If you would open your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Matthew. Gospel of Matthew chapter 20, and our portion tonight is found beginning in verse 29 through to the end of the chapter, verse 34. Matthew 20, and I'll begin reading in verse 29. And as they departed from Jericho, A great multitude followed him. And him is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 30. And behold, two blind men sitting by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace. But they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. And called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? Verse 32. And Jesus stood still and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They said unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened, So Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes and immediately their eyes received sight and they followed him. Amen. Let's pray. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we come to you tonight not through anything pretended nothing of our own merit, but only through the merits of your dear son, your well-pleasing son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, it's only by his sin-cleansing blood and his well-pleasing righteousness that we come to you tonight. And we would beg you, Father, as the mercy beggars we are, that you would grant us tonight to hear from you as you bless your word, indeed to hear the one you've commanded us to hear. You tell us so plainly and clearly what your will is, Father. Speaking of your Son, you tell us, this is my Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. And so, Father, not only do you give the ear of faith, but you give the eye of faith. And I do beg you tonight that you would cause all of us as it pleases you, Father, to take our eyes off of the mess of our lives, the mess of our sorry, sinful selves, and have them fixed on your Son, that you give us sight, Father." That man said, I don't know much, but I know this before I was blind, but now I see. And Father, I do beg you for the glory of your Son and the good of thy people. Bless your Word tonight and comfort the hearts of your people. There's people here tonight, perhaps, Father, that have wounds and and trials and troubles are going through that we know not of. But we do thank you, Father, that in the gospel you teach us that you, Father, You provided a shepherd for us. And because He's our shepherd, we shall not want, we want not for pardon of all our sins, we lack nothing in Your sight, complete in Your sight, because He's our shepherd. And because of His doing and dying, we know, Father, this is a sure thing, how that surely all things are going to be made to be in the light of the gospel, goodness and mercy. And in that day, that appointed time, Father, we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Thank you, Father, for drawing us here tonight. For those who are not here, you know the reason why. Some are sick. We pray for them. We pray that You would heal them. And we just beg You tonight to bless Your Word with Your Spirit and cause us all to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Your well-pleasing Son. It's in His name we praise You, we worship You, and we thank You. Amen. If you take your blue hymnals again and turn to number 323. 323. More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee. More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee. Hear Thou the prayer I make on bended knee. This is my earnest plea, More love, O Christ, to Thee, More love to Thee, More love to Thee. Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest, Now Thee alone I seek, give what is best. This, O my prayer, shall be more love, O Christ, to Thee, more love to Thee. more love to Thee. Let sorrow do its work, send grief and pain. Sweet are Thy messengers, sweet their refrain. When they can sing with me, More love, O Christ, to Thee, More love to Thee, More love to Thee, Then shall my latest breath Whisper Thy praise. ♪ This be the parting cry my heart shall raise ♪ ♪ This still my prayer shall be ♪ ♪ More love to Christ our Lord ♪ ♪ More love to Thee ♪ If you'd open your Bibles again to Matthew chapter 30 or rather 20 and we'll be looking at that portion as we read earlier verse 29 to verse 34 Now, in the portion that we'll be looking at tonight, you can find this same account in the Gospel of Luke and Mark. And if you're making notes, those portions give us some additional information on the portion we're looking at tonight. Luke chapter 18, verse 35 through to verse 43, and also Mark chapter 10, verse 46 through to verse 52. And as we read the different accounts of this same event, one can get a clearer picture of what took place on our Lord's journey through Jericho. Now in these verses, as our Lord came into Jericho and passed through it, He went out to the other side where He healed three blind men. One blind man on his way into the city, and two on his way out. We read in Matthew chapter 20, beginning in verse 29, And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace. But they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. and Jesus stood still. Remarkable, is it not? The Lord stood still. Pilate couldn't make him stand still, the Pharisees couldn't make him stand still, and the council of the Sanhedrin, they couldn't make him stand still either. Not even his disciples could stop him. But the cry of these two blind men stopped him. And it says there in verse 32, the Lord Jesus stood still and he called them and said, what will ye that I should do unto you? They said unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So the Lord Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes and immediately their eyes received sight and they followed him. Now, remember, when our Lord performed these miracles, they were done with reason and purpose. You see, He didn't just do these things at random, like, you know, something that just piqued His interest at the moment. Rather, He performed these miracles with reason and purpose to them. You see, they were done to evidence, first of all, to His Godhead and deity. Remember what the people said of him? What manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him? And they said, never man spake like this man. And so these miracles were performed to evidence his Godhead and deity. And secondly, they were evidences to his office as the Christ of God. You see, these miracles were evidences that he was the one that should come. Remember what Philip said to Nathanael? We have found him, the one whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write. And then thirdly, these miracles were performed in certain locations to teach us something about where we are and how far he condescended to be with where we are. I mean, you think about just how much of a stupid it was that the Lord should come among us and dwell among us as one of us. And then fourthly, these miracles were performed to demonstrate to us the conduct and condition of chosen sinners who are brought to Christ. And so remember, when we read about the record of these miracles, that record is preserved to teach us something about the faith of God's elect. And we see here four lessons of faith given to us in the healing of these blind men. Four very simple and yet profound lessons. And that's the way it is in the salvation of a sinner. It's simple and yet it's profound. And the first lesson of faith is an awareness of our condition. That's the first lesson. An awareness of our condition. Now, when you're talking to religious people, or you're listening to a preacher somewhere, or you're at the mall and they come up to you and they strip up a conversation with you, to be sure, no modern-day Pharisee, no self-righteous religionist, no freewill works professor, no legalist, no self-righteous conservative will ever own up to himself that he's a sinner and nothing more. He'll never do it. I mean, sure you can get him to admit that everyone's a sinner, but go ahead and ask him if he's an evil sinner. Go ahead and ask him if his heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart are only evil continually. And he's never going to own that. Now he'll admit that all have sinned. He'll admit to that, But the religionist is so ignorant of his condition that he'll go back in time somewhere before his profession to tell you that since then he's not sinning anymore. You talk about darkness, you talk about ignorance. He'll say, I sinned, I did this, I did that, but as far as being born in sin or of knowing his condition as being a sinner, a right now present-day sinner, Well, you're not going to hear him admit to that. Now, let's look at the picture the Lord gives us in the healing of these blind men that lived in Jericho. Now, they live in Jericho, and that's significant to make note of, that they lived in Jericho. He says at the outset in verse 29, As they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. And behold, the Lord passed through Jericho. Behold, the Lord of glory came to the cursed city of Jericho." Remarkable. Now, Jericho was under the curse of God. Remember when Joshua took Jericho and the walls fell down? And there was one person there that the Lord saved out of that city. Remember who that was? That was Rahab the harlot. But the rest of that city was condemned of God. And God condemned Jericho after its overthrow, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho that the Lord torn down. And it basically goes on to say in that portion how that anybody who had a hand in it or dwelt in it or gave consent to those who did, they're all under the curse of God. And you read about that in Joshua chapter 6. And then in 1st Kings 16, verse 33, it talks about Ahab. Remember Ahab? Ahab made a grove, and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. This man, Ahab, was a rebel before the Lord. And what did he do in his rebellion against God? He did what God forbade him. or what we just read about just a moment ago, how that God forbade any man to rebuild Jericho, and yet Ahab rebuilt it. You see, Jericho is a picture of Adam's sin. Rather, not just that, much more Adam's cursed race, cursed of God with no fear of God before their eyes, walking in the vanity of their own minds. By nature, the children are wrath. And blindness is a picture of God's curse upon this world. Now, not physical blindness, but spiritual blindness. Now, let me show you the difference in the healing of another blind man in John chapter 9. John chapter 9. You see, spiritual blindness leaves men unaware of their condition. spiritual blindness is seen in those who wander around and say, we see. But here's the thing of it, beloved, that spiritual blindness leaves men with a false security, a false refuge. And in John chapter 9, I'll be looking there, beginning in verse 1. But as far as the spiritually blind, that spiritual blindness enables the evil one of this wicked world to take them captive at his will. You see, they're duped, they're deceived, and they've been lied to, and they have a false refuge, and the evil one holds them captive as long as it's the pleasure of God. And that evil one can have them going down this road and put them on that road just like that. And that because they're deceived. They can't see and they're blind. For example, take a blind man. If he goes outside and the whole front of his yard is full of poisonous snakes, but he doesn't know that because he can't see. And if someone says to him, just go ahead. The path is all clear. Well, he'll just smile, and away he goes, right into a bunch of poisonous vipers. And he does that because he can't see the danger. And spiritually speaking, it's the same with the sinner. He's blind. He can't see. And he pokes along with a cane, but he can't see. And that's the spiritual blindness that's pictured for us in John chapter 9, beginning in verse 1. It says there in John 9, verse 1, And as the Lord Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And the Lord's disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? And our Lord answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. You see, God had a purpose in this man's blindness. And so this man's blindness was given to him that in God's time he might show forth his glory not only to him, but ever so blessedly in him. Now skip down to verse 39. It's the page over. And then I want you to notice as the Lord takes this and applies it. And the Lord Jesus said, verse 39, For judgment I am come into this world that they which see not might see. And they which see might be made blind. That's spiritual blind, spiritually blind. You see how he shows us that? Look at verse 40. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words and said unto him, Are we blind also? Is that what you're saying? That we're blind as well? Verse 41, And the Lord Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin. But now ye say, We see. Therefore your sin remaineth. Spiritual blindness. You see, beloved, when faith is given, when faith is given, along with it is given an awareness of our condition. And yes, the men in our portion were physically blind, But seemingly, they were the only ones in that whole multitude who realized their condition. But everybody else there, well, everybody else had a different take on things. Everybody else rebuked them, saying, in effect, hold your peace, keep it down, you're disturbing the Master. And yet those blind men were the only ones who knew what was going on. Now, the multitude didn't, but they sure did. So how do we know that? How do we know that the blind man knew what was going on? Well, because, beloved, they called on him. That's how. You see, when a man or woman is under the conviction of God, it's because God has made them aware of their desperate, sinful condition. And so they cry out to him for mercy. And they won't hesitate, not for a moment, for the reality of their desperate condition moves them to seek the Lord. You see, they're no longer putting constraints on the Lord. They're no longer trying to control what he does and what he says and who he is. And that because they realize who they are and who he is. And they realize the grace of the moment and they call upon him. And then the second lesson of faith given to us in the healing of these blind men is hearing. It's hearing. We read in Romans chapter 10 Romans chapter 10, a verse and a portion that you're all very familiar with, I'm sure. But what a blessed portion. In Romans 10, verse 17, we read there, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. That's why we make much of preaching the gospel, do we not? Now, no doubt in the midst of the multitude that rebuke these blind men, There would have been men of reputation, members of the High Council of Israel, and even honored leaders from the surrounding communities of Jericho. And normally these blind men would have been out there trying to get what they could from the multitude. Normally these blind men would have been busy taking advantage of the crowd, busy with their hands looking for a handout from the influential people that surrounded them. They would have been asking for alms, like anybody would have been blind or crippled. I mean, this would have been a prime time for blind beggars, would it not? But they heard that Jesus passed by, and they cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. We read in Romans chapter 10, verse 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, it's of the utmost importance for us to understand what the name of the Lord implies. In the Old Testament, the Lord proclaimed his name to Moses, and Paul knew the Old Testament scriptures, how that so too God proclaimed his name to Israel, and the Lord proclaimed his name throughout the whole world. And if you read the Word of God, you'll discover that God declared His name to these people as Jehovah, Jehovah God, our Savior. And that's God's redemptive name. Salvation is of Jehovah. Salvation is of the Lord, period. And in Scripture, you'll find that this word is used in its compounds from Jehovah. And to be Savior, He must make provision for us. And His name is Jehovah Jireh. God's provision. And that provision is set forth of God, anointed of God, ordained of God. The one mediator between God and man. The one mediator between God and me. The one mediator between God and you. And I'm not going to go through all of the compound names of Jehovah. I'll just give you the short version of it. I'll mention a few. He's Jehovah Rapha, the Lord which healeth thee. Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner. And he represents the church and has honored God for us, satisfying God on our behalf. And he's both exalted and magnified his law. You see, he's faithful in all things, beloved. He's the Lord who sanctifies us. He's the Lord my shepherd, the Lord our maker. And the Apostle Paul knew the Lord our God, that he's Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace. And especially here in Romans 10, he's the Lord, our righteousness, Jehovah Tizkanu. And that's where Paul started out in Romans chapter 10. He's Jehovah Shama, the Lord who is present or who is ever there. What a blessed promise do we read in the Gospel of Matthew towards the end, is it not? The Lord Jesus Christ speaks to His people ever so tenderly and says, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the earth. What a blessed promise. And it doesn't matter about our feelings. What matters is His Word. It's a promise to us. And you might not feel like the Lord's with you. That's just because you're carrying around a dead corpse, just a body of death. Isn't that what the Apostle Paul said? Oh, wretched, miserable man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And then he went on to say, I thank God it's through Jesus Christ I shall be delivered. I like comparing Paul with the Puritans. Those Puritans, they just got depressed all the time, didn't they? Paul goes from being down and out in one verse, and then just a few verses later he's declaring, There is therefore now no condemnation, no wrath, no judgment, no hell to them that are in Christ Jesus. Now, I didn't go through all of the Jehovah compounds because, to be perfectly honest, some of them I can't even pronounce. I'd rather just give you the plain, simple way that he's described. I mean, our brother David, I mentioned this earlier, it's such a comfort to know, especially those moments when you can't sleep at night, or you're worried or you're anxious somewhere and you just, the Lord blesses that verse to your heart. Psalm 23 verse 1, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And let's unpack that a little bit, beloved. That's a full and complete pardon of all your sins with his precious blood. And that's much more. It's being made complete in God's well-pleasing Son. Such a glorious thing. And then the summary of it in Psalm 23, verse 6, That's the expected end of the believer. That's the sure hope we have in our never-failing Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we see here in Romans chapter 10, Paul in effect saying, we can't call on a name we don't know anything about. And he goes on in Romans chapter 10 beginning in verse 13. Romans 10 verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? Verse 17. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. And so how indescribably important it is that we listen to the man that God sent. Are you listening? Because faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And to make sure you understand where the power is, it's not in how loud I speak or how eloquent I speak or anything to do with me. The power is in the word itself. This is what the Lord told Nicodemus when he visited him, is it not? He said, no one may see and no one may enter the kingdom of heaven except by water. and by the Spirit. What's the water? It's the clean water of the gospel of His Son. And when that is preached, who He is, what He did, where He is now, what He continues to do for sinners, for His people, the Lord blesses that message to the hearts of His people. so that they may know not only the work that the Lord Jesus Christ did on the cross of Calvary for them, but ever so blessedly the work, the miracle of opening your heart that you might believe on Him and love Him and love everything He says. It's so wonderful to hear about all of the wonderful testimonies the Holy Spirit preserves for us. Remember that entrepreneurial lady named Lydia, the seller of purple? And she was there, and Paul the apostle, God's servant, he's preaching Christ and Him crucified. And what happened? The Lord opened her heart that she might give attendance to the preaching of the gospel. And so, we know, beloved, it's manifestly clear in this portion that these blind men heard that Jesus passed by. And what did they cry out? These two blind beggars, these two mercy beggars, they cried out, have mercy on me. Now, did they cry out Jesus? Oh, no. They cried out to the Lord, the Son of David. Look again at Matthew 20 and a lot of parts of verses 30 and 31. Have mercy on us, O Lord, Thou Son of David. And they tried to shut him up, and they cried out again. Have mercy on us, O Lord, Thou Son of David. Now, Son of David is, in effect, them saying, Have mercy on us, O Christ. O Christ of God, have mercy on us. And I want you to notice that they called out, O Lord. Why did they do that? They cried out, O Lord, recognizing His deity. And so, too, they called out, Thou Son of David, acknowledging His majesty as the Christ, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Now, were these blind men heard that He was the Christ? Where exactly they heard and learned that blessed fact? It doesn't say. But we know this. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. That's 1 Corinthians 1.21. It pleased God by what this world calls foolishness, preaching, to save them that believe. And so then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. We also read in 1 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, when you receive the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. Now, we don't learn much about these blind men. But we do read that they heard, they heard. My friend, if God should ever open your heart, you'll hear. And you'll hear enough in one word, in one sentence, in one message, and you'll say with Job of old, I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. should the Lord give you ears to hear, you'll bow with Thomas and say, my Lord and my God. And then the third lesson of faith shown to us in this blessed example of God's saving grace is how the God affects your calling. And we see here the effectual calling of God. And notice that holy calling is always marked by the sinner calling upon the Savior. and the two great evidences of election are hearing and obeying. Hearing and obeying. Our Lord said, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And to those murmuring Jews, the Lord said, murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him, and I will raise him up the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Again, the question in Romans 10. How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? Now, there's a general call and there's a holy call. The general call goes out as a command with a warning. That's the general call. The general call is a verbal calling. It's a call that has an impact as the ambassador of Christ proclaims the gospel to you. The general call is an intellectual call, declaring the gospel from the Word of God. And the general call is given with a warning, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. That's the command, and there's the punishment. We read in Mark 16, verse 16, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And we read in John 3, verse 36, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." And so what I'm telling you is this. The man who hears by the holy calling of God. I love the way it says that in 2 Timothy 1.9, don't you? Holy calling, effectual calling. And so that sinner who hears by the holy calling of God will call upon the Lord without hesitation and without excuse. But the false religion of this world? Well, false religion dupes men into thinking that salvation is by their free will. And they go on in their life believing that at any time they can make up their decision to do this and do that and straighten up and turn over a new leaf. That salvation is when they please. and that they can be saved at any time they want to be. And that they can go to heaven because God's waiting for them there to do this or to do that. And that's why they're so careless and so undisturbed. Indeed, that's why they go on without being moved. They just go on in their life. They go on in their daily routines, thinking they can leave it to tomorrow. And to quote my pastor, tomorrow is the calendar of Satan. That's right, tomorrow is the calendar of Satan. Because here's the thing, the scriptures tell us something a lot different than, you know, you can leave it to tomorrow. God tells us today is the day of salvation. We read in Hebrews 3 verse 15, Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation in the wilderness. And in that third chapter of Hebrews, the Apostle writes, beginning in verse 12, Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called not tomorrow, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. While it is said today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation in the wilderness. God calls his sheep with a holy calling. and they hear him, and they obey him, and they follow him. And so, too, they recognize God's delegated authority. They recognize that. For example, that local police officer, and yes, the officer in front of you might be the most annoying wimp of a man, and yes, you could take him out, but you dare not do it, because that officer was delegated authority. And if you try to take him out, you'll have a whole precinct of officers to deal with. And that's the way it is with God. Lots of times God's preachers are not intimidating in their person. They're not intimidating in their voice. They're not intimidating at all, but they're the delegated authority of God. And when God gives you a heart to understand that, understanding who that nobody is, and that this is his sent man, then you'll be fine with it, and it'll be fine with you. And then lastly, The last lesson of faith is ever so blessedly this, all who call upon him receives what their heart desires. You see, the Lord shuts his people up to certain desires. He shuts them up to this thing of salvation being entirely of the Lord. You see, if God didn't shut you up to salvation, you'd be somewhere else tonight among those who love him not. among those who are blindly going about to establish a righteousness of their own and have not submitted themselves under the righteousness of God." That's what Paul says of them. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves under the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. You see, all who call upon him receive what their heart desires. That's what we read in our portion tonight. Again, Matthew 20, verse 32. They cried out, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David. And the Lord Jesus stood still and called them and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So the Lord Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him. Beloved, the leper found cleansing. The dumb found a voice. The paralyzed found strength to walk. The demon-possessed found a strong man who could overcome the one who held them in bondage. The ignorant found wisdom. sinners found forgiveness, the unrighteous found righteousness, and the dead found life. Paul said, in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. And faith recognizes that. And it recognizes that God has a means, that it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. You see, beloved, He's the one that gathers us together. And my friend, you're here for that very reason. But if we ignore that reason, or if we just brush it aside as a casual thing, what a fearful thing. In Ecclesiastes we read, Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools for they consider not that they do evil." You see, it never enters into the mind that what they're doing is evil. And these two blind men, they knew this. As the Christ passed through this cursed city of Jericho, He wasn't going to come back. And they had but one opportunity, and they called out to Him. And the multitude tried to shut them up, and they called all the louder until they got His attention. Oh, that God would move in someone's heart tonight and put a desire in them to call upon the Lord, the son of David, the Christ of God. Save me, else I perish. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Amen.