn't. But from Jesus on, it has been fulfilled. It's been accomplished.
Speaker: and so I want you to see the details, the particular details of this provision that God has given that we could be in his family. Can you see it? Look at the seven prophecies that Jesus gives in verse 32 and 33.
Speaker: For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated. spit upon and after flogging him They'll kill him and on the third day he will rise man Think about that right there Seven different prophecies.
Speaker: He just lists them like bullet points, right? Do you know that all seven of those were actually? prophesied predicted in the Old Testament and yet every one of them actually happened at the cross and Do you know that he was handed over to the Gentiles? He was handed over to the Romans.
Speaker: That's what's said in Psalm 2 too. But then also he was mocked. That's found in Psalm 22 verses 6 and 7. And in Isaiah 53 verse 3. Do you know that just like he said he would be, he was mistreated.
Speaker: But what's amazing about this mistreatment is Isaiah said it over 700 years before Jesus came to this earth. He was also spit upon. Isaiah 50 verse 6. He was flogged. That means whipped with something that was really an ugly weapon that they would whip those who were arrested with.
Speaker: And then he was killed. Psalm 22 verse and Isaiah verse says this time,
Speaker: but the most incredible thing is he says this time I'm gonna rise again. The Father is gonna raise me up and it's gonna be, it's not gonna be the end of the story.
Speaker: But they just couldn't get that part. But what's amazing is they had already been told in Psalm 16 verse 10 and it's fulfilled according to Acts 13, 35. You see, most Jews back then, they weren't expecting a suffering servant who was gonna die for them on the cross. You know what they were waiting for?
Speaker: King, conquering captain. He's going to come in and he's going to whip those Romans and get them all out of there. And that's why we go to the second thing that sometimes we're blind to.
Speaker: The perplexity from the Almighty. Does God have to tell us everything? Would you like to hear a secret? Can I trust you with a secret? if I tell you a secret, can I trust you?
Speaker: I remember one time I was so shocked. A best friend of mine named Chuck, he was at Southwestern Seminary. I was at Southwestern Seminary. A certain girl named Jody caught my eye.
Speaker: And i said so I confided in my friend Chuck. And I told Chuck, I said, hey, Chuck, you know, have you seen Jody Godot? She's really a knockout and you know, she loves the Lord so much.
Speaker: And I said, there's just something about her. I think I'm going to ask her out. He said, oh, I bet that would be great. He comes back to me, the little toe head about a ah week later.
Speaker: And he says, it's all set up. And I said, what's all set up? And he said, Jody said she'll go out if you'll ask her. And I thought, you've got to be kidding me. You told her? And so anyway, yep, he let the cat out of the bag right there.
Speaker: But guess who I happened to see that day in the library Southwestern Seminary? There was Jody. I'm, you know, I was like already a young man anyway. My voice cracked. I said, hi, Jody. Hi, Jody. How are you doing?
Speaker: I was so embarrassed. I could not believe he betrayed the secret that I told him. But does God have the authority to keep anything back from us?
Speaker: I think he does. I think he does, and I know he does because of Deuteronomy 29, 29. Easy to remember, 29, 29. Deuteronomy 29, 29 says the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children and their children.
Speaker: Like God has revealed a lot in the Bible, okay? So you you and I, we have more than we could ever live out if we just you know get busy with it But sometimes God doesn't show us what's happening.
Speaker: Maybe you are a lot like Joseph. You know, we've been studying Genesis on Sunday nights, Wednesday nights, and the last guy we finished with was a man named Joseph. you You can't believe all the hardship that guy went through.
Speaker: But you know, at the end of it, he said to his brothers that had made life so hard on him, he said, you know what, you meant it for evil. God meant it for good.
Speaker: Two different kinds of mints. Which kind of mint are you going to put in your mouth? You know, God meant it for good, but I know what you meant it for. You meant it for evil. Isn't that something? That's Genesis 50 verse 20.
Speaker: Do you remember when Jesus was washing the feet of the disciples? He said something in John 13, 7 that I've tried to remind myself. The Lord's not going to always tell me everything he's doing.
Speaker: John 13, 7 says, what I'm doing, you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand. Is there anything like that in your life right now? And you're saying, I don't understand what God's trying to do with this right now that he's permitting in my life.
Speaker: Well, the Lord says, give me time. Just like Joseph, give me time and you're gonna realize what I'm doing. But did you notice in verse 34, let's look at our text again.
Speaker: But they understood none of these things. He's talking about his death on the cross. He's talking about his resurrection from the grave. They understood none, zero of these things. This saying, uh-oh, now we've got a theological problem.
Speaker: This saying was hidden. It's like they were blindfolded. This saying was hidden from them and they did not grasp what was said. Wow.
Speaker: do you remember when Job was going through such a hard time? Remember all almost everything Job had was taken away and Job felt so sad in his heart. And Job thought, you know, I don't think God you're for me.
Speaker: But if you read Job chapter one and you read Job chapter 50, then you learn what it was all about. In Job chapter one, who brought Job's name up first?
Speaker: Satan or God? God. God said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There's nobody like him. Man, you know what? Isn't that amazing that sometimes we question God and God's saying, I picked you because I'm so thankful. I'm so glad of what I see happening in your life.
Speaker: And I've got more i want to do in your life and through your life. And so I think, wow, that's amazing. But Job was prevented from seeing God's plan and purpose.
Speaker: And so you know what he had to do? had to trust God through the pain. He says, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Though he slay me, yet I will trust him.
Speaker: I will come forth as gold. Don't you know that's God's desire for you? Maybe you feel like, I think God's treating me like a piece of trash. Oh, really? Well, it it seems to me that God's trying to purify gold.
Speaker: He wants pure gold in your life. So just because you're perplexed and you can't understand, that doesn't mean he's given up. That doesn't mean he's walked away. Well, let's go to the third thing that may be sort of in your blind side, your blind spot.
Speaker: passing by for appointments. Passing by for appointments. Have you ever heard of a concept of these, it's a two-word thing, but divine appointment? Have you ever heard of divine appointments?
Speaker: Some of you have been on the trail. Some of you have been listening to sermons and messages for a long time. Or maybe you've read through the Bible and you've seen people like Joseph. And you're saying, you know what?
Speaker: Joseph, all of his hardship was just setting him up for a divine appointment. See, a divine appointment, it's it's like situations and encounters that are orchestrated by God, not random chance or coincidence.
Speaker: But here's the thing, we don't see that he's in charge. We don't see that he's orchestrating all of that. And so we're kind of out of the loop, so to speak.
Speaker: You know, the Bible does say his thoughts higher than my thoughts, higher than your thoughts. His ways higher than my ways, higher than your ways. So sometimes we have to say, okay, Lord, what is going on here? Why are you allowing me? What are you doing in my life?
Speaker: And let's just look at verse 35 and 37. Maybe they were thinking, Lord, why do we want to go through here? Why are we going to go through Jericho? As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging And hearing the crowd going by, he inquired what this meant.
Speaker: He couldn't see. He didn't know what it was. He heard a lot of ruckus. And verse 37 says, they told him. They told him. Aren't you glad somebody helps you sometimes to understand, connect the dots?
Speaker: Someone tells you, what if it's not about you? What if what you're going through is about your family? What if God's going to use this to bring about a great awakening in the community or in the country?
Speaker: But nevertheless, Jesus and his disciples are entering Jericho, a blind man sitting by the roadside. But he's hearing, and then he's inquiring, and then the people are informing him.
Speaker: Someone told the blind man what he could not see. What I see, I see Jesus coming. There's a processional behind him.
Speaker: You see, you know what happens whenever you share the gospel? I'm going to repeat a verse from the beginning again in 2 Corinthians 4, verses 3 through 6. When you share the gospel with family or friends who do not know Jesus because spiritually they can't see him,
Speaker: You're being given a divine appointment. A divine appointment. God's setting you up just like in volleyball. It's a set. What are you going to do Are you going to say, i know that's not for me. i can't do anything like that.
Speaker: But God is saying, if you'll just share the simple plan of salvation, you know what I'm going to do? There's a veil that is over the eyes of those who are unbelieving.
Speaker: And the only way for that veil to be removed is for somebody somewhere. Just tell them about Jesus. Just tell them the gospel. And I will remove the veil. You just share the message.
Speaker: Is it possible to miss a divine appointment? Well, if you were to turn over in the scripture just one more chapter to Luke 19, and you were to read from verse 41 down through verse 44, it's you would say, uh-oh, I believe it is possible.
Speaker: Because Jesus is weeping over Jerusalem. And why is he weeping over Jerusalem? Well, here's what he says. He said, one day they're going to tear down to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you.
Speaker: And why was he weeping? Because you did not know the time of your visitation. See, it was a special time. The son of God, Jesus was there.
Speaker: He's about to go to the cross and there's just people that are saying, I'm not gonna believe. He doesn't match what I thought he was gonna be like, so I am not gonna believe. You ought to read in Matthew 23, 37 to 39, where the Lord's the same kind of thing. He says, I would have gathered you together like a like a hen does her chicks.
Speaker: But he said, you were not willing. You were not willing. Is it possible for somebody to miss that divine appointment? Yes, unfortunately it is. Remember, rich young ruler, Jesus is saying, come follow me.
Speaker: He shut it down. He walked away. Will you walk away from a divine appointment that God has given you? Maybe the divine appointment is for you. He wants you to trust him. He wants you to know him.
Speaker: He wants to work in your life. Or maybe he's setting you up that somebody else that you know can hear the gospel. Well, let's move to the fourth possible thing is the plea to the anointed one.
Speaker: The plea to the um anointed one. See, I think that some people who are spiritually blind, they can't see that Jesus is the only way. They think, well, it ought to be okay if I go with this religion or that religion, if I just believe, have a religion of my own.
Speaker: But Jesus said in John 14, 6, look, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. Wow. And then you see down in Acts chapter 4 verse 12 where it says, and there's salvation in no one else.
Speaker: There's no other name given among men by which we must be saved. It's only Jesus. And so what's amazing about the blind man, get this, he can't see physically.
Speaker: He can't see physically, right? But I'm telling you, something happened on the spiritual level. And what some people couldn't see that had physical eyesight, he saw it.
Speaker: He saw it. And so look at what he does. It says, and he cried out. He cried out. If I was to cry out, I'd wake up some that are sleeping and they're really having a good nap. No, I'm kidding. die I don't see anybody sleeping. But anyway, notice the intensity, the intensity of his plea.
Speaker: I mean, he just shouts it out like at the football game. But then there's the intention of his plea. What's he shouting out? What is he there? Oh, they called him a beggar, right? So I bet he's crying out, give me some money.
Speaker: No, not at all. What does he say? He says, son of David, have mercy on me. You say, well, that was just to get his attention. No, it wasn't. That's what he said twice.
Speaker: He said a second time. He said, son of David, have mercy on me. I thought that's incredible. And look at the insistence of his plea. Those who were in front of him rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
Speaker: Has anybody in the culture ever tried to silence you? Anybody at work or in the community ever tried to silence you? You're going to be silent. He said, I can't be silent.
Speaker: He said, I can't be silent. I need the mercy that he's offering. It says he cried out all the more. They're all saying, this guy's blown it. Helen Keller was blind.
Speaker: And one time someone asked her isn't it terrible to be blind? To which she replied, it's better to be blind and see with your heart than to have two good eyes.
Speaker: and see nothing. Whoa, man, that's a truth teller right there. but let's go to the fifth and the final thing is to praise before an audience.
Speaker: Do know that there are three dozen miracles recorded in the four Gospels? This was the last of Jesus. Four miracles on his way to Jerusalem. Remember, he started on Galilee. He's on his way to Jerusalem. He heals a woman with back pain. Remember?
Speaker: Then he also heals someone of dropsy, a man, in chapter 14, verses 1 to 6. And then chapter 17, 11 through 19, healed ten men of lephrosy.
Speaker: But now we come to that final miracle on his way back. Think about what it had been like at that time, not today, but at that time to be blind. Well,
Speaker: You're unable to get a job. I know that people who are blind can get jobs here in the United States, but back then, nobody wanted to hire someone who was blind. Also, the other thing was there was no medical there was no medical breakthroughs back then.
Speaker: they couldn't They couldn't do anything for somebody who was blind. So it's like, okay, so he would beg, but you know what most people did to a blind beggar? They just ignored him. just you know Usually, they would just ignore them.
Speaker: But verses 40 to 41 describe what led before the miracle. Jesus did not ignore him, right? What does it say Jesus did? He stopped.
Speaker: He stopped. Maybe everybody else in your life is so busy, they keep moving. But I want you to know Jesus modeled something here. He stopped. He stopped and he gave the man his attention.
Speaker: And I thought, wow, he also called for someone to assist the man. He said, can someone bring that guy to me right there? That guy right over there, I would like you to bring him. He can't get here easily, so please help him.
Speaker: But then also Jesus asked the man an open-ended question. What would you like for me to do for What would your answer be that? His answer was, I'd like to recover my sight.
Speaker: Can you blame him? But also Jesus listened to the answer given by the man. And so Jesus said, Lord, I mean, he said, Lord, let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, recover your sight, recover your sight.
Speaker: He announced the healing right there. And it's interesting. He didn't touch his eyes, right? He just spoke it. You do remember how the Lord created the universe, right? Oh, I bet he had a lot of stuff. He worked with a lot of building materials and so forth.
Speaker: No, no. The Bible says he just spoke it into. That's why whatever, maybe you say, I don't think our marriage has a chance. I don't think my my future has a chance. You know, maybe you're a teenager. Maybe you're young adult. You're looking for a job. You're saying, I don't think I got a chance. Oh, really?
Speaker: Wait a minute. If God is on your side, if God is your partner, man, make your plans big. I mean, look at what he can do. He can speak something into existence that doesn't even exist.
Speaker: And so i'm thinking, wow, he also acknowledged his faith contributed to it. You know, his faith did. He said, recover your sight. Your faith has made you well. You know what you need to do, what I need to do in order to become a Christian?
Speaker: Turn from our sins and simply trust him. Put your faith and your trust in what Jesus did, the finished work. Jesus acknowledged his faith had contributed. And notice the three things this guy does out of just sheer gratitude.
Speaker: The man aligned his life to follow Jesus. That is what it says, right? And immediately he recovered his sight and what's the first thing he did? He said, you know what? I'm going to follow you. You've done so much in my life. I'm going to follow you. Maybe there's somebody in here. The Lord's done a lot in your life.
Speaker: But let's be honest. As of yet, you're not following him. Why not? He's done so much. He's done so much for you. Why not align your life to follow Jesus? But the man also expressed appreciation to Jesus.
Speaker: Because it says he glorified God. What do you think he was saying? I think he was saying, I can't believe it, Jesus. When you said that, I can see. And I just want to glorify you.
Speaker: And as a matter of fact, that guy, you know what his calling was then? He became the praise and worship leader. You know what it says? It says, and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Speaker: So the guy goes, let's go praise the Lord. Let's go adore the Lord. He influenced other people.
Speaker: Despite the fact that the Lord never healed Fanny Crosby of blindness. She followed Christ.
Speaker: She gave him thanks. And you know what the Lord did in her life? That lady who could not see wrote 8,000 hymns of faith. wow She didn't let her disability stop her from anything.
Speaker: One time she's quoted as having said, I feel a hundred hymns in my head. The Lord has given me a purpose in my life. But here's something to think about.
Speaker: What if, I mean, he healed this blind man, right? But what if the Lord did not heal you just like he did not heal Fanny Crosby?
Speaker: Well, let me close the message with an incredible and an inspiring quote by this lady, Fanny Crosby. It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life.
Speaker: And I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered to me tomorrow, I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.
Speaker: Blindness cannot keep the sunlight of hope from the trustful soul. Wow. that got Here's a guy sitting by the roadside and he hears Jesus is coming by.
Speaker: And you know what he did? He put his faith in that direction. He trusted in Jesus and he's still blind, but he's still saying, need mercy. i need mercy.
Speaker: Wow. Do you know that whenever Jesus said recover your sight, your faith has made you well? Do you know that the word well there is the word sozo?
Speaker: It's the word for salvation. Your faith has saved you. It didn't just help you be able to see things physically. No, your faith in me brought incredible power and love and joy and peace and all of those kind of things into your life.
Speaker: Have you ever actually asked the Lord? To save you. Have you ever said God have mercy. Man I'm so broken. I'm so messed up. I've done so much. The problems in your life.
Speaker: That you cannot solve by yourself. May be there. To lead you. To one person in the universe. To the Lord Jesus Christ. Today. be.
Speaker: One of those divine appointments. Set up just for you. Don't miss it. I want you to stand with me. Let's have a prayer. We'll give an opportunity for our musicians to come and prepare. But really, I love the way this last song says, have thine own way, Lord.
Speaker: Maybe you'd say, I don't know what to say. Well, that's a good start. You just say, have thine own way, Lord. You're the potter on the clay. You just have your own way. So let's go to the Father. We'll pray. I'll stand down front. I'll be glad to talk with anybody that needs to have somebody talk with them, pray with them. But it may be you just need to talk to the Lord.
Speaker: So let's pray together. Lord, please open our eyes. Not so much the eyes of our heads, but the eyes of our hearts. I'm burdened, Lord, sometimes when I think our country, we can't see.
Speaker: with the eyes of our hearts anymore. We're so busy looking with the eyes of our heads. And we need discernment. We need spiritual discernment. We need you. You're the only one that can help us.
Speaker: And so we put our faith exclusively in you, just like this blind man. That blind man couldn't do anything by himself. But Lord, he put his faith in you and you showed him what you could do.
Speaker: Lord, show us what you can do in our lives today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Speaker: This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.
