1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:04,400 You can turn in your Bible to Matthew chapter 20. 2 00:00:24,570 --> 00:00:30,330 We have been marching through Matthew, of course, as you know. 3 00:00:36,170 --> 00:00:40,840 So in Matthew chapter 20, remember Matthew the Jew who was 4 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,600 a tax collector traitor, so he sold out to the Romans who are 5 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,800 ruling over the Jews, and Jesus walks up to him. 6 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:50,120 This is early on. It says come and follow me. 7 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:51,560 And Matthew has been following him. 8 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:54,640 Matthew's Gospel is written to the Jews. 9 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,960 So the different gospel writers had different audiences in mind, 10 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,240 although of course, the Holy Spirit had all of us in mind. 11 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:04,239 But Matthew in particular was writing this gospel to the Jews. 12 00:01:04,239 --> 00:01:06,560 So we've continued to point out as we've walked through verse by 13 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:08,840 verse from Matthew, why is that significant? 14 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:10,880 What's really happening there? What could you and I, as an 15 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,280 American modern reader, miss in the text? 16 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,200 And we've continued to see the glory of Jesus, the kingship of 17 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:17,880 Jesus. We're going to see it, of 18 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:24,080 course, again today. Last week, the mother of the 19 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:26,920 sons of Zebedee came up and they said, and she said with her 20 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,160 sons, please give my sons a seat in your Kingdom sitting beside 21 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:31,680 you. They clearly still didn't 22 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,000 understand that the Kingdom is to be focused on Jesus and not 23 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,680 about their own positions and who they can be and what kind of 24 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:39,080 power they might have over others. 25 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:41,680 Jesus, the ultimate servant, now continues. 26 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,960 We've said that we were just days away from the crucifixion. 27 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:50,120 Certainly last week happened within 10 days of the cross and 28 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:52,880 he's about to go into Jerusalem. So this is the context. 29 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,480 This thing has been building. This thing has been swelling. 30 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,440 Thousands and thousands and thousands of people are 31 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,080 following Jesus at this point. It's not just a small crowd. 32 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,240 How do we know it's that many? Because we know one gathering 33 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:05,640 where they said there's a lot of people there. 34 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:08,639 Another time they said, well, it was 5000 and that was just the 35 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:12,280 men you. It's very safe and conservative 36 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:14,240 to assume it would have been at least 10,000. 37 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,120 It's safe and conservative probably to say 15. 38 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,160 Still some say it's upwards of 20. 39 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:21,960 The point is, it's not the 12 walking around. 40 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,920 There are many, many people. Jesus has reshaped this entire 41 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:27,000 region. He has enemies who hate him 42 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,240 because they're jealous of him. And he has all these people who 43 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:32,280 have been changed. You know somebody who knows 44 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,400 somebody who's been healed by Jesus throughout this region. 45 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,600 You know somebody who knows somebody who has heard Jesus 46 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:40,520 preach and teach. At this point, everybody's 47 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:42,240 going, what's up with the Jesus guy? 48 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,000 Are we starting a revolution? He doesn't really talk that way 49 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,320 about the Romans. Is he establishing a Kingdom? 50 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:48,920 He said some stuff about a Kingdom. 51 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,640 Of course, we know when he comes into Jerusalem in a couple of 52 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:55,280 days, he's going to go full nuclear on everybody all week 53 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,240 long in his mission and his purpose to go to the cross. 54 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,440 But he is still moving forward like a man on a mission to go to 55 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:03,000 the cross. He is not flinched. 56 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:05,800 And although I'm sure there is probably dread being 57 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:09,280 experienced, he is not afraid to do what he has been called to 58 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:11,640 do, what he's going to ultimately willingly and 59 00:03:11,640 --> 00:03:13,120 joyfully lay down his life to do. 60 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:18,920 So here we are in verse 29. And as they went out of Jericho, 61 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:23,800 a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind 62 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,800 men sitting by the roadside. And when they heard that Jesus 63 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:31,240 was passing by, they cried out, Lord, have mercy on us, son of 64 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,040 David. The crowd rebuked them, telling 65 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:36,960 them to be silent, but they cried out all the more. 66 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,280 Lord, have mercy on us, son of David. 67 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:44,080 And stopping Jesus called them and said, what do you want me to 68 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,280 do for you? They said to him, Lord, let our 69 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,840 eyes be opened. And Jesus in pity touched their 70 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,320 eyes. And immediately they recovered 71 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:57,040 their sight and followed him. God, thank you so much for your 72 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,400 powerful word. And God, thank you so much for 73 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,440 this moment that actually happened for these two blind men 74 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:04,360 who are actually healed, who cried out. 75 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:07,720 Holy Spirit, I pray you would help us to to rejoice in the 76 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:11,360 work of Jesus, to understand the work in the ministry of Jesus 77 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,720 and to claim it for ourselves, to enjoy his mercy and his 78 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,000 kindness to us today. Lord, I pray you would help me 79 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,160 to make right application that would bless your people, that 80 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:23,480 would strengthen them, that would build them up, that would 81 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,640 equip them for your work. Glorify your name through the 82 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:28,960 preaching of your word. In Jesus name we thank you, 83 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,560 Amen. So the great crowds following 84 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:36,840 him, it's probably Friday. Which Friday? 85 00:04:36,840 --> 00:04:39,560 It's probably the Friday before Good Friday. 86 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,480 Good Friday, when he's crucified, he's probably 7 days 87 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:47,160 away from the cross. At this moment, the Master is on 88 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,560 his mission to the cross. He's got about a day's worth of 89 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,520 travel ahead of him. So he's in Jericho right now. 90 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:58,520 He's about 15 miles away from Jerusalem, about 13 or so miles 91 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,440 away from Bethany. So Bethany is where he's 92 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:03,480 heading. It's the place just outside of 93 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:04,880 Jerusalem where he's going to stay outside. 94 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,360 You can look into Jerusalem from up on the hill of Bethany. 95 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:11,400 This is where his friends are. This is where he's just recently 96 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,360 raised Lazarus from the dead. So he raised Lazarus from the 97 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:15,640 dead. And remember, this was a big 98 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,120 moment where all the Pharisees and he said, pastor, we didn't 99 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:19,720 cover that yet. So Matthew didn't even record 100 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:21,920 that. But he's raised Lazarus from the 101 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:23,760 dead. Everybody says, all right, we've 102 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:26,360 got to kill Jesus. And these geniuses also say, and 103 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:28,160 we're going to kill Lazarus again too. 104 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,320 So Lazarus died on his own the 1st poor guy and now people want 105 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:33,360 to murder him because Jesus raised him from the dead. 106 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,000 So Jesus wisely says it's not yet my time. 107 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:38,480 Nobody takes Jesus life from him. 108 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:43,520 Remember that he lays it down. Jesus didn't get beat up by a 109 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:45,320 bunch of bad guys because he was a wimp. 110 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,200 Jesus is strong and he gave himself over deliberately 111 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:50,880 because he loves you. And he reminded Pilate of that 112 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:53,200 very thing. Pilate said, don't you know that 113 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,520 I have the power over you? And Jesus said, all right, I've 114 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,080 been quiet and now I have to actually correct something. 115 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:01,880 You have no power over me except that what was given to you from 116 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:03,000 above. Let's clarify that. 117 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,560 And Pilate's going, Pilate's wife is saying, have nothing to 118 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:07,480 do with this man I saw in a dream. 119 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:09,160 And Pilate's going, I'm kind of spooked. 120 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,360 I've never been about to kill somebody who wasn't afraid of me 121 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,800 or afraid to die. This man is a man on a mission. 122 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:18,440 That's the King, that's the Lord, that's the Master. 123 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:23,560 So Jesus, he's raised Lazarus, he leaves town, he does some 124 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,840 more ministry, he does some more preaching and teaching, and now 125 00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:30,000 he says, now it's time. I'm going all the way in for the 126 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,560 week of Passover. So Jews from everywhere travel. 127 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,600 The region's packed, Everybody's coming in, everybody's coming 128 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,760 into Jerusalem, everybody's traveling, big caravans, big 129 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:41,480 groups, but everybody's still. For three years now, people have 130 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,080 heard about Jesus at Passover. Did you hear about this guy? 131 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:46,600 Did you hear about this guy? I think he's the Messiah. 132 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,280 No, he can't be the Messiah. Here's why I think he is the 133 00:06:49,280 --> 00:06:50,760 Messiah. I trust him. 134 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,720 I'm following him. But now, after this miracle of 135 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,200 raising Lazarus has shaken the region, he's left and now he's 136 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,840 returning. It's probably Friday, most 137 00:07:00,840 --> 00:07:02,960 likely Friday morning. He's probably going to travel, 138 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:06,160 walk for walk for the day. It's about a day's walk for the 139 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:08,280 average adult. They're going to walk to Bethany 140 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:10,280 and then they're going to call it a night and they're going to 141 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,320 rest on Saturday, the Sabbath and then comes Sunday morning, 142 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:16,080 Palm Sunday. Blessed is he who comes in the 143 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,520 name of the Lord. That's what we're going to hit 144 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:20,360 next week. But for now, you know the 145 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,240 context of where we're at and we're leaving Jericho. 146 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,720 The crowd is following him. We know is a mixed bag, right? 147 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:28,520 That's always the case in a crowd. 148 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:31,400 It's always the case in a crowd. That's the case in a that's the 149 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,040 case in a congregation. We trying to say pastor. 150 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:36,520 I'm just saying it is what it is. 151 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:39,560 If the shoe fits, put it on. But every group of people is a 152 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:41,800 mixed bag. Different levels of devotion, 153 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,720 sincerity, understanding, clarity. 154 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,240 It's not a condemnation, but it's a fact that we have to come 155 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,680 to terms with. There are the faithful in this 156 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:52,560 crowd. There are the zealous. 157 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,200 There are traitors. There are those with many 158 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:58,640 misunderstandings. Everybody who's around Jesus 159 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:04,080 does not have the same motive. Many are spiritually blind, and 160 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:06,640 it's true, unfortunately, in the body of Christ as well. 161 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:08,480 Well, and let me clarify that statement. 162 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,200 That's true oftentimes on Sunday mornings as well. 163 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,840 Everybody who's around the church body of Christ doesn't 164 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,440 have the same motive. That applies to pastors, that 165 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:19,960 applies to members, that applies to many people who are 166 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:22,720 spiritually blind. I've heard tragic and beautiful 167 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:24,680 testimonies. There was a ministerial 168 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,040 association I was in years ago, and it's just where local 169 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:29,440 pastors are gathering. One of these brothers, beautiful 170 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,159 testimony was he had been in ministry, he had graduated from 171 00:08:32,159 --> 00:08:35,720 seminary, and he had been a pastor for decades, decades. 172 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:40,360 When he actually came to Christ and got saved, he said, I found 173 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,080 that I was a churchman for decades. 174 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,800 That gives everybody pause for a second, as it should, to inspect 175 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:51,800 your own heart and go, are you really in the faith? 176 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,240 I don't intend to put doubt where it shouldn't be. 177 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:55,760 I just intend for for the certain. 178 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:57,000 You go. Well, yeah, I understand. 179 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,760 The Lord has rescued me. It's by his blood and it's by 180 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:04,400 his name. But a title, a pastor and a 181 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:08,160 pulpit don't tell you anything about the internals of my heart, 182 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:10,480 about where my walk with the Lord is. 183 00:09:11,680 --> 00:09:15,280 So the same is true. The crowd can always be a bit 184 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:17,000 misleading. And certainly in this crowd, 185 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,320 we're going to see that we have a mixed bag as well. 186 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:23,760 Back to verse 29. As they went out of Jericho, a 187 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:27,840 great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind 188 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:31,720 men sitting by the roadside. And when they heard Jesus was 189 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:37,160 passing by, they cried out. Lord, have mercy on us, son of 190 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,240 David. So blind, blind men would sit 191 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:42,600 and they would beg. They had permission to do so. 192 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:44,800 This was a legally regulated thing to do. 193 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,440 Anybody couldn't just sit around begging all the time. 194 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:48,760 The Romans wouldn't have permitted that. 195 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,480 Even even the Jews probably would have had customs and rules 196 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:53,120 to say like, this isn't appropriate. 197 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,440 And there would have been, you know, maybe a, a shame unless 198 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:58,480 you had a deep need. But these guys would have been 199 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:01,200 approved to do so. Their, their blindness is their 200 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:03,160 life and their begging is their job. 201 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:05,480 These men are not prized by society. 202 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:07,200 There are no programs to help them. 203 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:09,720 They're begging each day is their survival. 204 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:13,480 So they're not begging. And then, you know, like a lot 205 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,160 of times there's controversy around people who beg for money 206 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:17,880 in the modern age. They probably got a, they 207 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,040 probably got a Lamborghini up the road or, you know, they 208 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:21,720 probably got a smartphone in their pocket. 209 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,600 Well, there was no such misunderstanding in this case. 210 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:28,280 Everybody understood exactly what was going on and exactly 211 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,120 who these men were. And these men have to survive so 212 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:33,440 people would have pity on them. People would say, like, yeah, we 213 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:34,800 want to, we want to take care of this. 214 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:37,480 This is a human being made in the image and likeness of God. 215 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,600 So decent folks would have given to these men and provided for 216 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:44,640 them and in charity. But their life is still a sad 217 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:48,480 life. Their life is still a hopeless 218 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:50,920 life and that they're surviving to beg. 219 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:53,400 They're begging to survive. They aren't dreaming about a 220 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,280 beautiful future. Every day is the same for them, 221 00:10:56,680 --> 00:10:58,240 and they're hopeless to ever have a good life. 222 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,120 This is our first point that we can make in our first 223 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:03,920 application for us. Maybe you're not sitting by a 224 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:06,120 roadside begging, but you know what it's like to feel stuck. 225 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:08,480 You know what it's like to feel discouraged. 226 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:10,440 You know what it's like to feel hopeless. 227 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:12,800 You know what it's like to lose hope. 228 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:15,520 And hope deferred, the Scripture tells us, makes the heart sick. 229 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:18,120 And heart sickness is a dangerous thing as well. 230 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:19,760 Just trying to make it through the day. 231 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:21,720 You've lost hope for something great from God. 232 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:24,200 Maybe it's physical healing like it was for these men. 233 00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:27,120 Maybe you're in survival mode in some other area of your life. 234 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,760 But somewhere along the way, maybe you stopped expecting from 235 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:34,000 God if there's an area of your life where that's happened, if 236 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,640 that applies to you today, for some of you, go, no, pastor, I'm 237 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:39,480 good, praise the Lord. Do you realize the blessing that 238 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:41,920 that is? Do you realize the joy and the 239 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:44,680 rarity that that is? But if there's an area of your 240 00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:47,920 life where you have accepted despair and you have fully 241 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:52,520 accepted it is how it's going to be, and it cannot change and it 242 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:54,880 cannot improve. The good news that I get to 243 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:56,880 bring to you today is that faith comes by hearing. 244 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,720 And that as you hear the word of God today like these two blind 245 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:02,480 men did, you're going to believe. 246 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:06,400 And if you will cry out to the Savior, Jesus is going to stop 247 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:09,240 for you as well. Jesus does not love the two 248 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:10,600 blind men more than He loves you. 249 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:15,160 They are not special in a way that you are also not special to 250 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:16,840 Him. God cared for them. 251 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:22,960 God also cares for you. Verse 30 and the two blind men 252 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:25,240 sitting by the roadside, when they heard that Jesus was 253 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:29,680 passing by, they cried out. Lord, have mercy on us, Son of 254 00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:36,880 David. The crowd rebuked them, telling 255 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,640 them to be silent, but they cried out all the more. 256 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:42,560 Lord, have mercy on US, son of David. 257 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:46,720 And stopping Jesus called to them and said, Hey, guys, I'm 258 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:48,960 super busy. I got to go to Jerusalem. 259 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,400 And by the way, this blindness was the will of God for your 260 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:53,400 life anyway. And you're learning a beautiful 261 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,440 lesson in the process. So I love you, but just know 262 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:00,000 you're being sanctified and and I have to go take care of your 263 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,120 spiritual blindness, which is the most important thing. 264 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:05,160 It's the most important thing. I got to deal with spiritual 265 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:07,040 blindness. So your eyes like don't worry 266 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:09,360 about your eyes because your spiritual eyes will be open. 267 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:11,480 Everybody say pastor, that's false teaching. 268 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:14,480 You're such a good church. You read your Bibles. 269 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:16,240 So that's not what happened, is it? 270 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:19,960 So I listened to 4 sermons this week in preparation for this 271 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:22,720 one. And these faithful men of God, 272 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:26,200 who I love, respect and love the Lord and they love the body of 273 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:28,640 Christ, they did the same thing they do every time they come to 274 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,680 healing passages in the Gospels. They skip the primary 275 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:35,080 application and they go straight to the secondary application. 276 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,880 And they say the passage about the blind man and I go, here it 277 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:42,000 comes, is actually about a spiritual blindness in our 278 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,280 hearts. Well, that's absolutely an 279 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,280 application that should be made from this passage that is safe 280 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:50,880 and good and appropriate, but it's called a secondary 281 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,440 application. I'll prove it to you. 282 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:56,720 What do you think the two blind men that day thought that this 283 00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,200 miracle was about? Do you think that they thought 284 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:01,960 it was about a spiritual application for later? 285 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:03,600 No. What do you think these two 286 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:05,520 blind men thought that was about that day? 287 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:08,160 Yeah. Yeah. 288 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,320 We're just, we're just, it's pastor obvious this morning like 289 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:11,960 always. We're just drawing straight line 290 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:14,800 conclusions here to go. Well, don't. 291 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:18,520 But doesn't it mean absolutely. Isn't spiritual blindness more 292 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:20,600 more terrible than physical blindness? 293 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:22,720 Absolutely. And 1000% yes. 294 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:26,080 One will do me to hell forever. And one just means you can't see 295 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:28,880 how beautiful the day is. So one matters more than the 296 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:30,360 other. And also the Bible still says 297 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:32,880 what the Bible says. And also that day, whatever 298 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:34,440 happened that day still happened that day. 299 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:38,640 So Pastor Bob, I love him, but all of his connections that he 300 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:42,440 wants to make here are unfortunately a, a backwards 301 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:44,320 working. He is a he's re engineering his 302 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:46,920 theology instead of taking what the scripture actually provided 303 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:49,360 from the get go. So we're going to be Bible 304 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:51,480 Christians and we're going to keep saying the word is 305 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:53,880 revealing to us what the Lord wants it to reveal to us. 306 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:57,320 This isn't the only passage in the Bible, but every time I told 307 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:00,440 you, if I would, if I had mapped out my preaching calendar, I 308 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:03,840 would never have put healing into the into the sermons this 309 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,480 many times. But because I'm preaching the 310 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,480 Bible, I have to preach healing this many times. 311 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:11,960 And I'm not sorry because the Lord's not sorry because the 312 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,760 Lord wants to bless people's bodies. 313 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:17,280 It's an important thing to him. I didn't invent it. 314 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:19,840 I didn't shoehorn it in here. The Lord did it because he's 315 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:22,560 good and because he's merciful and he's merciful to you. 316 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:26,560 All right, let's keep going. Now that I grinded that axe 317 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:32,680 there for a moment, it says they heard, they heard, they heard 318 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:36,200 that the word made flesh was coming by and they cried out. 319 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:38,080 They heard that Jesus was passing by. 320 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:40,920 That's where faith comes from, from hearing about it. 321 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,320 Now, where else did they hear? I don't know, but obviously they 322 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:44,600 hear the commotion, they hear the mob. 323 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,120 They stay here at Jericho. This is where they live, this is 324 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:49,560 where they stay. This is the roadside that these 325 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,600 two probably stumble together to each day and go, Yep, we're here 326 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,320 and it's probably a busy place. Jericho's a very nice place. 327 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:56,880 People are traveling in and out all the time. 328 00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:58,400 So they're going, hey, could you help us out? 329 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:00,520 Hey, could you help us out? It's just a wise place for these 330 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:02,000 guys. Nothing wrong with that. 331 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:05,320 But now the crowds coming and they hear that the Lord is 332 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,480 passing by and they realize this is our moment. 333 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:11,840 But what if they hadn't? I just thought of that when I 334 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,160 was preparing this week. What if they hadn't have jumped 335 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:16,880 on it the way they did. You know Jesus healed. 336 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:19,160 We've already looked at this. There's only one more miracle to 337 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:21,720 come after this one, by the way. Or there's only one more healing 338 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,000 to come after this one. It's in the garden when he heals 339 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:25,960 Malchus ear after Peter cuts it off. 340 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:31,680 But what if they had waited? Jesus isn't coming back by this 341 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,120 way. Everywhere Jesus goes from this 342 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,480 point forward is a man who's never coming back that way 343 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:38,760 again. When you see a man carrying a 344 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:41,880 cross, one thing you know about that man is you won't see him 345 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:43,840 again. That's the last time he's 346 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:45,880 traveled this way. Jesus doesn't yet have the cross 347 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:47,920 on him. But thank God these men cry out. 348 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:49,920 Thank God these men are desperate in this moment. 349 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:52,120 You know, earlier in Matthew, we saw there was two other blind 350 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:54,960 men, very similar story. Matthew records it. 351 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,000 So we know it's not a confusion. We know it's two blind men came 352 00:16:58,000 --> 00:16:59,880 before 2 blind men have come again. 353 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,400 And Jesus, it says they had to follow him. 354 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,880 It says they were crying out to him, but they had to follow him 355 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:08,640 and they had to pursue him. I have wondered what if these 356 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:11,839 two, what if those two blind men who are healed got word around 357 00:17:11,839 --> 00:17:14,640 to the other blind men? Hey, when you hear Jesus is 358 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,440 coming, make sure you cry out. He'll have mercy on you. 359 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:20,000 He'll be kind to you. He'll be good to you. 360 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:21,720 But but hey, tell him the whole thing. 361 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,200 Yeah, Yeah. So we had to follow him though, 362 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:26,920 because if you go back and read, I can remember it was Chapter 9, 363 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,640 chapter 12. The thing is, Chapter 9, it says 364 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:31,760 they followed him. I don't know what it looks like 365 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:33,520 for blind people to follow Jesus. 366 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:35,960 I know what it looks like for them to sit tight and holler for 367 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:37,720 him, but for them to follow after him. 368 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:38,840 He didn't make it easy on him. Why? 369 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:40,080 Because he didn't want to heal them. 370 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,800 No, why did he make it? Why did he challenge them? 371 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,800 Because he is always testing. He's always checking, like he 372 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,800 did with the woman whose daughter needed healing. 373 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:53,200 He says it's not right that I give the children's bread to the 374 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:57,280 dogs mean old Jesus, right? It's the only person he ever 375 00:17:57,280 --> 00:17:59,840 told no to. And we know that his motive was 376 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:02,200 not to tell her no. His motive was to test her, to 377 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,440 reveal her faith, to strengthen her faith, and then to bless her 378 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:07,520 with the very thing. So again, of all the people who 379 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,520 came to Jesus for healing, how many have we counted as we've 380 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:12,400 gone through the Gospels? How many have we counted that he 381 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:15,200 said no? It's not the will of the Father 382 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,600 if I say 0. Thank you, pastor. 383 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:19,760 What are you implying? I'm not. 384 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:22,400 Let me be. Let me be on the nose here. 385 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:25,880 It's God's will to heal. Where'd you get that from? 386 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,480 The same Bible that you and I've been reading together with no 387 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,560 fancy footwork up here, no bobbin and weaving, Right? 388 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,840 We've just said the life and ministry of Jesus reveal the 389 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,440 will of God the Father Almighty. That is plain spoken 390 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:41,000 Christianity. I wonder what God is like. 391 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:45,960 I wonder Good news. You can look at Jesus Christ and 392 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:48,480 his earthly ministry and know what the will the Father is for 393 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:50,760 humanity. And then even then, be 394 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,640 encouraged to know that it ain't even done yet. 395 00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:58,680 That's just the taste of God's fullest glorious finale that He 396 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:03,960 has for everybody. So people have heard that the 397 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,600 Word made flesh has come by and they've cried out. 398 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,840 They call him Lord. Lord have mercy on us. 399 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:12,760 Lord could be used in multiple ways. 400 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:16,120 It was always used to address a person of higher status though, 401 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:19,880 so it could apply to the property master, like the 402 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:23,280 parable of the vineyard we've read recently, or it could apply 403 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:25,960 to God. How do they mean it? 404 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,400 Lord, you remember the rich young ruler? 405 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:32,640 Oh good teacher, do you really know who I am? 406 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:34,600 That's why Jesus said, why do you call me good? 407 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:37,680 It wasn't to say I'm not God. Don't speak to me that way young 408 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:41,240 man, as some have misunderstood. He's saying why do you say good? 409 00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:44,720 There's only there's none good but God and he doesn't take him 410 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,160 up on the offer and go, I'm calling you good because I know 411 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:50,200 exactly who you are. He didn't step into it with both 412 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:51,680 feet. He just goes, well, you know, 413 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,200 what good thing do I need to do to inherit eternal life? 414 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:57,800 And Jesus goes, ah, and of course Jesus loved him, had 415 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,560 mercy on him, tried to help him, but he wasn't desperate enough. 416 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,960 We see a a huge difference in example here between the rich 417 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:08,600 young ruler. I'm pretty great. 418 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,160 Is there any other great thing I need to do to be greater to now 419 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:16,440 the two blind men? Desperate, humble and small. 420 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:18,240 I don't care what you think about me. 421 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:20,720 I don't care if the whole crowd tells me to shut up and stop 422 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:23,840 calling on him. I'm desperate and I'm childlike. 423 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:26,880 Children don't mind throwing a fit in public, right? 424 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,760 Little ones, they don't care. They like, man, that kids out of 425 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:32,080 control. Yeah, but he doesn't care 426 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,000 because he's a little baby or he's a toddler and he's throwing 427 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:36,240 a fit. He doesn't care what any of us 428 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:37,560 think. We wish he did. 429 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:39,480 And we're going to train him to care over time. 430 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:42,840 And we will use healthy cultural shame to get kids to act right. 431 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:45,280 But in the meantime, they just don't care. 432 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:47,640 In that sense, it's good for us to be childlike. 433 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:51,240 In that sense, it's good for us to learn from the two blind men 434 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:53,560 and their desperation and their humility. 435 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:55,880 How do they mean it when they say Lord? 436 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:02,480 Lord have mercy on US, Son of David. 437 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:07,480 Boom, Matthew, the Jewish writer writing to the Jews. 438 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:09,480 Everybody again knows what this means. 439 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:11,960 Son of David is Messiah language. 440 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:15,120 Son of David, these guys are saying this is God, and they're 441 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:16,680 saying it in front of this whole mob. 442 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,360 They're not like, hey, I think you're the Messiah. 443 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:21,760 I know the Pharisees don't. I know a lot of people don't. 444 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:23,400 I know it's kind of controversial, but just so you 445 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:29,400 know, I'm with you. They're saying, Lord have mercy 446 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,760 on us. Son of David, they know exactly 447 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,080 who they're talking to. And in his great love, Jesus 448 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:40,040 stops in his tracks. Son of David means that you're 449 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:43,480 the descendant of King David. To be David's descendant is to 450 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,400 be the king of Israel and to be the Messiah, the Savior of the 451 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,000 world. And again, in just a couple of 452 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:49,400 days, he's going to enter Jerusalem. 453 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,280 People are going to shout hosanna to the son of David and 454 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,240 that is going to trigger everything for the entire week 455 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,120 because they said son of David and the Pharisees are going to 456 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:01,440 go tell them to stop saying this Jesus. 457 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,240 And he goes, if I told him to stop, even the rocks would cry 458 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:06,960 out at this point. Why was it such a problem? 459 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:08,920 Because the Pharisees and everybody understood. 460 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:10,600 They're calling you the son of David. 461 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,160 Tell him to knock it off. You're just a guy who can do all 462 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,960 these things and preach with perfect wisdom. 463 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,280 Tell him that you're not the son of David and said I won't lie. 464 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:26,000 I'll keep telling the truth. So this is who Jesus is, and 465 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,720 these men understand it fully. What do we need? 466 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,600 We need revelation in our heart of who Jesus is, not just 467 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,720 information in our heads. Plenty of people have 468 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:37,440 information in their heads. That pastor I told you about who 469 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,960 had pastored churches for decades with knowledge, 470 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:46,480 knowledge, knowledge, knowledge. Plenty of knowledge knows stuff 471 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:48,960 I've told you before. That's the danger. 472 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:51,760 That's a danger for me. That's a danger for you who are 473 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,760 seasoned in the church. What a blessing it is to be 474 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:58,160 seasoned in the church. And also what a razor's edge 475 00:22:58,160 --> 00:22:59,880 there is there. What a danger to go. 476 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:02,880 I know how to get through a church service. 477 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,960 I know how to preach a sermon. I know how to lead a service. 478 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,840 I've done this before. I'll do this again. 479 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,840 I'm comfortable with it. I'm familiar with it. 480 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:14,680 Careful. You don't sound like a hungry 481 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:16,800 man. You don't sound like a needy 482 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:18,640 man. You don't sound like a desperate 483 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:20,520 man. You don't sound like a man who 484 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,000 actually needs the Spirit of God to move and to speak and do 485 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,480 something. You sound like let me just dust 486 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:28,760 one of these old sermons off. It'll it's true. 487 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:30,600 I mean, I'm not going to get up there and tell lies to the 488 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,480 people, but what a stale place to be. 489 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:34,640 Does that sound like fresh bread? 490 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:36,000 Does that sound like daily bread? 491 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:38,160 Does that sound like fresh oil in your lamp? 492 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,600 Does that sound like fresh wine and a new wineskin? 493 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:44,400 So this is the, this is the the risk of being lukewarm. 494 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,960 Just it's not hot water, it's not cold water, it's just blah. 495 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,120 It's not good. It's just the wrong temperature. 496 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:58,680 You need revelation in your heart of who Jesus is, not just 497 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:04,520 information in your head. Jesus is always king, but who he 498 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:08,800 is to you will determine what he does for you because that will 499 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:12,560 determine how you approach him. Jesus is always king, no matter 500 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:14,960 what you think about it. My truth, their truth, 501 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:16,400 everybody's truth, There's just the truth. 502 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:18,960 And his name is Jesus. So Jesus is always King. 503 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,320 But who he is to you determines what he does for you, because 504 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,120 that is how you will approach him. 505 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:27,920 Because if you understand who he is, if you understand that he is 506 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:30,080 the Son of David, you'll approach him like they did. 507 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:34,400 I know he's merciful. I know this God is merciful. 508 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:37,880 I know this God is gracious. I know who this God is. 509 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:40,680 I know he's kind. It's not like these other Pagan 510 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,640 gods who they might claim to be merciful, but they have no 511 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:46,160 mechanism for mercy. They don't have a cross, they 512 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:49,160 don't have a sacrifice. It's just dismissal of justice. 513 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,640 Well, that's not goodness then. There's only one God who can be 514 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,520 good and just and merciful and perfect. 515 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:58,760 It's only the Christian God. There is no other. 516 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,720 He is logically perfect. He's good. 517 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:07,440 It's because he is the truth. When you know who he really is, 518 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,400 you will approach him with faith and with expectation for mercy 519 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:12,840 and for healing, while others approach him with 520 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:15,920 misunderstanding. What you believe about God 521 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:18,000 matters is what we call our theology. 522 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:21,120 It's our thoughts of God. It matters what we think about 523 00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:22,480 God. It matters a lot. 524 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:27,320 Now there's the primary things. Those those are those, those 525 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:29,200 matter more than anything. And there's secondary things. 526 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,760 Go, I see that differently, but the consequences aren't as 527 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,760 great. And then there's the third 528 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,960 category, the tertiary things. Well, I see that differently 529 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,680 than you see it, whether we get into more and more freedoms and 530 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:42,960 we love one another and all of our freedoms and all of our 531 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,120 disagreements, all of our differences, and we say, I got 532 00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:47,040 grace for you. I got room for that because 533 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:49,680 we're so locked in on the primary things. 534 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:52,520 One of the primary things is that God is merciful. 535 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:57,040 That is the gospel messages that God is so merciful. 536 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:02,080 He is so kind and these men understood who that they who 537 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:05,320 they were talking to and his great mercy. 538 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,360 Do you understand that God is merciful to you or have you 539 00:26:10,360 --> 00:26:12,240 forgotten it? Are you over it? 540 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,120 Is that a truth you've got locked into your brain, but it's 541 00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:17,600 not fresh in your heart anymore. God is merciful to you. 542 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,440 We we've read the whole Gospel of Matthew. 543 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:24,800 We have seen the strict lines that Jesus draws, and I have 544 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:28,080 pointed them out to you on purpose because we are American 545 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:30,320 Christians and we are Western Christians, and we have often 546 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:33,040 gotten a very wimpy gospel message that's not super 547 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:34,720 biblical. So I've made sure to emphasize 548 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:37,440 what the Scripture emphasizes, and I'll do so again now. 549 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:42,000 God is merciful. He is extremely merciful to you. 550 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,520 He's extremely kind to you. He has pity on you. 551 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:52,080 You're precious in His sight. The Lord loves to show mercy. 552 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,600 The Lord loves to show kindness. Why? 553 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,200 Because He is gracious to you and He understands you and your 554 00:26:57,200 --> 00:26:59,520 suffering. And also because it gives Him 555 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:01,840 more glory. He's big on His glory. 556 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:06,440 It's important to Him. Throughout Ephesians tells us 557 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,800 that throughout the eternal ages to come, He will always be able 558 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:13,000 to point to His kindness. Why did He show us all this 559 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:14,560 kindness? So He could point to His 560 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:16,480 kindness so that everybody could go. 561 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,280 God gets the glory. God gets the glory. 562 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:21,600 God gets the glory. That's the other perfection 563 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,200 that's in Christianity. God gets all the glory all the 564 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,080 time. Nobody else gets any glory for 565 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,200 anything. And if we do, as soon as we 566 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,640 receive it, we want to take it off and give it to him as our 567 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:34,480 crown and go, You're worthy. What could I do? 568 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,840 I'm a vine who bore fruit because I was connected to the 569 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:39,880 branch. I'm a branch who bore fruit 570 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:41,080 because I was connected to the vine. 571 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:42,000 What else? What else? 572 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:43,920 What I do? You provided the life. 573 00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:46,760 You provided the fruit, God, you get the glory. 574 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,240 Humble, childlike, not worrying about what anybody else is 575 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:52,680 saying or what anybody else is doing. 576 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,920 God is merciful to you. You should cry out for God's 577 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:57,440 mercy. Keep going. 578 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:02,280 Verse 31. The crowd rebuked them, telling 579 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:06,480 them to be silent. Blind hearts telling the blind 580 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:08,840 eyes what to do. They were told to shut up. 581 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:10,800 They were told to be quiet. They're told they don't matter. 582 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,080 Jesus has important work to do. I don't know what the crowd was 583 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:15,280 thinking. I don't know what these people. 584 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:16,040 Shut up. Come on. 585 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:17,520 We're late. He's going to Jericho. 586 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:19,680 The crowd's moving. The mob is moving. 587 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:22,280 These guys are screaming, freaking out. 588 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,040 Lots and lots and lots of people. 589 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:27,240 They have to get their voices heard, but they double down. 590 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:30,680 They don't care who's watching. They don't care who tells them 591 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:33,400 to stay quiet. They cried out all the more. 592 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:36,880 Lord have mercy on US, son of David. 593 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:40,880 Lord, we know who you are. We've heard. 594 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:43,560 I don't know who they heard or where they heard, but they've 595 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:46,400 heard. Have mercy on US, son of David. 596 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,360 Maybe they heard from others that they needed to pursue the 597 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:52,760 Lord like those other two blind men. 598 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:54,360 Maybe they've just heard it from the crowd. 599 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:59,200 But this is heartfelt prayer and this passes the real test. 600 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:03,600 It's not polished, it's not rehearsed, it's not written 601 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:05,640 down. It's got snot and it's got 602 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:08,920 tears. And it trips and it falls and it 603 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:12,960 asks and it seeks and it knocks. That's what real prayer looks 604 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,240 like. That's how you know, man, it 605 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:17,800 feels like my prayers are just. Then pray for real. 606 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,200 Then pray. Actually, God bless the 607 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:24,000 squirrels. God bless the trees. 608 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:26,640 Is that, is that really what's bubbling up out of you? 609 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,920 Then by all means, full sinned, but be specific in your prayers 610 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,400 and be heartfelt in your prayer. What are what do you cry out 611 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:36,560 about? I'm not crying out of anything 612 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,920 right now. Well, be warned that that's a 613 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,400 sign of lukewarmness. So that's an alert. 614 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:44,440 That's a bit of a red. A red alert should go off to 615 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:45,840 you. And now what do I pray? 616 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:47,800 Well, now pray that God will make you hungry. 617 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,560 Let that be the prayer. God, I don't even feel hungry. 618 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:53,960 Could you please make me hungry? God, I feel bored in my 619 00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:56,160 spiritual walk. I feel bored in my life with 620 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:57,720 you. He already knows it. 621 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:02,240 Pray it and humble yourself beforehand and go, God, help me 622 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,680 to hunger and feel a thing that I don't even feel. 623 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:07,240 That's what it looks like. Why don't we feel like praying 624 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:08,840 that? Well, then that's a very scary 625 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,600 place to be. Then that's a full lack of love 626 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:14,400 for the Lord that tells you that you're not in Christ. 627 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:17,320 That tells you that if you have no affection for him, then 628 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:19,040 you're not in him and he's not in you. 629 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:23,720 What can I do? We'll cry out for mercy. 630 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:27,720 Cry out for mercy, but don't rehearse it. 631 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:29,920 And you don't have to repeat after me. 632 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,400 I've led many people to to repeat prayers and I don't 633 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:36,400 regret it, but it's it's not a fail safe. 634 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:38,840 The most important thing is a prayer that comes out of the 635 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:42,640 heart because I've also LED people to repeat words after me 636 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:44,000 that did not come out of their heart. 637 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,600 How do you know Pastor? Well, because the fruit, the 638 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:50,160 fruit talks. There was 1 revivalist who they 639 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:52,880 would have thousands come and responded his altar calls when 640 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:55,520 he was preaching and they would say, wow, how many got saved 641 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:56,920 tonight? He said I'll let you know in six 642 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:00,360 months. Kind of sounds a little bit 643 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,360 cynical, but he also knew what he was looking at and he had 644 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:04,800 done this. He had been around for a minute 645 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:06,720 and he had seen. Time will tell. 646 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:09,160 He wasn't telling people you're not saved, you are saved. 647 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:13,480 He's saying praise the Lord for His mercy and walk it out. 648 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:16,560 Your spiritual walk is your spiritual walk. 649 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:18,760 It's not mine. That's why I told you when the 650 00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:21,240 word came from the Lord about truly surrendering yourselves. 651 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:24,680 I said pray for yourself. I pray for you all the time, but 652 00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:29,080 I can't pray for you. I pray for you, but I can't pray 653 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,600 for you. I pray for you, but I can't pray 654 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:36,040 instead of you. So cry out to the Lord for 655 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:40,640 yourself, cry out to the Lord in humility, cry out to the Lord in 656 00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:43,440 desperation. And if you don't feel desperate, 657 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,360 cry out that he would make you desperate because God is 658 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:50,320 merciful to you. God will stop what He is doing 659 00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:54,880 for you. Man on a mission, Jesus goes, oh 660 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:59,760 they got to my heart. Have mercy on me, son of David, 661 00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:02,840 they know who I am. That's irresistible. 662 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:13,560 They know exactly who I am. I am the merciful. 1 So cry out 663 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:15,480 to God. Well, if God wanted to help me, 664 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:20,000 He would just do it. This is not a trick question. 665 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:24,160 I mean it. Do you believe that if these two 666 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,600 blind men had not cried out to Jesus as he was leaving for 667 00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:30,800 Jericho, as he left their city forever, do you believe they 668 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:33,000 would have been healed? I don't. 669 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,800 I don't think so. I think they had some 670 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:39,640 participation in what the Lord did. 671 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,200 Their desperation is what made the difference. 672 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:44,760 And I think that's a very pastor obvious straight line connection 673 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:46,720 as well. No fancy footwork. 674 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,000 What are you implying? Again? 675 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,920 Just a straight line truth these guys received from the Lord 676 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:56,600 because they cried out to the Lord. 1 + 1 = 2 in this passage, 677 00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:58,880 just like it does throughout all of Scripture. 678 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,200 Again, Well, can't the Lord who doesn't though? 679 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:04,360 Absolutely. Do we have some exceptional 680 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:07,040 moments where the Lord sovereignly does His own thing 681 00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:08,480 apart from everybody. Amen. 682 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:12,560 Hallelujah. Thank you, God, nobody can stop 683 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:16,440 him. And yet often, most often, He's 684 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:19,880 participating with our faith, or as we've seen throughout 685 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:23,680 Matthew, our lack thereof. He could do no mighty work 686 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:25,800 there. Jesus could do no mighty work 687 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,320 there. Well, it's not that he couldn't, 688 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:32,520 it's just that yes, he couldn't because God chose to function in 689 00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:35,400 relationship to our faith. If He had wanted to do it 690 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,440 differently, he could have. But because He has chosen to 691 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:41,480 function in a certain way, He did function in a certain way. 692 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:44,960 So he could heal no one there. He could do no mighty work there 693 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:47,640 except heal a few sick folk. The passage told us. 694 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:52,800 Because of why? Because it wasn't the will of 695 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:54,960 the Father. It's not what the Bible said. 696 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:59,480 Because of their unbelief. If he wanted to help me, he 697 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:01,920 would just do it. Well, unless he wants you to 698 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:05,000 pursue him. Unless he wants you to cry out. 699 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:08,719 Unless he wants you to pursue him with humility and faith and 700 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:11,480 be changed in the process. Unless he wants you to follow 701 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:14,239 him and to know him more. Not as a carrot on the stick. 702 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:17,480 By the way. It's not a carrot on a stick you 703 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:21,679 can actually receive from him. The blind men didn't just say, 704 00:34:21,679 --> 00:34:24,000 He didn't just say, follow me to Jerusalem, follow me to 705 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:25,480 Jerusalem. And he's on the cross and 706 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:26,560 they're saying, are we ever been? 707 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:30,719 He's like you'll be healed in eternity as he gives up his 708 00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:32,280 breath. Nothing. 709 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:36,960 They got to have it right then they pursued him. 710 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:39,360 Hebrews 11/6. And without faith it is 711 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:42,320 impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to 712 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:46,080 God must believe that he exists and that He rewards those who 713 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:50,320 earnestly seek Him. Your earnest search and pursuit 714 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:52,880 of God matters. It just does. 715 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,640 Well, does God pursue me? Obviously He started it. 716 00:34:58,240 --> 00:35:00,800 And even the desire you have for Him is a gift that He gave to 717 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:02,800 you. So again, he still gets all the 718 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,960 glory, and still your earnest pursuit of the Lord matters. 719 00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:10,040 It still counts for something. It still counts and it still 720 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:11,440 matters. And He'll still bless it. 721 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,080 He will reward those who earnestly seek Him. 722 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:18,360 But if these men had waited, I don't want to cause a scene. 723 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:21,560 Shut up y'all sit back down. OK, we'll shut up. 724 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:26,200 We'll sit back down now and we'll stay blind. 725 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:27,800 But thankfully they were desperate. 726 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:35,880 Verse 32 and stopping Jesus called them and said, what do 727 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:43,800 you want me to do for you? Hey Jesus, I don't know if you 728 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:48,480 noticed these guys are blind. Of course he knows that they're 729 00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:52,080 blind. Why does he ask? 730 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:54,000 I think He wants you to be specific. 731 00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:57,280 Then once he answers your prayers, you know that he did it 732 00:35:57,720 --> 00:36:00,240 'cause if I only pray for him to bless the squirrels, Squirrels 733 00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:01,360 seem blessed. Praise the Lord. 734 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:04,960 God answered my prayer instead of what are you really praying 735 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:06,880 for that actually requires faith? 736 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:09,760 What are you praying for that actually puts pressure on the 737 00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:11,760 Lord? When's the last time you prayed 738 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:14,920 a prayer that made that would make you look stupid if it 739 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,720 didn't happen because maybe you prayed it publicly, maybe you 740 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:20,160 prayed it with your family, but you actually prayed something 741 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:23,520 that was like, oh, that wasn't vague enough that it's like, if 742 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:26,960 it happens, praise the Lord. And if it doesn't, we can kind 743 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:28,960 of like we're kind of spared of any risk here. 744 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:31,200 But that's not what faith prayers do. 745 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:33,360 Faith prayers are God. I'm praying it's not. 746 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,080 Fingers crossed. God, would you please? 747 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:37,320 I don't really know if you want to. 748 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:39,600 I have no idea what your will is. 749 00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:43,920 I just hope that you do. That's not what we're talking 750 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:45,000 about here. We're not. 751 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:46,840 When we pray, we don't pray. Fingers crossed. 752 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:48,800 Like who knows what the Lord's will is? 753 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:52,040 Well, your Bible will tell you what the Lord's will is. 754 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:54,840 So when we pray in line, according to the Scriptures, you 755 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:57,240 know you're praying in line with God's will and you know you're 756 00:36:57,240 --> 00:36:58,280 pray. If you're praying in line with 757 00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:00,800 God's will, then you should have actual faith. 758 00:37:01,240 --> 00:37:05,400 Faith. It is the substance of things 759 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:08,000 hoped for. It is the evidence of things not 760 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:10,400 seen. So although it's through faith 761 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:12,040 and patience, we inherit the promises. 762 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:16,480 Faith says it's as good as done. Well, you haven't received it 763 00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:19,400 yet. Well, my 5 senses haven't fully 764 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:21,280 apprehended the thing I've been praying for yet. 765 00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:25,760 But in the Spirit, according to the Word of God, it's completed 766 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:27,640 now. Now comes the waiting. 767 00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:31,400 Welcome to actual faith walk. Because if it was instantaneous, 768 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:34,440 I push the faith button and it's instant every single time. 769 00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:36,240 There is no patience, there is no walking it out. 770 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:39,600 There is no testing, there is no trial, there is no tribulation. 771 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:42,320 It's just I have faith. Boom, instant manifestation. 772 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:44,200 I have faith, instant manifestation. 773 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:48,240 But that's not how it works. But I fully believe, I am fully 774 00:37:48,240 --> 00:37:52,040 persuaded when I am in heart faith, not brain knowledge. 775 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:56,240 What's the difference, Pastor? When you got this one that you 776 00:37:56,240 --> 00:37:58,560 know the difference, would you agree? 777 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,280 You know when you when you go between have haven't you ever 778 00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:04,520 prayed just brain prayers or is it only me? 779 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:08,360 I pray brain prayers this week, blah, blah, blah. 780 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:10,440 Jamaica, are you really trusting God? 781 00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:12,640 No, I'm not. I'm just being a robot. 782 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:15,600 OK, well, why don't you get engaged, man? 783 00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:23,320 Because I'm trifling, and it'll take time to actually cultivate 784 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:25,520 Bible faith in my heart, in that thing. 785 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:30,000 That's why you said the quiet thing out loud. 786 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:33,640 Yes I did because so many people do it. 787 00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:37,200 They pray mouth prayers and brain prayers and go. 788 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,680 God didn't do it bro. Did you actually expect him to? 789 00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:46,200 No, you didn't. AKA not faith. 790 00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:50,320 I ain't mad at you. I ain't mad at you for not being 791 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:52,000 in faith. Not at all bro. 792 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:53,560 If I'm condemning you, I'm condemning me. 793 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:55,680 I don't know why I turned everybody into a bro, ladies, 794 00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:58,400 sorry for that. If I were to condemn you, then 795 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:01,040 I'm condemning all of us. But we've all been there. 796 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:04,680 Well, one thing your pastor is though, he is honest, and he 797 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:06,880 will be honest about the difference in the distinction 798 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:09,720 between the two. Well, I know what to say. 799 00:39:09,720 --> 00:39:11,080 I know what to say. I know what to say. 800 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:13,040 Congratulations. So does the devil. 801 00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:17,520 But that's not the same thing as a heart faith that says it's 802 00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:20,120 done, it's done. Not, not. 803 00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:22,480 I learned that I'm supposed to say it's done. 804 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:26,480 It really is done. I know in my knower. 805 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:30,000 I believe in my believer because the word of God has persuaded me 806 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:33,760 in my heart. And then the mountains could 807 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:37,480 crumble and fall into the sea, the sun could fall out of the 808 00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:39,360 sky. And when there's heart faith 809 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:41,480 present, you go. Ain't nothing but a thing 810 00:39:42,240 --> 00:39:46,080 irrelevant considering the promise of God that I'm standing 811 00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:48,840 on. Whereas if I'm just, I know. 812 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:51,280 I know what I know what it says in my brain like all the 813 00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:53,000 Pharisees do. Congratulations. 814 00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:55,240 They had it memorized better than you do. 815 00:39:56,520 --> 00:39:59,320 They've got it all memorized beginning to end. 816 00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:02,000 They can tell you where the verses are, not because they had 817 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:04,160 numbers, but because they just knew the passages. 818 00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:07,960 But that wasn't enough. Brainiac faith doesn't get it 819 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:10,680 done. It's an honest, real walk with 820 00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:13,200 the Lord where you really are talking, where you really are 821 00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:15,360 praying, where you're really seeking, where you're really 822 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:17,440 asking, where you're really knocking, where you're really 823 00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:20,120 stumbling. And you go, God, I'm not even 824 00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:22,040 praying. Lord, would you help me to pray? 825 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:23,640 And he goes, Ah, we're getting somewhere. 826 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:26,240 That's the first real thing I've heard out of you in two months. 827 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:31,520 Now we're getting somewhere. This is about to get exciting. 828 00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:34,840 If you'll keep this up. I can do something with this. 829 00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:36,600 I can. I can heal you now. 830 00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:40,520 I can open your eyes now. I can fill you with fresh oil 831 00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:42,000 now. Before you were just saying it 832 00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:44,880 because the church had been praying that prayer lately, but 833 00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:48,600 now you want it, or you don't want it enough, but you know it. 834 00:40:48,720 --> 00:40:51,840 And I can work with that too, because He's so merciful. 835 00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:57,600 He's so merciful like he was to the Father who said, Lord, your 836 00:40:57,600 --> 00:40:59,120 disciples couldn't cast this out. 837 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:02,240 Jesus comes down the mountain. Remember your disciples couldn't 838 00:41:02,240 --> 00:41:04,760 cast the demon out of my son. And Jesus said that's because 839 00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:06,520 the father wants this demon in your son. 840 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:08,600 Everybody said that's false teaching. 841 00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:10,760 Thank you for reading your Bible. 842 00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:14,520 He said that this one doesn't come out by fasting and prayer 843 00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:20,040 and the and the man said Lord, if you can do anything, please 844 00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:22,640 help in Jesus Stipe, stop right there. 845 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:24,960 You just said something super stupid, but I'm merciful. 846 00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:28,400 You said if I can do anything you're mistaken. 847 00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:30,960 There is an if here, but it's not on me. 848 00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:35,440 It's actually on you. If you can believe all things 849 00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:38,280 are possible for those who believe and this man instead of 850 00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:42,400 going I can't believe and leaving or pretending to believe 851 00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:45,160 and go. I believe when he didn't he said 852 00:41:45,240 --> 00:41:49,480 I believe help my unbelief. That's a real prayer and the 853 00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:51,800 Lord can meet that. And it was irresistible to 854 00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:53,720 Jesus. Again, pathetic and 855 00:41:53,720 --> 00:41:55,080 irresistible. I believe. 856 00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:58,880 Help mine believe. Now we got a real man who's 857 00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:02,040 really praying, who still knows the nature and character, the 858 00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:05,000 one he's talking to, and who still is not letting him go. 859 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:08,120 I don't know if I'm fully there, Jesus, but help me get fully 860 00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:10,360 there, Jesus, because all I have is you, Jesus. 861 00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:14,000 Have mercy on the Son of David. Now we're talking. 862 00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:16,040 Now you know who you're talking to. 863 00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:21,680 And he goes, this is good. Somebody who knows how small 864 00:42:21,680 --> 00:42:24,680 they are, somebody who knows how big the need is, and somebody 865 00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:27,320 who knows who the real provider is. 866 00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:33,000 Jesus goes, I like this. I can bless this. 867 00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:37,640 What do you want? What do you want me to do for 868 00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:41,840 you? They recovered their sight and 869 00:42:41,840 --> 00:42:44,120 they followed him. And we're closing. 870 00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:49,680 Physical healing is our primary application of the passage. 871 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:53,000 Duh. People were physically blind. 872 00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:57,840 They got physical eyes opened. But it is so important to 873 00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:00,960 acknowledge all the spiritual blindness that was around us as 874 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:03,760 well. All the people who said shut up, 875 00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:06,000 don't say anything to the master. 876 00:43:06,240 --> 00:43:09,040 He's busy, he's on a mission. Spiritual blind people 877 00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:12,000 surrounded Jesus. That's the danger. 878 00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:16,440 How do you know the difference? The desperate and hungry ones to 879 00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:20,160 be desperate and hungry. The ones who cry out, not the 880 00:43:20,160 --> 00:43:22,600 ones who are focused on looking good. 881 00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:26,320 The Pharisees with all the right clothes and all the right beard 882 00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:28,880 trimmings and all the right memorizations. 883 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:30,840 They looked good. They sounded good, and it 884 00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:33,600 deceived all the people and it made Jesus sick. 885 00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:37,960 You're so good. Like that churchman who shared 886 00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:40,560 his testimony. He was so good at doing church. 887 00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:44,280 I do new church ran church for decades. 888 00:43:44,880 --> 00:43:47,480 He counseled people with the Bible. 889 00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:52,280 That's crazy open scripture and say, whoa, the Bible says this 890 00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:54,080 Bible says that Bible says this Bible says that. 891 00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:56,960 And According to him, if he had died, he would have spent 892 00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:00,920 eternity in hell because he had not been made new, because he 893 00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:04,440 had not seen his own need. He had not been hungry and 894 00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:07,000 desperate and thirsty enough. Y'all can go ahead and begin to 895 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:08,280 service the elements. Thank you. 896 00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:16,200 So spiritual blindness is far, far, far more important than 897 00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:19,080 physical blindness. If you had to pick, and you 898 00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:21,880 don't have to, but if you had to pick between being spiritually 899 00:44:21,880 --> 00:44:24,920 blind and physically blind, you would pick physical blindness. 900 00:44:25,440 --> 00:44:27,400 We make that plain. We make that obvious. 901 00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:39,030 Thank you, brother. Scripture says they followed 902 00:44:39,030 --> 00:44:40,230 him. Thank you, sister. 903 00:44:42,790 --> 00:44:45,990 They followed him. I guess so blind. 904 00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:50,600 And now they follow. Remember the parable of the 905 00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:53,760 laborers and the vineyard? Some started at 6:00 AM. 906 00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:57,040 They worked all day and they got the $100 pay. 907 00:44:57,720 --> 00:45:02,400 And the guys who came in and they worked at 5:00 PM, an hour 908 00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:03,640 left. All they got to do is clean up 909 00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:05,160 the tools and lock up the trailer. 910 00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:09,120 They got paid $100. The same Look at these two blind 911 00:45:09,120 --> 00:45:14,480 men coming in the last week with King Jesus and they follow him. 912 00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:18,480 I hope they kept following. I hope they I hope they stayed 913 00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:20,280 faithful. I hope they carried the message 914 00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:23,680 of the gospel far and wide. But they got the same blessing. 915 00:45:24,080 --> 00:45:26,000 They got the same reward that Peter gets. 916 00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:28,960 They get the same blessing that the that the faithful apostles 917 00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:32,680 get. You come in, you get eternal 918 00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:34,920 life. Doesn't matter when you come in, 919 00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:37,080 if you come in at the first hour of your life. 920 00:45:37,600 --> 00:45:40,680 To the young folks, the young men, the young women, what a 921 00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:44,120 blessing to love and follow Jesus when you're young. 922 00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:46,840 And to those who say, oh, I didn't come in till I was older, 923 00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:49,720 what a blessing to love and follow Jesus when you're older, 924 00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:52,920 what a blessing. Eternal life is the gift for 925 00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:54,200 everybody. Whether you worked in the 926 00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:57,080 vineyard for 12 hours in the heat of the day or you came in 927 00:45:57,080 --> 00:46:01,560 into the last hour, these men, they come in under the mercy of 928 00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:07,760 God because God has mercy and he has mercy for you. 929 00:46:11,240 --> 00:46:14,280 Why should we count on the Son of David to have mercy on us? 930 00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:19,400 Remember, David was pursued by Saul. 931 00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:24,440 So remember, Saul is the first king of Israel, and then David 932 00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:26,600 is the next king of Israel, not Saul's son. 933 00:46:26,640 --> 00:46:31,400 Saul's son Jonathan becomes best friends with David, a deep 934 00:46:31,880 --> 00:46:33,920 brotherly bond between the two of them. 935 00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:38,400 But Saul is attacking David, trying to murder David, trying 936 00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:40,720 to destroy David. David eventually comes to the 937 00:46:40,720 --> 00:46:42,640 throne. Usually when a king comes to a 938 00:46:42,640 --> 00:46:46,200 throne, he goes and destroys the entire bloodline of the previous 939 00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:48,680 king because he wants to make sure that none of his 940 00:46:48,680 --> 00:46:50,880 descendants who would be rightful heirs to the throne, 941 00:46:50,880 --> 00:46:53,920 some great grandson someday, doesn't come up and go, I'm 942 00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:56,120 taking back what belongs to my family. 943 00:46:56,240 --> 00:46:58,480 We're taking back this Kingdom so you would annihilate them. 944 00:46:58,480 --> 00:47:00,800 Lions do the same thing. When a new lion comes in and 945 00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:03,960 takes over the pride, he kills all the other Young Lions, kills 946 00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:05,520 all the pups. He goes, everybody here is going 947 00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:07,920 to belong to me and there could be nobody else to come and 948 00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:10,160 challenge me. When David comes under the 949 00:47:10,160 --> 00:47:14,520 throne, he's merciful. And not only is he merciful, but 950 00:47:14,520 --> 00:47:16,680 he loved Jonathan, his friend so much. 951 00:47:17,080 --> 00:47:21,080 He says to his servants, he says he's just, he's reminiscing. 952 00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:23,960 He's thinking of his friend David and just how much he loved 953 00:47:23,960 --> 00:47:25,800 him and how much he missed him. He said, is there no one in 954 00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:27,520 Jonathan's house who I can bless? 955 00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:31,160 I just would love to bless. I can't have Jonathan anymore. 956 00:47:31,160 --> 00:47:32,680 But is there anyone who I could bless? 957 00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:35,960 And they said, well, there is one, his son, when they were 958 00:47:35,960 --> 00:47:40,440 fleeing from from an attack, his babysitter was carrying him as a 959 00:47:40,520 --> 00:47:42,640 as a little boy. And she stumbled down the stairs 960 00:47:42,640 --> 00:47:44,120 and he fell and he was paralyzed. 961 00:47:44,400 --> 00:47:46,240 And now he's a man. He's been paralyzed his whole 962 00:47:46,240 --> 00:47:48,320 life. And David said, bring 963 00:47:48,320 --> 00:47:52,200 Mephibosheth into my house. He will sit at my table and he 964 00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:57,360 will eat my food. Jesus, son of David, has more 965 00:47:57,360 --> 00:47:59,360 mercy on you than even the King David did. 966 00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:02,280 You and I are Mephibosheth, to be clear. 967 00:48:03,320 --> 00:48:05,680 Broken, paralyzed, nothing to offer. 968 00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:08,160 But will you cry out for mercy like the blind men? 969 00:48:08,640 --> 00:48:11,560 Will you cry out upon the name of Jesus? 970 00:48:11,560 --> 00:48:13,440 Will you cry out on the Son of David? 971 00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:21,480 Know who he is, Jesus, son of David, David the merciful Jesus 972 00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:26,200 is the greater David, and we are Mephibosheth. 973 00:48:26,480 --> 00:48:32,080 And God will have mercy on you. He has been kind to you because 974 00:48:32,080 --> 00:48:35,400 as we know, Jesus didn't stop there. 975 00:48:36,080 --> 00:48:41,800 He healed those men and he said gave the invitation, come follow 976 00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:43,560 me. It's going to be a rough week, 977 00:48:44,840 --> 00:48:48,120 but I'm going all the way. And he did. 978 00:48:49,160 --> 00:48:54,360 His body and his blood poured out for all of us to to cure the 979 00:48:54,360 --> 00:48:59,560 most important disease, our sin and our spiritual blindness, our 980 00:48:59,560 --> 00:49:03,880 lostness. God, you are so glorious, You 981 00:49:03,880 --> 00:49:07,040 are so perfect, You are so kind, You are so wonderful. 982 00:49:08,920 --> 00:49:12,240 Thank you for having mercy on us, for loving us, for caring 983 00:49:12,240 --> 00:49:19,440 for us. Jesus, the Almighty One, the 984 00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:22,800 Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world, the 985 00:49:22,800 --> 00:49:32,280 greater David, the son of David. Lord, we cry out in humility and 986 00:49:32,280 --> 00:49:37,360 hunger and thirst. I pray you would stir us to 987 00:49:37,360 --> 00:49:40,480 greater devotions. I pray you would stir us in our 988 00:49:40,480 --> 00:49:43,880 prayers. I pray you would break up any, 989 00:49:43,880 --> 00:49:46,240 any ground in US. Lord, if there's any soil in our 990 00:49:46,240 --> 00:49:49,360 hearts, it's just gotten so hard and compacted and it doesn't 991 00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:52,160 have any nutrient in it. God, would you just stick in 992 00:49:52,160 --> 00:49:54,480 your tools? Would you shovel and would you 993 00:49:54,480 --> 00:50:00,880 cultivate and would you pour in the nutrient that we need, make 994 00:50:00,880 --> 00:50:04,320 us rich soil so that the word would blossom again, so that we 995 00:50:04,320 --> 00:50:07,800 would be fruitful for you again? Then we wouldn't stay where we 996 00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:10,480 are. God, I pray for your people who 997 00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:13,080 have physical need in their bodies that they would cry out 998 00:50:13,080 --> 00:50:16,160 right now and receive the Son of David, the one who went all the 999 00:50:16,160 --> 00:50:19,040 way to the cross, who took stripes on his back for our 1000 00:50:19,040 --> 00:50:21,920 healing. The one who doesn't break the 1001 00:50:21,920 --> 00:50:24,720 bruisery, the one who doesn't extinguish the flickering flame, 1002 00:50:25,480 --> 00:50:31,120 but the one who adds strength, the one who renews strength heal 1003 00:50:31,120 --> 00:50:34,280 bodies. Lord, I pray you would renew 1004 00:50:34,280 --> 00:50:36,960 minds. You would give us a fuller 1005 00:50:36,960 --> 00:50:40,200 picture of you and that you would clarify our thinking that 1006 00:50:40,200 --> 00:50:42,320 you would destroy the strongholds of the enemy that 1007 00:50:42,320 --> 00:50:46,000 exist in our minds. And God, I pray for our spirits 1008 00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:48,760 that you would pour in fresh oil and that we would be new 1009 00:50:48,760 --> 00:50:54,840 wineskins who can contain fresh wine, that we can expand again, 1010 00:50:55,640 --> 00:50:58,720 only to receive new wineskins once more so we could expand 1011 00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:01,400 again. Grow us and bless us. 1012 00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:04,320 Jesus, we honor your body, and we honor your blood, your 1013 00:51:04,320 --> 00:51:09,240 sacrifice on the cross that you went to innocent and pure the 1014 00:51:09,240 --> 00:51:13,440 guilty. All the guilty put upon you, 1015 00:51:13,960 --> 00:51:16,120 said all of your innocence could be put upon the guilty. 1016 00:51:17,560 --> 00:51:20,960 Or we receive with gratitude the purity of Christ and the 1017 00:51:20,960 --> 00:51:24,920 righteousness of God. Let's take the bread together. 1018 00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:39,560 And without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission 1019 00:51:39,560 --> 00:51:43,440 of sins. This is God's mechanism for 1020 00:51:43,440 --> 00:51:49,520 justice. In the cup you see Jesus, son of 1021 00:51:49,520 --> 00:51:52,440 David having mercy on you. And in the cup you see the wrath 1022 00:51:52,440 --> 00:51:54,920 of God, but not poured out on you. 1023 00:51:56,040 --> 00:52:00,880 And you see justice fulfilled, and you see love poured out. 1024 00:52:01,600 --> 00:52:04,400 God, you're so perfect. You're so awesome. 1025 00:52:06,560 --> 00:52:09,520 God help us to just enjoy you again, to honor you in this 1026 00:52:09,520 --> 00:52:12,160 moment. We love you and we love your 1027 00:52:12,160 --> 00:52:14,080 blood. Jesus, let's take the cup. 1028 00:52:16,240 --> 00:52:27,710 We're just going to close in prayer for the next 5 minutes 1029 00:52:27,710 --> 00:52:31,270 before I dismiss you and going to play a song as we do.