A sermon on blind Bartimaeus from Luke 8:38 argues that believers can see spiritually before physical healing arrives. The preacher says Bartimaeus already "saw" when he called Jesus "Son of David," and urges listeners to pray loudly and bless God even while waiting for breakthroughs, treating obstacles as stages for God's glory.
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St. Luke chapter number 18, I want to read verse number 38. Word of God reads: So he called out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. You may be seated. Blind Bartimaeus, name, said, Jesus, Son of David, Have mercy. For just a few moments, I'm going to rouse you this morning from the subject and encourage you to see until you have sight. See until you have sight. Most ships, most sailors are trained to avoid blocks of ice in the body of water. You're familiar, Titanic. History tells us that the Titanic sunk because it hit an iceberg. So therefore, sailors are trained to avoid ice in the body of water. However, There is a new vessel that has been made called an icebreaker, and this icebreaker is unique because it is equipped to not have to avoid ice, but it has something on the bottom of it that can help it break the ice. So as opposed to ice being an obstacle, ice now becomes a part of the journey. Y'all looking for something personal? Y'all can't hear me preach. I set the whole thing up for you, but let me say it again. Now y'all gonna just play because of an icebreaker equipped on the ship. The, the sailor does not have to avoid it. It can make it a part of the journey. And that's how God has equipped us this morning. That there are things that we would believe that we have to avoid. But since God has equipped us with his Spirit, we no longer have to avoid certain things, but we can make those things a part of the journey and get victory through it anyway. There anybody this morning who has some obstacles in your life? You wish you could avoid them. You wish God would take you around them, but God has allowed it to be in your path anyway. But the good news this morning is that God can take that which was supposed to block you and use it to bless you. Come with me this morning, I'm almost done. Saint Luke chapter 18. This is the man in which we know by Blind Bartimaeus. This is titled— Bart means son, but we really are not holistically sure what his accurate name means, but we call him Blind Bartimaeus. And the story tells us that Jesus is passing by on the outskirts of Jericho, and blind Bartimaeus yells out, 'What's going on?' Someone tells him that Jesus is passing by. Blind Bartimaeus does not say Jesus. Have mercy on me. But blind Bartimaeus said, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us. I'm moving around this morning trying to make sure you get it. He does not just refer to Jesus by name, but he refers to Jesus by his messianic title. And in order for him to call him Jesus, Son of David, he must believe that Jesus is more than a carpenter. He must believe that Jesus is more than a miracle worker. He must believe that Jesus is more than somebody who can open up blinded eyes. But the The fact that he called him Jesus, Son of David, lets us know that he believed while he was blind that Jesus is the come Messiah. And what I'm trying to tell you today is that before blind Bartimaeus got his sight, he was already able to see. Am I talking to somebody here today? You're waiting on a miracle, you're waiting on a breakthrough, you waiting on God to come through for you, you're waiting on the money, you're waiting on the healing, you're waiting on the restoration, and it has not come yet. But if I ask you right now, who is your Savior, you will be able to lift up your hands and say, I may have some sickness in my body, but I know who my Savior is. I may have a whole bunch of zeros before the decimal in my bank account, but I know who my Savior is. I may have to go to a job tomorrow that I'm really not too fond of, but I know who my Savior is. And even though I haven't received my breakthrough, I'm still blessed because I know who my God is. And is there anybody this morning who's waiting on God to move in your life? I dare you, I triple dog dare you to let the devil know that while I'm waiting, I still know who my God is and I'm not gonna wait until he does it, but I will bless the Lord right now. I will bless the Lord even though I haven't gotten my way. I will bless the Lord even though I'm frustrated. Even though I'm waiting, I will bless him. And why did you come to preach today? Here's why I came to preach. Y'all gonna pray with me this morning. If we refuse to stray when we deal with struggle God can use our struggle to be a stage for his glory. Say it one more time, Gabby. Just because you feel like— if you refuse to stray when you deal with your struggle, God can take your struggle and make it a stage for his glory. In other words, when God doesn't remove the iceberg, it means that God wants to take the iceberg and use it as a stage to show you that he's a miracle-working God. And if you can stay with God while you're dealing with it, God will take that what you're dealing with and get the victory out of it And when you come on the other side, you will see, God, I see why you didn't move it, because you wanted to use that for your glory. Can somebody this morning look back over your life and look at those things that God has not moved yet and see how God made a way with it, how God blessed your life with it, how God took that rumor, he took that gossip He took that financial struggle and showed you that God is who he says that he is. Um, make sure you got my portion in your pocket. I'm gonna need you this morning. I'm about to unpack for a little while this morning how you know you got your sight before you can see, or vice versa. Once I do that, I'm gonna go prepare a little while and I'm gonna head south by 20 minutes down 167. Y'all gonna go with me? Don't tell that lie. This text— I love to have fun when I preach, it keeps me centered. This text teaches us about first having an internal reception. Notice this, Bartimaeus, we call him blind Bartimaeus, but he's not blind now, see, Bartimaeus is located side of the road Begging. Blind. Begging. An outcast. Blind. Begging. An outcast. Blind people are viewed as outcasts in society. Bartimaeus is blind. Begging and outcast. He's not on the outskirts of Jerusalem, he's in Jericho. And we see in the text that Jesus is passing through Jericho. So if Jesus— here it is. Is passing through Jericho. That means that the presence of Jesus is not always visible in Jericho. Have you ever been there? Not literally blind, but you have something going on in your life You have some issues, situations, circumstances, and not only do you have your issues, but you find yourself in a context in which Jesus is not always visible. Have you ever had your situation in your life and you look and see what's going on around you? Have you ever been dealing with situations and circumstances in your life and you look at your community and your community was also in bad shape? Have you ever had your situation and your circumstances, and you saw the news and you say, God, ain't none of us got nothing going on? Many times we look in our life and in the context around us and it appears that Jesus is not visible. You see what's going on on Capitol Hill? You see what's going on in the state? You see what's going on in the criminal justice system? Everything around us is not two fish and five loaves feed multitudes. We have some context in which we live in where not only do we look internally, but when we look externally, Jesus appears to be rare. But can I teach you like blind Bartimaeus teaches me this morning? Bartimaeus, the fact that he knows that Jesus is the Messiah and he lives in Jericho, that means that even though Jericho doesn't get to experience Jesus much, somebody is still educated about Jesus. Y'all missed all that. The fact that blind Bartimaeus is in Jericho and knows about how good Jesus is and who he really is lets us know that even though you have not seen Jesus move in Jericho, that somebody been talking about what he's done somewhere else. And that's why, brothers and sisters, we come here this morning, because many of us may live and have an experience in Jericho, but we need your education to teach me that he— you may be going through this in your house, but let me encourage you because God's been in my house lately and he's been moving and working miracles in my house, and he's no respecter of person. And if God can move in my house, it's just a matter of time that he will move in yours. And so when you see other people blessed, don't get jealous of them, but be educated by them, because their blessing is your education. I gotta hurry up. Even when it seems like you're not experiencing Jesus, it's important that you remain educated about Jesus. And that means that when you hear somebody else's testimony, write it down, because you may have a test on it later. Because you may find yourself in a situation where you're just where they used to be, and you need their testimony as your test to say that, God, I know you do it, can do it. I've seen you do it. I'm not making this up, so I'm gonna trust you and believe you anyway. And if you did it for them, God, will you please do it for me too? He, he, he's— they don't experience the Jericho much, but they've been educated about it. And when Bartimaeus educated about it. He took what he heard, applied it to his life, even though what he applied didn't change his circumstance. Come here, come here, come here, come here, come here. I would have understand this better, honorable, if after the miracle, Bartimaeus would have said thank you now. Jesus, son of David. But this blind man in Jericho called him Jesus, son of David. It's gonna be on your quiz this week, so get ready. Bartimaeus teaches us this morning that you can't grow bitter while you need a blessing. The man around him, the people around him, when he asked who was this, that's Jesus. What a man who had a need, been dealing with, been begging been consistently begging and consistently blind. Nevertheless, come. When they told him that Jesus— Bartimaeus didn't say, bow down. Y'all so nosy looking who coming in and out the doors, y'all missing your blessing. Y'all know what it says. Bartimaeus didn't say, I wish you'll come and do something for me. Bartimaeus said, Jesus, Son of David. Brothers and sisters, while you're waiting on your sight Don't forget and grow weary in believing in a Jesus who hadn't showed up in your life yet. Y'all still being nosy, miss your blessing. You're waiting on healing, he hadn't done it for you yet. I dare you to say, Healer, have mercy on me. You need a financial breakthrough in your life right now. It hadn't come yet. I dare you not to grow bitter with God, but I dare you that while you're waiting to say, "Provider, provider, I may not have the money yet, but you gave me a brand new day." You may still be lonely, you may still be depressed, but I dare you this morning to refer to him as Comforter, Keeper. And even though you may not feel like it, By faith, you know that's who it is. So even when your situation ain't changed, Jesus ain't changed either. And he ain't waiting to prove something to you before you worship him. But God says, while you're worshiping, I want you to react internally and not be changed by your situation, but stay firm and true in your condition and let yourself know that I still believe in God. I'm curious, I'm curious. Bartimaeus, you can't see. How you getting all this word and receiving? Because Bartimaeus tried to encourage me. He say, Ham, you preach Sunday after Sunday, teach Wednesday after Wednesday, and some people still won't see it because they see their condition and they won't hear the word that you're giving. So Bartimaeus told me to tell y'all this. Bartimaeus told me to teach you about whales. What do y'all want me to teach? What? Bartimaeus, what should I teach them about the whales? Bartimaeus told me that whales have two problems in their life. They are deep in the dark ocean, and whales really can't see too well. So the question remains, how can whales communicate if they are in the dark and they also can't see? I found this out, and it blessed me, that even though they're in the dark and they can't see, the word or communication that's given by one whale can travel and vibrate to another whale so that even though they can't see, they don't have to. And even though they can't hear, they don't have to. Sometimes the whale just feel it. Is there anybody this morning, you can't see the word that God spoken in your life? You— it doesn't make sense what God has spoken in your life, but you're here this morning because you feel it deep in your soul. And what you're feeling deep in your soul is not hocus pocus. But it's faith in a God who knows how to show up in your life. It's about time for me to get out of here, go hydrate my voice so I can do this again. Next thing this text teaches me about having an inverse reaction, having an inverse reaction. Trying not to bore y'all with this. Give me about 5 more minutes. This text teaches us how to have a positive reaction to a negative situation. Say it a different way, Gabby. This text teaches us how to be positively influenced by negative influences. Y'all interested? Bartimaeus said, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Text tells us that they tried to tell Bartimaeus, shut your mouth. I'm wrestling because I don't know why that was in the job because he said Jesus, Son of David. He didn't say you. So what, who are you to tell me how to talk to him? I'm gonna preach that another day. That ain't why I'm here. But we can see contextually that reasons for why they told him to be quiet. One, it may have been that Bartimaeus was just quite frankly too loud, and it don't take all that. Y'all done said it in church. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Y'all ready for me to sit down now? Also, one thing is that Perhaps since they viewed Bartimaeus as blind and begging, since they did not value him, perhaps Jesus didn't value him either. I thank God this morning that when you don't value me, Jesus already calls my name. He knows who I am. He knows where I am. And he knows how I am, and he knows everything wrong with you while he chooses to live in your life anyway. Y'all know Bartimaeus— I can see a lot of myself in Bartimaeus. Not only can I not see too well, but Bartimaeus has defiance. If you ever don't want me to do something Don't tell me what I am and what I am not going to do. It's a character flaw. Don't you do that. It's a character flaw of mine. Bartimaeus did this. Not only did he keep talking, the text says to you that Bartimaeus got loud. A negative influence told him to be quiet. But Bartimaeus says the proper way to respond to a negative influence is to go anti that influence and go closer to Jesus. Who in here this morning has a lot of negative influences in your life that's trying to diminish your faith, that's trying to stop you from believing, that's trying to stop you from praying, that's trying to stop you from having joy? Here's my word for you today: go farther the other way. Absolutely. Other than that anti-influence, they tell you to stop believing, that's your sign to believe even more. They tell you this is your ceiling, this is your sign to go beyond that ceiling. They tell you you can't have another job, that's your sign to apply for 5 more. They told you that you couldn't learn anything, that's your sign to go home and study even harder. They tell you that you might as well shut your mouth, that's your sign to get to talking even more. They tell you you better be quiet because they just making a bad impression, they say you need to stand up for righteousness even more. They tell you that people don't like all that, that's gonna make me go even harder for my God because I'm gonna have a positive influence to to the negative influences. Oh, there's somebody here been shut up by life. You been shut up about how you view yourself. You suffering in your self-confidence. You're letting society tell you who you are and who you are not. Shut that noise up right now and go tell in the other way, because today is your sign to go the other way. They tell you you never be healed, keep on taking your pills. Because this takes people that while you are in your situation, you gotta go harder the other way when people trying to shut you up. I'm out of here, I'm out of here, I'm out of here. I gotta go preach again. Y'all coming with me, y'all said it early. Uh, uh, uh, uh, I, I'm wrestling with this because after Bartimaeus got loud, the text says that Jesus stood still. Sloppy exegesis of this will make you think that Jesus stood still because when he got louder He finally heard you. Jesus finally heard him. However, I wrestle with that Christian logic, because if Jesus the Christ, if he's Son of David, that means he's not part of here. And also, even if Jesus does not hear He's not required to hear before he knows there's a problem. If you read the Bible, you see records of Jesus just seeing things and changing. So therefore, Jesus does not have to hear it before in order for him to know that it exists. Gavin, they don't believe you. They don't believe you. Because you talking about Bartimaeus, you talking about Jesus in the Bible, go to their life. How many prayers have he answered that you haven't even prayed yet? You didn't even know you needed it, but God saw it himself. And before you can articulate your mouth and your words and say, our Father who art in heaven, God said it's already right there, now thank me instead of praying for it. So therefore— get out of here, Gabby, they sick of you— therefore he does not need to hear in all his knowledge. So, so the critical question here: if Bartimaeus got louder, what was the impact of his vocality and his decibel level going up. I have an argument. It's not in the text, but I have an argument. Let me share it with you. They told Bartimaeus, be quiet. Bartimaeus got loud. So here's one thing I do know that probably happened. Even if him getting louder didn't cause Jesus to hear. It did— Lord have mercy— impact Bartimaeus's hearing. Y'all missed— Bartimaeus is here blind saying, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Outside, no, telling him to shut up. Bartimaeus said, you can keep on talking. I'm not gonna tell you not to tell me to shut up, but here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna get louder. And so the louder I get, the less I hear you. I know it may not make Jesus hear me more, but the louder I get, I don't hear your mess, I don't hear your gossip, I don't hear your negative spirit. And somebody this morning You need to get spiritually louder, not because God is hard of hearing, but you are too busy hearing some outside noises that's trying to shut you up. And God says today, if you got some outside noise that's trying to keep you quiet, don't tell them to shut up. You get louder so you can talk to Jesus and not hear them no more. I'm gonna give y'all a seat. I'm gonna give y'all a secret. I normally wouldn't do this, but I'm gonna give y'all— since I'm your pastor, I love y'all— here's what I'm gonna do. So once again, y'all don't take me wrong when I do this. If you ever tell me something and you think I'm ignoring you, it's not that I'm ignoring you, I just got louder. And so while you saying something in my ear that's gonna mess up my spirit, I'm gonna block you out and go to my Father even more. So don't get mad at me. I'm not ignoring you. I'm just getting louder in my talking to Jesus. And when I talk to Jesus, he's gonna show me where I need to go to get blessed. Somebody better get louder. Somebody better block out that noise. You better— you too busy watching CNN, you too busy watching Facebook. When is the last time you got loud to God, say how you need to respond to this? I'm amused by this. I'm done, save my voice today. I'm amused by this. Call Father Leo. Yep. Alter enemy. Somebody in here, you're busy trying to alter the enemy's approach. You busy trying to fight the devil. You're trying to shut the devil up. If the devil don't devil, then what the devil gonna do? Bartimaeus said, I'm not gonna tell you to be quiet, keep doing what you doing, but you don't need what I need. And if you don't need what I need, then I'm not even going to talk to you. I'm done, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done. We know that Jesus is a fighter. Has he ever fought your battle? Don't you know God will fight for you? I wrestle with this. I'm done. I've always wondered, and I'm promoting What kind of fight is God? Can I compare it to a UFC fight? Could I compare it to a boxer? Could I compare to a wrestler? Does God have a DDT? Does God use the torture rack? The torture rack? Like Slick Luther? How does God fight? Mims, I wonder if God does karate. I wonder what his fighting technique is. He said, Gabby, you're not gonna ever be able to put me in the box, but I'll give you a little secret, Gabby. God told me One way in which I do fight is that I know how to use spiritual judo. What you mean by that, God? He say, in those other techniques of fighting, it's about how the one who's fighting can be the aggressor. Sometimes in boxing, you want to have the first blow. Sometimes in combat you need to have the first attack and first strategy. But ask me, what's unique about judo? Here's what's unique about judo. Judo is a technique when those who are in combat knows how to coordinate with the enemy when you can't stop the enemy. So instead of trying to always stop the enemy from doing what the enemy does, in judo, what you do, you take what the enemy does and you use it for your favor. And God does us like that. He may not stop everything the enemy does, But what God will do, he will take what the enemy does and coordinate that. And I think Paul said it this way, that all things work together for the good of them who love God and according to— called according to his purpose. So when you see things going on around you, just ask God, God, do judo with this, because you let this happen You see all of these fools I'm dealing with, you see all this drama I'm dealing with, and since you didn't stop it from happening, God, would you coordinate with it? Would you use it for my favor? Would you work it together for my good? Honorable, if I was a real preacher, I would tell you where Eastland is, ask you to put me in Eastland, and you know what I would do? I would say I know something else he did judo with. The Romans used the cross as capital punishment, but today when we hear the cross, we don't think about the Romans, we think about Jesus the Christ who took that cross and now coordinated with it and got the victory over the cross and the grave, and now it's working for our good. We all for Jesus this morning. We all for Jesus. That was like, if I was a real preacher, if I was a real preacher. God coordinates with things. He coordinated Bartimaeus's blindness, used it as a stage. We can't make God do anything, but what you can do, you can control. Control your actions like Bartimaeus did. Bartimaeus didn't let his blindness nor his buddies stop him from getting his blessing. Child of God, don't let your blindness, proverbially speaking, nor your buddies, people around you, spirits around you, stop you from believing. Bartimaeus didn't wait till Jesus did it to say, Son of David. Bartimaeus said, I've been to who you are, and I knew that when you got ready, you gonna come back here again. And matter of fact, since you were the Son of David, you didn't have to come by here because you did it for your servant. You can just speak a blessing. You're that powerful. And when you are discouraged because of what you see, God got a word for what you don't see. We offer him to you. It's only available through Jesus Christ. We offer him to his woman.
