Mark chapter 8 and from verse 22 to 26. Mark chapter 8 and verse 22 to 26. Verse 22 reads, And he cometh to Bethsaida, and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And our theme this morning is the diversity and yet sameness of saving grace. The diversity and yet sameness of saving grace. This miracle is recorded only in Mark's Gospel. No doubt under the Inherent inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Mark includes this miracle, or the account of this miracle, to show the variety, not only of the kind of infirmities that the Lord Jesus healed while he was in this world, but also the variety of method by which he did so. Indeed, of all the healing of the blind given in the scriptures, the Lord Jesus never uses precisely the same method twice. There is variation in each case as to what the Lord Jesus does or says as He heals those who are blind. Now this confirms our oft-repeated view that the miracles of healing were meant to illustrate some aspect of the work of grace in the souls of men and women. The miracles were not random. They were never, ever random displays of the Lord's power. They always had meaning. In general, they pointed to Christ as the saviour of sinners. But in their form, they pointed to some aspect of his saving work in the hearts of men and women. After all, the healing miracles were a temporary reversal of some part of the effects of the fall of man into sin. illness, infirmity. These things come about on account of man's sin. Man is mortal on account of sin. As by the offense of one many were made sinners and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. The reason we die and the reason we are mortal, the reason we are subject to infirmity and to illness is because in Adam all descending from him by ordinary generation are guilty and therefore liable both to the miseries of this life, to death itself and to the pains of hell forever. And so the healing miracles were a reversal as far as this life is concerned, a reversal of a certain physical effect of sin. And so that itself indicates that the miracles of healing were meant to teach how the Lord can save sinners from sin itself and from its everlasting consequences. Now it would seem that this man had not been born blind, that he had lost his sight. That would appear to be the case from his description of seeing men as trees walking. that he had some memory, both of what men looked like and what trees looked like, that he had lost his sight. He differs from the man in John 9 in that respect. He was born blind, but this man, it would seem, most likely had lost his sight in some way. But just as Christ healed all sorts and conditions of men, So we are to understand that the Lord Jesus saves all kinds of sinners, and he does save all kinds of sinners. The elect of God include all kinds of men and women from all nations, and indeed all classes of men and all variations amongst men. And we ought to take courage from that, that the Lord Jesus can save all kinds of sinners. We ought not to despair, either of ourselves or of others, perhaps about whom we have great concern, as long as they are in this world. We do not know but that the Lord may save them. But let us learn more specifically from this passage. Firstly, Christ's sovereignty in the use of means. Christ's sovereignty in the use of means. And he cometh to Bethsaida, and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town. And when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw art. So they came and besought him to touch him. And as I mentioned earlier, we saw a similar thing in chapter 7, verse 32. And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech. And they beseech him to put his hand upon him. We notice then, and we can remember now also, that they were telling the Lord Jesus not simply that they wanted this man healed, but how it was to be done, as if the way the Lord had done it in other cases must be the way that he will do it in this case. Certainly Christ did heal by a touch or a laying on of hand in certain cases, but not always. Sometimes he simply spoke. Even when raising Lazarus from the dead, he spoke. The only outward action accompanying the raising of Lazarus from the dead was that Jesus cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. On another occasion, he never even spoke to the person being healed. He spoke about him. He never went to the person, the centurion's servant. The Lord spoke the word to the centurion, and it was done. He never even went to the servant. But in this case, as far as outward actions are concerned, the Lord actually does more than they ask for. They look for a formula to which He does not conform. He exercised His sovereign right even as to the outward actions or words accompanying the healing miracles. He didn't need to say or do anything. But he did say and do in connection with the healing miracles. But he varied what he did and what he said. And so he doesn't do what they ask. You see, the Lord is absolutely sovereign in the use of means. And that is true also concerning the good of men's souls. It is true that we, in seeking the spiritual welfare of men, we are to engage in those means that the Lord has appointed, and no other. He has appointed what His people are required to do. And we are to confine ourselves to those means. But the Lord uses those means as He pleases. And that is why we are so often wrong in anticipating what the Lord will use. Perhaps a sermon is preached and it seems to be a particularly good sermon. The sermon goes well. The content is clear. And we think surely, surely that sermon will affect someone, surely the Lord will work in someone's heart in connection with that sermon. It seems so fitting, it seems to strike, it seems to be so apt to a particular person's situation and yet nothing happens. And yet on the other hand, some feeble, trembling word of testimony to the truth that seems so poor and useless, the Lord is pleased to use, even in the conversion of a sinner. You see, we do not know. We are to do what the Lord requires of us, but the wind bloweth where it listeth, and so is everyone that is born of the Spirit. The Lord does prescribe to us what forms of testimony to the truth, we are to engage in, but let not us seek to prescribe to the Lord what He will do with that testimony, or what means He will use in the advance of His Kingdom. He tells us, but we don't tell Him. You see, that's because He is God, and we are not. We do as He tells us, or we should do. We ought to engage in those means of evangelism appointed in the Scriptures, but we don't tell the Lord what to do with that testimony. We cry to Him to use the testimony to the truth that seems good unto Him. So Christ is sovereign in the use of means. But secondly, Christ shows the supreme importance of the truth. Christ shows the supreme importance of the truth. The friends of this man were concerned for his physical welfare, and rightly so. Callous indifference to the physical welfare of men should have no place among us. It is right to care for the physical ills of men, and yet they were concerned simply to get the job done. But the Lord Jesus was not. They were concerned, this man is blind, we want him to see. That's all. But the Lord Jesus employed a manner of healing in order to instruct concerning eternal salvation. He used this physical healing to teach concerning salvation from sin. And surely that means that what he used to teach is less important than the message taught. The means used to teach must be of lesser importance than the thing that is taught. And that must surely mean that the truth of everlasting salvation is more important than deliverance from any of the afflictions of this present life. Because however great the afflictions and miseries of this life, there is that which is worse. There is something worse than all the miseries of this present life, and that is the pains of hell forever. It's far worse, vastly worse, than any affliction that comes upon men and women in this world. That's why in John 5, 14, when the Lord Jesus had healed the man who had been an invalid for 38 years, he says, go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee. A worse thing, worse than 38 years as an invalid. There is something worse, and that is hell itself, eternal damnation. It's vastly worse. And so the Lord Jesus himself in Matthew 10, 28 says, And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. And he's talking about God. God can do that. God can send body and soul to hell. Ultimately, whether our passage through this world is relatively smooth, or whether it is constantly fraught with affliction of one kind or another. Ultimately, we all succumb to illness and to death itself. It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this, the judgment. And our Lord Jesus, by using deliverance from a terrible affliction, to teach concerning everlasting salvation is showing us the vast importance of the truth of the gospel of grace. To use this great deliverance of this man from such an affliction to teach that truth, then that truth is of supreme importance. It is the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Men of the world, despised this priority order. They still do. They thought the Lord Jesus was quite acceptable as a source of miraculous cures. But when it came to His gospel, when it came to His message of salvation, they despised Him. Despite all that they had seen, despite all the display of His power and His greatness and His glory, they despised Him. So in John chapter 6 and verse 26, the Lord Jesus points out the real importance of the salvation of the soul. John 6, 26. Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled, labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed." Now what the Lord Jesus is saying there is this, You didn't see the miracles. Oh, they saw what happened. They saw that 5,000 had been fed with five loaves and two fishes. They saw it all right. But the word miracles there means a sign. And what the Lord Jesus is saying is they didn't see the meaning of the sign. They didn't learn from it. Their stomachs were filled and they thought, well, that's good. But that's all. They didn't learn. They didn't understand the truth concerning himself as the bread of life. So in verse 33, for the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you that ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." The Lord Jesus is telling them that they need the bread from heaven. But they still don't understand. And with enthusiasm they say, Lord evermore give us this bread. But they still didn't know what he was talking about. And he tells them that they believe not. They were happy for the immediate physical benefits that Christ could give. But that was all. They couldn't raise their minds even to think of the message of salvation. But the Lord Jesus is saying that message is far more important than that their stomachs should be filled. That matter certainly. He had compassion upon them and He did feed them. But this is far more important. Labour not for the meat which perisheth. So they didn't understand this priority order. They didn't understand that in healing a blind man, great though that was for that man, there was truth being displayed that was far more important. And of course, that is happening today. Why is it that we have the so-called social gospel? Why is it that there are people who profess to accept, though they don't really, but they profess to accept the moral teaching of the New Testament and so on. And yet, they have not the slightest interest in the message of salvation from sin. Indeed, they are not interested in even acknowledging that there is such a thing as sin. Well, it's because They are in the same position as the Jews that saw and benefited from the feeding of the 5,000. That was fine. If that's all the Lord Jesus was going to do, they'd make Him a King. But they still despise the truth concerning their sin and judgment and the wrath of God, their inability to save themselves, the necessity of turning from their pride and self-reliance and depending upon this Lord Jesus for acceptance in the sight of God. Now that is why, also, the people of God should labor for the advance of the gospel. The world couldn't care less about the advance of the gospel. They don't understand why it should be of any importance at all. But the people of God must know. That is why the people of God support the lawful endeavors to advance the gospel, to evangelize the work of mission. Because the people of God alone can grasp its importance and its value to the ungodly. All this about bringing this gospel to people. airy-fairy irrelevance to them. To them it doesn't matter. To them it doesn't matter whether people are genuine Christians or not. If they're Hindus or Muslims or something like that, as long as they're sincere and decent people, they think all is well. I hope we don't think that. Because if we do, then it shows we're not Christians. A Christian cannot think like that. A Christian cannot say that unbiblical religions and biblical Christianity, well, there's not that much difference after all. A Christian cannot believe that. And I trust that when we read here of the Lord Jesus, bestowing this great deliverance upon a man's physical affliction, that we see that what is being taught here is of far greater importance. That this salvation, declared in it, is so important, so great salvation. But then thirdly, Christ varies the experience of those whom he saves. Christ varies the experience of those whom he saves. Verse 23, And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town. And when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw aught. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up. and he was restored and so every man clearly. Notice the Lord Jesus deals personally and individually. He took the blind man by the hand and let him out of the town. He did it himself with this one man. We are meant to learn from Christ's actions on earth concerning how he deals with men from the right hand of God. There is to be caution, of course, in so doing. But we are meant to learn. That's why the high priestly prayer of John 17, which the Lord Jesus prayed on earth, is meant to teach us concerning his intercession at the right hand of the Father. And we are to learn from what he did here. And he dealt with this man personally. We're not clear perhaps as to why he took him outside the town. Was it to avoid tumult? Was it for the sake of the man himself? We are not told. But the point is this. The Lord Jesus did it and he did it himself. And he did it personally and individually for this man. He took him. This shows us that the Lord Jesus deals personally and individually with sinners. in salvation. And then he cured the man in two stages. First of all he spit upon the man's eyes and he receives a measure of vision and then he puts his hands on the man's eyes and he can see clearly. Again he links both stages of cure with himself. He is the author of both. Normally he did things in one stage, but he always indicated that the power was his. Here he does so with both stages. He splits on the man's eyes, first stage of vision given, then he puts his hands upon his eyes, second stage he can see clearly. He's showing that he is not tied to any routine as we saw, but it all comes from him. He is not the administrator of a prescribed procedure that works like a charm. He is the sovereign redeemer. And he elicits a response from the man because the miracle is for our instruction. And after the spitting upon his eyes, the man sees men as trees walking. Now, the word walking relates to the men, and the idea is that he sees men walking, but they look like trees. He knows they're men, he knows that because they're walking, but the form of them is like trees. He has some sight, but it is not clear. On the other occasions where the Lord healed the blind, it was immediate clarity. The two men, the two blind men who cried to Him in Matthew 9, 27. Or blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10. Or the man born blind in John 9. One stage they can see. But here He sees men as trees walking, and then it becomes clear. Surely then we are meant to learn. The Lord doesn't do anything for nothing. We're meant to learn. And we are to learn that the work of saving grace, the work of effectual calling, when God renews the heart of a sinner and makes him willing and able to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, that in sum, the result is immediate clarity and grasp of the truth. But in others, the effects of the new birth, though real, are less distinct, at least at first. They see men as trees walking. There is vision, but it's not as clear as it would become later on. So that for a time, those who are regenerate at first may be somewhat unclear. Unclear. in understanding and yet it becomes clear in due time. And that's why it is that some genuine Christians cannot trace the exact point of the first effects of the new birth in their souls. And we speak not only of those who are regenerated in infancy so that the effects of that new life become apparent as they grow up, but also even among those who are born again in adulthood. Not all of them see things crystal clear immediately. There can be an indistinctness in the first manifestations of new life. Their grasp of the truth is not that clear, but it becomes clear. So do not be discouraged if you cannot trace the exact point when your Christian life started. Not everyone can. Not everyone can say, at such and such a day, and at such and such a time, I was born of the Spirit because everything became clear. The question of whether you can pinpoint your spiritual birthday, as it were, is not of the greatest importance. The real question is, not if you can trace exactly when you first came to faith in Christ, but are you alive? It's far more important to know whether you're alive in Christ. It's far more important to know whether there is spiritual life, showing that you were born again, whether you can pinpoint In the time or not, the important thing is to know that you are born again, because you do trust Christ. And you're spiritually alive now. That's the important question. And so, fourthly, Christ does essentially the same for all whom he saves. Christ does essentially the same for all whom he saves. Verse 25, And after that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up, and he was restored, and so every man clearly. There is much variation in the experience of God's people. Some go through long and painful conviction of sin, like John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's Progress, who went through a long period of intense conviction of sin. Others like John Newton have comparatively light conviction of sin, at least before he was converted, though he saw much more of his sin later on. We are not to try to mirror our experience on the detail of the experience of others. For some the truth comes in a flash, for others it dawns like a sunrise. But there are some things that are common to all. There are still some things that are true of every Christian, every real believer. This man could see, just like the man born blind, just like blind Bartimaeus, he could see. and he knew who had caused him to sin. When a sinner is brought out of darkness into God's marvelous light, certain things are always true. Firstly, he has despaired of himself. Every real Christian has given up all hope of saving himself. real Christian. If you have any remaining vestige of self-reliance, self-confidence, that somehow you can make yourself acceptable to God or contribute towards that end, then the reason is that you are not yet converted. If you have any hope of saving yourself, then you're not a real Christian. You're still on the broad road that leads to destruction. Because every real Christian has said concerning himself, there is no hope. Self-despair is essential to genuine conversion to Christ. But then, every real Christian has all his hope in Christ alone. This he sees, and ultimately sees clearly, that Christ alone is the Saviour, that Christ alone is the great sin-bearer, the one who bore the sin of many on the cross of Calvary, and who can take away sin, and who can save to the uttermost those who come unto God by him. And every real Christian depends entirely upon this Christ to take away his guilt in the sight of God. And not only so, but he does so willingly, heartily. His heart's been changed. So he doesn't just say, well, I suppose it must be so. He is glad it is so. Are you glad that there is only this way of salvation? Do you rejoice in that? Can you hardly amend to the truth that Christ is the only Saviour? You wouldn't have it any other way. You hardly acquiesce and agree with the Almighty God and His sovereign purpose of salvation, that it shall be through Christ and only Christ that sinners will ever be saved and brought to eternal glory. Do you rejoice in that? I don't mean just, do you concede? Well, I suppose that's what the Bible teaches. The devil can concede it. But has your heart been renewed so that the old proud resistance has gone, and you're glad that Christ alone saves, and you're glad to defend utterly as a helpless sinner who deserves eternal judgment, you are to plan to defend absolutely upon this Lord Jesus Christ. And then finally, Christ is the accomplished Redeemer of sinners. Christ is the accomplished Redeemer of sinners. Verse 26, And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town. Christ tells him not to speak of it. Now, we saw with the healing of Jairus' daughter that these prohibitions which the Lord sometimes issued, though not always, that they must be understood as temporary. It would become obvious that Jairus' daughter was alive. It would become obvious that this man could now see. The thing could not and would not be hid indefinitely. But the Lord Jesus sometimes tells those whom he has healed to tell no one. And evidently the reason is that the Lord Jesus was avoiding a premature crisis. He was avoiding tumult. until he went to another place. In other words, he's telling the man to say nothing in order that he, the Lord Jesus, could move on before the uproar took place. Because, you see, the Lord Jesus was fulfilling the will of the Father. And there was an appointed time, an appointed time for his arrest, and His trial, and His crucifixion, and His death, and His resurrection, and His exaltation to the right hand of the Father. And His miracle working was all geared and timetabled to fit in with that plan. So in John chapter 2 and verse 4, when Mary is evidently looking for some kind of intervention from the Lord Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. So all that the Lord Jesus did was geared to that hour, that time when he would suffer and bear the sin of many. So the Lord Jesus, John 12, 27, Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. That's why the Lord Jesus, who escaped out of their midst on other occasions, actually went to the Garden of Gethsemane in order to be arrested. if he wanted to escape at that time he wouldn't have gone to Gethsemane the chief priests and the scribes and the leaders of the Jews they knew that's where he often went but his hour was come so what he avoided earlier he deliberately did not avoid when his hour was come and what we have here in our text is a little reminder of the Lord Jesus fulfilling the Father's will, governing His miracle working, the publicity concerning that miracle working, governing all in order that He should suffer when the hour was come. And so even in our text, He has in view the appointed hour when He would lay down His life bearing the guilt of sin, in order that the spiritually dead and blind and helpless and hopeless sinners might live and see and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Look unto me, O ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there is none else, and there is none else. There is no Saviour but this Saviour. But we need no other Saviour but this Saviour. Do you have Him? Is Christ your Saviour? If so, then you have all that you will ever need. As for our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is His name. Amen.