The Pursuit Of Holiness

Sermon Title: The Pursuit of Holiness

Scripture: Mark 10:46-52

Wesleyan Community Church

Terry, Mississippi

Sunday Morning – June 30, 2002

Scripture Introduction:

I think the chorus that we just sang, “Shout to the Lord”, is one of my favorites. We have reason to shout if we have Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We have reason to shout when there is no one in our lives that we hold higher than Jesus. We have a promise of eternal life with Him if, and I cannot stress the “IF” enough, we have given Him every last nock and cranny of our life. What are the nooks and crannies? I think many of us can come up with a good size list, but at first thought, how many added to that list the skeletons that might reside in our closet? How about the grudge we may be holding for something that someone has done to us? How about the bad habits that we think no one knows about?

We have reason to shout because our Lord is all-powerful; all the majesty is ascribed to His name. We have reason to shout because even the great mountains and the mighty sea bow down before Him. All that power and yet He promises us life eternal, all that power and He laid down His life willingly to guarantee that promise.

Our text this morning deals with another person’s shouting to the Lord. This morning we look at the problems that faced blind Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus depended on the kindness of those that past by his spot on the road for his living, and when he heard a greater than normal commotion on the street in front of him, he listened for the reason for the excitement. It was Jesus, and he had heard of the wonders of this man, and without ever seeing, hearing or being near, Bartimaeus knew and had the faith that so many that have even walked along side of Jesus lacked. Bartimaeus knew what he needed to do.

Please join me in the reading of God’s Holy Word!

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:46-52

46 Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.”50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.51 So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.”52 Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

Sermon Introduction:

As I looked through this mornings text, I saw a progression that was followed by blind Bartimaeus. He knew who was coming so he seized the opportunity. He met with opposition, yet he persevered despite those that were trying to silence him. He knew what his needs were and was not afraid to be bold and ask Jesus for healing. Finally, his needs met, rather than go on his own way, he found more than his physical eyes opened, his spiritual sight was restored as well.

There is a great deal of truth to the old saying, “The early bird gets the worm.” We look back in our lives and we can see where we were on track in making certain decisions, and then there are other times when we dragged our feet and either got less than what we could have or missed out entirely. Oh I remember an opportunity that I had once, where I really failed to get a grip on what I had. A friend of mine while I was in the service, stationed at Ft. Hood Texas, knew that I liked to tinker with cars, he told me that he had a pick-up that I could have, all I had to do was pay the impound charge on it. I paid the thirty nine dollars and had it towed back to the barracks parking lot. I worked on it, cleaning it up and had it to the point where it was almost ready to put on the road. About this time, I received papers to go to Korea, and I had about two weeks to process out and head out for leave. I gave that pick-up away. It was a 1962 Corvair side cargo truck, of which they made 500. I priced that truck, and today it would be worth about $15,000. I had an opportunity to have a collectors truck, but never realized what it was that I had, I gave up on claiming ownership and I walked away from what materially at least was a good opportunity.