The Faith Factor Series

The Faith Factor

Part 4: : "Faith Says Never Quit!"

If you were able to pick a story from the Bible that showed you a form of faith that you, personally, could relate to . . . do you know who it is you would pick?

To pick out a particular person, you would have to base it on what you have been through. Then what you did or did not do while needing to use faith.

Faith in GOD is an issue that so many lost people just cannot get a full understanding on. I hear so many excuses . . . but the reality of the fact is that these lost people just simply chose not to believe . . .

And to make matters worse . . . these same people are the ones that will ridicule you and I, as we use our faith, to free us from the bondage we are in.

These same people will make fun of you, and make slide remarks, and tell you things like : "You really ought to quit! God isn’t going to answer that because it is to outlandish!"

How truly little these people really know . . . how unfortunate for them to believe that way, for they will lose out on so much in life by keeping that attitude . . .

This message will be based on the scriptures written in Mark 10: 46 - 52:

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."

Bartimaeus . . . a man sitting by the road that was totally dusty and really dirty!

Reverend Kenneth Hagin Jr. Said this about Bartimaeus:

"I imagine people kicked up dust in this man’s face as they traveled to Jericho upon their donkeys, horses, camels, and even on foot."

I personally, can see this man, as someone that sat by the road with an old cup, as he begged people for money.

Being blind, Bartimaeus had no hope and had no future for himself, so all he could do was cry out to those that passed by him.

With his ragged clothes, and his unkept hygiene, we look at him and think that matters couldn’t get any worse than what he is going through. If you were in his shoes . . . would you feel as if you had any hope for a future?

In the middle of all his despair, Bartimaeus came aware of a loud and noisy crowd of people approaching him.

In an attempt to find out what was going on, he reached out and grabbed someone’s garment, and asked just what was happening.

Chances are he probably had to ask several times, because the many people more than likely treated him poorly, because of his condition . . . does that sound familiar to anyone?

Finally . . . he got an answer, as someone told him: "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by!"

With the thought of this really kicking in . . . JESUS was coming . . . Bartimaeus jumped to his feet. Although he could not see, he could hear and he could speak . . . more over he could really talk loud!

Let’s look again at what he said in verse 47:

"Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me."

What really gets me about this is where this is a man calling out to JESUS for help . . . he is calling for HIS mercy . . . and those around him are telling him to be quiet and sit down!

"And many charged him that he should hold his peace:"

(vs. 48)

Whenever your faith is challenged . . . this is where the rubber meets the road! This is where you have to make that choice . . . that great decision of whether or not you are going to believe and trust GOD through faith . . . . or are you going to just give up . . .