Blind Sight

If you have Bibles, you can stand Luke chapter number 18, Luke chapter 18, Children's Church, Central Baptist Church as well.

And thankful for this family, thankful for the field that God has burdened on the heart. I remember hearing that a long time ago, but the fact we understand with China coming in in 20 years, the window is short right now, but thankful people are willing to go and to share the gospel.

And we're walking through the Gospel of Luke, and that's what Jesus came to do. He came to seek and to save that which is lost. And we're seeing that here, and we're coming to the end of chapter number 18, and I think it's appropriate kind of for Missions Month.

We're going to meet a blind man that sees a lot of things, but we see a lot of people that see that can't see anything. And we live in a world that a lot of people have sight, but they're really missing what's important. And we're going to see that here in Luke's Gospel, chapter number 18.

We'll pick our reading in verse number 35, where the Bible says this, And it came to pass that he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man set by the wayside begging. Now, from Mark's Gospel, we know his name is Bartimaeus.

This is blind Bartimaeus. He's there begging. Verse 36, And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him, Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.

Verse 38, And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And they that which went before rebuked him that he should hold his peace. But he cried so much the more, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

And Jesus stood and commanded that he be brought unto him. And when he was come near to him, he asked him, saying, what wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?

And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, receive thy sight. Thy faith hath saved thee. This morning I want to preach a message entitled this, Blind Sight.

Blind Sight. That's how the Lord wants us to see. He has so many things he shows us in the scripture. Let's make sure we do not miss it. Let's go to him in prayer this morning. Father, thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning.

We thank you for the word of God that we can open it here now. Lord, I pray that you would do a work that only you can do. Lord, that I would get out of the way and you would speak what you would have said. Lord, the Holy Spirit would convict us.

It would challenge us. It would encourage us, Lord, that we would respond however you see fit. Lord, I pray that you would just empty me of self, cleanse me of sin, fill me with your spirit. Be with the listener this morning, Lord, that we could set aside the things going on in our life and just focus on you for these few moments.

There's somebody here that doesn't know you, Lord. Today would be that day. And we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated. Have you ever been looking for something that was right in front of you and you still couldn't see it?

I think we've all been in that spot. I mean, maybe you've walked through the house. If you're a glasses wearer like myself and you're looking for your glasses and you're looking all over the place. But you know where they are.

Right here on top of your head. And you're like, I know I set them down somewhere. I know you put them on top of your head. And some of you may be with your phone. You're looking for your phone. You're checking the counter. You're checking the couch cushions. You're doing all these things.

The whole while it's in your hand and you're looking and you're checking the pockets. You don't know where it's gone. See, we all know that we can be looking right at something and still not see it.

We know right where it's at. And that's true in more ways than one. I mean, sometimes we can be around something for a long time. We can hear it. We can see it. And we can still really miss what matters.

And we see that throughout the Gospels. We can see it even in church life that we're just so used to it. And we're used to the songs and used to the message and used to the Word of God. And sometimes we realize we've been around it our whole life, but we don't really see it how God intends for it to be.

And as we come to our text, that's exactly what Luke is going to show us. As we read in these verses, in verse 35 through 43, that some people in this account have perfectly good eyesight.

And yet they are completely missing the most important thing. And yet we meet a man, Bartimaeus, that is blind, that sees something about Jesus that everybody else around seems to be missing.

But before we really dive in and get it to know this man and this account a little bit more, I want us to see what happens right before we come into this text.

Look at verse number 31. The Bible says this. Now we saw in Luke chapter 9, and we moved here, that from that moment on, Jesus has really been making his way towards Jerusalem in his earthly ministry.

But Jesus has been making his way to Jerusalem long before he came. It was before the foundation of the world that there was a lamb that was to be slain. So Jesus knew why he came. He had an ultimate goal to go to the cross of Calvary for our sins.

But in the time frame of his ministry, now he is really on Jerusalem. And he tells his disciples, he's been telling them over and over again what's going to happen.

And he reminds them that what's going to be waiting for the Son of Man there. That everything that was written by the prophets, all of the things concerning him, they're all going to come to fruition.

This has always been part of the plan. And Jesus, I'm not sure he could have been any more clear about his mission and what's going to happen. But the disciples are kind of like us sometimes.

They just completely miss things. Look at verse number 34. And they understood none of these things. Sometimes I think that when Jesus is talking to the disciples, it's like when you're talking to your kids.

And they're like, yeah, yeah. You understand what I'm saying? No. I mean, that's kind of the disciples. They understood none of these things. And this saying was hid from them, neither they knew the things which were spoken.

I mean, these are men that can see clearly. These are men that can hear well. These are men that walk with Jesus day in and day out. And they've been part of ministry and they've seen wonderful things happen.

And they've been involved in some of the miracles. And yet they still couldn't see what Jesus was really coming for. How is that possible? Why is that possible?

I think part of their issue is this, is they were not looking for a suffering savior. They were looking for a conqueror. They were looking for somebody to overthrow Rome. Hey, they thought when they came to Jerusalem, they're going to set up a coronation.

And they're going to put a crown on his head and he's going to take over. And everything's going to be great. So really, they didn't want to see why Jesus came. But Jesus is showing them that these things must happen.

That Jesus loves us for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And he was coming to make that promise a reality. And it's what we've really seen here in the chapter number 18 of Luke's gospel.

See, because last week we met a ruler who was very well off. A rich young ruler is what the Bible calls him. And he came to Jesus and he said, good master.

He's got a good start. But he asked this question, what shall I do that I might inherit eternal life? I mean, this was a man with position and possessions. He was a man of moral character.

He had accomplishments after accomplishments to his name. If any man could have made it on his own merit, this was a man. He could have bought his way in. We mentioned last week, I mean, he's willing to write a check.

He was willing to do whatever. And yet we come to a man in our text this morning that we read that has none of those things. I mean, he doesn't have vision.

He's blind. He's poor. He's sitting by the roadside begging. And we see kind of this contrast of a man that just wanted something that he could do because he had the ability.

And yet we find a beggar that needed something that only Jesus could do. And that's really the thread that runs throughout Luke 18 and really throughout the entire Bible.

That real faith, here's the big idea, that real faith recognizes or it sees our need and depends on only what Jesus can do.

That's really the entire thrust of Luke chapter number 18. So here's the question I want us to consider this morning as we walk through these verses quickly. Is what does faith that sees clearly look like?

How can we see if it's real in our own life? And the first thing we see is found in verses 35 to 39. Real faith sees who Jesus is.

So we met this man on the roadside. He's there. His blindness, his disability, so to speak, has left him dependent on the mercy of other people.

He can't move about life the same way everybody else does. He was dependent on everything in his life. In those days, we understand, you study the history, there was no government assistance.

There was no social security. There was no welfare. There was no opportunity for him. If anything was going to happen, it was going to happen just out of the goodness of somebody's heart. So what this man would have done, what Bartimaeus did, like many of them, Jericho was on the way to Jerusalem.

So he would have positioned himself and trying to catch some religious travelers as they're on their way to church, so to speak, and try to get in some good graces and maybe just get a little bit of bread and a little bit of money just to survive one day.

He wasn't out there trying to make money. He wasn't out there trying to put money into retirement. This man's just trying to live. He's just trying to survive, and he's there, and he can't see what's going on, but he's very familiar about the surroundings.

He understands the hustle and bustle. He probably understands and realizes certain people when they walk by because they walk funny. Anybody drag their feet when they walk? Sometimes my wife tells me, pick up your feet.

You're dragging your feet. Whatever. I'm like, I don't do that. Then I look at my shoes, and my left shoe is like all worn down on the back, so I'm like, I guess I do drag my feet just a little bit. You know, sometimes maybe somebody's a heavy breather.

They're like, oh, here comes so-and-so. I can hear him. He's very aware of the surroundings. Sometimes people with a disability like this, their other senses are heightened. We don't know if that's Bartimaeus, but the idea is this.

There's a buzz in the air today. There's something different. He can hear it. He doesn't know exactly what is going on, but he wants to. This wasn't a normal Tuesday or a Wednesday or whatever day of the week it was that these travelers were coming through.

So naturally he asked in verse number 36, hey, excuse me, excuse me. Maybe it took him a while to get somebody, but he said, hey, can you tell me what's going on? He's like, something's going on in town. I've never heard it like this before.

Verse 37, they say, here's what's going on. Jesus of Nazareth is here. He's coming through the town. And what we see in verse number 38 is he didn't have to do some research.

He knew who this man was. He may have never seen him. He may have never been in his town, but he had heard the stories. Because when people start feeding people with five loaves and two fish, when dead people wake up from funerals and walk out, when blind people see, when lame people walk, word's going to spread pretty quickly.

And so he understands who this Jesus of Nazareth is. But look how he responds. He cried. I mean, he didn't say, Jesus. No, this man's trying to get his attention.

He said, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Now, don't run past that so quickly. Because they told him where Jesus, who Jesus was, and where he's from.

But that's not what he said. He didn't say, oh, Jesus of Nazareth. No, he called out to Jesus, thou son of David. Son of David is not just another name for Jesus.

You go through the Bible, there's tons of names for Jesus. But every name for Jesus means something. And the son of David, it is a messianic title. And here's what this man understood about Jesus.

He didn't understand everything. He didn't have a theology degree. But he realized, if Jesus did all these things I've heard about, I don't know. But he seems like he matches up to what the Messiah is supposed to be doing.

He realizes this in his own mind. That this blind beggar had heard enough about Jesus to recognize, this is the king. Hey, he's here. He's coming through my city.

He's coming down my street. And he heard the accounts of this teacher, of this rabbi. And realized, he does things that nobody else can do. And yeah, he can't see with his physical eyes.

But he knows this. This is the hope I have been waiting for my whole life. This is my opportunity. This is the one chance that I have.

And because he recognizes, because he sees, if we can say it that way, who Jesus is, he knows what to ask for. And here's what he asked for. Have mercy on me.

He didn't ask for a piece of bread. He didn't say, hey, can you take this bread that I have and make it last for the week? Hey, can you give me a little bit more money? I mean, I know you have the ability. Jesus, he said, have mercy on me.

We see the contrast, as we've seen with the rich young ruler, with the Pharisee earlier in this chapter. He doesn't say, Jesus, I've done a lot of good things in my life. He didn't say, Jesus, I deserve this.

Hey, everybody else has an upper hand. I deserve a chance. He has no resume. He just has his cries. He just has his heart laid out before the Lord.

And that's really the theme. The publican prayed earlier in this chapter, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Jesus reminded us of the kingdom of heaven, that salvation must be received like a child, someone that is helpless, independent.

There is nothing we can do to earn it. Jesus showed us that. The rich young ruler said, what shall I do? Jesus, there's nothing you can do. There's nothing you can do to earn this. Jesus, see, this man knows his need, and he knows where to take it.

That's what faith does. Real faith. Faith that recognizes. Faith that sees. It understands where we have to take it. Listen, faith isn't pretending we don't have needs.

We like to posture ourselves like we don't have any problems in our life. We're good at it on Sunday mornings, too. Don't act like we aren't. We come in and somebody's shaking. Hey, how you doing? I'm doing great. You are not.

How was your week? Oh, it was okay. And in your mind you're thinking, worst week ever. I mean, sometimes we feel like we have to act like we got it all together and we have all these things. Listen, faith's not saying, hey, just pretend like nothing's going on.

No, faith isn't convincing ourselves that we can handle everything. No, faith recognizes our need and runs to the one who can meet it. That's what Jesus is. That's who he is. And so they're telling this man, and I love it, not everybody's excited when you realize who Jesus is.

Maybe when you first heard about Christ or you came to salvation, you were pumped up. And you told everybody at work, guess what? They're not as pumped up as you are. Maybe not everybody in your family is pumped up.

And that's kind of this guy. He's crying out. I mean, in verse number 39, say, hey, be quiet, Bartimaeus. Like, nobody wants to hear from you. I mean, that's what verse 39 says. And they which went before him rebuked him that he should hold his peace.

They're saying, Bartimaeus, like, you're causing a scene, man. Act like you've been here before. Act like we're dignified or whatever it might be. They're just trying to get him quiet.

They're saying, hey, don't bother Jesus. Jesus doesn't have time for you. He's going to Jerusalem. Just wave. Smile and wave. I mean, that's what you got to do here. Well, that didn't work real well because the Bible says this.

But he cried so much the more. Thou, son of David, have mercy on me. Why was he so adamant? Why couldn't they keep him quiet?

Here's why. Because he knew he needed Jesus more than he needed the approval of everybody else around him. See, and before we move on, I just want to point out that maybe that's where you are today.

You may know you need Christ. You can be all around him. You can know the songs we sang. You can know some prayers. You can know some of the verses. But you need Christ. But you have this thought in your mind.

What will my family think? What will my friends think? What will people say if they think I've been in this church all this time and I don't know the Lord?

Listen, it doesn't really matter. If they know the Lord, they'll be excited, number one. But number two, we can't allow the crowd to keep us from Christ. He didn't say, well, I tried, but they told me I've got to be quiet, so I've got to be quiet.

No, he keeps crying out. See, this man decided that his need was greater than the opinion, and he wasn't going to let them silence him. Because he saw something they didn't see.

He didn't see just some teacher, some healer. No, he saw the Messiah. And while the crowd did not appreciate his cries, there was one person who took notice.

And it's the only person that matters. Jesus. And when he does, he gives us an opportunity, number two, to do this. That real faith, that faith that sees Jesus admits our need.

I love the very first part of verse number 40. It says, and Jesus stood. He stopped. He understood.

He heard the cry. The crowd wanted him quiet. But notice what Jesus wants him. He wants him close to him. He said, and he commanded to be brought unto him. And let me remind you, it's not like Jesus didn't have anything going on.

Remember, he just told his disciples where he's headed. He knows what's taking place. We're days out. You know, sometimes we read the Bible and we think we're just years and all these things. No, Jesus, this is very much on the forefront of his mind.

He knows what's waiting. He knows that Judas standing right there next to him is going to betray him. He knows he's going to the cross. They're going to pluck his beard. They're going to spit on him. They're going to scourge him. All of these things are coming.

He knows the suffering that is ahead. And yet he's not too occupied with the road ahead to hear the cry of one blind beggar sitting by the roadside.

I'm so thankful for that. Because sometimes, man, good for Bartimaeus. No, I'm glad because it's good for me. And it was good for you. Because Jesus, I don't know if you know this, he's still in control.

The Bible says by him all things consist. Listen, he's still running this universe. And yet he cares about you. And he hears your cries. And so what they do is, the ones that were trying to get him quiet, maybe the disciples are like, Peter's like, come on, he wants to talk to you.

You know, Peter feels like he's the bodyguard. He's got to keep things moving. Jesus wants to see you. They bring him to Jesus. And then Jesus asks him a question that sounds completely unnecessary.

Bring a blind man to Jesus. And Jesus says, hey, what do you want me to do for you? Like, hello? Kind of obvious, isn't it? Why did Jesus ask him this question?

I think it's pretty simple. Because he wanted him to say it. He wanted him to voice his need. You realize that every time in the Bible that God asks a question, that Jesus asks a question, he's not seeking information.

He knew where Adam was. Like when he said Adam wore a heart. He didn't lose him in the garden. But he wanted Adam to know where he was. He asked questions to get us to think.

And really what he's doing is he's giving this man an opportunity to verbalize the need and place his confidence, to place his trust into Jesus Christ. That's what he's asking him to do.

I mean, the Bible reminds us that God already knows what we need. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught his disciples this truth. When he's teaching them how to pray in Matthew 6, verse number 8, he says, For your Father knoweth what things you have need of before ye ask.

And sometimes we struggle with that. Let me rephrase it. Sometimes I struggle with that. Sometimes I just think, well, the Lord knows, so I don't really need to ask. But there's just something beautiful about coming honestly before the Lord and saying, Lord, I need you.

Lord, this situation. Lord, can you help me here? Lord, can you give me guidance here? Lord, I don't know what to do. And when we cry out to him, we can't pretend and we can't hide and we can't act like we have it all together.

No, here's what prayer does. It puts our hearts, it puts our life in a posture of dependence. That's what prayer really does. It reminds us over and over again, we don't have the answers.

Because sometimes we're going to try to put that facade on. We're going to try to walk through life like we got it together. But when you cry out to God and you verbalize your need, you realize this. There's nothing I can do about this. Either God, you're going to have to show up or nothing's going to happen.

And I'm putting my life and I'm putting my trust and I'm putting my faith in you and you alone. So when Jesus asked the question, he answered it. Lord, that I may receive my sight.

It's simple. It's direct. It's direct. He knew his need. There was no bargaining. There was no promises from Bartimaeus.

Sometimes we go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, and we fluff it up and we make it sound all nice. But Lord, you know, if you do this and I'm going to do a couple things right here. And if I do these things, then you do these things. Don't look at me.

Somebody ought to look at me like, I've never prayed that way. I think that's our nature. Sometimes we want to hold a little bit of the chips on the table.

We have nothing. We have to come dependent. We have to come helpless. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the bankrupt that have nothing. We come to God and we realize anything that's going to happen is going to happen by your hand.

And that was this man. He didn't come saying, well, here's what I can bring you to the table. All he brought to the table was blindness. That's all that he has. He's a beggar.

He doesn't have a resume like this ruler we met last week. He doesn't have all these things to offer. No, and I don't think we can miss that contrast because the man came before and said, what shall I do?

But I love this. Jesus says, what can I do for you? That's a wonderful thing. That's the one, that's the person that needs to be asking the question. See, one man came focused on what he could do.

The other man, this man, the blind man, came depending on only what Jesus could do. And it doesn't matter if you don't know Christ or you've known him forever.

That is the posture of faith that Jesus wants us all to take every single day. That's how salvation comes and that's how life for Christ is lived. We don't get saved and get saved by grace and faith alone and Christ alone and put all our trust in him.

And then we just live on our own. And then live by works. And then live by our own merit. That's not how the gospel works. See, we spend so much of our lives asking ourselves, what can I do?

How can I fix this? How can I make myself good enough? How can I clean myself up? How can I earn God's favor? But when it comes to our greatest need, none of those answers are good.

Because it's only Christ. And here's what he says in verse 42. And Jesus said unto him, receive thy sight. Have you noticed, if you've been here with us in Luke 18, we keep seeing this word, receive.

Receive. Receive. It wasn't, go do this. Go do that. Give more money. Go here. Do this. No, it's just receive.

He told us the little children there in verse number 17 of Luke chapter number 18, the Bible says, Verily I say unto you, who shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, helpless and dependent, shall in no wise enter therein.

What a miracle. A blind man. I bet he thought today's just going to be like every other day. He's hoping for a good day. He's hoping for some kindness of people walking by and hoping for just a little bit, maybe somebody had some extra leftovers and they're going to bring a little more food for him.

Maybe somebody got a little extra blessing on their paycheck and now they're going to put a little extra in his jar. And he went down there blind and now he sees.

But that's not the greatest miracle in this text. Because look what the Bible says there. Look what S. Jesus said in verse number 42. Thy faith hath saved thee.

That's what it's about. Jesus didn't come to make blind men see. He came to make lost men found. This is a Savior who seeks.

This wasn't some chance encounter, by the way, that he didn't know blind Bartimaeus was going to be there. Oh, no, he knew he was going to be there. And this is why he came. When Jesus found you, sometimes we think, oh, I found God.

No, let me remind you. He found you. We were in the pit. We were in the miry clay. And he reached way down. And he picked us up. And he set our feet on a rock. And he put a new song in our heart. And hope and praise to God.

Because he's worthy of that. See, Luke didn't write this gospel so we could see a miracle worker. No, Luke wrote this gospel so that we could see the Savior. That's who he wants us to see.

That's what Genesis to Revelation is. It's not a bunch of stories and a bunch of miracles. It is God's redemptive plan to mankind that we need a Savior, that we were blind. And the only way we can see is when Jesus shows up and says, receive thy sight.

But the only way that happens is if we put our trust in him. And as we close out this text this morning, Jesus didn't just change what this man sees. He changes this man's entire life.

Paul tells us this in 2 Corinthians. He tells us that if he may be in Christ, he's a new creature. That old things are passed away. And behold, all things are become new. So here's what we see number three.

Real faith follows Jesus. Verse 43. And immediately. Listen, salvation is not this long process.

No, it's instant. Now, sanctification, our growth in Christ, is a lifelong process. But salvation is a one-time thing. And we see that here in this picture. That at one moment, everything was dark.

And the very next moment, he can see. Can you imagine that? I think it's hard for us to see. That feel how he must have felt. I think the closest thing is maybe if some of you didn't have glasses for a long time.

And then you got glasses. I remember when I got glasses in fourth grade. I kept telling myself, I don't need glasses. I can see everything. And I'm like. And finally, my teacher just kept calling my mom.

I just told my mom I wasn't paying attention. And she believed that. I was like, I'm just not really paying attention. I'll do better. And, you know, that went on for a little while until she realized I couldn't see. And I got closer and closer to watch the TV and different things like that.

But I remember going to the eye doctor. And I was like, you know, this is not going to be fun. I'm in fourth grade. I don't want to wear glasses. But, man, they put those glasses on. I probably annoyed my mom so much that first week.

Like, you know that's green over there? Look at that leaf over there. I mean, it was like a whole new world to me. I'd never seen something. I didn't know there was this many colors. I guess it had been that long since I wasn't able to see.

And it was all the, everything was like brand new to me. I mean, I can't imagine Bartimaeus here. The faces and the colors and the road and the crowd. All the things he had heard.

Now he can actually see. And the most wonderful thing, though, is this. The very first face he saw was Jesus. That he saw him and he couldn't imagine.

He was like, this is the most amazing thing. But notice what happened. That he didn't just see. He didn't just receive his sight. The Bible says this, and followed him.

He didn't just thank Jesus. Turn around. Hey, thanks for my sight, but I got a job here. I'm a beggar. He's not a beggar anymore. He's got his sight.

Everything's different. He's excited. What's he going to do? He's going to go get a job. No, here's what he's going to do. Follow Jesus. When Jesus Christ shows up, when you were blind, but now you see.

When you're lost, now you're found. It changes what you want to do with your life. It changes the direction you want to go. And now he says, hey, I'm going to follow you. He doesn't just want something from Jesus.

He says, here's what he wants. Jesus. That's what mercy produces. When you realize that the mercies of the Lord are new every single day, and he's raining them down on your life, here's what it should produce you to want to do.

Follow him. I just want to be as close to this man as possible. That was Bartimaeus' idea. That was his thought. And when he followed him, the Bible says this.

He followed him glorifying God. When we met this man, he was blind, and he was sitting down, and he was begging. But after he met Jesus, he saw him, he followed him, and he glorified God.

He let everybody know how excited he was. And we see that very last phrase. And all the people, when they saw it, they gave praise unto God.

You see this picture of what the gospel does. Well, what missions does is why we bring missionary families in. They're going to take this same gospel to Hong Kong that you're going to take around the corner as the boys say.

We're to share this gospel because it doesn't just end with one person. When Jesus really gets a hold of your life, you should follow him. You should glorify God. And other people should realize there's something different about them.

Maybe I want what they have. Why are they so happy? Why do they seem to have joy in their life? These other people praise God. A changed life does not end with you.

God intends for you to be a missionary. That little song they sang, Be a Missionary Every Day, that's not for missionaries. That's for everybody sitting in this room. God's called us all to do that.

He's called us all to tell the blind, Hey, I know somebody that can help you see. If we had that ability, if we had this cure, wouldn't we tell people? We do. It's the gospel.

That's why Jesus came. See, this man didn't just have a story about what Jesus had done sometime in the past. He was following Jesus right now.

So I just want to ask you this as we close. Has Jesus changed your life? My prayer is that he has. Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? I mean, that is the most important thing, because without Christ, you're blind.

But he gives sight to the blind. He gives hope to the hopeless. He finds those that are lost, that he forgives sin. That's what Jesus Christ does. But sometimes we can experience all of those things, but life gets busy.

And maybe we're not following as excited as we once were. Maybe go back in your mind to the day you were saved. And how you realize that heaven's your home. And you don't have to go to hell.

And all your sins have been forgiven. And everything in your life has changed. I mean, you were ready to charge hell with a squirt gun. Now it's like, ah, it's raining on a Sunday.

I mean, I know we kind of laugh about it. Sometimes that's how we are. We're still as much saved today as we were the day that Christ saved us. Are we still as excited about following Christ as he's called us to?

Is the mercy that we receive still shaping the way that we live? Does the way you live point people to the one who changed your life?

Because that's what it should. A believer, the Bible tells us that our light shall show shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven. Listen, the goal isn't perfection.

We're not saying here that once Bartimaeus was saved, he was perfect. But when you meet Christ, there should be a noticeable difference. There should be a change in direction. There should be a different heart in your life.

A different purpose in your life. And so when you step back and you look at Luke chapter number 18 as a whole, the message is remarkably consistent. There was a widow that had no power to change her situation.

She had to be completely dependent. There was a publican who had no, a sinner who had no righteousness to offer. He just simply begged God for mercy. He was dependent on God's mercy.

The little children brought nothing to earn the kingdom. And they picture our helplessness that we should have. The rich young ruler came asking, what shall I do?

Still depending on what he could do. And as we saw today, the blind beggar sitting beside the road had nothing to offer except a cry for mercy.

I think you can see the thread running through this whole chapter. That the kingdom of God belongs to those who know they need what only God can give.

We're not going to make it on, there's none righteous, no not one. Our righteousness, what we do have is filthy rags. The kingdom belongs to those who come with empty hands.

See, this blind man physically saw what most missed. He saw what mattered most. Here's what he saw. He had a need and Jesus can meet it.

And maybe that's where you are this morning. You have a need and you've tried harder and you're trying to do good things. You're trying to be a good mom and a good spouse and a good dad. Listen, those are all good things.

But here's the only thing that changes your life. Jesus Christ. It's the only thing. It doesn't matter if you're in Gainesville, Texas or Hong Kong. Jesus came to seek and to save.

Would you bring that need to him? Maybe you're here and you know Christ is your savior. Are you telling the people about it? Maybe when you first got saved, you couldn't keep quiet about it.

But it's been a long time since you just shared the gospel. Invited somebody to church. Gave them a track. Blindsight. It sees our need and depends on only what Jesus can do.

Majority of us have decent eyesight in here. But are we missing the things that are actually important? The Lord would open our eyes spiritually? Do we go back to that moment maybe where he did change our life?

I don't know where you are this morning, but I'm so thankful for this. Wherever you are, you cry out to Jesus, he's going to stop. And he's going to say, what can I do for you? It's not some magic genie.

No. He's the Lord of glory. And he cares about you. He knows the need you face. Here's what you need to do. Cry out to him. Tell him. He'll hear.

That's what this invitation is going to be here in just a moment. You can do it by your bedside. You can do it on the way home. Listen, he's there. He's available. But sometimes we're just not willing to actually voice it and admit it.

Real faith admits our need. And it carries it to the one that can change it. Would the Lord help us to respond to his word this morning? Please may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may