 Tonight we're in in Luke chapter 18. Let's begin reading together here in Luke 18 at verse 35. I'll read verses 35 to verse 43 and and we'll get into our study. Luke chapter 18 beginning at verse 35. Luke writes it happened as he was coming near Jericho that a certain blind man sat by the road begging and hearing a multitude passing by he asked what it meant. So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by and he cried out saying Jesus son of David have mercy on me then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet but he cried out all the more son of David have mercy on me so Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to him and when he had come near he asked him saying what do you want me to do for you he said Lord that I may receive my sight then Jesus said to him receive your sight your faith has made you well and immediately he received his sight and followed him glorifying God and all the people when they saw it gave praise to God. We know that Jesus is on his way to the city of Jerusalem as I mentioned last time we're together since chapter nine of the gospel of Luke Jesus has been making his way to the city of Jerusalem and so now he's on his approach there he's in in the outskirts of the city of Jericho which is just outside of Jerusalem. He's going there at this time because he's there to observe the Passover and that's the reason he's going because he has the Passover lamb is about to be sacrificed. As he's been approaching the city of Jerusalem he's been spending time with his disciples he's been instructing them concerning principles of the kingdom of God. We know that he has been sharing with them concerning his upcoming death as well as his resurrection and we also know that he's been sharing with them concerning the key to greatness in the kingdom of God and he's made it very clear that the key to being great in God's kingdom is humble service. We saw that last time we were together but now he's going to teach them another lesson he's going to teach them something that's very important for believers to learn it's a lesson that we all need to learn it's a lesson of compassion. He's about to teach them something about what love really is because the kingdom of God is to be inhabited by people who are compassionate people who love God and love other people and compassionate concern for others is going to make God's kingdom extremely unique in the world that we inhabit that's because the world that we live in is filled with busyness and and filled with self interest and it's unusual for somebody to actually take the time to have compassion a genuine compassion on somebody else yet the Bible makes it very clear that the kingdom of God is filled with those who have love for others and and those who take the time to minister to people who are in need we know that that's a command that we've received from the Lord Jesus Christ is something that Paul gave to us in Galatians in chapter 6 verse 10 where he said as we have opportunity let us do good to all people especially those who belong to the family of believers and this is just something that we as Christians understand and know but you see it's possible to believe that Jesus died for our sins and at the same time to think that humble service is really not necessary though we may agree that humble service may be necessary it's still possible to fail to exercise compassion and so what we're seeing here is Jesus sharing again about this important trait in the life of a believer to have compassion on those who are hurting and so as we look at this notice with me how how Luke begins it happened in verse 35 as he was coming near Jericho that a certain blind man sat by the road begging and hearing a multitude passing by he asked what it meant and so there's a blind man there seated at the side of the road and he hears the commotion he hears the sound of people traveling towards Jerusalem now as as he notes here I want you to see this verse 36 it says that there's a multitude passing by so the question has to be asked who are these people who who are these people what what is constituting this multitude and what we have is we have people who are pilgrims and these are pilgrims who are traveling to Jerusalem in order that they might celebrate the Passover I look at it in a sense as as like a if you will it's a parade and and it's a parade that that some might might even refer to us as a Christian parade it's a parade of people a group of people on their way to Jerusalem they're there amongst Jesus Jesus's disciples there are a group of people who have joined the disciples of Jesus Christ and they're now traveling together on the road to there to Jerusalem and and I see that not only here in this passage where it's possible to have people who are followers of Christ but also people who are not necessarily committed to him who basically are joining the group of those who do you see that all the time you see it all the time in in in the church in the 21st century we have people who who are not believers general genuine believers who who will go to Christian concerts because their friends invite them to and they'll go to the concert or they may go to an event at a church and and they're basically there to to see what's going on and all sometimes Christian concerts actually attract what I call spiritual junkies who come for a charge they come because of this particular concert is something that they like the music is something they listen to and so they'll show up for a Christian concert and and a lot of times there are people who go to those concerts who aren't believers at all there are times that people will go to the crusades that you know Billy Graham when he used to do his crusades very often wanted to have people there who didn't know the Lord obviously so that he could reach him with the gospel but there were those who were professing professing Jesus Christ to who would go to those crusades too but they acted even worse than the world acted I I can remember a friend of mine who was sharing with me many years ago now how that when Billy Graham did a Billy Graham crusade here in Anaheim so it's been a long time ago when Billy Graham was here in Anaheim doing his his crusade this friend of mine was telling me how that they're on the field that they had gates that were closed and then all these Christians who were standing there by the gates were waiting for the gates to open up so they could enter into the field and so they were standing there waiting and and when the gates finally opened up they were throwing elbows and knocking people out of the way as they were running to jump into the chief seats and order that they could sit there and then listen to Billy Graham talk about the love of God and how you should be compassionate to other people they just blows my mind but it's true and and that's what happens so very often I mean you have people acting extremely carnal at crusades you can see the carnality sometimes at Christian concerts some are celebrity seekers they're they're the people who come to a retreat or they'll come to an event if someone special is there if it's just an average person they won't be there but if somebody is special they're going to make every effort to be there I see that all the time I I hate to speak ill and sounds like I'm speaking ill of our own fellowship but I can tell you this I can tell you that if I got up on a Sunday and I said you know this upcoming Wednesday night we're going to be having and then I just mentioned somebody that everybody knows if I were to stand up and say some special person somebody that everybody knows as a famous Christian I guarantee you we'd have to bring out chairs so that the people who never come to church in the midweek we have to so we could accommodate them I can tell you that there's no doubt in my mind about that at all that happens that can happen if I say you know Billy Graham's in town and he's going to be here on Wednesday night and if I said that even on our own Sunday morning if I said Billy Graham I know he doesn't teach anymore and I know he doesn't preach anymore but Billy's going to be here on Wednesday night guys I guarantee you everything would be flooded with people who want to come to hear that great man speak the word of God and there are many unfortunately it's true it's true in our fellowship it's true in every church that I can name there are many who are celebrity oriented if somebody special is going to be there I want to be there and they forget that the most special guest that they'll ever be able to be in the presence of is Jesus Christ and he is here every time we gather together it's the body of Christ but they don't care that much because they really would like to see Billy Graham I can tell you that it's true and you know it's true too people will do everything they can to be near a celebrity they will go out of their way they will break their back they'll hurry from work though they're rushed to eat their dinner they will make sure that they're there and sometimes in the very front row I can't tell you how many times I've I've seen people in our fellowship that I hardly see at all suddenly appear at an event and and I've learned that over the years that if it's if it's something like that the church shows up sometimes they'll come to conferences they come to conferences because the interesting subject will draw a crowd a crowd of people who love information but have yet to experience transformation you see that all the time you can see that in ministry you can see the mixed groups those who are following Christ who want to learn the lessons of how to be a Christian and others who simply are part of that group and and so I see it as as what I would call a Christian parade and that's what's taking place verse 36 speaks of of this man hearing a multitude passing by so he hears a group of people and and he begins to wonder who are these people what's going on in all of that I think that two of the greatest hazards in large churches today are one the attraction of spectators people who like big for its own sake the idea that they seem to have as more as better but they never really want a church family they don't want to join it and second what happens is you can actually have people in a large church begin to treat the pastor teacher as a celebrity and what happens is that pastor teacher ceases being a pastor and suddenly becomes a just a guest in his own pulpit and and the result of that is that he becomes that guest speaker developing not a ministry but a following and that's dangerous these people who have mixed with Jesus's disciples are followers who enjoy a festive environment but they're about to be exposed to something that's real they're going to be exposed to genuine religion they're going to be exposed to love and action because as Jesus is ministering he's not about to be distracted from his mission and so this is what's taking place now note with me again in verse 35 how how Luke leaves this man unnamed notice he simply says a certain blind man he leaves him unnamed but if you cross reference Luke's account with Mark in chapter 10 verse 46 Mark tells us the name of this man this man's name is Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus now bar in Hebrew simply means son of Bartimaeus simply means son of Timaeus and Timaeus speaks of a that which is highly prized and so Bartimaeus is the name of the individual who is there now Matthew when you look at Matthew's account Matthew adds in chapter 20 verse 30 that there are really two blind men but both Luke and Mark zero in on Bartimaeus because Bartimaeus is recognized here as the spokesman it's not that they are ignoring the fact that there were two men it's simply that they're zeroing in on on Bartimaeus and recognizing him as the one who is speaking and so what happens is the approaching crowd has drawn their attention Bartimaeus in particular now he might have become excited as he hears a great crowd approaching he might have been thinking within himself and I'm sure he was this is a great crowd of people and as pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem undoubtedly because they're religious people they're going to be generous people because overwhelmingly here in the United States it's easily proven that the most generous people in the United States are those people of faith those who have religious faith they are by far the most generous people because not only do they pay their taxes which goes to our government which is used for various systems to help those who are poor but they also voluntarily give of their substance in charitable things it happens all the time it happens all the time and so he knows that the mark of a truly religious person is generosity he hears a crowd of people coming his way and as he hears the sound of festivity and and all the the loud voices perhaps the excitement he begins to wonder what's going on and that's what it says in verse 36 he asks what it meant what's going on here as I hear the sound of all of these people excitedly approaching me well Luke tells us in verse 37 they told him that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by and he cries out saying Jesus son of David have mercy on me so he hears that it's Jesus of Nazareth and as he hears that it's Jesus notice how Luke tells us he cries out it's his opportunity it's finally arrived he's not going to allow that to pass him by he has heard undoubtedly of the Lord Jesus Christ and the miracle working power of this man from Nazareth undoubtedly he's heard of Jesus Christ how that Jesus has the ability to do works and miracles there's no doubt in his mind because the pilgrims have passed by and Jesus has been ministering for three years and undoubtedly many times as as he's been there he's heard stories of of this one named Jesus who can open the eyes of the blind and his his opportunity is finally gathered he it's there for him and and he's hearing that it's Jesus of Nazareth he begins to scream he begins to cry out because he doesn't want this opportunity to get past him this isn't my best hope in it in essence this is the best hope that I'll ever have he'd be thinking of ever regaining my sight and so what does he do he shouts at the top of his lungs he's not going to be silent for anything he wants to cry over the loud crowd about him he makes sure that his voice is going to be heard Psalm 77 verses one and two reads I cried out to God with my voice to God with my voice and he gave ear to me in the day of my trouble I sought the Lord my hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing my soul refused to be comforted I cried out what a picture there's this man this blind man seated on the side of the road the christian parade begins to pass him by he asks the question what does this mean somebody in the crowd says it's Jesus of Nazareth something inside of him goes off he doesn't know exactly where Jesus would be in the mix of all of these people and he's not about to take a chance of being passed over so he begins to scream at the top of his lungs and as he begins to scream it's a simple cry Jesus son of David have mercy on me but I want you to see something here and we're going to look at this notice verse 39 those who went before warned him that he should be quiet but he cried out all the more son of David have mercy on me the crowd does not appreciate the disturbance they want him to quiet down sometimes even believers will let people remain crippled sometimes the politely religious don't have a clue about how somebody could be hurting so badly that they make a disturbance and actually interrupt their life there are quite a number of people that i've encountered over the years that become ingrown like that ingrown groups have a tendency of doing that religion is a polite experience it's something that we kind of do quietly and and amongst ourselves and we certainly don't want a mess in church we don't want people to make noise and to disturb us and all and and what happens is the group becomes ingrown and we forget the whole reason why a church exists is to reach people like the blind barter mazes of the world who are hurting in need of a touch from jesus christ i was a brand new christian once when it's 20 years old i had a friend of my name jim and he was in the military at that time was before i went into the army and he was on leave and he came home on leave and and he had some time and so he and i decided to go together up to this place that i still go to to this day called san luso bispo and he and i took a ride up to san luso bispo we had a friend who lived up there we were going to go visit him spend some time with him and uh and i'd been sharing with jim about the love of christ and all and i wanted jimmy to to get saved and and so i saw it as an opportunity i saw it as an opportunity to to go with a friend of mine and to share with him some of the things that the lord was doing in my life i was freshly saved myself hadn't been saved more than a month a month and a half and so off we go to san luso bispo together and and as we were there just uh just outside of hismo and orro gande in that area uh they have a pier and uh and he and i went to this particular place they're just just south of of the city of san luso bispo and we we were walking on the pier and as we were walking on the pier there was a guy there who had dropped some traps and he was he was catching some live crab and and he was going to you know use them later on eat them and all of that and so as we were walking on on the pier we walked up to him now again i'm a brand new christian and there's this guy on the end of the pier and just this one guy in jim and i and as we're walking by uh the guy says hey guys how are you and and i looked at him and i said we're great he says what are you guys doing he's a real friendly guys what are you guys doing and i said you know we're just standing here on the dock of the bay you know watching the tide roll away no i said um i said we're just standing here i don't know where that came from but anyway we're just we're just standing here i said just enjoying the beauty of the creation of god he looks at me he goes are you christian and i said i i am he says so am i his name was john baxter i still remember his name though i only met him once and only know him from this event his name was john baxter he says you're a believer i said yes he says how long you've been a christian i said i just got saved it'd been like a month he goes really he said how'd you get saved and i said well i was at the hollywood palladium and it was arthur blessed was giving the word of god and and pat boone was there with his white shoes and daughters and and uh and as i was talking to him he says i played i played at that at that concert there at the hollywood palladium he says i'm a musician i did my music i shared some of my songs i said you're kidding me he said no he says i live up here and as a matter of fact tonight i'm going to be sharing at a local church he says you guys ought to show up and you know and and and i said you know we'll be there so he says well why don't you come over to my mother-in-law's place and and eat some crabs with us and then we'll go to church and i said sounds cool to me and so that's what we did so he went i'd never eaten crab in my life and all but he made the crab and we ate it and off we go to the small church there in the city and as we're there we walk in and i have to tell you you know i was i was a barefooted hippie still and long hair in the whole nine yards and we go walking in and and i was 20 and jimmy was 20 years old and as we walked in you know it's a it's a youth group and john does his music and and uh there were these two girls that were their high school age girls and and uh they came walking up to us and it's like we were new guys they'd never seen us before so they walked up to us and they started talking to us and be honest with you they started flirting with us in reality they were trying to pick us up and so we're just standing there talking to these girls and and and as we're talking to them you know it's kind of obvious what they're doing they're telling us a bunch of stuff that we really didn't need to hear and and and all and and as they're saying this you know we're just looking at them and talking to them letting them you know kind of wrap on and and when they finished talking they said where are you guys from and and i started talking you know i was the mature believer i was already a month old in christ and so i so i said you know we're from down south and i just gave my heart to jesus christ and i looked at the girls and i said have you done that have you given your heart to jesus christ are you are you born again do you have a relationship with jesus christ do you know that god can save you do you know that he'll forgive you of your sins he'll cleanse you and give you brand new life do you know that have you experienced that and and i told i remember telling i said to this girl this one girl in particular i said do you know that god loves you and that god will forgive you of every sin you've ever committed do you know that god just forgave me of my sins and i've got a new life and she starts to cry and she runs away and she runs into the bathroom and her little girlfriend goes running after her so these two girls are in the in the bathroom crying in there so jim and i go and stand waiting at the bathroom for them to come out so we can go into chapter two and and and and and they do they come out they come out and this little girl's i make up you know she had her eyes all you know all of this goop and everything all over her eyes and it was all all messed up she looked like a little fox you know and she comes walking out and and and and i keep talking to her we kept sharing the love of christ you need the lord jesus christ and and so they said we're kind of embarrassed to talk in here so we walked outside with them and and they were real genuine they were real open and just kept on sharing this is what christ can do in your life but as that was taking place one of the girls from the youth group came walking out of the door and stopped quickly turned around and walked back into the into the church and and jimmy and i exchanged glances kept talking to the girl and shared with them and it's time for us to leave we said goodbye to john and his wife and we went to our friend's house and then jimmy began to speak to me and jimmy said you know you know what that girl was doing she was coming out to see if we took off with with those girls she was coming to see because we had been introduced by john as believers in jesus as jesus freaks and they came out just to see if we're taken off with these girls because those girls obviously had a reputation in that church and i said yeah i know you see ingrown people have a tendency of not seeing what's really there crying needs to them are just disturbances they're just things that you have girls like that in youth groups are more of a problem and you know it would be just as good as if they were gone because it wouldn't be so messy around here because put an embarrassment these girls try and pick up on the guys who show up and it's just better for them to go ingrown people are that way they truly are god help us not to be that way but it is possible you see these are people who are literally walking with jesus and yet they're callous to the pain of other people again it's it's like people today many today they picture a walk with jesus christ is sanitary and uneventful and and they don't realize that they're saved to help people who are hurting and so they have little compassion on those who do not seem to get it together hurting people are quite disturbing to those who forget what they are and what they were and those who have needs are simply told to be quiet because pain especially pain that's exposed in church can be so messy and people who are different from us make us uncomfortable i again as a relatively young believer by this time i was out of the military i'd been a christian three years i was at a church and had been part of their college and career age group we used to sit on the floor there hippies used to do that and we would sing music out of a hymnal they didn't have a guitar player leading us in maranatha choruses or things like that we had hymnals and as i was holding on to the hymnal it had 150 songs and and one of the guys would say what do you guys want to sing and people would yell out the name of the song let's sing amazing grace it's on page 42 it only had 150 pages and every week i'd do the same thing i'd say let's sing from page 151 and everybody'd go there's no 151 there's only 150 and then you go oh i thought i was rather clever or i'd say let's sing stairway to heaven you know i just like to mess with them but as i was there there was a guy i was seated next to i don't remember his name but i do know that this was a guy who was what we used to call a red freak now how many people know that term raise your hand i want to say okay you guys are young thank god you don't know reds are barbituous lily f40s candy reds i mean there are so many different kinds this guy was a red freak it's a downer you take two or three and you're kind of like out of it it's got an amazing ability to make you think you weigh 500 pounds and you're the toughest guy around that's what reds do is that's why all my friends are always bloodied up and because they are you looking at me yeah pow and then the guy's asleep you know that's kind of how it works you know reds i used to take my share of them not all the time i didn't really like them that much but i had my experience with them and had friends who were red freaks and i i knew that life it wasn't that far before that i used to do that i am i one of the things that led me to getting saved was i dropped five reds and drank almost a half gallon of wine and oh almost oh deed i almost died from that i know that life i was part of it right and so i'm seated next to a guy who could have been me just a few years before who had just gotten saved and he seated right next to me and i'm i'm there and and we would read out of this hymnal these songs and we would sing well is one of these songs that that you have one of these breaks you know you're singing up and then you go on again right well this guy he was new he didn't know that you're supposed to wait and he just sang on through the next line and he's the only voice and be honest with you he couldn't sing very well and and he but he sang at the top of his lungs he had all that joy of being saved and as he sang out of the top of his lungs and sang the line you know this was a guy who i have to be honest with you didn't fit in with this particular group of people i was hanging with at that time and and there was that snickering and there was that sneering and there was those side long glances and there was that mocking that takes place and i i don't want to sound like i'm judging those whom i loved very much but it was it was inappropriate it made him feel very bad it made him feel very foolish and as i was seated there i remember looking at this guy thinking this i've never forgotten this i was 23 years old i am more like him than i am all of my friends because i understand him my friends were raised in the church this was a long established church it wasn't a calvary chapel but it was a long established church had been in the community a long time and my friends had been raised in the church they didn't understand this guy and i did i i been there done that understand that and it hit me i am more like him than i am like my friends here sometimes we forget sometimes we just have never made the effort to understand i am one of these people who i've been saved now for since i was 20 i'm 57 almost 37 years almost 37 years almost two-thirds of my life it's been spent serving the lord jesus christ but do you know i haven't forgotten i have not forgotten what it's like to wake up with hangover i haven't forgotten at this age i haven't had alcohol in so many years i can't tell you exactly how long but i haven't forgotten what that's like i haven't forgotten what it's like to to to be depressed and to feel all of the stuff that people and i haven't i when i got saved i asked the lord help me to remember what you saved me from so i never forget when i talk to somebody else help me not to become self-righteous you know how can you be that way how can you think that way i i did that for the grace of god i would be doing that and even worse now because sin doesn't go away you don't outgrow it you refine it you refine it and and i know that and the path my life was taking was messy like yours perhaps was messy shame to my parents shame to my family my sisters and my brother shame to those who knew me i haven't forgotten that i'm not that way now and i haven't been that way for many years but i haven't forgotten i encourage you don't forget where you came from you can tell when you're beginning to forget it's when you begin to say things like when are they going to get it when are they going to learn when are they going to understand how long will i put up with you that's when you've forgotten where you came from that's a sign that you don't remember what you were like and i have to tell you there are quite a number of people who don't understand that we were given a bible study i was given a sunday morning service many many years ago and i shared something during the service that caused somebody who was there in the congregation it was while we were in ontario christian elementary school there was an older gentleman who was seated directly up the center aisle to my right about six or seven rows back i still remember off to my left right there six or seven rows back and while i was sharing i gave an illustration and when i gave the illustration i heard somebody very loudly moaned with a sob a loud sob a pain sob a tearful sound it came from his gut and i heard him as he moaned out loud and and the reason i knew who did it is because directly behind him was a young couple who looked at each other they looked at each other and so i could see the movement and i looked and i focused my attention there and they both got up and hurried out and walked out and i'm not exaggerating when i say they stood up and hurriedly walked out and left the church i never saw them again after that but i did wonder what happened so of course i inquired and it turns out that this man his son had just died i said something in the message that brought the memories up of his boy and he cried listen if you can't cry in church where can you cry if you're not safe in the body of christ then where are you safe and if you don't have people who will put their arms around you and we with you then it's not a church it's a club it's just a fraternity it's a social organization but when you have a tear and somebody knows how to weep with those who weep you've got a brother or you've got a sister you've got somebody who understands pain and that's what the body of christ is supposed to be that's what we are supposed to be may god help us to remember that because the church trend today is away from the messy things that happen or people who are actually disturbing to me they're not like me how can they show up in this place because this is a hospital because it's a place where hurting cripples are welcome so that they can be touched by Jesus christ that's why that's what the body of christ is supposed to be isn't it that's what we are as the church god help us not to forget because you can get so caught up with the busy parade even walking alongside of Jesus christ and the minute a need shows its face the first thing you want to do is you want to say be quiet that's what took place here look and you see it with me it says here that those who went in verse 39 who went before warned him that he should be quiet be quiet remain blind lose your opportunity to see don't disturb my peace just be quiet but his response he cried out all the more and he shouted even louder son of david have mercy on me i am not about to lose my opportunity i might never have one like this again jesus is on his way to die on the cross jesus isn't going to pass by again this is his last time as he walks by jericho he's not going to lose his opportunity the psalmist in psalm 6 verse 2 cried out have mercy on me oh lord i'm weak oh lord heal me for my bones are troubled and so as he begins to cry out verse 40 jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to him and when he had come near he asked him saying what do you want me to do for you he said lord that i may receive my sight the crying had gotten the attention of the lord jesus christ as well as everybody else and psalm 18 verse 6 the psalmist said in my distress i called upon the lord and cried unto my god he heard my voice out of his temple and my cry came before him even into his ears psalm 88 verse 2 let my prayer come before you incline your ear unto my cry the parade as it's moving along comes to a sudden halt jesus christ as he stops you can see everybody stop along with him and he turns and he says bring that man to me that's what we're supposed to be doing by the way is bringing people to christ bring him to me and so they do they bring him the whole parade stops for one person because jesus christ is willing to stop everything as he's reaching you now mark tells us in chapter 12 verse 50 throwing aside his garment he rose and came to jesus now that's an important thing that luke didn't add but he'd discard something that might stumble him as he comes to jesus that garment could have tripped him up earlier a rich young ruler would not let go of his wealth and was stumbled by that some people stumble over things they're not willing to leave behind they stumble over boyfriends because my goodness if i come to know jesus christ and actually serve him then this this guy that i care so much about or this girl that i care so much about is going to no longer be with me and i'd rather be with them than with the lord they stumble over losing relationships some people are afraid because if their husband or their wife finds out that they're following the lord that that they may be rejected or the children may not want to be with them or have anything to do with mom and dad or their parents may reject them they they because they're afraid of of losing relationships or things are stumbled over them and refuse to come to christ i came to jesus christ i left everything i was willing to i was willing to i was willing to if if necessary lose everything because that's what the lord had called me to do he said come and follow me and that's what i did but i left everything i left everything my parents but i came back for them i came to him but i came back for them because once i had him i wanted them to have him too once i had jesus i wanted to make sure that with every beat of my heart i would be so transformed that my my mom and my dad would come and follow the one that i had let go of everything for that i might have him so he let it go because nothing's going to stumble him as he comes to christ and though he is physically blind yet with his spiritual eyes he can see who jesus is and it comes to him paul and philippians in chapter three verses seven and eight said what things were gained to me these i have counted loss for christ yet indeed i also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of christ jesus my lord for whom i have suffered the loss of all things and i count them as rubbish that i may gain christ and so as he comes to the lord jesus says what do you want from me what do you want me to do for you know when you consider jesus's question at first it would seem pretty obvious what he needed he needed to receive his sight you know he didn't say well i you know i need a garment i just left it behind no it's pretty obvious what he needs he needs his sight and yet sometimes we need to be specific in our request this upcoming sunday i'm going to be sharing on sunday morning in john chapter five how the lord jesus asks the question of a man that he's healing asks him the question do you want to be made well sometimes the lord will ask a question of us so that we can sort through everything and give to him what's really in the content of our heart what do you want from me i wonder i wonder what the lord has has said to you when he has said to you what do you want from me what what have you said in response to that all right if jesus were to to ask you and think about that for just a moment if if jesus were to ask you what do you want from me what would you say my anah who's soon to be 25 years old my anah when she was about four we used to give the family devotions and i was going through a passage in the scripture where solemn had been told by god ask what is it that you want and so i thought i'd be pastor dad and try and give my kids a good lesson so i said to my kids if god said to you ask and your request can be as high as the heavens what would you ask him for so my babies you know the older one koreni was about 10 and so she already knew this she knew you know the drill if you will oh i would ask him for all the people in the world to be saved you know okay and you know that you know spiritual you know little david oh that people all the people who are sick would be well and and joseph along the same lines and so i turned to anah and i said and baby girl if god would give you anything you wanted all you have to do is ask him what would you ask him for gum true story gum that's how a lot of us are ask of me what do you want gum you know or he pointed a guy bum i mean it's what do you want i i want gum i mean i don't really have i don't really have deep thoughts and deep desires but this guy did this guy knew exactly what he wanted he knew he his opportunity had come this is the one who has the ability to minister this is the one who can meet my specific need and so i'm gonna make it as clear as possible lord that i may receive my sight in luke chapter four verse 18 the bible says and jesus was reading this the spirit of the lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed lord that i might receive my sight jesus speaks to him verse 42 receive your sight your faith has made you well and immediately he received his sight and followed him glorifying god and all the people when they saw it gave praise to god now matthew when he's given us insight tells us that jesus moved with compassion touched this man's eyes but we see that he received his sight immediately and the result is he followed him he followed him down that road god still opens the eyes of those who are spiritually blind and i do believe that he has the ability should he choose to to open the eyes of those who are physically blind but god still has the ability to and does open the eyes of the spiritually blind that they might see jesus christ that i might receive my sight he doesn't always sometimes he does that's what makes a miracle a miracle as a freshman at biola we had a blind students association there were several kids in our school who were physically blind and all and so they had the opportunity to put on a chapel service for us and as we entered into the chapel all the windows had been draped all the lights were turned off and all the doors were closed and we several hundred students were there in the gym in pretty much darkness and as we sat there in darkness a voice came over the loudspeaker and it was the president of the blind students association and and he said what you're experiencing right now is darkness you can't see anything you're seated in darkness but in a few minutes the lights are going to go back on doors are going to be open windows are going to be you know opened and and the light will again be in the room and you're going to be able to see but we have the blind students association we blind christians here at biola and the lights go on for you we remain in darkness we wanted to give to you a momentary experience of what our life is every day we're in darkness but before you begin to pity us it is we who pity you for i have never seen anything in my life i have been born i was born blind i have never seen a thing in my life but the very first thing i shall ever see is the face of Jesus christ and so i pity you and for just a moment there i thought what a ripoff for me for just a moment because i value my sight but the very first thing that i shall ever see he said is the face of jesus christ blind here but seeing there and to look in the eyes of christ is very first opportunity to see jesus still gives sight to the blind he still does