What A Difference Jesus Makes!

move of God upon our church to stir us, to

convict us, to change us, to bring us to a place of

deep repentance. We have need of Holy Ghost

power! We have need of God’s Saving Grace!

But we won’t see much of a difference in our

church unless we RECOGNIZE THE NEED.

Bartimaeus was blind, and he was a beggar.

It is an awful thing to be physically blind, but it is

even more to be spiritually blind. The bible says

in 2Corinthians 4:4 “The god of this world (the

devil is called god of this world) has blinded the

minds of them which believe not” And again we

read in Ephesians 4:18 “Having the

understanding darkened, being alienated from

the life of God through the ignorance that is in

them, because of the blindness of their heart.”

Bartimaeus was blind, and he was in poverty.

There is also the poverty of the soul. Many who

are rich in material things, are yet poor in soul.

They are spiritual beggars, spiritual street people

who do not know Jesus as their saviour. Jerry

Vines in his commentary on Mark says, “When

Adam sinned in the garden of Eden, humankind

fell to the spiritual poverty level. Those without

Jesus are spiritually poor today. Their lives are

like an empty pocket, a ragged pocket that has

been turned inside out, emptied of everything of

worth and value.” (Exploring the Gospels, Mark,

pp.214-215, Jerry Vines)

The first step in discovering the difference is to

recognize YOUR NEED. Jesus makes a difference

to those who have a need.

Is there a spiritual need in your life? God

promises to pour out His blessings upon those

who are thirsty. In Isaiah 44:3 “For I will pour

water upon him that is thirsty..I will pour my

spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon your

offspring.”

Jesus makes the difference to those who know

they are in need.

2. Jesus makes the difference to people

who cry out in faith. vv.46,47

It’s the cry of faith that Jesus will not turn away.

We know Bartimaeus had faith because of the

title he gave Jesus. He said, “Jesus, thou son of

David.” Bartimaeus recognize Jesus to be the

Messiah. The Promised One to come to open the

blind eyes. That was one of the signs. In Isaiah

35:5 “Then the eyes of the blind shall be

opened.” That was the sign given to John the

Baptist. If you recall when John the Baptist was

put into prison. He began to have some doubts

about Jesus as to whether He was the true

Messiah. John the Baptist sent one of his

followers to Jesus to ask if He was the Messiah,

the Saviour, or should they look for another.

Jesus sent them back saying, “Go tell John that

the blind are receiving their sight.” That was one

of the signs. It was predicted that when the

Messiah would come, He would open blind eyes.

Jesus healed folks of many diseases. He healed

folks of leprosy, lameness, all types of diseases,

but there is one illness that Jesus healed the

most, and that was the condition of blindness.

So Bartimaeus came to the right Person.

When you need a miracle, you need to know

where to go. This world will leave you in the

dark. Religion will leave you in the dark. All the

philosophies of man will leave you in total