Mark 10
46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
We are living in a time where we easily give up before the answer comes. We compromise.
· Let’s look at the situation here in Mark 10,
· Bartimaeus was a blind man. He was a beggar.
· I’ve seen beggars by the interstate. They are hard to look upon.
· Satan try’s to make us think we are unworthy.
The reason for Faith persistence?
· What caused him to loose control and scream for Jesus?
· When he heard it was Jesus, heard means- to understand.
· He didn’t just hear Jesus was coming down the road, he understood who was coming.
What happened to Jesus before Mark 10?
· Jesus fame had spread. Bartimaeus had heard something about Jesus.
· The Holy Ghost had descended on him like a dove.
· Jesus had been to the wilderness.
· He went to the synagogue and cast a demon out of a man.
· Went to Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever and Jesus took her up and healed her and she went and made supper.
· IN Mark 1 he healed a leper.
· He healed a man who was lowered down from a rooftop because he was persistent and insisted on seeing the Master.
· He had already forgiven sins.
· He restored a man’s withered hand, by his own word.
· He had already confounded the religious Pharisee’s of the day.
· He already had stepped out on a stormy sea and commanded the winds to cease.
· Jesus went to Gadeara and cast out a legion of demons from a man that had be running around like a mad man and the demons ran into a bunch of pigs and they committed suicide and ran over a cliff.
· He healed a woman with an issue of blood that had suffered for 12 years, who persisted and touched the him of his garment.
· He went to Jeriuos’s daughter and raised her from the dead.
· He empowered disciples to go and do the same thing.
· He feed the 5,000 men and their families.
· He cast out a demon from a women
· Jesus went to a mountain and was transfigured. His face was shining and a voice said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. His garment was white.
· WHEN Bartimaeus heard about Jesus and understood who he was.
We hear the messages, we sing the songs, we speak the words, but it becomes a routine. But live powerless.
· In order to be persistent in our Faith He must be more then all these things.
· In order to have the Faith to turn the World upside town.
· We must realize we is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, He’s not just a thought.
· He is the Son of God almighty who came and died and is seated at the right hand of the Father praying for you.
Bartimaeus understood it was Jesus coming down the road.
· Do you understand?
· We can all say yes, but do we really understand who he is?
· If you really understand him, how much time did you spend talking to Him this week?
· The same one who did all these things, what have we done for Him?
Do you want to know why our kids don’t read the Bible in school?
Do you know why we have allowed Boo’s in Corbin and it’s headed to London and the sex shops are trying to open all around us?
Could it be because we don’t understand who He is?
When we understand:
· We are faithful to the house of God.
· We pay our tithes first and then blow the rest.
· We lead our young impressionable children in prayer and devotions.
· We don’t walk around defeated and negative because we understand who He is.
· We won’t have to beg for Royal Ranger and Sunday school teachers.
·
Let me teach you something about Bartimaeus,
When he understood it pushed him to a level of discomfort in his life.
· When he heard Jesus he began to cry out, that word means to scream and shriek.
· I just wonder how many are “just sick and tired” of being “sick and tired:” and after enough is enough will just scream for the Master to intervene.
We are so concerned with what society says are about money, money money.
· THE New Testament church didn’t care,
· In Acts 5 a man begged for money and they said, “silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee, In the name of Jesus Christ arise and walk.
· Be ye not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Bartimaeus was desperate.
· How desperate are you to see your children saved?
· To see your husband saved.
· Your druggy family delivered.
· How desperate are we to have His Spirit poured out on our church.
· How desperate are you? Or have you just settled for defeat?
He began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”
· They told him to hold his peace.
Bartimaeus had two responses:
1. He reacted to what he understood
2. He refused to hush. That’s what society says to the church, be quit
· Keep your religion inside your church.
· Don’t buck the alcohol just be quit.
You must remember, Bartimaeus was blind. The high class did not accept him.
· He was a broke beggar who depended on those passing by to make snide remarks about him and then drop him a coin.
· No one wanted him, or they would have taken care of him.
· He couldn’t work because he was blind and alone.
· He must have thought in his mind that there was no hope, or no way out.
· He was just stuck.
But wait a minute, someone to his left began speaking about this man from Galilee who healed the sick and gave sight to the blind.
· The someone on his right said, there he is, he’s going to pass right by us.
· There was something that stirred up inside Bartimaeus and he knew that this was his only chance and he went for it.
· He lost his dignity.
· They said, shut up Bart, but he began to scream to the top of his lungs.
· He could not, he would not let this opportunity pass.
What about you? What’s your story?
· I don’t know about you but I once was blind but know I see.
· I once was Bartimaeus, a low down filthy beggar.
· Headed for Hell. Deserving of nothing.
· Without hope and one day I heard of this man Jesus and I lost it!!
There’s something about that Faith that catches His attention.
* 49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
· This can happen to us today, He sees us in our adversity and Jesus hears our cry and will not deny.
· He will stop and bid us.
They said to Bartimaeus, be of good cheer for he calls for you.
· Jesus called him by name.
· Do you realize that Jesus knows your name?
· Isaiah 43
1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
· Jeremiah 1
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
The women with the issue of blood had the same kind on Faith.
Jesus said to Bartimaeus, What can I do for you?
Bartimaeus said that I might see.
Jesus said go, they FAITH hath made the whole.
The opposite of Faith is unbelief and disobedience.
· If there could just be somebody that would get a persistent Faith.
· That won’t let go or give up.
· Your obedience hath made the whole.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
