Please remain standing for our scripture lesson. We're in Mark chapter 8, verses 22 through 26. And they came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, do you see anything? And he looked up and he said, I see people, but they look like trees walking. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and he opened his eyes. His sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home saying, do not even enter the village. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Let's pray. Our God, we pray now for your blessing upon the preaching and also the hearing of your word. We pray that you would be pleased to set forth Christ to us, and that we might be in greater and greater love with him and conformity to him. And we pray that you would also convict us of our sin, but help us not to despair of it, rather help us to pursue Christ more and more as we rest in his person and his work. For we pray it in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated. Many of us at some point in our lives have probably had a visit to the eye doctor. Children, have you ever visited the eye doctor before? If you have, you'll know that they run a series of tests on you. First, they have you look at this chart that's got letters on it, and they see how well you can read the lines starting from the top and going to the bottom, and you'll know that the bottom line is nearly impossible to read for some of us. Some further tests that they do is they use this machine, this large machine, this 4-opter, I believe it's called, that goes over your eyes and as they're asking you to read these lines, they change the lens that's in there in order to determine the right prescription that you might need. And this is designed to, of course, correct your vision to get rid of those headaches or those other difficulties that you experience. And while not all of us may have glasses or require glasses, there is something that we share about our sight. Because all of us are born spiritually blind. We're born spiritually without sight. This is true no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, that all of us are born dead in sin and there's nothing that we can do about that. There's nothing that we ourselves can do in order to correct this about our condition. And if this spiritual blindness isn't treated, it will be fatal. It ends in death. It's such as the nature of sin that the wages of sin is death, Paul tells us. And so it's not just a sickness, it's not just an illness, but it's one that is in fact terminal. And so unless our eyes are opened, by some manner. Unless we are able to see and correct our vision, we will die in our sin. So this morning, do you see? Do you see Christ? Have your eyes been opened by divine grace to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ? This is exactly what Christ has been talking about with His disciples, with the Pharisees. You'll recall in our study of the Gospel of Mark that Jesus has recently fed 4,000 people, 4,000 Gentiles. He's able to provide this messianic banquet, as it were, for the people of Israel as well as for the Gentiles. All who come to this Messiah hungry will be fed by the bread of life. And then after this, you'll recall that He entered into conflict with the Pharisees and religious leaders. who in fact are spiritually blind. And Christ left them, having rejected Him. You'll remember that He got into a boat with His disciples, and there He has this conversation about spiritual blindness. He reminds them and warns them of spiritual blindness. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Beware of their spiritual blindness and hardness of heart. And then He in fact admonishes them for their lack of sight. That they in fact are in danger, though they are near Him, though they are in a boat with Him, they are in danger of becoming spiritually blind by their hardness of heart. And so as we come to our text this morning, we're going to see that Jesus is the only one who has the healing power to give clear sight to those who are spiritually blind. Jesus is the only one who has the healing power to give spiritual sight to those who are spiritually blind. And as we look at this encounter that Jesus has with this man, we're going to look at this in three headings. We're going to see this miracle play out. Firstly, in a plea for restoration of sight, verses 22-23a. Secondly, in a gradual restoration of sight, 23b-24. And finally, in a complete restoration of sight, in 25-26. So let's look together at verse 22. And they came to Bethsaida, and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. So you're going to notice in this text many parallels with the ending of chapter 7. We saw this unusual healing where this deaf man was healed and restored, and we're going to see here this blind man who also is brought to Jesus. And there's two things that we need to keep in mind as we come to this passage. There's sort of two lenses, if you will, that are going to help us understand this text. So the first one would be the miracle itself. We will recall from our study at the end of chapter 7 that we made the point that Jesus was fulfilling scripture according to what his work would be as the Messiah. So part of the Messiah's work would be to heal those who are deaf. But also part of the Messiah's work is to heal and give sight to the blind. So we see that this is taking place as well. These aren't just sort of random arbitrary acts that Jesus is doing, but they're exactly fulfilling the Old Testament scriptures written hundreds of years before. describing the Messiah and His work. You'll recall this from Isaiah 35.5 that says, "...then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped." So this describes the work of the Messiah, what He will do. But secondly, the second lens we need to keep in mind in understanding this text is that of the broader context. I've just mentioned a moment ago this conversation and teaching that Jesus has been giving to his disciples, that he's been warning them of spiritual blindness. And so Mark places this text here for a very specific reason. And we're going to see this actually play out as we continue in chapter 8, that it's this greater sight, this greater revelation of Jesus that Mark is walking us through. That he's warning us against spiritual blindness, that he's revealing to us who Christ is, and we're going to see Peter's confession, Lord willing, next week as he confesses who Jesus is. And that's been the question since the beginning of the Gospel, hasn't it? That's the question we've been pondering. That's the question Mark has been setting before us in these divine snapshots of Jesus' person and work. And so we need to keep that in mind. That's going to help us as we understand that Jesus has rebuked the Pharisees for their spiritual blindness and given the disciples a warning to guard themselves against spiritual blindness. So we're going to keep these two things in mind. Well, in verse 22, you'll see there in the text that they arrive in Bethsaida, which is north of the Sea of Galilee. You'll remember that they were on the water as they had this conversation, and now they arrive, having been in Dalmanutha, the region there, having been in the Decapolis, and now they're returning to Bethsaida, to the regions around Galilee. And just like in chapter 7, where people immediately met them with this man who was deaf, We see something similar here in Bethsaida. This has sort of become commonplace, that wherever Jesus goes, not only is he met by crowds of people, but also these crowds of people bear to Jesus someone in need. that they bring to Him someone who cannot bring Himself, whether it is sort of an ailment that this man has, whether the paralytic that we saw previously couldn't even walk to Jesus, or maybe someone who is deaf and not sure where to go, not sure how to go, or whether it's someone blind who cannot see and needs to be guided by other people. And so this friend is brought by maybe his friends to Jesus. These people bear to Him one who is blind. And this should be the manner of our approach, should it not, people of God? Should we be as eager to go and to run to Christ that where we are in our daily lives, no matter where we're found, no matter what we're doing, may we be as eager, as desperate to run to Him, to go to Him, in the same manner that these people do. Well, what do they do after going to Jesus? Well, look back at the verse here. We're going to look at verse 23. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. So we see Jesus' encounter with this man, but there's a couple of things that we can note here. The manner in which these people bring this man who is blind is a manner of desperation, but it's also a manner of humility. You'll see, look back at the verse, that they brought to him this blind man, and what did they do? They begged him. Have you ever begged someone for something? Maybe you've seen people on the side of the road begging for money, maybe begging for anything, clothing or what have you, and they're asking people to give them something that they don't have. Maybe you've begged someone for something. Maybe you've begged your boss for a raise, or maybe you've begged for something else. Children, maybe you've begged your parents for one more cookie. and before you can go to bed or something. But this is what they do, and we've seen this. We've seen throughout the gospel that a common manner of people who come to Christ is that they beg Him. They beg Him that He might touch them. Another common thing that Jesus has done. We've seen before His touch of compassion. He's touched an unclean leper. He's touched a Gentile who was born deaf. And he's also touched a little girl. taking her by the hand and raising her to life. This has been common. This has been a way that Jesus has healed people. And that's the same thing he does here. Look back at verse 23. He takes this blind man in a similar way by the hand. He takes him and he brings him to this village. He sort of takes him out of the commotion. He takes him out of the large group of people that are around him and takes him off to the side. Why does he do this? This is very similar, you'll recall, to the end of chapter 7 where he also took the deaf man aside by himself. And it's, again, not just this arbitrary thing. I think Jesus is trying to avoid publicity and the wrong kind that would result in misconceptions about who he is. We have to remember that Jesus is a personal Savior. He's not a random healer. He's not a random person. It's not just this analytical thing that He does. Well, yeah, He heals this person. That's a part of His messianic ministry and so forth. But no, this is something that's different. Yes, it's a part of what the Messiah will do, but the Messiah comes for specific people. He says, I see you, as we noted at the end of chapter 7. And he sees this man too who cannot see. And so he comes and this gesture would be very important for a man who is blind because he cannot see, he can hear. But Jesus also, who took upon himself human flesh, knows what it's like to be incarnate, to be human. And so he takes this man by the hand And that's not only helpful to the man so that he can walk, but also communicates Jesus's compassion. I care for you. Step aside with me. You know, maybe someone has done that to you, maybe a loved one, someone you care about. Doesn't that feel very personal? When someone takes you by the hand or singles you specifically out of the crowd, and they say, I want to talk to you. They say, hey, can you come talk with me? Or that person takes you on a nice dinner or something, and you feel like that person that you're talking to, you are their only concern. Doesn't that mean a lot? Doesn't that communicate their care and love? We love those people, don't we? Those people where you talk to them and it's not like they're looking at their watch and they're distracted with other things and they're, yeah, uh-huh, and they're texting on their phone and looking up at you every five minutes, but they are locked in their gaze at you. And they want to know what is in your mind. They want to know how you're doing. Well, that's a picture of our Savior. That He takes this man by the hand to the side. He says, I care about you. and I have come to heal you." So this would have been His compassion in action as we've seen so much time and time before. And we have to remember that the reason that He does this, so why is Jesus compassionate? Well, Jesus, our God, our Triune God, does what He does because He is who He is. He does what He does because He is who He is. He is a God abundant in compassion or mercy. He is His attributes. He doesn't just happen to have compassion. But He is a God who is compassion. And so He therefore extends that compassion in what He does. And so this is Jesus' compassion for this man. It's His compassion for all of His people. The friends, as he ministers to you, as he has opened your eyes, you didn't just... I was listening to a sermon recently on a different text, but the pastor was making the point that sometimes people can get this idea where they can see God's compassion or mercy for other people, but they struggle seeing it in their own lives. And they sort of have this thinking that, well, I sort of just slipped in by mistake or unnoticed. Christ has saved His church and I'm sort of just in here as mere happenstance, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Yes, Jesus' love is for His church, of which individuals are a part. So if you are one who is sitting here with spiritual sight, He has singled you out as it were. He has come to you. He has ministered to you and given you sight. He has taken you by the hand and has healed you because of His covenant love and compassion for His people. Do you recognize that about yourself this morning? Have you taken spiritual inventory? Do you see? Do you have spiritual sight? If so, rest and rejoice in the compassion of your God, of the Lord Jesus Christ. But I need to warn you, if you're sitting here and you do not have spiritual sight, you have reason to fear. Because the end of spiritual blindness is death. And this is a serious condition and one that we all have to reflect upon. Proverbs 4.19 reminds us, the way of the wicked is like deep darkness. They do not know over what they stumble. They're not aware. They have no self-awareness of their condition. They stumble in the dark. Because have you ever been in a place that's so dark you're just sort of feeling around in front of you? They have no idea what's going on. And Paul says the reason for this is that the gospel has been blinded to them by the God of this world, by Satan. And this is the condition of natural man. And so we cannot think that we can walk in the light and in darkness at the same time. We can't do this. This is not something that is able to be done. And our God Himself describes Himself in 2 John 5 as the light. He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. So He's not a God of mixture. He's not a God of two things at once. You can't be two things at once, serve two masters. You cannot have spiritual sight and spiritual blindness. And further, we're reminded if we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet continually walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. So Paul warns us of these things that if you're spiritually blind, you will not have life, but know this, that Christ is your only hope. If you are spiritually blind, He is the only ophthalmologist that can correct your vision. He is the only one that can come by divine grace and open your eyes. And so there is hope for you because Christ is the light of the world, who has come into the world as light and the darkness does not comprehend it. Though Christ comes to open the eyes of the blind and grant sight to those who are helpless, this longed for sight often comes gradually. Let's look at verse 23b. So Jesus took this man by the hand, he leads him out, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, do you see anything? So again, this is similar, the manner of healing to the end of chapter 7, where we saw an unusual healing that Jesus has done. And that's exactly what we see here, that he first spits into this man's eyes. He spits on the eyes that are blind. And then he also lays his hands on him. Why does he do this? It seems unusual. He certainly doesn't have to do this. Well again, these physical signs are important and they communicate something to this man. This man who can't see what Jesus is doing, he's giving him communication through physical touch. He's telling him what he is doing. He's touching the organ of his body that is affected. And he is communicating something to him by that, not only as compassion, but also eliciting his faith. Trust me. Trust in my methods. Because remember, Jesus can heal however He wants to heal. We've seen that before. He doesn't have to. I mean, He can just speak. He can speak the word and someone is healed, such is His power. And yet He doesn't do that here. He meets people where they're at. He doesn't, again, this is not just some analytical distant thing, my friends. This is a personal Savior that we are dealing with, that meets each and every one of you and me exactly where we're at. who condescends exactly where we're at and what we're going through, who cares what we're experiencing. He cared enough that this man was blind that he met him where he was. And he cared just as much about the deaf man that he met him where he was. He doesn't just have a standard, you know, sort of general approach that he takes with people that's robotic and that doesn't care. But it's an expression of his compassion. Well, how does this man answer the question, verse 24? And he looked up and said, I see people, but they look like trees walking. So this man, his sight is dim. The fact that Jesus asked him the question signals that there's going to be a step and a process to this healing. And so this Greek word that's translated look up can mean that, but it can also mean regaining one's sight. So he's gradually regaining his sight. It's a bit dim. He says, well, I can see people, but they look like trees. You know, maybe you can remember a time, perhaps this morning, where you wake up from your sleep and maybe a family member or your spouse jars the lights on, and you're, oh, you're looking around and you can hardly see. You're trying to make out what's going on. Children, maybe you've had that happen before where the lights are turned on and you're thinking, oh, where am I? What's going on? You can see just a little bit, and so that's what this man's sight is. It's a dim perception, and he's able to see what look like trees walking. Now many commentators will say that this must mean that the man was not born blind because he knew what a tree was. I think that's very well possible. Mark doesn't tell us that. But I don't think it's necessary per se. I think there's a way in which a man who is blind, he He could have rested his hands on a tree or known what kind of a structure a tree is and could have just used this language having been granted partial sight already. We don't know, but it's definitely possible that he was blinded later in life by disease or by some kind of ailment or accident. And so for the benefit of this man, Jesus lays his hands on him. This is a method that we've seen, but it's interesting because he lays his hands on him a second time, which we typically don't see. We usually see Jesus laying his hands on a man once. But this is not only again for the benefit of this man's faith, but we can't forget the disciples here. So often it's easy to forget that they're around. And remember what I said about the two lenses at the beginning of our sermon together. That we have to keep in mind the purpose of what Jesus is doing because the question that's naturally asked of this passage is why is this an incomplete healing as it were? Why does this man just partially see? Why doesn't Jesus just heal him immediately? That's the question that this text asks. And the reason is, my friends, is because what Jesus is doing in this healing is He's performing a live parable, as it were, for His disciples. They're seeing exactly what's taking place in this gradual restoration of sight, that it parallels their own experience. It parallels the fact that Jesus warned them, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Do you not yet understand? Do you not yet see? Are you still hard of heart? And so he's asking them these questions and bringing them along, and the emphasis is on the word yet, as we noted last time we were together. And so Jesus is showing them that what I'm doing here, I will do for you. That though you are in danger of spiritual blindness, though you don't yet totally perceive, spiritual sight comes gradually. And we've seen that, that the disciples began to follow Jesus at His call. They've been with Him. They've seen His authority in His teaching and in His healing ministry. They've been with Him. He's explained to them the secret mysteries of the Kingdom of God, and yet they still come up short. But He's bringing them along. They still have much to learn. And friends, this is true for us as well. That when we're first converted and given this wonderful spiritual sight, often it's gradual. There's a learning that takes place. First, it's the milk of the Word. And then we're to graduate and move on to the meat of the Word. We're to grow in our spiritual understanding. This should humble us and cause us to watch our hearts against pride, that we know it all. Well, I've been walking with the Lord for X amount of years. I'm just blah, blah, blah. I'm just Mr. Know-it-all. Or, well, you know, I've grown up hearing the preaching of the Word. I've read the Gospel of Mark 20 times through the years. What more could I know? Friends, this helps us guard against that, because our spiritual sight is not immediate. We also have to remember there's a distinction between God and man, what theologians call the creator-creature distinction. That God is other, He's holy. That we will never comprehend God in His essence. That we can apprehend God but not comprehend Him. We can understand who our God is because He has revealed Himself to us. Now that doesn't equate to understanding the essence and the being of our God, which we'll never do. We're not God. But yet He's pleased to condescend and reveal who He is. to us in His names, His attributes, and His works. This helps us to know Him truly, as He has revealed Himself to us. And so again, this humbles us, friends. This helps us to know that we will never have it all figured out. So the answer to loving God and to living for Him is not to know everything, but it's to rest in His revelation. It's to rest in and trust in the One who gives spiritual sight. But similarly, we can't become lazy and content with that singular spiritual vision. This is why Paul and others in the Scriptures, this is why we read exhortations, exercise yourself unto godliness. Long for the Word. Hide it in your heart. Cling to it. Work out your own salvation. These are all imperatives. These are all encouragements to pursue godliness and Christlikeness, to not be content with that spiritual sight that we received when we were infants in the Word. But again, as Paul exhorts us to long for the meat of the Word, to grow in our understanding of it. This is our sanctification, isn't it? That it's progressive. That sometimes it seems like you take one step forward and two steps back. And maybe you're here this morning discouraged about that. But be not discouraged. Because you've been given spiritual sight. Because Christ has opened your eyes. And He promises to complete that good work which He began. Because that's His work. That's the work that originated within Him by the Spirit. And so He's going to be true to His promises. He's not a man that He should lie. His Word does not return unto Him void. So rest in the progress. Rest in the sight that you have. And know that though you see in a mirror here in this earth dimly, where our vision of Christ is dim in a way, but seek to cultivate more and more a sight of Christ. Cultivate that sight by looking to the Word, that you might know the Word incarnate. Seek to cultivate what theologians call the beatific vision. Beatific means happyfied or exciting. That exciting, that sight that brings you great joy and comfort and warmth. Have you ever looked upon someone that you love, your spouse, you know, someone that you're dating, or someone in your family, and it just warms your heart to see the face of a loved one you haven't seen in a while? And not to be crass, as wonderful as our loved ones are, friends, that pales in comparison to Christ. that here we see in a mirror dimly. But can you imagine that sight, that heavenly sight, that blessedness, that when we are made like Him, we will see Him as He is. That we will see our resurrected Savior. And that's the sight that we're all striving for. That's the purpose of what we do. That's to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. To seek to cultivate that sight by the means that He's given. Because He's given us the prescription. He's given us in the Word the lenses through which we might by faith behold His glory. And that is what He calls us to do. Growth is gradual, but He is faithful. Just like this man's physical sight, our spiritual sight is often gradual. And yet Christ ultimately gives a complete restoration of sight. Let's look together at verse 25. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he opened his eyes. His sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. So do you see this intensification, this building of what Christ does for this man, that he touches him again the second time, and what's the result? That his eyes are opened. They're made new. His sight is restored. And he sees everything clearly. There are so many words in this text, in the original language, for eyes or for sight. There's a building intensification that it's not as though he's stuck in this space of partial sight. And the same is true for our spiritual sight. We're not stuck with that same sight. It's not, well, I'll just always be like this in my fight against sin. I'm just always going to struggle with this sin in the same manner. That's not the kind of Savior we serve. Yes, it's gradual. Yes, it's progressive. But there's a completion. There's an end to it. Every work that our God begins, there's an end. There's a completion. And that's exactly what Jesus does here, that by these gradual signs, He shows His sovereignty and His power. He's not beholden to one method of healing that we've seen, again, many times He can command and heal. He can make a pronouncement that someone is healed already. And he can do that immediately, or he can do it gradually. At full disposal is his ability to heal. He is in full and complete control. Well then what happens to this man as a result? Verse 26, And he sent him home, to his home, saying, Do not even enter a village. So we see something again very similar here that our Lord instructs this man. And he often does that after his healing. He often gives someone instructions, and often those instructions are, don't tell anyone, don't say anything. Now it's the case that not always everyone obeys or heeds His instructions, but we see here what we've talked about and seen before, this messianic secret. And the reason for this is that Jesus has a specific time in which He will be revealed. His revelation, has it not, has been progressive. He's building on prior revelation and that's what God has done throughout redemptive history. That in the old covenant it is through the types and the sacrifices and the cultic system. And that He reveals Himself, He reveals the person of Christ and the Messiah through that. And then progressively culminating in the cross of Christ and His resurrection to the right hand of the Father. the one who is coming again that we will see one day. This is how God works, and so this is what he's doing here, he's saying, shh, he's saying, don't tell anyone. It's not time yet. We've seen that when his fuller revelation is revealed, he's actually given up for crucifixion. He's put to death when it's revealed later in Mark's gospel. And so his timing isn't here, and he doesn't want these misconceptions to result in people wanting to crown him as an earthly king. But he's keeping in view that I still have to go to Jerusalem. Keeping in view his mission. I've come not to be crowned an earthly king. I've come to die for my people. And I've got to go to Jerusalem. And so this man must have lived on the outskirts of town. He says, don't pass through a village. Some of your translations may add there. Don't tell anyone. Don't make it known. And so his time hadn't come yet. But as we step back and look and understand this healing, Paul's conversion in Acts chapter 9 is helpful for us. You'll recall that in Acts chapter 9, Paul was on the road to Damascus, was a fierce and staunch persecutor of the church, who held people's coats as they stoned Stephen, the first martyr. And so here's zealous Paul with his orders to persecute believers in Damascus and abroad, and he's coming and he's accosted by this bright light that shines from heaven, and he's knocked off his horse and he's quite beside himself, and as a result of this revelation of the glory of God in Christ, he is blinded for three days. And he's stumbling around and he can't see, and God tells Ananias, He says, go and lay hands on Paul, Saul of Tarsus, because I have work for him. And Ananias is first unsure. But he says, okay, I'll go. And he goes. And what does he find but Paul blind and waiting upon the Lord. And he lays his hands on Paul and he receives his sight. And the text tells us that something like scales fell from Paul's eyes. He's commissioned. He's given spiritual sight. And in this picture of the Apostle Paul represents his spiritual blindness before Christ. Rescued him by divine and sovereign grace. And this is our spiritual blindness as well. That before we're groping, we're walking around, stumbling about as it were, in blindness and in darkness, until the light of Christ shines in our hearts, until He gives us that spiritual sight. And this account of the Apostle Paul, and this account here in Mark's Gospel, gives us hope. It doesn't matter who you are. Paul was a persecutor of the church. Took part in putting Christians to death. He was not outside of God's reach. God in Christ can give spiritual sight to anyone. Tribe, tongue, nation, language, doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what you've done before Christ. He had His eyes set upon you and gave you sight to the praise of His glory because He has a work for you in His kingdom. And so this same Paul, this one who was accosted by divine grace, he goes on to say this, that it is God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. that this same vision that Paul saw, literally knocking him off his horse, can be yours and mine by faith. And let us cultivate once again this sight, that after giving this initial sight to Paul, he progressed in his understanding. You recall that he was with the apostles in Jerusalem, laboring for a year before he was sent out. And so let us then learn, let us sit at the feet of Christ to learn, to grow in our sight, to cultivate a greater sight. Are your eyes blinded by sin this morning? Is your vision blurred by the cares of this world? Just like the disciples have these noises and these things and these... things that are all around you, have they threatened to take your sight? No, look here. Look at me. This is what you need to look at. Your eyes need to be on your sin, yourself. Your eyes need to be on what the world says matters. Your eyes need to be on what you don't have. Well, how could God love you if you're going through this? What can't you see, doesn't He see? Yes, He sees. He is the God who shines light in the darkness. And He is the God who takes you by the hand and says, look at me. Look at what I have done in Christ. Look to Him. You need to cultivate a greater sight of my Son, is what He says to all of us. And rest in Him. That's all the sight that you need. The Scriptures encourage us, they say, ask and you'll receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened unto you. It promises that He is a rewarder of those who come to Him. and that we're to seek for Him, and He is the ultimate One who can correct our sight, no matter if it's obscured. You might sit here and go, well, Ryan, my eyes are obscured. My sight has been obscured. Well, I tell you this morning, beloved, don't wait anymore. Having become aware of that, run to Him. Well, Ryan, He won't accept me. Yes, He will. because He's a rewarder of all who diligently seek Him. Because He's the one that says, ask and you'll receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened. That's His will. You can rest assured that that's His will, because He has told you in the Word. And so becoming aware of your danger of spiritual blindness, don't wait, but run to Him. See Him, meet with the doctor, meet with the one who restores vision, and ask Him to give you a greater sight of the Lord. He sees you individually in His work of redemption and He cares about you. He cares about your sight. He wants you to come and make an appointment with Him as it were. Every day, fall at His feet to behold Him as He has revealed Himself. This same God who spoke light into existence, who said, let there be light. This same God speaks in and through Christ, by the Spirit, to reveal the light of the world, that sinners might come and find shelter under His wings, that we might see that He gives light to men, that we might see Him as He is one day. So that's the call. The call of the Christian life is that we might cultivate that beatific vision once again. Let us long for that. Let us strive after that as the only thing that matters. knowing that one day we will see Him and have our sight completely restored. Jesus is the only one who has the healing power to give clear sight to the spiritually blind. Yes, often this is a gradual restoration of sight, that it's progressive, but that good work that He begins culminates in glorious completion as we see our Savior risen and resurrected and glorified in heaven Can you wait to see Him any longer? Does it not stir your soul after Him? May we by His grace look upon Him by faith in this life. May that be the spiritual sight that we long for. Praise our Lord that He gives sight to the blind. Let's pray. Our God, we thank You for this revelation that we have received in the Gospel of Mark. where we know that You are a Savior who cares, that You are a compassionate Savior who comes to shine Your light in this dark world of sin, that You come not only to shine Your light, but to give glorious spiritual sight as a result to Your people. And we pray that by Your grace we would cultivate this blessed sight, that that would give us greater love for You, that we might rest in Christ, that we might not have a sight that constantly looks at our sin and our shortcomings, but may we, having been made aware of those, cast our gaze by Your grace and mercy upon our Lord Jesus Christ. For we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. If you're able and willing, dear saints, please stand for our closing hymn. As you stand,