- Mark 10:46-52 “but he cried out all the more”
- I was loud in college. Actually I was loud in High School and the Army. I’m pretty loud now.
- At the WWU Basketball game- I actually had the other side tell me to shut up. GOT LOUDER
- This Wednesday Pastor Jay was talking about not being afraid because one person said something
- I want you to cry out to God- I want you to come to him for your sustenance and your needs and not give up. I want you to depend on God for everything in your life.
- Title of today’s Message- “He Cried out all the More”
“but he cried out all the more”
- From the beginning of this story- we see that this man is crying out to Jesus as he walks by-
- 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!”
- This guy is living out – Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
- THIS IS WHO HE NEEDS TO BE CRYING OUT TO- JESUS IS THE ONE TO HELP HIM
- Blind, no means of support, unable to live a full life- and he’s crying out to the LORD
- This guy may have heard– Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise.
- See- once he cries out “have mercy on me” but there’s some around him that “warned him to be quiet”
- Why did they warn him? Should this man have been worried about what Jesus would do? Was Jesus going to hurt him? What exactly did they warn him about?
- This is the point in the story that if we were talking about most peoples lives- this is the place that they would stop
- Why are you reading your Bible? Why are you praying? Why are you Going to Church? Why are you a Christian?
- I promise you this- as soon as you start to do anything for God- there is going to be nothing but detractors that are going to come along and want to do something to discourage you “warn you”
- “I’m just trying to help” “ I was praying about it” “I was thinking of how I could help you”
- But here’s the deal- Crying out to God produces results! When you have no where else to turn, that’s who you want to cry out to! That’s who you want to have hearing your prayers!
- Israel cried out and God heard Exodus 2:23 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
- Judges 3:9 When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
- Crying out to God is normal when you’re in need- Jesus did it! Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
- What does it mean to you?
- If you have a need- CRY OUT TO GOD- Quit suffering in silence. Quit thinking that God is too busy for your requests or that he doesn’t want to hear what you have to say.
- Psalm 34:15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry
- He DOES want to hear from you- he DOES want you to cry out to him
- God is WAITING for you to come to him and to ask him. To ask for his help. To be there for you
- You do God no favors when you do things on your own. (story of Rog in pool) CRY OUT
- READ Matthew 7:7-12
- Psalm 77:1 I cried out to God with my voice— To God with my voice; And He gave ear to me.
- This can’t be some sort of quiet- maybe God will hear me type of prayer- Cry OUT TO HIM
- Driving in the car- yelling out my prayers- Take it or leave it- but it worked for me.
- Psalm 57:2 I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me.
- This dude cried out- you should cry out
What do you want me to do for you?
- “have mercy” on me is what drew Jesus to him. Interesting that the other guys “we want you to do whatever you ask” v “have mercy on me”
- Two totally different approaches. Two totally different outcomes.
- To the prideful Jesus mocked- to the humble he answered and reached out.
- This really shows a heart condition of someone who is desiring God- “have mercy on me”
- I’m not sure he was even really looking for a healing- he was just calling out to God- willing to receive whatever it was that he was going to offer to him.
- 1 John 5:14-15 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
- God hears all of your prayers folks- and he answers every single one of them.
- The Bible is clear that often times our prayers are not answered because of our hearts-
- I’m not talking about the ‘save my kid’ prayers- I’m talking about the “make me comfortable”
- James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
- But Bartimaues had a clean heart- he just wanted the mercy of God on his life- didn’t even ask for a healing- (I’ll ruin the end of the story- but he gets his healing)
- 50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.
- But this guy had some PASSION he wanted to be NEAR JESUS
- What does it mean to you?
- When you’re calling out to God- make sure that you have the correct heart condition- that you haven’t lost the heart of your matter. Pray and ask “God is my heart where it needs to be”
- Often times the prayers that people ask for are selfish prayers that are only concerned with their own personal comfort and things that they want
- Listen- its great- you want to pray to God about everything- but you don’t want to miss the heart component-
- You can be praying for the right stuff with the wrong heart condition. (wanting church to grow)
- But we MUST have FAITH- we must GO to GOD
- Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
- What does it mean to you?
- Diligently seek God- go after all that that you want and you need- but WATCH YOUR HEART
- It is very easy to let your heart be turned in such a way that you no longer are trying to honor God- but you have filled your heart with your own desires so that you can fulfill what you want for yourself.
- Which isn’t to say you cant ask- you just want to make sure that your heart is in the right place
- Its different than SAYING it and actually meaning it- getting before God until your heart turns
- I’ve shared this with you before- many times the barrier to the blessing was MY heart not GODS
- Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
- God will sustain you through the asking- he will watch over you and take care of you.
- Be willing to look at yourself and say “is my heart right’
- The psalmist many times says “Search me oh God and see if there be any iniquity in me”
- See- the Christian isn’t about beating themselves up- but you have to be challenging yourself- what am I doing and why am I doing it? Is my hear in the right place? Are my desires right? Am I doing what I am supposed to be doing? What needs to change in ME? What do I need to work on? Not- what do others need to change about their lives- what do I need to change about mine?
- You can still be saved and be a jerk who needs to be adjusted
- Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.’
- Because here is what’s going to happen- You are going to be made well
your faith has made you well
- this is the best part of the story- the place where Bartimeus gets healed!
- 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.”
- There it is again- we talked about this before- your blessing is connected to your faith
- Yes- the providence of God- but YES your need to be involved with the FAITH process
- Countless times in Bible we see people crying out to God in Faith-
- God is a healer! God wants to heal you! But you have to believe it!
- 1 Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
- This was the life of Jesus- Everywhere he went peoples lives got BETTER not WORSE
- Matthew 9:35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
- And this guy is HEALED- He is set free from what he was going through because he believed!
- What a great gift to be healed- I always say- Some people get healed and some don’t but Im still going to pray and believe for healing every time- that’s the way I’m wired
- Its not just the physical healings, it’s the healings of your HEART and SIN
- Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.
- The healings of Jesus in regards to hearts is more powerful than some body problem
- Pray for the healings of your HEART “have mercy on me” and see what happens with your body
- Malachi 4:2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
- Jesus is a physical healer but he is also a heart healer- he will forgive you of your sins!
- Acts 10:43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”
- The healings of Jesus were mostly to draw a crowd to preach the gospel it wasn’t just to do a healing show
- Physical healing is great- but a healed body can house a unregenerated sinner that needs to be saved!
- Acts 22:16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
- If you don’t know Jesus- NOW is the time for salvation- Not tomorrow- not Later this week
- NOW is the time that you should give your life to him- LET HIM SAVE YOU AND REDEEM YOU
- Here’s the last part-
“and followed Jesus on the road.”
- After this interaction- we see the most exciting part of the story to me- “and followed Jesus on the road”
- Blind Bartimeus has his life changed by Jesus, and do you know what his response is?
- He followed Jesus. He went where Jesus was going.
- Too many people want what Jesus can DO not who Jesus IS- only want his power not HIM
- I don’t know anyone who enjoys a relationship like this- someone who only reaches out to you when they need something or want something. Never just calls to see what is going on
- Our desires should only be for Jesus- only for the things of God- not just his blessings
- Blind Bartimeus calls out, gets healed and his response? “followed Jesus on the road”
- This is our calling! This is what we’re supposed to be doing!
- Luke 10:27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”
- What does it mean to you?
- Follow Jesus! If he’s healed you of your sins, healed your body, done anything for you, your reasonable response should be to follow him! To go after him and do what he is asking!
- 1 Peter 2:21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
- You should be following Jesus! That’s what your life should be doing!
- We don’t want to be a fire insurance Christians- only following Jesus because we’re afraid of Hell
- I don’t think about Hell- I love living for Jesus- I love what he has done in my life and I love living in his presence. I love everything about serving Jesus!
- 1 John 2:3-4 ESV And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him
- Do you want to know if you have come to know him? Do you keep his commandments?
- Those who have been touched by Jesus should be following Jesus-
- John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
- When you are following someone you go where they are leading you whether you agree with it or not..
- John 15:14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
