Fathers, I began this week studying this account. I saw a simple, familiar miracle, but was greatly blessed by the treasures that were revealed during my studying, and I pray that those same treasures will be revealed to your people, Lord. I think there's so much more here than Jesus healing a man's blindness. I think there's great application for any unbelievers who are with us this morning and for us as believers. I think there's an incredible sign here with Bartimaeus, and I pray, Lord, that all of the greatness that you have contained in this account could be made manifest to your people. I pray especially for any unbelievers who are listening, that they would see themselves in their spiritual blindness and their need for Christ open their eyes, the eyes of their heart, I would say, to the gospel, and I pray for believers, Lord, that we would even be able to learn from Bartimaeus' example following his conversion. I do thank you for this time, Lord. I do thank you for the power of your word to sanctify and to cleanse and just pray for it to have its full effect in our lives and that you would use me as your vessel to minister to your people. And I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, well, good to see all of you. The title of this morning's sermon is Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus and Us. So on Sunday mornings, if you're new to joining us, we're working our way through Luke's gospel verse by verse. And we find ourselves at Luke 18, 35. You'll notice my bulletins a little longer than, or a few more blanks than normal. It could almost look like one of Pastor Nathan's bulletins with so many blanks, but without all the alliteration. that he typically uses. And so because it'll have to go a little quicker between the blanks than normal, I had really entertained making this into two sermons and had even split the material up yesterday to turn it into two sermons, but decided to keep it as one just so that we could have this elevated view of the entire miracle. Spiritual blindness is an inability to understand spiritual truths. James Buchanan described it this way. As it is difficult to convey an idea of color to the blind, so it is difficult to describe to the spiritually blind the spiritual truths understood by those whose eyes have been opened by the Spirit. Think of a man who sees but has no sense of beauty. Such is the case of a natural man on whose ear the sound of the gospel falls without awakening music in his soul." And in this morning's account, we're going to meet a man who serves as a picture of all who are spiritually blind but are then given spiritual sight. Go ahead and look with me at Luke 18.35. It says, as he drew near, this is Jesus to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And in the parallel account, you don't have to turn there, but in Mark 10, 46, which I'll be referencing a few times, we learn that this blind man's name is what? Bartimaeus. This is blind Bartimaeus. And so that's how I will refer to him throughout this account. Now I've invited you different times when you're reading the Bible, or in particular when you're reading narratives, to do more than simply read the verses. You'll get much more out of your studying if you picture what those verses are describing. I would even invite you, if you're a parent, when you're doing your Bible study with your kids, to strive to describe the narratives for them, or even invite your children to describe what they're seeing in those accounts. And I mention this because I believe we can appreciate this account much more if we picture what we are reading. And so as we move through the verses, I'll do my best to help us understand what this looked like because I believe it's been very dramatic to witness. Now in Jesus's day, blindness was a common affliction that had no cure. And because blind people could not work, they had to make their lives as what? Yes, as beggars. And so Bartimaeus would spend his days sitting by the side of the road begging for money from people who were passing by. Now as I was reflecting, and really a sermon is a week-long experience for me. I begin the studying on Monday and then reflect on it all week, sometimes adding notes, you know, if I wake up in the morning or maybe even, you know, before bed thinking of something I want to put in the sermon. And so, as I was reflecting on Bartimaeus' experience, to be honest with you, I really could not imagine one that would be much more miserable than his. Perhaps the only existence that would rival his would be that of a leper. So if he was fortunate enough to receive some money, then he would have to make his way into Jericho and struggle to buy some food. And I would imagine that even that would be a struggle because he would have to find the marketplace or find those sellers in the marketplace that would give him, maybe he'd even have to worry about being robbed just because of the poor condition he's in or the vulnerable situation that he was in. And really, this is a good day, because this is the day that he got money, that he's able to go buy some food. On a less fortunate day, he doesn't get any money, and then he's forced to spend the night hungry. And then the next day, this monotonous, boring situation begins for him again. And really, that's one of the words that came to mind for me when I thought about Bartimaeus' life. Boring. I cannot think of many things that would be more boring than sitting by the side of the road, and asking people for money as they passed. And probably the only thing that can make that existence more boring would be if you happen to be blind, because then you can't even see anything of interest while the hours pass by. But on this particular day for Bartimaeus, something exciting is happening, and he notices it. Look in verse 36. He doesn't know the details, but he hears this crowd Going by, he inquires what this meant, obviously, because he can't see, and so he asks people around him what's happening, and he has to hope that people are going to be kind enough to answer him. And because, as we're gonna see in a moment, this was a very inconsiderate crowd, and so it's very possible that people might not want to tell him what's happening. I can only guess what he might have expected, but my suspicion is this. Of all the guesses I could give you of what crossed his mind about what could be drawing such a crowd or such a commotion, my suspicion is that he never would have imagined the answer that he ended up receiving, which was that Jesus is passing by. Look in verse 37. They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. So this would have been an exciting moment for anyone. We can tell how exciting it was because of the number of people who had gathered for this moment. There's this huge commotion. All of these people there for the occasion. But for Bartimaeus, the man whose life was characterized by boredom and monotony, this likely would have been the most exciting moment of his life. And I don't think that that is an exaggeration. Now, just so that you can picture this scene better, briefly turn just one chapter to the right to Luke 19. I want to briefly show you something that happened right after Jesus entered Jericho. So Jesus is on his way into Jericho, and now we're going to read a few verses about when Jesus entered Jericho. Luke 19, 1. He enters Jericho, and was passing through, and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he was, notice this, he was seeking to see who Jesus was but on account of the crowd he could not because he was small in stature. So my point is this, there are huge crowds that are gathering. to see Jesus, there are huge crowds that have gathered to follow Jesus. You got an individual like Zacchaeus who wants nothing more than to be able to simply see Jesus. And as Jesus is approaching Jericho, numerous other people are gathering along the sides of the road just to catch a glimpse. There's the crowds following Jesus down the road, and then there's the crowds that are gathering on the sides of the road. Some of those people on the side of the road, as we'll see in a moment, standing in front of Barnimaus. Now, even though we're, let's say, on the edge of our seats with this account, we need to pause for just a moment because I want to make sure we interpret it correctly. So go ahead and mark your spot in Luke 18 and turn to the right to John 6. I believe John 6 is probably one of the most crucial passages in Scripture to understand Jesus' miracles, to understand their purpose, or to help us interpret them correctly, what they do and don't mean. So look at me in John 6, verse 1. It says, after this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. which is the sea of Tiberias. And again, we see another large crowd following him. And I want you to notice this. In verse 2, John 6, verse 2, it says a large crowd's following him because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Now, this isn't a trick question, but when it says signs here, it's referring to what? His what? It's referring to his miracles. That's right. Now, in the following verses, Jesus feeds the 5,000, and then look how that miracle is described in verse 14. When the people saw the sign, they called this miracle, a sign that he had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. And so again, we notice that the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 is called a sign. And so here's what I want you to know. Jesus didn't perform miracles for the sake of performing miracles. He performed miracles because those miracles served as signs. And I would go so far as to say that if you read Jesus's miracles and you don't understand that they serve as signs, you will misunderstand them, or you'll at least misunderstand the sign. So let's spend a moment understanding why Jesus's miracles would be called signs in the first place. So not to sound overly simple, but signs provide information to help us get to the right place. You're driving down the road, and there are signs that help you find your destination. You're walking through the airport, and there are signs that help you get to the right gate for your flight. You're at the store, and you're finding signs that point you toward the right aisles to buy food, unless you're like me, and it seems like no matter how many signs I find in the store, I still have to call my wife to tell me where to find the items are on the shopping list that she wants me to pick up. But you get the point that signs serve this purpose of helping us arrive at the right destination. And Jesus's miracles are called signs because they help us get to the right place or destination. And that right place or right destination is the understanding of a spiritual truth. And this brings us to lesson one. Jesus's physical miracles were signs illustrating spiritual truths. Jesus's physical miracles were signs illustrating spiritual truths. Every single one of Jesus's physical miracles was intended to serve as a sign that revealed a spiritual truth. And I think just that understanding alone can put Jesus's miracles in a different and correct light for us. It can almost be a paradigm shift for some people to understand that Jesus's miracles were intended to serve as signs or reveal spiritual truth. So here's another way I would say it. Most of what Jesus did physically pictures what he wants to do for us spiritually. Let me say that one more time. Most of what Jesus did physically pictures or reveals what he wants to do for us spiritually. And because I've mentioned this before, I'm going to go through it pretty quickly. When Jesus healed deafness, The application from that is not that Jesus wants to heal every deaf person. And I get the idea that we're supposed to be like Jesus, and so if Jesus heals a deaf person, that there would be some people, perhaps in charismatic circles, that would think, well, this means we go out, and then being like Jesus is healing every deaf person. That's not what's going on when Jesus healed deaf people. It's a picture type of how he wants to heal our spiritual deafness so we can hear and understand spiritual truths. When he raises Lazarus from the dead, that's a picture type of his desire to raise people from the dead or the resurrection there. When Jesus calmed the storm, What's going on there? It doesn't mean that he wants to calm every hurricane or storm or, you know, typhoon that takes place. No, that's not it. It is a revelation of Jesus's desire to calm the storms that rage in our hearts. Philippians 4, 7, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Jesus heals the paralytic. It pictures how he wants to heal us of our spiritual lameness so that, as Romans 6, 4 says, we can walk with God or walk in newness of life. Is Carl Templin here? Are the Templins here? I thought Carl Templin did an incredible job last week with his communion devotion, if you remember it. He understood and shared with us that when Jesus cleansed people of leprosy, it wasn't to teach us to think that Jesus wants to heal every skin condition out there. The point is that Jesus wants to cleanse us of our spiritual leprosy, or our sin. And I really feel like, especially within some charismatic circles, if people could understand just this one truth, it would dramatically change the way they live or walk out their faith. They wouldn't think that Jesus wants to heal every physical disease or calamity or affliction. Instead of believing that what Jesus wants to do for us is primarily physical, they would understand that what Jesus wants to do for us is primarily spiritual, and his miracles serve as pictures or types of what he wants to do for us spiritually. Now this chapter, John 6, one of the reasons I want to have you turn here is there's a perfect example of the problem with interpreting Jesus's miracles only physically without looking at them spiritually. Look in John 6, 26. So remember, the context, this is flowing from Jesus feeding the 5,000. John 6, 26, Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, you're seeking me not because you saw signs or miracles, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Now, this sounds strange. It sounds like Jesus is saying that they didn't see the signs he performed or the miracles he performed when we know that they did. That's why they're following him, because they saw the signs or miracles he performed. And basically, they want more what? They want more food. What Jesus meant was they saw it physically, but they didn't see it spiritually, which is to say they didn't understand it, which is how it's worded in the NLT. Listen to this translation, John 6, 26 in the New Living Translation. You want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. So they didn't understand the signs, or in other words, they didn't understand what the miracle or the sign was pointing to. They were not arriving at the right destination that the sign was supposed to bring them to. So in this case, when Jesus fed the 5,000, what's the destination they're supposed to reach? Or what is the sign pointing to? The reality or truth that when Jesus fed them physically, it's a picture of how he wants to feed us spiritually, which is why right after this, Jesus starts saying, I am the, I am the bread of life. He spells it out for them. Look in verse 35. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger. Whoever believes in me shall never thirst. It's almost like Jesus says, okay, you guys haven't made it to the destination. You have not understood the sign. or at least what it's pointing to, so I'm bringing you to the destination. I'm spelling it out for you. Here is the truth. Do not hunger for the physical bread, or even take some back to manna, the bread that Moses gave, because that's what they're asking for more of. They're like, hey, Moses did this. What are you going to do? I mean, if you're greater than Moses and Moses brings manna down from heaven, what sort of miracle do you have for us? And Jesus is like, you're not understanding this. That bread from heaven that Moses provided served as a picture or type of me, the true bread of life that will feed you eternally, so you will not hunger again. They never understood this sign, though. And because they never understood it, this is why they ended up abandoning Jesus. Look in verse 66. After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. And why is that? Because they're only looking at miracles physically, and if they're not getting anything else physically, they sure didn't care to have anything spiritually from Jesus. They're done with him. Okay, now turn back to Luke 18, keeping all this in mind. Let me be clear about why we just took this detour from Luke 18 to John 6. This is super important. I was willing to interrupt this account in Luke 18 for you to see this in John 6 for this reason. We are reading about one of Jesus's miracles, and this miracle serves, like all of his other miracles, as a sign, right? And I want to make sure that we're not like the people in John 6 who miss the sign or misunderstand the sign because we only look at it physically. In fact, it's interesting to be reading about a blind man in Luke 18 because I would say this, if we only look at this miracle physically, we're as spiritually blind as Bartimaeus was blind physically, and I don't want that for us. So we want to make sure we understand this account spiritually. And this brings us to lesson two. Like Bartimaeus, unbelievers, part one, are blind. Bartimaeus is a picture or type of unbelievers earlier in this account, before his conversion. unbelievers who are also blind. Unbelievers are as spiritually blind as Bartimaeus was physically blind. Just listen to a few verses that make this point. Jeremiah 5, 21. Hear this, oh foolish and senseless people who have eyes but see not. So he says, you guys see perfectly physically, but you're blind in what respect? Spiritually. Ezekiel 12.2, son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house who have eyes to see, but see not. They had perfect sight, I suppose, physically, but blind spiritually. Now follow me for a moment while I discuss parables. Parables are like miracles in a sense. in that they illustrate spiritual truths, like miracles do. Physical miracles illustrate spiritual truths, and parables are physical stories that illustrate spiritual truths. So just like miracles reveal spiritual truths, Parables tell physical stories that illustrate spiritual truths. And were there people who listened to the parables who only understood them physically but couldn't understand them spiritually? Just say yes. Yeah. I mean, were the parables on a physical level hard to understand? No, he's talking about a man that walks and throws a sower that sows seed. He talks about a friend that comes at midnight. Nobody says, what does that mean? I can't, what would, I mean, could a friend come at midnight? Nobody's confused by that. And he talks about an unjust judge. All of the parables on a physical level were incredibly simple to understand. but they couldn't understand the spiritual truths behind them. So Jesus starts teaching in parables, which is actually a pretty dramatic change in his preaching ministry. So the moment Jesus starts teaching in parables was a change in his ministry because he had previously been speaking so plainly or simply to the crowds. So listen to this Matthew 13 10 that when Jesus started preaching in parables the disciples as soon as he preached his very first parable The disciples asked why do you speak to them in parables because they noticed the change in They knew parables were not as easy to understand as Jesus's previous teaching, and there were people confused by them, including even the disciples themselves, right? It encourages me greatly that Jesus had to explain his parables to the disciples. You don't ever have to feel bad when you don't completely understand Jesus's parables. Now listen to Jesus's response describing unbelievers listening to his parables. Matthew 13, 13, I speak to them in parables because seeing they do not see, nor do they understand. So they saw him preaching the parable, they understand the physical reality of it, but they couldn't understand the spiritual truth. Now the next part of lesson two, like Bartimaeus, unbelievers, part two, are poor. Unbelievers are poor. Have you ever noticed before how many financial terms the Bible uses? I mean, the Bible's like incredibly financial. What are some financial terms the Bible uses? Oh, come on, come on, come on. Huh? Come on, guys. What are some financial terms the Bible uses? Taxes, there are taxes in the Bible, yeah. What? Ransom, rich, being spiritually rich or spiritually poor. Ransom, redeem, impute. What? Account? Some say accountable. Yeah, lots of financial terms, especially regarding the gospel and our spiritual condition. We need to be redeemed, right? Christ ransoms us. He pays the price for our sin. And regarding our spiritual condition, we are poor. Now what does it mean to be spiritually poor? It means not having anything of value with which to purchase your salvation. In fact, we're all spiritually poor, it's just some people recognize that and some people don't. So it's not to say there are some who are not spiritually poor, we're all spiritually poor, it's just some people are proud and they think they're spiritually rich when they're not. Unbelievers are as spiritually poor as Bartimaeus was physically poor. Because the moment you come to Christ, Christ makes you rich. Not because of anything you've done, but because of what he's done. In fact, Christ became poor so we can become rich, right? So we say that prior to Bartimaeus' conversion, he is a beggar or he is poor and his physical poverty is a picture or type of the unbelievers' spiritual poverty. And this is why we must pray, Matthew 6, 12, forgive us our debts, right? And we pray this because we're too spiritually poor to pay our debts. The parable of the unforgiving servant. You remember the servant who goes out after his debt is paid and he grabs his servant by the neck? Well, listen to this. The unforgiving servant, he represents all unbelievers who have more debt than they could pay off given multiple lifetimes. Matthew 18, 26, the servant fell on his knees, this is before he grabbed his servant by the neck, but he falls on his knees before the king and he begs the master saying, have patience with me, I'll pay you everything. And out of pity, the master released him and forgave him the debt. This is not speaking financially. It's speaking spiritually. It's a parable with a physical reality that illustrates the spiritual truth behind it, that we can never pay off our debt. All we can do is essentially cry out to God for mercy, and he forgives all of our debt through Christ. Does anyone ever pray to God to have their debt, to be released from their debt, and God says, okay, we're gonna start, and tomorrow's gonna be 100 bucks you're gonna pay off, and then the following day, another 100, and like that until you get the whole thing paid off. It doesn't work like that. In Christ, your entire debt is forgiven. You're released from all of it. Now, this is probably one of my favorite quotes describing Christianity. If you've ever heard it before, that Christianity is little more than one beggar doing what? showing another beggar where to find food, right? Christianity is little more than one beggar showing another beggar where to find food, and I like that for a few reasons. One, it shows that we're all beggars, like Bartimaeus. We have nothing spiritually to offer, but even after we find food, we're still humble beggars. Now, in Bartimaeus' desperate condition, hopefully you turned back to Luke 18, Look how he responds when Jesus passes by. He does exactly what we have been talking about. Luke 18, 38, he cries out and he says, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Now, I bet Bartimaeus cried out. We're gonna see that he was going to make sure, despite any odds against him, that Jesus heard him. And it's significant that Bartimaeus called Jesus the son of David because that shows that Bartimaeus recognized that Jesus was the Messiah, which, and you say, well, didn't everyone? No, there are plenty of Jews that definitely did not recognize Jesus was the Messiah, and plenty of them who will be calling out for his crucifixion in the not-too-distant future. So here's what I want you to understand about Bartimaeus. He's blind physically, but he can see spiritually at least better than many of the Jews who had perfect physical sight but no spiritual sight. Now before we read the next verse, I want you to think about something. Just take your minds to another familiar and truly incredible account with the paralytic. So just come up out of this account for a moment and let's just think about the paralytic. So there's this paralytic who seems to be unable to move any of his limbs, and he has these four, I would say good friends, who go to incredible lengths to get him before Jesus. Such lengths that they can't get into the house where Jesus is teaching, and so they take him probably up the stairs, because in the Middle East there were stairs up to roofs because people would spend time on the roofs. It's not the same, don't project like American roofs or American homes on Middle Eastern roofs. And so his friends bring him up the stairs to this roof and they start dismantling the roof until they have a hole in it. They must have brought ropes with them because then they lower the paralytic down through the roof to be in front of Jesus. And I was just thinking about that because when this crowd recognizes that there is a poor, blind, wretched beggar among them calling out to Jesus for help, how is this crowd going to respond? I mean, considering what the paralytics' friends were doing for him, what can we expect this crowd to do? Well, they are gonna bring this man to the front, They are gonna make a hole in the crowd for him. They are gonna push people out of the way. They're gonna reach back, take him by the hand. After they recognize his condition, they're gonna bring him right up where Jesus can't miss him. And maybe even some of these people are even gonna start helping him get Jesus' attention by yelling something similar to what Bartimaeus is yelling. Hey, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on this poor blind beggar here. Is that what the crowd's gonna do? No, this man happened to be in the midst of the rudest, most inconsiderate crowd in history. Look at verse 39. Those who were in front of Bartimaeus, of all things, rebuked him and started telling him to be silent, which is probably a nice way of saying that they were telling him to shut up or shut his mouth. And just pause here. The phrase, those who were in front, means that he was, not to be overly simple, but he was clearly behind people. And they're so bothered by Bartimaeus that it actually says they rebuked him. That's strong language. They did not politely ask him to keep it down. They turn around and command him to be quiet. They did not want some loud, obnoxious, blind beggar annoying them, yelling and screaming behind them. They came out to see Jesus. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. They do not want it ruined by this obnoxious man. But did Bartimaeus listen to them? No, he did not. Look at the rest of verse 39. To the crowd's chagrin, I assume, he cried out all the more, good for him. And he says, son of David, have mercy on me. Now, if I had to use, I mean, we get different words to describe Bartimaeus, like blind, beggar. If I had to come up with a third word to describe Bartimaeus, it would be persistent. He is a persistent man. There were many things working against him that he overcame to have his meeting with Jesus. He persisted in crying out despite these obstacles. He can't see Jesus. There are people standing between Jesus and him. Those people are rebuking him, telling him to be quiet, and then notice this, and I don't mean this as a criticism of Jesus, but Jesus did not immediately respond. So I've told you this before, we can read an account, and it takes us a few moments to read it, but more than likely, many of these accounts went on at a minimum for minutes, but more than likely for hours. So I don't really know how long Bartimaeus was here yelling. But because Jesus didn't respond immediately, it was probably for some time, that delay required even more persistence from him, but he wasn't gonna be silenced. And in fact, we can tell by the way that it's written, that the more they told him to be quiet, or probably not to sound crass, but the more they told him to shut up, the louder he became. The more he yelled, he's screaming, he's begging for Jesus to help him. And there are two reasons that Bartimaeus was so persistent. It could be either of these reasons or, more than likely, both of these reasons. One reason, which is probably the most obvious reason, is he heard about Jesus' miracles. And so he believed, because of what he'd heard about Jesus healing others, that Jesus could heal him. The other reason that Bartimaeus was probably so persistent was his familiarity with the Old Testament. We already know that Bartimaeus has some familiarity with the Old Testament because of him calling Jesus son of David. Well, perhaps he had more familiarity with the prophecies about the Messiah than just him being the son of David, such as those prophecies about him, the Messiah, doing what when he came. Opening the eyes of the blind, Isaiah 35, 5, when the Messiah comes, then the eyes of the blind will be opened. Isaiah 42, 7, the Messiah will open the eyes that are blind. And maybe Bartimaeus knew these prophecies and others like them. There's one prophecy in particular I want you to see. Turn a few chapters to the left to Luke 4. Turn to the left to Luke 4. The context for this passage we're going to look at, I believe, is another familiar one. Jesus just began his public ministry, and he returns to his hometown of Nazareth. And he goes into the synagogue, and let's look at Luke 4.16 together. Luke 4, 16, Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up or where he had been raised, and this was as was his custom. So Jesus went to church growing up. It was his custom. He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read. Verse 17, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolls the scroll and he finds the place where it was written. Now, I'm being a little speculative, but we're told he's given what we know of as the book of Isaiah. It would have been a scroll in his day. He's given the scroll of Isaiah to read from, but I don't see any evidence that he was told to read a certain passage. So I believe that the passage Jesus chose or read is the passage that he chose to read. And so he opens the scroll of Isaiah to this dramatic passage that describes the Messiah's ministry. So Isaiah is huge. I mean, we know it to be 66 chapters. It would have been a huge scroll Jesus is holding, and even to open a scroll required almost some coordination, you know, because you're unrolling with one hand and rolling up with the other hand. And Jesus does this and finds this exact spot, I believe it's Isaiah 61, to read. And look what he read from Isaiah, because this describes perfectly his ministry as the Messiah. Verse 18, Jesus says, he's reading it in the first person, which is beautiful because it is about him. So he says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim, notice this, proclaim good news to the poor. Now, some of your Bibles don't say proclaim good news. What does some of your Bible say? To do what? Yeah, to proclaim or to preach the gospel, because the gospel is good news. And so to say that Jesus is anointed to proclaim the good news is to say Jesus is anointed to preach the gospel. So he's anointed to preach the gospel to who? Look, that's not a trick question. He's anointed to preach the gospel to who? To the poor. I mean, we're starting to see Bartimaeus in view here, and it's gonna get even clearer. He sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and what? Recovery of sight to the blind and then set at liberty those who are oppressed. Now, using just this verse, how perfectly does it apply to Bartimaeus? Bartimaeus is the poor, and he is the blind. And that's exactly who Jesus is anointed to preach the gospel to. So this has Bartimaeus' name all over it. So regardless of how the crowd is treating Bartimaeus, he keeps crying out to Jesus for mercy, and this brings us to the last part of lesson two. Like Bartimaeus, unbelievers, part three, must cry out for mercy. Unbelievers must cry out for mercy. Twice, in verse 38 and 39, he cried out for mercy. Verse 38, he cries out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Verse 39, those who are in front rebuked and telling to be silent, he cries out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me. So here's the thing, when you're spiritually blind and you're spiritually poor, what do you do when Jesus walks by? You cry out for mercy, that's what you do. If you sit here today as a believer, this is what you did. Maybe not exactly like Bartimaeus did, but if you are a believer, there had to have been some point that you cried out for mercy. There was a point that you recognized your sinfulness, that God's wrath is against you, and you confessed Jesus is Lord. You called out to be saved. Essentially, you asked for mercy from the Lord because of the punishment your sins deserved. Now, if you sit here today as an unbeliever, then God's wrath is still against you, and you need to follow Bartimaeus' example. If you are an unbeliever and you can hear me, Bartimaeus is setting an incredible example for you. You need to do what he did, and you need to cry out to Christ for mercy. Now hold this thought for a moment, because we're gonna pick it back up in just a second. Look at the beautiful situation that occurred that the crowd definitely did not expect or they would not have been rebuking Bartimaeus. Luke 18, verse 40. Jesus stopped and commanded Bartimaeus to be brought to him, and just pause right here. Now let me ask you this. When Jesus stops, what stops? Or let me say, huh? Everyone, the crowds. When Jesus stops, the crowds stop. And so when Jesus stops, and all of the crowds stop, the crowds say, why did Jesus stop? What is the big deal? What is going on here? Well, in Mark's gospel, chapter 10, verse 49, it says, Jesus stopped and said, call him. He singled out Bartimaeus from all of the more than likely thousands of people who were surrounding him at this time. One commentator made the point that the moment, if you picture this, it makes sense, that the moment Jesus singled out Bartimaeus, it served as a rebuke to all the people who'd been doing what? Telling him to be quiet. Verse 40 goes on, when Bartimaeus came near, Jesus asked him, what do you want me to do for you? And Bartimaeus said, Lord, let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, recover your sight. Your faith has made you well. Now, some of your Bibles have a footnote or might already be worded this way. When Jesus said, your faith has made you well, that literally means what? Your faith has saved you. Do you have a footnote saying that? It literally means your faith has saved you. So Jesus healed Bartimaeus physically, but more importantly, Jesus healed Bartimaeus spiritually. Bartimaeus looks like he has this horrible physical condition, and I'm not denying that he did. I mean, blindness would be a difficult trial for anyone to have to endure. but his spiritual condition or spiritual burden was even worse than his physical burden. And so he was given spiritual sight at the same moment that his physical sight was restored. Now in all three accounts, all three synoptic gospels, this account is recorded, and in each of them, Jesus said the exact same question to Bartimaeus. What do you want me to do for you? Now here's what I think we know. Jesus didn't ask this because he's wondering. Do we agree on that? I mean, I think you don't have to be God in the flesh to be able to look at Bartimaeus and see what he would ask for. You can tell he's blind, and if he's got one request, it's gonna be that he could have his sight back. And so begs the question, why did Jesus ask this? He knows what Bartimaeus wants, but he makes him ask anyway. And here's what I see. If Bartimaeus is going to receive mercy from Jesus, if Bartimaeus is gonna hear the words, your faith has made you well, then what? He has to ask for it. Now what's the application? God wants us asking. If we are going to receive mercy from the Lord, we must ask for it. If you want your faith to make you well, you must confess. Romans 10.9, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. And I don't know if this means anything. Romans 10.9 says if you confess Jesus is Lord, and Bartimaeus moved from calling Jesus son of David to calling him what? Did you see it? What does Bartimaeus call him? He does call him Lord. Now consider this, this is what's interesting to me. Not a trick question, does God know who will be saved? Ephesians 1.4 says, that those individuals were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. So before creation itself, God had already chosen who would be saved. That's what Ephesians 1.4 says. So needless to say, God knows who will be saved, which to me kind of begs the question, well, couldn't God just save all those people who are gonna be saved? God is not waiting to see who's going to respond. that God is waiting for people to respond. Let me say that one more time. God is not waiting, wondering who's going to respond, but he is waiting for people to respond. I mean, that's the language of 2 Peter 3.9, that God is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This long-suffering nature of his waiting for us us being Bartimaeuses, blind beggars, to cry out to him for mercy, to be saved. Perhaps there's some of you that the Lord knows will be saved and he's waiting for you to cry out for mercy. Jesus told Bartimaeus that his faith made him well or saved him. So at this point, Bartimaeus has moved from unbeliever to believer. This is Bartimaeus' conversion. Bartimaeus' conversion just took place. So now we're going to read the account as though he is no longer an unbeliever but is now a believer. And as I was looking at Luke 18.43, I'm not sure how many times I've read it, or read this account, because it's also in Matthew and Mark, that I overlooked just how simple but fantastically it describes what happens after conversion. I would say it's one of the most concise Luke 18.43 descriptions of what should transpire after conversion in all of scripture. In fact, it's so packed with information we're going to break it up piece by piece. So look at Luke 18, 43 with me at the beginning. Immediately he recovered his sight, and this brings us to lesson three. Like Bartimaeus, believers, because now he's a believer, so now we'll see how he serves as a picture or type of believers, part one, move from darkness to light. Immediately he recovered his sight, total blindness to perfect vision. I mean, astounding, it would have been an incredible moment. Can you imagine what this would have been like for a man who's blind, totally blind, not losing his sight, but living in darkness, complete darkness, to be given unimpaired, perfect sight? There's no better picture of what it would look like to move from darkness to light. And this is exactly what happened to every single one of us who is a believer. You moved, not physically, but spiritually, from darkness to light. There are so many verses associating salvation with moving from darkness to light that I can't list all of them. Here's just three. Isaiah 42, 6, I am the Lord. I will open the eyes that are blind to bring out from the prison those who sit in darkness. Now, of course, when it says this, to open the eyes of the blind and bring out from the prison those who sit in darkness. This does not mean physically. It's not a physical prison and it's not a physical darkness. I mean, we know that because where did John the Baptist go? Why was John confused? John the Baptist, for all of his greatness, was interpreting some things physically that were spiritual. John the Baptist finds himself in prison and you wouldn't believe it if it wasn't recorded, he sent messengers to Jesus to ask Jesus if Jesus was what? The Messiah. Why did John do that? Because he was in prison. And he's probably, his mind's processing, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk, thinking about all these verses about prisoners and captives being released. And he's like, what can I be doing in prison? It was never talking about Jesus' release. I mean, how many believers have been imprisoned for their faith? Acts 26, 18, God will open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God. Consider this similar way Jesus described himself. John 8, 12, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. And so the way that Jesus brought Bartimaeus out of physical darkness into physical light when he healed his blindness, wonderfully pictures the way that Jesus brings us out of our spiritual darkness into spiritual light when he heals our spiritual blindness. The next part of the verse, it says, followed him. Luke 18, 43, followed him. Bartimaeus, this brings us to the next part of lesson three. Like Bartimaeus, believers, part two, become Jesus's followers. After our conversion, after we've been brought from darkness to light, we follow Christ. We are to become His disciples, just like Bartimaeus. The same is true for us. In fact, I would say this is the first thing that should happen after we're converted. We begin following Jesus. The next part of the verse, Luke 18, 43, it says, glorifying God. And just notice this dramatic change that took place with Bartimaeus. He goes from begging to following Jesus. He goes from crying out to Jesus to praising Jesus. And I have to wonder if this account follows the account with the rich young ruler, because Bartimaeus is a perfect example of what the rich young ruler should have been. You remember the rich young ruler departs from Jesus, Bartimaeus, follows Jesus. You almost can't help but contrast them as you're reading through Luke 18, and this brings us to the next part of lesson three. Like Bartimaeus, believers, part three, glorify God. Believers, part three, glorify God. Bartimaeus became Jesus's follower, he begins glorifying God, and the exact same thing should happen to us following our conversions, right? We're brought from darkness to light. We begin following Jesus. We begin glorifying the Lord. So God saved you because he wanted an object for his love and his mercy. You're an object of God's love. If you're a believer, you're an object of God's mercy. He set his love and his mercy on you. Because God is love, he has objects for his love. But that's not the only reason the Lord saved you. He also saved you because He wants worshipers. He wants people who glorify Him. Consider how well Bartimaeus was fulfilling just this verse, 1 Peter 2.9. Proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Proclaim the excellencies or glorify the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. That's God and that's exactly what we see Bartimaeus doing. He's glorifying the God who called him out of darkness and brought him into the light. And it's exactly what should happen with us. Now the next part of verse 43, the last part, it says, all the people, when they saw it, I don't know how many of this crowd this means, but they also gave praise to God. And this is what Jesus wanted to happen. I'm sure Jesus felt compassion for Bartimaeus and his wretched condition. But part of this miracle, because it served as a sign, was to bring others to glorify God, and that's what happened. Jesus healed Bartimaeus, not just so Bartimaeus would glorify God, but so others would as well. The same is true for us, and this brings us to the last part of lesson three. Like Bartimaeus, believers, part four, lead others to glorify God. So God saved you, for those reasons I mentioned, for an object of His love, an object of His mercy, so you would glorify God. But did you know that God also saved you so you would glorify Him and others would glorify Him? I think Pastor Nathan has probably said this numerous times, wonderfully, I'm glad it's a good reminder for us, that you're still here because there's still more work to be done. there are still more whom God wants to see saved, which is to say there are still more whom God wants to see glorify Him or worship Him, which is to say God saved you so others would be saved, or God saved you so that you would be used to preach the gospel to others or see others come to salvation. Listen to this in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 16. Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. When we are saved and we share the gospel with others, not just so they get saved as much as we want that, but so that they too can become worshipers and give glory to God. Now, I want to conclude by sharing a lesson with you. Interestingly, I'm sharing a lesson with you that I took out of my sermon. Now that sounds kind of strange, doesn't it? Doesn't it? I mean, why would I bother sharing a lesson with you that I decided to take out of my sermon? I mean, if it wasn't worth putting into my sermon, why mention it now? The reason I want to share it is I want to share why I removed this lesson. And I don't like removing lessons, to be honest with you. Every time I remove a lesson, that means removing my work. Right? It means they're moving work I did. So I like to leave the lessons that I've labored over. But I couldn't keep this one. So as you can tell, I've been establishing the ways that Bartimaeus is a picture of us. And Bartimaeus was very persistent, right? So I had a lesson about us being persistent. And I thought, man, that's a good lesson. You know, Bartimaeus is persistent, we should be persistent. I took the lesson out because I realized it's not true. Bartimaeus did not have to be persistent with the Lord. He had to be persistent because of the crowd, but he did not have to be persistent because of Jesus. Now, I'm not saying that there's not a place for persistence in the Christian life. In fact, at the beginning of Luke 18, we see the parable of the persistent widow. So there's a place for persistence. But that parable is about prayer and not salvation. And I would not want to convey that persistence is needed in salvation. Salvation does not require persistence. We see what salvation requires in Jesus' statement to Bartimaeus after his conversion. Jesus told him, Your faith has made you well. Your faith has saved you. What's necessary for salvation is not persistence, but faith. You're not going to have to keep trying hard to be saved. You're not going to have to be persistent enough to be saved, but you are going to have to have faith. David Davidson said, we labor naturally under a blindness and poverty far more distressing than the loss of eyesight. But Jesus is even now passing by and will not disdain the cry for mercy. Let us therefore, breaking through our entanglements, spread our wants before him, and having received an answer to our petition, let us unite in magnifying his name, following his footsteps, until we come to see his glory in the light of heaven. If you have any questions, or I can pray for you in any way, I'll be up front after service, and I'd consider it a privilege to speak with you. Father, we thank you for this account with Bartimaeus. We thank you for your mercy to him, and hopefully we recognize that you are as willing to heal us of our spiritual blindness today as you were to heal blind Bartimaeus 2,000 years ago, Lord. And I would pray that for any unbelievers who would be here with us, that in their spiritual blindness, Lord, that you would open their hearts to the gospel, that you would give them faith in Christ, that they'd be convicted of their sin and recognize the mercy that they can receive should they cry out for it from Christ. I thank you for this account, Lord. I thank you for the sanctifying work your word does and the example with Bartimaeus after his conversion. And pray for the believers here that we would follow you, glorify you, and strive to see others glorify you as well through our evangelistic efforts. And we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.