Welcome to Unveiled Faces, a Redeemer Presbyterian Church podcast. Please enjoy our feature presentation. Beloved, as we take up the Gospels, the rich treasury that is there is that we find again and again the Lord Jesus Christ communicating to individuals in a wide variety of circumstances and backgrounds and mental conditions and heart conditions. You know, just before the Lord Jesus came into that region, heading down to Jericho, he had an encounter with a man titled in the scriptures as the rich young ruler. Well, who was the rich young ruler? He was a religious man who was resting in his external duties, thinking that he actually was quite impressive to God. And yet there was a nagging in his conscience that all things were not right and all things were not ready for him to enter into the eternal state or our long home. And this rich young ruler came to the Lord Jesus. And it's amazing. He came running, which rich men never do. He bowed down, he kneeled before him. Rich men don't do that. But it was an acknowledgement of the worthiness and the value of what he saw in the person of Christ. And he said, teacher, good teacher. And then he asked, what must I do that I might have eternal life? And of course, when you watch how the Lord Jesus went through in his discussion with this rich young ruler, there was that slow piercing penetration into his conscience. He thought he did everything according to the law of God, and therefore God ought to be impressed, but he felt God just wasn't impressed. And so ultimately, the Lord Jesus led him to the point that he saw he was a covetous man. And he did not have God before him, the first commandment, that he thought he was fulfilling, but rather he had his possessions and his wealth before him at all times. And so ultimately, though we do not know what happened to him, he went away sad, but he went away more in connection with reality with reference to the condition of his soul and the God with whom he has to do. Now brethren, what we find in the life ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ is again and again, there was a refreshing realism about Christ. There was a refreshing connection about the person of Christ. That when He came to the woman at the well, that confused woman of Samaria, There was a riveting attractiveness about the person of Christ, not so much in terms of his external, but in conversation, he broke through all of the religious facade and the layers and the veneer of her involvement, yet the struggle of her heart was that she knew there were things not right. And she was a woman actually given to immorality. living with a man, having been married five times. And yet in her encounter to Christ, you know what? She never went with this sense, oh, he's just judging me, and I am condemned. But there was an attractiveness that the answer to her guilt was found in him. And you see, everywhere the Lord Jesus went, what did he bring? He shattered human delusions, he shattered human externalism, and he brought divine eternal reality to bear upon the human soul. And that is a precious gift. You know, I read the statement a few years ago, reality is a nuisance to those who want to make it up as they go along. And isn't that the case of every one of us outside of Christ? We just go on in our delusions. We just go on in our externalisms. We just go on looking for this pleasure, this delight, this enjoyment, this success, or this sense of my elevated ego or esteem. And all of that is but a delusion. What is so refreshing about the Gospels is that we come into connection with the real precious God come in human flesh with divine eternal realities and he comes with a message of hope. And so everywhere Jesus went, He was giving beauty for the ash heap of humanity. He was giving a garment of praise for all those He came to that had a spirit of heaviness. You see, He was coming as the Savior of sinners. Now brethren, When the Lord Jesus Christ comes in the connection with this man, we read in Mark 10 that his name is Bartimaeus. But when he comes to this man, what do we find? What do we find? Right after this, we find the Lord Jesus, his encounter with Zacchaeus. What do we find in these encounters? It is this. It is the Lord Jesus in all of his interaction with this message found in Jeremiah. I have loved you, Bartimaeus. I have loved you, Zacchaeus, with an everlasting love. And at this time, I come into connection with you. And in loving kindness, I'm drawing you out of your state into union with me, that your soul might be saved. and that your life might be enhanced with a true reality that is unthreatening. because it is clothed with the provisions of my mercy." That's what you find in this encounter of the Lord Jesus with this man, Bartimaeus. Now, we began to open up this passage and we began to make consideration as to how we can derive benefit from this encounter of the Lord Jesus with the blind man, Bartimaeus. And one of the first things that we saw was that there was the importance of diligence in the use of means. Now, what do I mean by that? Well, first of all, I want to say that what you'll find woven in all of the interactions of Christ is that you will find common sense. You'll find wisdom brought to life. You'll find practical savvy in human relationships. You'll find the wisdom of God embodied in the man Christ Jesus in all of his interactions. And so we find that this man actually was a man who believed that if he was going to have his needs met, he had to put himself in the place most likely for those needs to be met. Right? And so he went, he sat down by the roadside there because that's where his need of poverty, his blindness, his inability to provide for himself and sustain himself. He had to have the compassions of others that he might have daily bread and food and wherewithal to live. And so he was a man diligent in the use of means. But how does that relate to us? It relates to us in this way. You know, dear ones, Why do we sing the praises of God? Why do we attend church? Why do we engage in those activities that Christ said, I want you to assemble together. I want you to sing my praises. I want you to have fellowship one with another. Because of this, Christ says, I will walk in your midst. I will inhabit the praises that you offer to me, and I will make these useful instruments to have the breath of my soul's provision brought to your heart and to your life and made enabling, strengthening conduits that will enable you to grow in advance and become strong in faith, whereby you can give glory to God and live and do as a believer in this fallen world what by nature you could never live and do. But through my provisions, and how will I convey my provisions through you? Through the means I've established, and so attend with diligence upon those means. Gather together, read your Bible, fellowship with the saints, enter into prayer, draw near to God in the use of those very activities Christ has ordained. Now I realize, you know, I was thinking about, you know, some of the technology and the struggles this day getting started. You know in the Old Testament, that tabernacle? Do you know what that looked like out there in the desert? That outside layer was nothing but old, dry, cracked badger skin. Gray and dull as ever. That's what it looked like. You see, it wasn't the temple yet. It was just external badger skin covering that thing. But you know, as you opened that up and you entered into the Holy of Holies, there was all beauty within. And you know what? We might look shabby on the outside to the people who look on that are so attracted to the gold ring. But you know, brethren, oh, may we cry out to the Lord and say, God, may it be all beautiful within. because of your handiwork in our souls. And may when we come, may you inhabit our praises. May we speak to one another in songs and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in our souls and advancing and encouraging and strengthening one another. And may Your Word come in our midst, and may it be clothed with power from on high. And may You infiltrate into our souls, our minds, our thoughts, our hearts, and bring us to life, and bring us to have real activity and interaction with You that is not only of a saving nature, but also of a sanctifying, cleansing, nurturing nature. You see, dear one, sad to say, Those who are the disregarders of the assembly of the saints, the Bible neglecters, the prayerless, the faithless, the expectant-less individuals, they are forsaking their own needed mercies. and they are digging a grave for their own souls. They are not sitting by the roadside. And that's the practical activity that we see in Bartimaeus. He didn't sit lazily at home. He came and he used means to get his needs met. And Christ says, I've given you many means to have your soul's needs met. Use them with diligence. You see, brethren, the common sense, the practical savvy that even this man had. Well, dear brethren, this man didn't enter in just plopping himself down there on the roadside. He was actively engaged. He had a sense of need and he came and he expressed that need. Notice the kind of prayer that this man used in the use of those means. We are told that when this blind man heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, now already the fame of Christ had been spread abroad. Already the fact that he was that wonderful teacher. You know, earlier on, those who were the head honchos in the religious system of the day, they sent the guards and they sent, go and fetch him. And those guards came back and you know what they said? They said, well, where is he? The religious rulers. And those guards said, no man ever spoke like this man. There's something about him. We couldn't live, we had no heart, no ability, but ho, listen, do you know what you're doing? What this man speaks and this one communicates and the things that he does. No man ever spoke like this man. You see, brethren, already his fame had gone about. And so as he sat by the wayside, when Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was passing by, it awoke within him an energizing, strengthening of his own internal determinations. This is the means to have my needs met. And so what did he do? He cried out. He didn't worry about what people thought of him. He didn't worry about his image, his ego, his reputation. In this sense, he had to get Christ's attention. And so he cries out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And then we are told that when some rebuked him and told him to be quiet, that just stirred him up all the more to break through every hindrance, every barrier to get to Jesus Christ. And so it says that he cried out all the more. Now what we're seeing here in this account, is the activity and the expressions of faith that are consistent with the overcomers. And look up in the book of Revelation, all the blessings that God pronounces upon the overcomers. Well, brethren, this brother in Christ Jesus, Bartimaeus, was expressing what an overcomer looks like. And so if we want to be overcomers, let us look deep into the example set before us in this man. You see, he was moved. He gave expression. Now what was the spring of this kind of prayer of earnestness? of genuine heart engagement that had energy of soul in it? What was the spring of all of that? What was the cause of all of that? Well, we can simply say, he felt his need. And you know, I think that sometimes we go too long in our religious activity in the sense or we go along too much in mere involvement in duty. And what we ought to be considering is, Lord, what's the very expression of your Spirit's work within the rising sense of need? when the Spirit of God begins to open up the fact that we have a continual need for Christ's provision, and we have a continual need for involvement that's real and vital and interactive with the Lord Jesus Christ. It says that He ever lives to make intercession for us, and that He is a high priest who is always filled with the sensibility of our needs to the core of His being. That's the kind of high priest that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ in Hebrews 4. And so if that be the case on His side, the relationship toward us in our earthly sojourn ought to be that we do continually come back to our constant need of Him. What happens if we do not feel our constant need of Him? We begin to act as though we can handle it ourselves. And yet Jesus Christ said, without me you can do nothing. And yet we can say through the Apostle Paul, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You know, I was thinking about this last week. David, David says that he can bend a bow. He could leap over a wall. through his God, issuing strength to do so." What? The simple things of that? What he is implying is that his life was a constant display of his neediness for God and the tangible expressions of companionship and being a support, a help in time of need. And brethren, it's healthy when we have that same sense of need. And so this man, He had a felt sense of need. And I fear that too often, sometimes we lose that. But you know, the very beginning of our Christian life begins with a felt sense of need, doesn't it? Oh brethren, think back. Think back to the time when you first had a true sense of your sin, or the true sense of your need for Christ and the realness of His Saviorhood. You know, Oh, too often what happens, and this is the danger of second-generation Christians. Brethren, if we were over here on the wall to have this big painting of a lion. Now, we can talk about the power of the lion. We can talk about its bone-crunching bite. We can talk about the power of his claws to just disembowel an individual in a moment. We could talk about the ferocity of his roar and his pouncing ability, taking down an antelope with one swipe. But you know what? We can interact with that painting of the lion on the wall, and we can talk about sin in the same way. It's all theoretical. Now let me ask you this. What would happen if we were all of a sudden looking over at this painting of the lion on the wall, And that lion came to life, jumped off the wall, stood in our midst, looked us in the eyes, and roared with a ferocity that we knew this would be the death of me unless there's some kind of intervention. You know, brethren, I know I was 18 years old when the lion of my sin jumped off the wall. And I knew my sin, not sin generally, not sin as a concept, not sin theologically spoken of, but my sin would be the death of me unless there was divine intervention. And oh dear brethren, when I began to see that the Lord Jesus was a savior of sinners, and as I read my Bible and it said that God declared, when your father and your mother forsake you, I will take you up. It was as though there was channeled through the Lord Jesus Christ and His saving activity and His present care for my soul. Every internal need of my heart would be met in Him. And I had to have Christ. I had to know Christ. I had to rest my soul in His care. I had to trust in Him. I had to rely upon Him to answer for the guilt of my soul. Dear brethren, Has a lion jumped off the wall with reference to your own sin? And how often do you see the liveliness of the lion that drives you to have that sensible need of Christ's intervention, and Christ's involvement, and Christ's care, and Christ's communicated grace to enable you to live what you cannot by nature live, a Christian life. You see, dear ones, we need to be an assembly of people who are humble and who are clinging to the Lord Jesus, and that we continually come to Him like that woman with the issue of blood, where she made her way through the crowd and said, if I can just touch the hem of His garment, That's what I need, I've got to get to Christ. And as she touched the hem of his garment, there was virtue, there was power, there was divine influence that flowed through the person of Christ that affected that woman, healed her, and she knew there had been changes. And she knew there had been, and she wanted to just kind of slowly just go away, but Christ wouldn't allow it. He turned and he said, who touched me? Think of that. A crowd of people pressing in upon Christ, and he says, who touched me? What was he talking about in that? Who came with a determination to have connection with me that was moved by life-giving faith that laid hold not of my hem of the garment, but of me. And then he drew attention to her. Why? Because she was a sweet and precious sister in Christ who was an example to us all! And brethren, I would say this, if we do not periodically have these encounters and these experiences where we have to get to Christ, then I would say there's some dry crustacean upon our Christian profession. And I'm not talking about that we have to work ourselves up to some level of emotionalism. And I'm not talking about the exaltation of human sentiment and emotion. But I am talking about souls that interact with biblical truth in a way that comes to life, that moves the heart, that has to get to Christ and have real personal encounters with Him. Because brethren, that's the lifeblood of the healthiness of the church. Well, you see, brethren, this man had a felt sense of his need. And we need to have a felt sense of our needs. You know, when this man came to Christ with reference to his bodily ailment, we need to be continually going to Christ with the sensibility of our own internal ailments of remaining sin. And we need to come to Him as the one who can be our all in all to give us healing and health. You know, if there's no real sense of need, then we just go through the motions. This man had a sense of his need. Do you see it? It's so clear, isn't it? It's just right there. This man felt his blindness, felt his poverty, felt the struggles of a daily nature. But when he heard the one that can be a remedy to his maladies, he had to get to Him. And so brethren, let us assemble together as a people who know the one that can heal our maladies and let us labor to get to Him. And so it is with this man. Now brethren, I want you to notice Next, that this man was encouraged by the kindness and compassion of Christ in the use of those means of getting to Christ. He was met with what? The compassion, the kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know why? Because Christ says that He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in His arms and carry them in His bosom and gently lead those who are with young. He is a shepherd of souls. And He is one who tends His flock. And He is the one that came into this world to seek and to save that which is lost. And when there's a wandering lamb, He leaves the 99 in the sense of going after Him. and brings him back to himself. You know, brethren, we have this wonderful, precious shepherd of our souls, the chief, the good, the great shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is the one that as we come to him, and we come to him with our felt sense of need, what we will find is that his heart is large with compassions. Think of it. Throughout the gospel history, everyone that came to Christ that was down, He picked them up. Everyone that was in a state of soul confusion, He sorted it out for them. The woman of Samaria, she was all confused with the Jewish religion and the Samaritan religion, and where is it right, and what is true worship? Christ sorted out all those issues for her. And she became excited, though she lived a life of immorality. Her encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, she went back to the city and she said, come see a man who told me everything that I did. It might've gotten the attention of some of the men. But I'll tell you what, there was something of a realism. that she had come to have encounters with somebody who took this woman and her sensibility of guilt and a sense of a ruined life and gave her hope and gave her happiness and gave her thrill and joy. And you know, brethren, isn't that what you have found in the Lord Jesus Christ? The source of real happiness, the source of real sanity, And so it is with this man. He came. He opened up his heart. You know, this wasn't the first time that he sat by the roadside. He was not answered upon the first cry out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me. But he went on lifting up his voice for mercy. And when we are told, the blind man continued to cry out for mercy, it says, of our Lord, he stood still. And he commanded Bartimaeus to be brought to him. You know, brethren, that's the way it is with Christ. When we come to him with that brokenness and that heart opening, we just lay out our souls and that honesty that comes only really from the Spirit's work within to bring us to that kind of honesty. When we come to Him with that kind of honesty, it gains the attention of Christ. It causes Him to stand still. It causes Him to say, don't let any hindrance intervene. I want Artimaeus in my presence. Brethren, isn't that what we should long for in the assembly of the saints? Isn't that what we should long for when we sing his praises? Lord, even though there be some technological problems here, yet Lord, hear the utterance of my heart. I want to worship you. I want to praise you. I want to pour out my heart in ways that are pleasing in your sight. Do you think God is all impressed? What's the most perfect pitch and note hitter in the world? You think that's what impresses God? No, brethren. It's that broken and contrite heart. It's that heart that has a sensible need. I wouldn't sing out too loud because it'd be a very unedifying experience, you know, especially with my cold. But nevertheless, I know this, God takes more delight in the heart that just aches to have real dealings with Him than the most perfect execution of religious duty. That actually is ugly and hideous in the sight of God if it lacks the first, the heart longing to be in His presence. Now this man, he had the Lord Jesus Christ stop I just love the way it's recorded here. Do you think that Christ knew he was blind? It was obvious. Do you think Christ knew of his poverty-stricken state? Yes! But what did Jesus Christ say to this man? what would you have me to do? What do you want? And I just love that. It's kind of like the Lord Jesus saying, Barnabas, by my great power and outstretched arm, I made heaven and earth. Nothing is too hard for me now. What troubles you? What perplexes you? Because I am quite capable not only of stealing the waves and calming the winds, I am quite capable not only of dividing the Jordan and flood stage and allowing my people to walk through, I am quite able. In fact, Bartimaeus, one of my dear beloved ones, asked me to do something never heard of before. He asked me to simply stop the rotation of the earth and have the sun shine until he accomplished the task in warfare and completed it and then sent the world to spin it again. And because I am the one who holds all things together by my power, I could do such a thing. Now Bartimaeus, what is it? What is so perplexing, what is so difficult, what is so filling you with anguish? Bartimaeus, you came to the right place. You came to me, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Now, Bartimaeus, what would you have me to do?" And Bartimaeus just simply says, that I might receive my sight. Oh, is that all? And Barnabas, what is it that you want me to have? Want me to do for you? That I might receive my sight. Oh, Barnabas, you know what? There's already at work in your soul and has been at work in your soul the very doorway through which that need could be met, your faith, your faith, your active faith. It was your faith that broke through the barriers. It was your faith that allowed nothing to come and stop you from giving to me. And oh Bartimaeus, your faith has already taken care of that matter. Because I was such a strong confidence in Bartimaeus, I just have to get to Jesus of Nazareth. Oh brethren, let this be more the characteristic of our lives, of our souls, if we want soul needs met. You see, what we're talking about here is not this religion and that religion and, well, let's compare, you know, how does this size up with? We're talking about that which can meet the need of the human heart and solve the plagues and the problems of the human soul and is bound up in the Lord Jesus, through whom there is salvation and none other, for there is none other name given under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved. And we're invited to ever come again afresh to Him." Well, brethren, I want to go quickly to the last point, and it is this. I want you to notice the only proper response to one who has received mercy in the use of the means. Notice when we read, verse 43 or 42, then Jesus said to him, receive your sight. Your faith has made you well. And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. He was attached to Christ by faith, attached to Christ and desired to stay with him, walk with him, follow him, drink in his teaching. Now he had his sight, he could walk and not be led. And he wanted to have his newfound abilities all riveted upon the source of all his happiness, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now brethren, years ago I remember this tragic story. There was a plane crash on the Potomac River. I don't know if you remember that, some of you may. There was a plane that had taken off, and they did not realize how much ice formation on the wings there were. And that plane was not able to get the elevation coming out of the airport. And as that plane was going along, it was obvious it was not going to clear the bridge. And that plane filled with people, pilots and stewardesses and passengers. It hit the bridge and plopped right on over in the Potomac River. And it was only but minutes before that plane would sink down into those icy, chilling, death-giving waters. There was a man, a businessman, He had a briefcase, and after that he ran to the top of the bridge and he looked over and he saw people out there struggling in the icy waters. He saw and he knew he could only do so much, but he knew he had to do something. That man dropped his briefcase, dove off that bridge, and he swam to the first person that he could get to, which happened to be a stewardess. He grabbed her and he swam and took her over to shore. But he knew that if he plunged in, he wouldn't be a help to anyone. It would be his own death. And there were others seeking to save and seeking to rescue and seeking to bring to shore. And yet there was undoubtedly going to be a multitude who would perish. But I remember the picture, the picture of that stewardess. A man on the shore and they had a blanket wrapped around them. That woman, you know what she did? She just clung to him. She knew this man risked his life to save me from what would be undoubtedly my death. And that picture still sticks in my mind. Because that is such a beautiful picture of what we all ought to be doing to Christ. Clinging to Him as the one who has saved us from the punishment our sins deserved. to save us and to deliver us from the wrath that my sins call for. Why? Because Christ went under the wrath of God and absorbed all the wrath due to my sinful soul that I might be delivered. You know, brother, what's the only fitting response to an individual who has received such mercy and compassion? Isn't it to cling to Christ? Isn't it to wrap myself around him and say, oh Lord Jesus, don't let me lose my grip. I need your help for this. Oh, brother, let us come back to such simplicity. Let us come back to such realities. And what we'll find is that Christ delights to have his people clinging to him. You know what? It excites the heart of Christ to do them good. And brethren, what if we were all dwelling together in unity with this perspective? You know what I think according to Psalm 133? There he commands the blessing, even life forevermore. And who could tell what God might be pleased to do in our midst if we have that perspective? Oh, may God grant it, and may God seal it to our hearts. This has been a presentation of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. For more resources and information, please stop by our website at visitredeemer.org. All material herewithin, unless otherwise noted. Copyright Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Elk Grove, California. Music furnished by Nathan Clark George. Available at nathanclarkgeorge.com.