Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / The Inspiring Testimony of Bartimaeus | Mark 10:46-52 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

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The Inspiring Testimony of Bartimaeus | Mark 10:46-52 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Today I want to speak to you about one of the most inspiring
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  testimonies in the gospel. I want to speak to you about the
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  story of a man named Bartimaeus. And this story that is found in
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  three out of the four gospel accounts is one that is filled
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  with so much suspense, a roller coaster of emotion, so much
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  comfort, yet at the same time in that comfort, conviction and
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  challenge. But more importantly, this story
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  that's going to be declared is no fable.
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  It is not a parable. It is a true event that took
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  place in the life of a real man, and one that has been preserved
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  for us because it is absolutely loaded with soul saving heart,
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  sanctifying truth For those who have been in the church long
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  enough that name Bartimaeus rings a bell, You've probably
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  even heard about him in Sunday. School.
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  Like I got to tell you though, I've known the name Bartimaeus
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  for a long, long time. It wasn't until studying it in
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  depth where I fell in love with this man.
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  I do have a personal list of people that I really want to
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  meet and have lengthy conversations with in heaven,
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  and after this week, Bartimaeus made the list.
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  This man is indeed inspiring, as you're about to discover, and I
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  invite you to turn with me to mark chapter 10, beginning in
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  verse 46, to read of this man's testimony and after reading it
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  to get a complete picture of it. I want us to look at six
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  observations, 6 specific observations that makes this
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  story so inspiring. And from here, perhaps the
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  testimony of Bartimaeus may cause a testimony in your life.
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  We have some. Visitors here today?
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  So glad to see visitors here today.
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  I don't know where you're at with your walk with Christ, but
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  if you don't know Christ, you come to the right place for the
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  right Sunday afternoon. And for those who know Christ
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  and have walked with Christ, Bartimaeus still has something
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  to offer you in your walk with the Lord.
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  Let's read together beginning in verse 46.
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  And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho
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  with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind
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  beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.
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  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to
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  cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
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  And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
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  But he cried out all the more. Son of David, have mercy on me.
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  And Jesus stopped and said, call him, and they called the blind
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  man, saying to him, take heart, get up, he's calling you and
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  throwing off his cloak. He sprang up and came to Jesus,
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  and Jesus said to him, what do you want me to do for you?
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  And the blind man said to him, Rabbi, let me recover my sight.
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  And Jesus said to him, Go your way.
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  Your faith has made you well, and immediately he recovered his
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  sight and followed him on the way.
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  Lord by thine eternal Spirit, dwell in our hearts.
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  Reign in our hearts. Empower our hearts.
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  We want to know you, we want to love you more, and we want to be
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  like you. May this message today help us
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  achieve that in Jesus name. Amen.
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  I told you that we're going to look at six things from this
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  inspiring story and hopefully these things will help you
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  remember these points very. Simple.
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  Try my best to have them all start with the same letter.
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  The first thing that I want you to observe with me in this story
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  is the place. The place of this miracle, we're
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  told in verse 46. And they came to Jericho.
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  They came to Jericho. Different gospel accounts are
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  more specific about where in Jericho, but the consensus is
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  there. It was in the area of Jericho.
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  Now Jericho, like the name Bartimaeus, is very familiar to
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  most Christians. It is the city that was first
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  conquered by Joshua and the Israelites upon their entrance
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  into the Promised Land. It was a type of first fruits of
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  the reward, and the promise that God gave to that generation of
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  Israelites and Jericho was achieved by way of a very unique
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  miracle, one that demanded strange but faith nonetheless.
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  The strange method, but it was one that would cause them to
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  trust in the ways of the Lord encircling this place several
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  times until the walls would come down and they would have the
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  hearts of these people in fear, causing them to lose this
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  battle. But what many people who in
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  understanding the general history of Jericho failed to
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  remember is that this very same city that is a demonstration of
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  what faith can do is also a city that has been cursed.
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  Jericho was a city that had a curse attached to it, and the
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  reference to that is in Joshua 626, and you don't have to turn
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  there. But let me read to you what this
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  leader of this people, Israel, said concerning Jericho.
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  He had said, cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and
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  rebuilds this city. Jericho, at the cost of his
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  first born shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of
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  his youngest son shall he set up its gates.
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  Here was the curse, a divine curse.
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  Anybody who would try to resurrect the city would
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  experience a curse, and this curse was fulfilled.
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  This prophecy was made known in the days of King Ahab, where a
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  man named Hyal of Bethel rebuilt the city Jericho at the cost of
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  the life of his first son of Byram and at the cost of the
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  life of his youngest son Segob. And the reason why I'm bringing
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  this to your attention is because in a place that has been
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  associated and identified with God's displeasure, you have He,
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  He who is greater than Joshua, coming through to do what,
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  reverse some curses? That's what we're going to do
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  with Bartimaeus, right? Here's this man, Bartimaeus, who
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  is one who is suffering with one of the outcomes of the fall
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  sickness and disease, and here he is with a lifelong here,
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  blindness. It's permanent.
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  It's real. It's dark.
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  It's affected his way of life. And now Jesus is going to come
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  on the scene in this place called Jericho, and he is going
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  to deliver this man from the ramifications of what our first
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  parents had done. What about Zacchaeus?
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  You know Zacchaeus, right? You sang some songs about
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  Zacchaeus as a younger child. You probably memorized those
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  songs. Did you forget that Zacchaeus
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  was a man, a little man who climbed the tree?
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  Where was that tree? It was in Jericho.
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  We're told that Zacchaeus and Luke's gospel account met Jesus
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  around the same time as Bartimaeus meeting Jesus.
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  It was on that same trip. And so you have Zacchaeus, who
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  also was delivered, but in a different way from the grip of
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  greed and pride. And this man would experience
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  salvation in his home because of he who is greater than Joshua
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  Jesus as the Great reversal. He's the great deliverer of any
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  curse. He defeated the curse of death.
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  He defeated the curse of sin. And Christ has the power not
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  only then, but even today, to deal with and to heal and to
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  restore us from the consequences of sin.
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  The ones that you and I observe and maybe experience every
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  single day. This is the place where Jesus is
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  going to perform this remarkable, inspiring act of
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  grace and mercy. It's the place.
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  But then we have to go from the place now to the second
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  observation. And that's the person.
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  And the person I'm referring to is the person.
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  Bartimaeus. He's not named by Luke, who's
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  not named by Matthew. He's named here by Mark.
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  And it could be that because Mark's readers might have been
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  familiar with Bartimaeus, Bartimaeus might have been a
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  disciple to Mark's audience that they would have known and Mark
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  here And telling us about Bartimaeus goes even further
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  because Matthew tells us of the same miracle.
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  But Matthew highlights 2 blind men who call out to Jesus for
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  mercy. Do we have a contradiction here
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  between Matthew's account and Mark's?
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  No. We just have a strategy.
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  All Mark is doing is highlighting one of the two,
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  perhaps the leader of the two, perhaps the more vocal 1
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  Bartimaeus. And so he wants us to keep our
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  attention on this one particular man.
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  It doesn't negate the fact that Jesus healed two of them, but
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  Mark was even beyond giving us the identification of this man.
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  He tells us of the occupation of this man.
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  Read again with me in verse 46. And they came to Jericho.
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  And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great
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  crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind, not just a blind man, a blind
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  beggar. And so this man had two
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  unfortunate realities that he had to endure and manage.
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  So he was blind, that's one thing.
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  But he wasn't from an affluent family.
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  He wasn't being taken care of. His situation brought him to the
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  point where all he could do to survive another day was succumb
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  to being on the side of the road and hoping that people would
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  dispense crumbs of mercy. No security, no safety, no
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  immediate sense of love, no sight on top of it.
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  This is a man who ranks high in the category of misery.
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  This is a man who is suffering in ways that perhaps you and I
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  cannot even fathom or imagine. And your hearts may pity for
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  Bartimaeus as you're hearing about him.
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  And they should. We should feel compassion
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  towards this man, but let our hearts feel compassion for
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  another group of people even more than Bartimaeus.
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  The type of people who are defined by the word of God in
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  the same way as Bartimaeus, but don't even realize it.
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  Blind and bankrupt, spiritually blind and poor in the soul.
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  The Bible describes people as such.
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  They are plagued by this. In fact, this is anybody who is
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  outside of Christ Bartimaeus here, although he suffered
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  physically in this way, although he was destitute.
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  And his vision was impaired, and his pockets were only filled
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  with Lent. This man, what he was
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  physically, he was not spiritually.
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  You're going to discover that though he was blind, he could
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  see better than most people. And so if your heart wrenches
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  for anybody, let it wrench for those who may have their eyes
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  and who may have a full covered and may have a comfortable bank
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  account but cannot see and do not know the riches that Christ
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  provides, They're everywhere. We might have some here today,
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  and they were there. Even in the days of Jesus there
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  was a group of them who are known as Pharisees.
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  These men, though they had so much going on for them, were in
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  fact blind. Blind in the way that you don't
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  want to be blind, blind and the most important part of your
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  existence, bankrupt where it matters the most.
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  And Jesus actually calls him out on that.
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  And I want you to turn it with me in John Chapter 9, after
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  Jesus healed another man who was blind born blind on top of it.
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  He takes that understanding of blindness and he uses it as a
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  metaphor for spiritual blindness.
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  And he tells the Pharisees this who are obviously near.
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  In John 9, verse 39, Jesus said for judgment.
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  I came into this world that those who do not see may see and
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  those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees near him
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  heard these things and said to him, are we also blind?
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  I have a feeling they didn't say that with humility.
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  Are you calling us out again, Jesus?
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  Are you saying we're blind? And look what the Lord says in
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  verse 41. Jesus said to them If you were
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  blind, you would have no guilt. Read slowly, Read your Bible
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  slowly. If you were blind, you would
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  have no guilt. But now that.
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  You say. We see.
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  Your guilt remains. That's profound, so let's
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  understand it more carefully. What Jesus is saying here is if
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  you were blind, you would actually be free from guilt
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  implying. What?
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  What he's saying is this. If you were to be among those
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  who admit to their blindness, to their lack of insight and
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  understanding of true spirituality, if you were to
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  come to that place and humbly confess you don't see as you
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  ought to see, then you would have no guilt.
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  Because upon that confession I would heal you and I would open
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  your eyes. And in opening your eyes you
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  would see who I am and seeing who I am, you would see me as
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  the great eraser of your sins. But because you're not blind and
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  confess that blindness, because you actually admit that you see
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  when you don't really see, your guilt remains so in yourself,
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  confidence, in your confession that you actually perceive
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  things to be true, you're actually condemning yourself and
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  your guilt is still on you. Here's how Jesus, based on this,
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  defines spiritual blindness. It is anybody who claims to
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  define Christ outside of how he defines himself and who
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  possesses A worldview that contradicts that of Christ in
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  his word. Anybody who redefines Christ, or
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  changes His word, or disagrees with his word concerning what
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  has been made known, is a person who's spiritually blind.
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  They're impaired in their vision.
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  So any person outside of Christ, any person who does not have the
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  testimony, Jesus opened my eyes. Now I know what truth is.
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  Such a person who even claims to see and have answers.
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  And have a world view that might be popular in order to share.
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  Such a person, according to the Bible, is blind, and that is
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  something to be heartbroken over because physical blindness may
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  cause some difficulty in this short life.
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  Spiritual blindness will cause you to be in darkness for
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  eternity. And so we look at this man, and
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  we see that he is blind, that he is a beggar.
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  We come to the third observation concerning his life, Not just
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  the place, not just the person, but the perception, the
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  perception that Bartimaeus had. So now we come here again to
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  verse 47. And when he heard that it was
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  Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of
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  David, have mercy on me. So now, with no eyes to see, he
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  begins to sense something that is unusual.
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  He's been on that roadside every single day.
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  He lost count of the days that he has been there begging.
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  And now he hears A multitude. He hears this parade and he
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  goes, something is going on here.
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  So he inquires and he asks, and somebody had the grace enough to
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  actually give him insight into what is taking place.
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  But I want you to. See how Luke records it.
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  Go to Luke and you see this parallel account in Chapter 18.
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  And verse 36 to 37. I think there's an insight here
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  about how the people identify what's taking place and then how
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  Barnabeus responds to it. And Luke 18, Verse 36 and
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  hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant.
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  They told them Jesus of Nazareth is passing by, Jesus of Nazareth
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  is passing by. But how did Bartabeus identify?
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  Jesus. He didn't say Jesus of Nazareth
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  have mercy on me. No, he said.
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  Jesus, what son of David? The crowd identified him as
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  Jesus of Nazareth. That's where he grew up.
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  That's where he's from. But Bartimaeus saw something
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  that most people did not see. He's not just from Nazareth.
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  He's a descendant of David. He's not just from Nazareth.
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  He's the promised Messiah. He's not just from Nazareth.
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  He's the one that we've been. Longing for and waiting for.
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  Jesus, son of David, you know what's so shocking about that?
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  Bartimaeus never witnessed a miracle that he couldn't have.
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  Barnabaeus could not witness the sinless.
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  Life of Jesus Barnabaeus simply heard reports and that was
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  enough for him to believe that this was the Messiah, so limited
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  in so many ways. And again, we might feel pity
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  for this man. But let me ask you this
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  question. Who deserves more pity?
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  The one who could see all the miracles of Jesus, the one who
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  could attest the fact that he has not transgressed in one
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  single way. The one who sat underneath his
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  authoritative teaching and preaching, and felt the power of
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  God searched through their hearts as he expounded to them
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  the things of God. The one who has experienced all
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  of that and yet still not believe.
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  Or the one who could not even see what was right in front of
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  his face, who could not even fend for himself and make a
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  living for himself, and yet could realize that this is the
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  Son of God. Who do we feel bad for more?
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  Not Bartimaeus. Definitely not Bartimaeus.
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  Not only did Bartimaeus rightly identify this man, Christ Jesus,
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  he also. Perceived.
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  We're talking about his perception.
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  He perceived the absolute value of this moment.
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  What was this man's occupation? He was a beggar.
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  And if you're going to do well as a beggar, you're going to
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  need people to beg. And so I want you to imagine
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  this. Think slowly about this whole
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  event. Now you have this man who is a
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  beggar, who's a needy pauper, who is again depended upon those
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  to extend some kind of grace. And though this man could not
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  see much living on the side of the road, he developed the
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  ability to know when people were coming by, to know when somebody
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  was passing through. And now, in this particular day,
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  we read that there is what? Look at verse 46 again.
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  It was not just Jesus with his disciples going through Jericho.
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  A great crowd, a great crowd passing through Bartimaeus's
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  neighborhood. You know what that means for a
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  beggar, Cha Ching? That's what that means.
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  More people, more people to beg to.
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  More people to beg to more opportunity for them to give me
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  a payday that I haven't seen in a while.
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  That's what you have here for a beggar, A beggar, A beggar who
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  doesn't know how he's going to make it for tomorrow.
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  That kind of a beggar. I'm not talking about the
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  poverty that we see here in the West like a real poor person.
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  That would weep if you extended a Bologna sandwich to them.
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  This is the kind of beggar that we're seeing before us.
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  And now we see this, this great procession.
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  He hears it. And what do you think would stir
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  in his heart in that moment? Oh, perhaps as a beggar.
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  Please help. Extra shackles, please.
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  For a poor blind beggar. Please please.
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  Nothing of the sort. This man does not take advantage
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  of the opportunity at hand. Instead, upon learning that
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  Jesus was leading this procession, he says, Jesus, son
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  of David, have mercy on me. Have mercy on me.
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  You know what Bartimaeus could see?
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  What most people can't see when they hear the gospel and they're
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  not saved the opportunity that they have right in front of
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  them. And you know why?
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  Most people can't feel the urgency about knowing that Jesus
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  is before them in the truth and that they can experience Jesus
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  Because you, like Bartimaeus, perhaps, are occupied by
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  something else, Because you living with this ambition and
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  this opportunity and this idea of tomorrow and what you're
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  going to build for yourself and what you want to accomplish.
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  And so when you hear Jesus in the crowd, you're more concerned
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  about the opportunity for yourself than the greatest
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  opportunity that can be given to you in the person of Christ.
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  You know what's so amazing about Bartimaeus?
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  Something that you need to hear very carefully, and you're going
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  to wonder why, perhaps from this pulpit you hear so much urgency.
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  Bartimaeus, if he did not cry out to Jesus in this way, would
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  never have been healed from his blindness.
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  So what do you mean? I'll tell you why, because
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  where's Jesus headed? To?
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  Look at Mark 11 in the next chapter.
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  If you have the ESV, then you'll see 3 words.
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  This is not divine inspiration. This is just added to our
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  Bibles, to trying to make sense of context or give us an idea of
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  what's coming next. The Triumphal entry.
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  Jesus is now ready to enter into his final week before heading
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  into the cross to the cross. He's never coming back to
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  Jericho. He's never going to make his way
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  back here. This is the final trip before he
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  goes to Calvary. Bartimaeus.
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  I'm not sure if he understood the events that were about to
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  unfold, but he didn't need to. He knew that this time could be
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  the last time, and so I must respond now.
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  Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me and why that moves me
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  again. I'll get to it in a moment, but
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  it is. This is why Bartimaeus is
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  someone that I. Fallen in love with.
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  Because of years of preaching the gospel and pleading with
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  people that Jesus is here and he can be received and he can touch
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  your life, I have rarely seen the response that Bartimaeus
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  gives. And for some people, it's
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  because they're convinced that you can just set a future
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  appointment, and when it's convenient for you, you will
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  meet with Jesus and he will do what he really wants you to do,
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  right? Like as though you're doing
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  Jesus a favor. But the reality is, whether it's
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  your first time hearing about Jesus and what he can do in your
• 23:53
  life, or the 100th time, you can never determine when the last
• 23:56
  time will be. You can never determine that.
• 24:00
  And if you are a person who knows that they have not
• 24:04
  surrendered to Christ and are comforting yourself by
• 24:06
  entertaining the idea that you can postpone this.
• 24:11
  And if you choose to ignore this because of other things that are
• 24:14
  preoccupying you, then realize. I like Bartimaeus.
• 24:19
  This could be your very last time.
• 24:22
  That's not manipulation. That's reality.
• 24:25
  And what manipulation? What is this in for me?
• 24:27
  This is for your soul. So he didn't just understand the
• 24:32
  identity of Christ. He understood the value of this
• 24:34
  moment. Christ is here that I must call
• 24:37
  upon him now, for this could be my last time.
• 24:42
  He may never come by this way again.
• 24:43
  Do people feel that way when we present the gospel to them?
• 24:45
  Look, I can't control how people.
• 24:47
  Feel, but I have. The control of how we deliver
• 24:49
  that truth, right. So the duty here of a preacher
• 24:54
  is to make people feel the urgency of the moment, whether
• 24:57
  they're comfortable with it or not.
• 24:58
  The reality is this, It could be your last time.
• 25:03
  It could be your last time. I know you're young and you have
• 25:05
  strength and you have energy and you have plans, and nothing will
• 25:08
  interrupt those plans. You'd be shocked to know how,
• 25:12
  over the years, young people who had so much looking forward to
• 25:17
  could not, because they're six feet under.
• 25:19
  As I speak, he perceived not just the person but the moment.
• 25:28
  But then we go from the perception to the 4th point, and
• 25:32
  that's his persistence. This is where Barnamae is is
• 25:37
  recognized for who he is. He calls out in verse 47.
• 25:42
  He asked for Jesus, the Son of David, to come, and we read here
• 25:47
  in verse 48 the response of the crowd.
• 25:49
  And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
• 25:51
  But he cried out all the more. Son of David, have mercy on me.
• 25:54
  If you're a person here today who will make an opportunity out
• 25:57
  of this moment and say, you know what, I think I'm going to
• 26:00
  actually pause on any other opportunity, any other
• 26:02
  appointment, even if it's flashing before my eyes.
• 26:06
  What I perceive from this moment is that Jesus is here.
• 26:09
  I'm not right with Jesus. I have to get right with Jesus.
• 26:13
  You can expect Jesus to do a work in you, but you can also
• 26:15
  expect what we see here with Bartimaeus, obstacles,
• 26:22
  hindrances and in this case it was a.
• 26:26
  Crowd. And not just a crowd.
• 26:27
  It was many from that crowd, and many from that crowd were
• 26:31
  telling him to shut his mouth. They rebuked him, but who knows
• 26:37
  what was going on through their minds for them to rebuke this
• 26:39
  beggar? What were they thinking for them
• 26:40
  to say that maybe they thought that Jesus had no time for this
• 26:42
  beggar? Maybe they realized that Jesus
• 26:45
  was on his way somewhere, and so they didn't want this beggar to
• 26:47
  stop this. Maybe they had their own desires
• 26:50
  and wants, and they saw that this beggar was going to
• 26:53
  interrupt that. We're not told explicitly what
• 26:56
  it is, but the reality of this opposition is something that you
• 27:00
  can apply universally. When a person decides to call
• 27:04
  upon Christ, when a person realizes the need for their soul
• 27:07
  to be saved, when a person even who is saved but wants to grow
• 27:11
  in their zeal and their passion for the Lord, you can expect
• 27:14
  some level of opposition. And that's what this man is
• 27:19
  experiencing here. His zeal is there, his passion
• 27:23
  is there. And you wonder, what is it?
• 27:28
  What is it that's going through the minds of these people?
• 27:31
  But one thing is for certain. He's a person that's going to
• 27:35
  get what he's asking for no matter what.
• 27:38
  Whether people agree with him or disagree with him, it does not
• 27:40
  matter. And I find it fascinating that
• 27:43
  you can be just about as passionate about anything in
• 27:46
  this life and you can be deemed as industrious and passionate
• 27:50
  and hard working. But when it comes to spiritual
• 27:52
  things, we're so quick to say you're a fanatic, you're a
• 27:56
  fanatic. You've probably heard that
• 27:59
  because you go to more than one service a week.
• 28:02
  Is this really necessary? You've heard this because what?
• 28:06
  You're so committed to Christ, it's not just an Easter
• 28:09
  Christmas thing. You live the same people.
• 28:11
  People don't usually praise you for that.
• 28:13
  They tend to condemn you for that.
• 28:17
  I've seen in my own life, I've seen young people come to
• 28:19
  Christ, people who are in bars and clubs till who knows how
• 28:22
  late into the mornings. And here they are at church and
• 28:25
  they stay laid up and the parents are complaining that
• 28:27
  they're staying up late at church, but they had no
• 28:29
  complaints when they were in the bars and the clubs downtown.
• 28:32
  Where was Where were your complaints then?
• 28:36
  It's just amazing how twisted this mind is.
• 28:39
  It's amazing that this man is calling upon Jesus for mercy and
• 28:43
  you have the crowd saying be quiet.
• 28:46
  Zip it, Bartimaeus. But look what Bartimaeus does.
• 28:51
  You already read it with me. He hears these people.
• 28:54
  He doesn't even address them. He just amplifies his voice.
• 28:59
  So many rebuked him and what does he do?
• 29:01
  He cried out all the more. Jesus, son of David, have mercy
• 29:06
  on me. You know what's so interesting
• 29:08
  about this? Not only did his enthusiasm
• 29:11
  remain, but the way he identified Christ was not
• 29:15
  altered either. You know, it could be that some
• 29:17
  of the people that rebuke Bartimaeus were bothered by the
• 29:20
  fact that he was identifying Jesus as what?
• 29:22
  Son of David. Maybe they didn't like that
• 29:25
  either. Hey, he's Jesus from Nazareth.
• 29:28
  Keep your mouth shut. We don't know if he's the son of
• 29:30
  David yet, and Bartabaeus doesn't even see.
• 29:33
  Doesn't even consider it at this point.
• 29:36
  He just needs a touch from the Lord and that's all he's
• 29:38
  concerned about. So who knows what all these
• 29:41
  people are saying? Who knows how they're trying to
• 29:43
  clam him? Jesus, son of David.
• 29:45
  You know what that's a picture of?
• 29:47
  When you believe the truth, expect there to be opposition
• 29:51
  from the majority. And what Bartimaeus is showing
• 29:54
  here is that his theology was not altered by the pressure of
• 29:58
  the crowd. Don't call that sin.
• 30:01
  Call it something else. You know what the spirit of
• 30:04
  Bartimaeus would teach us? You stay your ground and you say
• 30:09
  it as it is. You can't say that about Jesus
• 30:12
  being the only way. Jesus is the only way.
• 30:18
  You can't say that about the culture.
• 30:20
  You can't say that about this particular group of people.
• 30:22
  You can't say that about this. You can't say it about.
• 30:24
  And here's Bartimaeus saying it the way he said it before, when
• 30:28
  there was an opposition, when there was opposition, he didn't
• 30:31
  falter, He didn't bend one bit. I love Bartimaeus.
• 30:37
  We can use a few Bartimaeus on the pulpit.
• 30:40
  Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
• 30:43
  Don't say that. Jesus, son of David, have mercy
• 30:46
  on me. I'm not changing for anybody.
• 30:49
  This is true. And that's all I care about.
• 30:53
  And look what the persistence rewarded.
• 30:55
  Bartimaeus. Look at verse 49.
• 30:57
  Very slowly the 1st 3 words and Jesus stopped.
• 31:04
  Through all the hustle and bustle, right through all the
• 31:06
  people crowding around him and all the overwhelming.
• 31:10
  Noise. Something pierced through the
• 31:13
  atmosphere and stirred the compassion of the Savior Jesus,
• 31:17
  who was on his way with his face like Flint towards Jerusalem,
• 31:20
  stopped walking. Imagine the sight people have
• 31:26
  gathered their pace and their rhythm, and through all the
• 31:29
  muffling all you hear in the distance is Jesus, son of David,
• 31:35
  Jesus son of David. Be quiet, Bartimaeus.
• 31:39
  Enough, Bart. Jesus son of David, have mercy
• 31:43
  on me. And Jesus stops.
• 31:48
  And when he stops it shows us the reward of what persistence
• 31:53
  and determination does. It can get Christ's attention.
• 32:00
  And the Lord here is willing to do something about Bartimaeus's
• 32:04
  situation. He honors his plea, and we see
• 32:09
  here that it wasn't just his determination, but it was the
• 32:12
  substance of his supplication, right?
• 32:14
  He? Yes, says Son of David.
• 32:15
  He honors him with the accurate understanding of his character,
• 32:18
  the messianic characteristics. But he also pleads for mercy,
• 32:25
  Mercy. When a man realizes he needs
• 32:28
  mercy. How many miracles do you read of
• 32:31
  in the Bible where somebody asked for Jesus to have mercy
• 32:35
  and he never denies it? So Bartimaeus did not just have
• 32:40
  this perception about the identity of Christ.
• 32:42
  He didn't just have the discernment for the value of the
• 32:45
  moment. He had perception about himself.
• 32:48
  I'm not worthy of this. I need this.
• 32:51
  This needs to be given to me by grace.
• 32:54
  I need mercy. When you come to the Lord like
• 32:58
  that, and when you understand that you are undeserving of what
• 33:03
  he can give you, that's when you attract the heart of Christ.
• 33:07
  Not based on demand, not raising your fist to heaven, not trying
• 33:12
  to shackle God to do what you want to do.
• 33:14
  When you just come on the basis of mercy, you move the master.
• 33:22
  So persistence with revelation about your need of mercy is the
• 33:26
  recipe for Jesus, the one who rules and reigns even today, to,
• 33:32
  metaphorically speaking, stopping and giving his
• 33:34
  attention to a creature and to giving him what he needs.
• 33:41
  So Bartimaeus, pleased for mercy his perception was right on.
• 33:45
  A man who had no sight but could see Christ rightly the value of
• 33:49
  the moment, and even himself. But it's not just his
• 33:53
  perception. Here's the fifth point.
• 33:54
  Now it's his passion. His passion can already be
• 33:58
  translated, but it's amplified here in verse 50.
• 34:04
  We can read from verse 49. And Jesus stopped and said call
• 34:07
  him and they called the blind man saying to him take heart,
• 34:10
  get up. And he is calling you.
• 34:11
  What a different attitude from the crowd, huh?
• 34:16
  They went from shut up to soothing.
• 34:19
  They went from rebuking to reassuring man.
• 34:23
  People can change so easily, but what's the reason for their
• 34:28
  change? I'll tell you it's Jesus.
• 34:31
  When Jesus said call him, they change themselves.
• 34:34
  Jesus can change people's attitudes.
• 34:36
  It's amazing. Well, this is just my
• 34:38
  personality. Well, Jesus can save your
• 34:40
  personality too. Jesus can sanctify your your
• 34:45
  mouth. So these people rebuking
• 34:49
  Bartimaeus Jesus, you know what call?
• 34:51
  Him. Oh, yes, Jesus.
• 34:52
  OK, and they go, hey, this is OK.
• 34:54
  He's just calling you. That's how much?
• 34:56
  Authority Christ has over the heart.
• 34:58
  It's amazing what the Lord can do.
• 35:01
  He saves the whole man. And so we see here that these
• 35:06
  people call the blind man saying take hard, get up, he is calling
• 35:09
  you. Now look at this verse 50 and.
• 35:11
  Throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
• 35:14
  Don't you love Barda Mays? I love Barda Mays.
• 35:18
  The more I'm talking about him, the more I really want to meet
• 35:21
  him in heaven, saying, What's so significant about this?
• 35:25
  Well, again, we see here that he's throwing off his cloak.
• 35:29
  That cloak is something that would be heavy enough for you to
• 35:31
  sleep with and sleep on. And even that when he learned
• 35:36
  that Jesus was calling him, he did not want that to be a
• 35:38
  hindrance to him to get to Jesus as quickly as he could.
• 35:42
  He threw that off, he sprang up and he ran to Jesus.
• 35:47
  What's this response from the knowledge that what the people
• 35:52
  saying to him, Jesus is calling you again?
• 35:56
  Let me go back to what I said earlier.
• 35:58
  I've lost count. Let's just even think about the
• 36:01
  past two years in this very building.
• 36:03
  How many times have we heard the gospel call?
• 36:05
  How many times have we heard the gospel preached?
• 36:07
  Now let me ask you this. How many times have you seen a
• 36:10
  response like Bartimaeus to the invitation Jesus is calling you?
• 36:17
  Isn't it staggering? Isn't it humbling?
• 36:20
  Isn't it convicting? That you see, this man who not
• 36:24
  only dismissed the crowd, who not only ignore this opportunity
• 36:28
  that could have helped him temporarily, but he realized
• 36:31
  there's somebody who can help him permanently.
• 36:33
  And he says, forget this opportunity, forget this
• 36:35
  appointment, forget the surprise invitation.
• 36:38
  I want Jesus. And now, on top of that, what
• 36:41
  does he do when he learns that Jesus calm, He's like this
• 36:43
  thing's got to go and he throws off this cloak to run to.
• 36:47
  Where is that desperation? I don't know where.
• 36:51
  It is. But God help us, we need
• 36:53
  revival. This man throws off his cloak.
• 36:57
  It's a picture of you identifying anything in your
• 37:00
  life that might be limiting you from coming to Jesus and saying
• 37:03
  I'm getting rid of this thing. If you're in here and you don't
• 37:08
  know Christ, can I ask you a question?
• 37:10
  What's the one thing that's holding you back from giving
• 37:13
  your life to Christ? And then once you identify it,
• 37:18
  ask yourself, is it worth losing my soul over?
• 37:22
  Ask that. Is it worth?
• 37:26
  Denying the invitation to walk with my maker, who paid a price
• 37:30
  for me to have fellowship with him, not just one day in heaven,
• 37:34
  but on this side of heaven. What is the one thing holding
• 37:38
  you back from surrendering everything to Christ?
• 37:40
  And then ask this question? Is it worth losing my soul over
• 37:48
  this man? The moment he knew what was
• 37:50
  holding him back, he relinquished it, he removed it,
• 37:54
  and he fled to Christ. Jesus is calling you.
• 37:58
  I take the words of these people and I present it to you on this
• 38:00
  Sunday afternoon. Jesus is calling you.
• 38:05
  I've heard this from a couple people throughout my Christian
• 38:07
  journey. I've heard some people say, you
• 38:09
  know, I know what it means to be Christian.
• 38:12
  I've heard this idea of the gospel, but I'm just waiting for
• 38:15
  Jesus to convict me. If Jesus really wants me to be
• 38:19
  saved, then he'll he'll reveal himself to me and and he'll tell
• 38:22
  me that I need to be saved and he'll give me the faith.
• 38:24
  And once I have the faith, then I'll believe in him.
• 38:27
  If you've experienced that, if you've had that conversation,
• 38:30
  you have another text to point that poor soul to.
• 38:34
  I'm just waiting for Jesus to directly.
• 38:36
  Well, look, even when Jesus was on earth, how did he call
• 38:39
  Bartimaeus? Did Jesus come up to Bartimaeus?
• 38:42
  No. He told the people to go and
• 38:44
  call him. If Jesus, while on earth, used
• 38:47
  people to tell others that he was calling them, how much more
• 38:50
  now that he's ascended on high, sitting at the right hand of
• 38:52
  God. Here's how we make sense of all
• 38:56
  this when a person who knows Jesus is telling you by the word
• 38:59
  of God that Jesus calling you it's Jesus calling you.
• 39:03
  That's the point that I'm getting across.
• 39:05
  Well, Jesus is just going to have to appear himself to me.
• 39:07
  Well look, Bartimaeus here was called by Jesus, and he didn't
• 39:10
  have that line of argumentation. I'm not going to come up unless
• 39:14
  Jesus comes up. He leaves that parade and he
• 39:16
  comes right to me. No, no, no, no.
• 39:18
  Messengers of Jesus said Jesus is beckoning you and that was
• 39:21
  enough for him to spring up and run to Jesus.
• 39:27
  So this man's passion is so. Obvious.
• 39:31
  And what you and I have to understand here is that whenever
• 39:33
  Jesus calls, you know these phones these days tells you who
• 39:36
  calls and when you miss the call.
• 39:38
  Sometimes I'm so busy I miss a lot of calls.
• 39:41
  And every time I look at that rut red with a number on, I
• 39:44
  realize, oh, there's all these calls I missed and it's logged
• 39:47
  there to remind me. You have calls to respond to.
• 39:51
  You know that God has the same thing.
• 39:55
  Do you know God? Keeps in mind every single time
• 39:59
  he calls you and you don't answer.
• 40:02
  Every single time saying prove it to me gladly.
• 40:06
  Isaiah 65, verse 12. Isaiah 65, verse 12.
• 40:18
  Here's what God says to His people who are ignoring His
• 40:22
  calls. I will destine you to the sword,
• 40:27
  and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter.
• 40:30
  Because when I called, you did not answer.
• 40:35
  When I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was
• 40:40
  evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in.
• 40:43
  There it is. Because when I called, it went
• 40:48
  straight to voicemail. God remembers every single time
• 40:54
  He's called. Well, God hasn't called me
• 40:56
  newsflash. He's calling you now when this
• 41:02
  word is open and when it's faithfully declared and when the
• 41:05
  gospel invitation is laid out, that is God and His Providence,
• 41:09
  calling you personally to give your life to His Son.
• 41:15
  And when you ignore that call, he remembers, and in His mercy
• 41:20
  he can call you again. But let's learn from Barnabas
• 41:22
  and realize that that one call may be the last call.
• 41:27
  I may never get a call again. So we see the passion of this
• 41:35
  man, and the passion is exemplified even further after
• 41:37
  the miracle takes place. Let's just Fast forward to verse
• 41:40
  52. Look what the Lord does and
• 41:44
  Jesus said to him Go your way. Your faith has made you well,
• 41:50
  and immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the
• 41:54
  way. If the physical blindness here
• 41:57
  is a consistent picture of our spiritual blindness and a
• 42:00
  picture of what God does at salvation, then Jesus command in
• 42:04
  the response of Bartimaeus can equally be an illustration of
• 42:07
  what should happen after Christ opens your eyes.
• 42:10
  Does that make sense? So Jesus is ready to heal this
• 42:13
  man's eyes and he gives him instructions.
• 42:14
  He says go your way, right? Why is that important?
• 42:19
  Because with these new eyes, there would be no.
• 42:21
  Need for Bartimaeus to sit on the roadside again and start
• 42:24
  begging. These new eyes demanded a new
• 42:27
  way of life. These new eyes called for
• 42:31
  Bartimaeus to have a New Hope, a new strength, a new grace, to
• 42:35
  walk through life in a different way.
• 42:39
  It would be strange for Bartimaeus to have his eyes open
• 42:42
  and then for him to return to the sidewalk and to begin where
• 42:44
  he left off. And I make the same case today
• 42:47
  that every person who's truly had his eyes open, by Christ,
• 42:50
  they cannot go back to the way that they were.
• 42:53
  They must go a different way. Now here's what moves me,
• 42:57
  because we're still under the category, the fifth point, the
• 42:59
  5th observation of Bartimaeus's passion.
• 43:02
  Here's this man who threw off his cloak, who runs to Jesus and
• 43:06
  Jesus heals him and Jesus tells him go your way.
• 43:09
  That's a very general exhortation.
• 43:11
  Go your way. Now let me ask you something.
• 43:13
  Imagine being blind for years. Imagine not being able to see
• 43:17
  anything, not even to make out any silhouette.
• 43:20
  Nothing. Just pitch black and your eyes
• 43:23
  were open for the first time. What would you want to do first?
• 43:30
  What site would you want to see? What family member would you
• 43:33
  visit? Whose door will you knock on to
• 43:36
  surprise that you can now make out who they Who's the person
• 43:39
  that you have imagined to look like something by the sound of
• 43:42
  the voice, but now you can't wait to actually see them for
• 43:45
  who they are. Who?
• 43:47
  What place would you go? Who would you?
• 43:49
  Imagine this. Imagine put yourself in the
• 43:51
  situation Where would you run? Jesus says go your way.
• 43:58
  You know what's the first thing that Bartimaeus does?
• 44:00
  The last part of verse 52? And immediately he recovered his
• 44:03
  sight and followed him, followed him on the way.
• 44:10
  Bartimaeus, with his fresh new eyes, wanted to keep them on
• 44:14
  Jesus and follow him. He wanted to look at the one who
• 44:19
  just healed him. He wanted to behold the one who
• 44:23
  just saved him. He wanted to relish the one who
• 44:26
  just delivered him. That's where Bartimaeus wanted
• 44:29
  to go. He could have gone to 100
• 44:31
  different places. He could have sat with 100
• 44:34
  different people. But instead, his instinct, the
• 44:37
  moment that his eyes were open, is I want to follow this man.
• 44:41
  I want to go where the son of David goes.
• 44:44
  What a passion this man had. But we have our final point
• 44:48
  here. With all our peace.
• 44:52
  We have the paradigm. The word paradigm simply means
• 44:55
  example or model. This is the story of Bartimaeus,
• 44:59
  right? But it's a story that's
• 45:00
  connected to Christ. And how can we study or read a
• 45:03
  story about Christ and not learn something directly from Christ?
• 45:08
  So we come back here to our text and notice again verse 51.
• 45:11
  Jesus said to him, what do you want me to do for you?
• 45:17
  In about a week, Jesus is about to be nailed on the cross.
• 45:22
  In a few days, Jesus is going to be brutally betrayed, tortured,
• 45:26
  mocked, scorned. You can imagine what would
• 45:30
  occupy a heart, knowing that their fate is just around the
• 45:34
  corner. And with all that he is
• 45:37
  preparing for with the mission that is before him, this man was
• 45:43
  willing to pause and to help a beggar.
• 45:50
  This is our example, you're saying?
• 45:52
  What does this mean? Remember what Jesus finished
• 45:54
  teaching his disciples before Bartimaeus's miracle.
• 45:58
  Look back here again with me and Mark in chapter 10, verse 43.
• 46:04
  But it shall not be so among you.
• 46:06
  But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and
• 46:09
  whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.
• 46:13
  For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and
• 46:19
  to give his life as a ransom for many.
• 46:22
  Yes, he would ultimately give his life as a ransom for many on
• 46:25
  the cross, but throughout his life he spilled himself to serve
• 46:29
  other people, and now he shows it with Bartimaeus.
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  Do you see that he just finished teaching his disciples?
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  Serve others? You want to be the greatest?
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  Be a slave? Consider everyone more
• 46:41
  significant than yourself, And here's Christ.
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  Imagine this on his way to the appointment that would save
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  humanity from their sins. And when this beggar interrupts
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  him on the way, Jesus, as the servant of servants, stops and
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  helps him. That's your Christ.
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  That is your savior. That is the Lord that you love,
• 47:06
  this Jesus, who had every right and excuse to ignore.
• 47:10
  Bartimaeus, Bartimaeus, I have to die for everybody's sins,
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  including yours. But because he is the perfect
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  servant, when he hears a need, he stops, no matter how much it
• 47:19
  might have been an interference, no matter how much it might have
• 47:22
  caused, whatever it may be. He stopped and he looked up
• 47:25
  Bartimaeus. And he says this.
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  What can I do for you? Don't you melt at the humility
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  of Christ. I do.
• 47:36
  Maybe you're like me and don't handle interruptions too well at
• 47:40
  sometimes. But here's Christ willing to be
• 47:44
  interrupted. You know why?
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  Because a servant doesn't object to interruptions.
• 47:50
  A servant serves when the opportunity arises.
• 47:55
  So we have our example here, whether we have our own
• 47:59
  problems, whether we have our own burdens.
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  A servant looks at others and says, what can I do for you?
• 48:03
  And that's Christ. Are you with me?
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  And seeing the joy that the story of Bartimaeus brings, we
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  have his passion, his persistence.
• 48:16
  We have his person. We have his perception, we have
• 48:19
  all these things, but we end here on Christ, Christ, Christ.
• 48:25
  For the Christians example, you and I again are being reminded
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  by way of illustration of what it means to serve.
• 48:33
  But I can't help There's something in my heart that wants
• 48:36
  to end in this way. Once again making a plea for a
• 48:40
  person who doesn't know Christ. Jesus Christ died on the cross
• 48:47
  for you. Have you surrendered to him?
• 48:51
  Have you had your sins forgiven? You have been entertaining the
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  peripheral. You have been exploring from a
• 49:00
  distance. Perhaps you have been admiring
• 49:03
  and your admiration is growing, but none of that equates to him
• 49:07
  touching your eyes and opening them.
• 49:10
  I'm inviting you today that the same Jesus that we just read and
• 49:14
  heard about is the same Jesus who can cure this blindness.
• 49:19
  And all you need to do is do what the Pharisees refuse to do.
• 49:21
  And that's to admit I do not see as I should.
• 49:25
  My standard of truth is not in alignment with this word.
• 49:29
  I've actually resisted the claims of Jesus, but now I ask
• 49:33
  that he would heal me. I want to believe as he calls me
• 49:37
  to believe. I want to see as he calls me to
• 49:39
  see. I no longer want this guilt.
• 49:41
  If this Christ that you proclaim can heal me of my blindness,
• 49:44
  then may He heal me. Even as I'm preaching now.
• 49:49
  Perhaps the noise of the crowd is muffling my voice.
• 49:53
  Who cares about the crowd and what they can offer you in this
• 49:56
  moment? Who cares what this life throws
• 49:58
  at you? It's all temporal.
• 50:00
  There is a touch from Christ that will change you forever.
• 50:04
  And I plea with I beg you that you today would not ignore this
• 50:08
  message Jesus is calling you. Throw off the cloak.
• 50:15
  Run to him and surrender to him, and he will answer.
• 50:21
  If you do today with that faith, no matter what your sin is, no
• 50:24
  matter what you've done, no matter the hardness of heart, if
• 50:27
  you respond to him, I assure you This is why the story is here.
• 50:31
  Jesus Christ, the Creator and the Sustainer of the universe.
• 50:34
  He who lives today, He will return at any moment will stop.
• 50:40
  Pay attention to you. And regenerate your soul, and
• 50:43
  you can walk out of those wooden doors with a new heart.
• 50:52
  Lord, we ask you this afternoon that you would do just that.
• 50:58
  Son of David, have mercy on us. We pray for the one who doesn't
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  know you, that they would know you for the one who knows you,
• 51:03
  that they would be transformed further by the very mercy you
• 51:08
  display. Thank you, Lord, that not just
• 51:10
  in salvation, but when we call upon you for mercy in any
• 51:13
  situation, you're willing to answer, and all you require from
• 51:17
  us is persistence and a revelation of our neediness and
• 51:23
  miracles can take place there. For any person here who needs a
• 51:27
  touch from you, a fresh touch from you, Lord, may we not get
• 51:32
  caught up in distractions. May we not get caught up, Lord,
• 51:37
  in the fear of what others may say or do.
• 51:39
  May we just get consumed like this man was with what Christ
• 51:42
  can do and how he's available to me and Lord, to take advantage
• 51:46
  of this very opportunity. Now with the faith that has been
• 51:50
  inspired by this text to now call upon you for a need.
• 51:53
  Thank you that you said my house shall be called the House of
• 51:55
  prayer. We can pray to you if you want
• 51:58
  us to commune with you, to fellowship with you, even in
• 52:00
  this place. And so we asked Lord that this
• 52:02
  would be the case. Oh Lord, may we, like this man,
• 52:06
  realize our great need and trust that you are a great God who can
• 52:09
  provide every need in Jesus name.
• 52:12
  Amen. My heart is so stirred by
• 52:15
  Barnabas. The story really is has been
• 52:17
  since I've been studying about him.
• 52:19
  It's so hard to preach a message like this and to just resume.
• 52:24
  I'm not sure how to resume from here.
• 52:26
  I really am not sure I'm going to trust in the work of the Holy
• 52:29
  Spirit in the hearts that he wants to move in and is moving
• 52:33
  in. But I would just, I would just
• 52:36
  really encourage you in this place if you have a need.
• 52:40
  I'm talking to even believe it. Or if you have a need, just like
• 52:44
  forget about everything else around you, not in a disruptive
• 52:47
  way, but just between you and the Lord.
• 52:48
  Just ask him to do something. I believe with all my heart that
• 52:55
  Jesus can answer prayer. I believe that even in this
• 52:58
  moment God can do something spectacular.
• 53:01
  I believe it. I'm just giving you the
• 53:04
  opportunity, even as the songs are saying, not just mindlessly
• 53:07
  parrot words, even if you need to stay.
• 53:08
  I'm giving you permission if you need it, even stay seated if you
• 53:13
  need to, just to commune with the Lord and saying, oh God,
• 53:15
  please, I do need mercy in this area of my life.
• 53:18
  I need you to intervene. Lord, please.
• 53:20
  And if you don't know Christ, I'm going to be sitting on that
• 53:22
  Pew and I will stay there until midnight if I need to.
• 53:26
  If you do not know Christ, and even if you just have questions
• 53:31
  about your salvation about who Jesus is, I will sit here with
• 53:34
  you as long as possible to help you know greater things about
• 53:38
  him and to answer any questions that you may have.
• 53:42
  And so, as the music is playing, even if during the music you
• 53:45
  want to plot beside me, I'll sit with you and I will answer and I
• 53:48
  will pray with you. Pastor Mark is there too.
• 53:50
  He's there, sitting there in the 4th row.
• 53:52
  He's willing to do that as well. If you came with a believer, I'm
• 53:54
  sure they're willing to do that as well.
• 53:56
  I want anybody here who doesn't know Christ to at least know
• 54:00
  that there was a church that I visited one day that loved me
• 54:02
  too much to let me go so easily. That's why we're here.
• 54:06
  You can come up, Praise team. If you wanna stay seated, you
• 54:10
  can do that. If you wanna stand and sing, you
• 54:11
  can do that. Nobody's forced to do anything.
• 54:13
  But I wanna give you the chance that if you need to have
• 54:16
  questions answered, I'm here for you and I wanna pray with you.