 Let's get into our study. Matthew chapter 9, we're going to be looking at verses 27 through 38. Matthew chapter 9 verses 27 through 38. And what we really have here, let me explain to you as we're about to go into it, is what could have been broken into three or at least two different studies. You'll see that in a moment because I'm going to spend a lot of time looking at verses 27 through 31. That's going to take up a good portion of our study. I'm going to briefly touch on verses 32 through 34, give to you the things that I think are important for us to catch from that passage, and then conclude with an exhortation really from verses 35 through 38. So in many ways it would have been pretty easy to say teach about the site that is restored as well as the speech and all that's restored in the first two portions that I mentioned. And then go right on to verse 35 and give a complete study on why this is such an important passage. I chose not to do that today, but hopefully we'll be able to get a good sense of what we're supposed to be getting out of this passage as we go through it together. And so again, I'll be looking at verses 27 through 31, then I'll look at verses 32 through 34 and then conclude by looking at verses 35 through 38. Beginning at verse 27, reading to verse 31, Matthew writes, When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed him, crying out and saying, Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he had come into the house, the blind men came to him and Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I'm able to do this? And they said to him, Yes, Lord, then he touched their eyes saying, According to your faith, let it be to you. And their eyes were opened and Jesus sternly warned them saying, See that no one knows it. But when they had departed, they spread the news about him in all that country. Now Matthew is making it clear that Jesus' ministry had tremendous impact and he's been making it clear that it was very far-reaching all the way back in chapter 4. When you look at chapter 4 and you look at verse 24, Matthew has already said his fame went throughout all Syria. They brought to him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics and paralytics and he healed them. And so his fame is spreading. And the people were especially amazed recently because of the works that Christ had done because Jesus had just raised a man by the name of Jairus. He had just raised Jairus' daughter from the dead. Mark 5.43 tells us that Jesus strictly commanded that no one should know what he had done but it was so amazing they couldn't resist telling others about it and that's why in Matthew 9.26, Matthew reports that this report, the report of this went out into all that land. And so Jesus' ministry is making tremendous impact. It is far-reaching. He didn't want to be regarded though as simply a miracle worker. Jesus wanted people to know that he was Messiah. His miracles that he performed were intended to draw their attention which would pave the way for him to proclaim his message. You can see that very clearly in John's Gospel in chapter 6. That is something that's recorded after Jesus had fed the 5,000. You see, after he fed the multitude and had left, some of the ones that he had fed came looking for him and John says, when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? Jesus answered them and said, most assuredly I say to you, you seek me. Not because you saw the signs but because you ate the lobes and were filled. He went on to say, do not labor for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to everlasting life which the Son of Man will give you because God the Father has set his seal on him. You're pursuing me not because you're listening to what I'm saying. You're pursuing me not because of even the miracle. The miracle and the signs that are performed are intended to draw your attention. You're pursuing me because I fed you and you're missing the entire message of my ministry. So Jesus did not want to be known as simply somebody who performed miracles. He is Messiah. His ministry drew great numbers of people and when he drew greater numbers of people that gave him greater opportunity to minister. And when you would hear this man speak, while he spoke with such eloquence, he spoke with such authority that they couldn't even compare him with any of the rabbis that they were familiar with. Not only did he speak with such power and eloquence, he cleansed the lepers. He was healing their sick. He delivered the demonized. He even stilled the waves on the sea. He forgave sins and then he had raised the dead. There was no one else like him. No one could speak such words. Nobody could perform those works. So Jesus's miracles are drawing great attention. We saw already in verses 18 through 26 how Matthew had recorded two recent miracles. He had recorded how Jesus healed a woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. But even more amazing was the fact that Jesus raised a little girl from the dead and the news of this amazing miracle immediately spreads throughout the area. The following verses that we'll be looking at, well in those verses Matthew continues reporting on the amazing healings Jesus performed. Once again his miracles were intended to draw people's attention and establish his credentials. Let's see, we're in chapter 9. We'll be getting to chapter 11 someday. And in chapter 11 verses 2 through 5 we read, when John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, are you the one who is to come or should we expect someone else? Are you the coming one? Are you the coming one? The coming one is another title for Messiah. That was a specific question he had sent his disciples to ask, are you Messiah? And so that's the question that Jesus is about to answer. Are you the one who is to come or should we expect someone else? And then you see his reply. Jesus says go back, report to John what you heard, which you hear and see, the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the good news is preached to the poor. He spoke concerning his works and his words to confirm that he is Messiah. Now not all people thought that what he was doing was proof that he was good. We've already seen that opposition is steadily rising against him. People were upset because he forgave the sins of a paralyzed man and they even referred to him as a blasphemer. The Pharisees were upset because Jesus ate with tax collectors and the irreligious. The disciples of John the Baptist had begun questioning why Jesus did not fast. Not everybody was taken by this Galilean carpenter and people are now beginning to question him. And so Jesus is about to show us some more, but what he's all about, what he does. And Matthew begins by telling us that Jesus left the home of Jairus and as he's doing so a large group of people began to follow after him. Within this group were two blind men who followed behind him calling out to him. Notice what it says in verse 27, Matthew 9, when Jesus departed from there two blind men followed him crying out and saying, Son of David have mercy on us. Now when he says crying out or calling out that is in a Greek tense that means that they are continuously crying out. In other words Jesus as he's walking and they become familiar that it's Jesus of Nazareth passing by. As he's walking by they know it's Jesus. They cry out, have mercy on us. Well Matthew wants to make it very clear that they didn't whisper that and secondly that they didn't say it just once. They continuously were crying out to him. He uses a word in the Greek, kratzel, and that word crying out kratzel. It means shouted to scream with intensity, to cry aloud over the noise. As they're crying out I want you to notice what they're saying. They're crying out Son of David. I'm going to lay a foundation then get into something practical. They're crying out Son of David. Now why would that be significant? Many of you already know but let me supply the answer for those perhaps who do not. That gives us insight into what they consider Jesus to be because as I mentioned a moment ago messianic titles like the coming one. It's a messianic phrase that relates to Messiah who's to come. Well Son of David is regarded as being what is called a messianic name or a messianic title. It's the title of Messiah. It comes out of 2 Samuel chapter 7. In 2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 12 through 14 God was speaking and he said to David, when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seat after you who will come from your body. I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name. I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father. He shall be my son. And in verse 16 of the same chapter, your house, your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. He was giving to David a promise that there would be a son who rises up, who would be occupying the throne and he is referred to as the son of David. And so Son of David found its way into the Jewish theology as a way of describing Messiah. So when they're crying out, they're crying out, Son of David, that helps us to understand that they see him as more than a rabbi. They see him as Messiah. And so that's the point that is being made. In crying out, Son of David, they are acknowledging Jesus Christ as Messiah and it's an open public acknowledgement. It's like what that woman with the issue of blood did when she was healed according to Luke 8.47. The woman seeing that she could not go unnoticed came trembling felidus feet in the presence of all the people. She told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. He's calling for an open declaration to her. And in this particular case here, they are making an open declaration. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us. Mercy, please do not give us what we deserve. Mercy is withholding what I deserve. As sinners, they knew that they deserve judgment and not mercy. And so when it says have mercy, that is a request. That's not a demand. You see, I deserve, we deserve God's justice and judgment. And if so, he'd be withholding his mercy because that would be justice. Psalm 28, verse 4, the Psalmist says, Give them according to their deeds and according to the wickedness of their endeavors. Give them according to the work of their hands. Render to them what they deserve. That's called an imprecatory psalm. And we don't normally pray psalms like that. But they did and they're found in Scripture. I'm not saying to say that now, go home and say, You know my next door neighbor's dog's been making a mess in my yard. Give them what they deserve. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that there are times when the psalmist would actually say they deserve this. So in essence what you have with that psalm is the psalmist saying give them what they deserve. But what mercy is, is withholding what I deserve. See the wisest thing that they could ask for was the mercy of God. Like it says in Psalm 25, 16, Turn yourself to me and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted. Psalm 86, verse 6, hear my prayer, oh Lord, listen to my cry for mercy. Now I want you to know something. I'm going to develop something with you here. So we have in verse 27. Notice the blind men followed him crying out and saying, Son of David have mercy on us. But in verse 28 continuing, when he had come into the house, the blind men came to him and Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I'm able to do this? And they said to him, yes, Lord, here we go. At first Jesus does not respond to the request. He just keeps walking before them. I want you to think about that. Because, listen, when you read your Bible, one of the things that's difficult is this. We don't know the geography and sometimes the incident isn't given to us in so much detail that we'd understand. It doesn't tell us, for example, how long it was that Jesus was walking. It simply says that he walked and they followed. We can assume that he wasn't in a small house here and he just walked next door. We can assume that. Why? Because a crowd was following after him. So that tells me that Jesus walked a little bit of a way, at least. It could very well have been that Jesus would walk, will say, like the distance from the school that we have over in our corner over here, up to this church building, which is a quarter mile or so. It could be that Jesus, as he's walking, has a crowd. We know that the crowd formed. We know that he had performed a miracle. We know that word has gone out. We know that people are going to assemble. We know that Jesus has walked out of Jairus' house. We know that he's walking down the street, that there's a crowd around him and amongst that crowd there are two blind men. We know that those two blind men begin to cry out and they say to him, son of David, have mercy on us. And they follow him all the way to the house. So the question I want to ask and what I want to develop right now in a practical way is this. Would it not seem, at least if you were there, if you were part of that, would it not seem almost cruel that the Lord Jesus Christ seems to be ignoring the cry of two blind men? Picture two blind men in a crowd trying to follow after the Master and Jesus walking without even responding a little bit. You don't see any indication that he slows the crowd down. You don't see him saying, bring them to me. You don't see anything like that. You will see that with blind Bartimaeus, but you don't see that with these two men. What you see with these two men is that they're following him and could have followed him a good distance in all the way that they're following him. We have it here in Scripture. They're crying out, son of David have mercy and the crying out is shrieking, it's screaming, it's a loud kind of cry. They're not just whispering at all. What they're doing is making a cry. They're crying out very loudly to him, asking for his help and he doesn't do anything. As I've read this and I've read this more than once obviously, taught this more than once, the more I think about it, the more it could appear cruel on the part of Christ to seem to be ignoring these people. There are times that the Lord, and I'm going to get into this in a little bit more in a moment, but there are times, some of you who have been walking with the Lord and are seasoned in your faith, you understand exactly what I'm saying. Some of us who are perhaps newer in our faith, you may not understand this yet, but there are times when it seems that the silence of God is deafening. When you will say, how long, oh Lord, how long will you not hear me forever? How long do I have to cry the same request? How many times do I have to cry out until you respond and it seems as if you're the blind person following in a crowd, bumping into people, and at the top of your lungs have mercy on me and God doesn't seem to hear you at all. He doesn't respond at all. And if I were part of the crowd of people following Jesus, knowing that Jairus' daughter who was dead is now alive, knowing that Christ had just done an amazing thing and perhaps the rumors already spread through that crowd that as Jesus had been making his way to Jairus' house, that a woman with a hemorrhage of blood for 12 years had been miraculously healed, then in the back of my mind I'd be thinking, now this is the man who can do all kinds of things that are beyond imagination. This is the man that I've heard so many stories about. This is the man that has done so many works and wonders and people are speaking about him and saying, look at his cleansed the leper he has healed the sick and recently he has raised the dead and he's ignoring, he's ignoring? Where is his compassion? Where's his heart? I could very easily fall into that trap. What is he doing? Why are you being cruel? It doesn't appear cruel. Why? How many times has a parent had a child who's gone bad and the parent stays up late at night with the light on waiting to hear the sound of those tires roll up the driveway and the sound of a car stopping and a door opening and a child walking forward opening a door, how many times has that parent done that saying when is God going to answer my prayer for this wayward child, this child that doesn't listen, this child that is breaking my heart, when is this child going to be touched? Oh God, how many times can I pray and how many things can I say? Or to stand next to a bed and to look at somebody that has been diagnosed with a disease and they're there saying, God in Jesus' name, I know you can do these things. I've read your Bible from cover to cover. You have the power to heal. Why don't you hear me? Oh God, have mercy. You're sitting in your car in the parking lot. Your boss just gave you the pink slip and you don't know what you're going to do. And you've been crying out because you suspected something was up. What am I going to do? Ever been there? Ever been there? Ever feel like two blind men in a crowd following after someone who doesn't care? Doesn't listen? Doesn't respond? How do they feel? I thought about that this week. Why would the Lord allow that to take place? What may appear to some to be a simplistic answer is the simple answer. Because he was testing their sincerity. Because he was testing their humility. Because he was giving them opportunity to reveal their persistence. Because he was purifying their faith. And he did that as he made them wait. They were following him. It would seem for a bit of a distance. And in the meantime from following after to finally entering into that room where it says when he came into the house the blind men came to him. In that interim period between following him from gyroses all the way to this other place that he went as he enters in they're crying out after him. Well sometimes our faith is revealed because we hold on to what we're crying for over a period of time. Because we don't give up. Because we hold fast. Because we're persistent. Because we know that without him nothing good is going to happen. The Psalmist in Psalm 27 verse 14 says wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. He shall strengthen your heart. Wait I say on the Lord. The Psalmist says in Psalm 40 verse 1 I waited patiently for the Lord. And he inclined unto me and heard my cry. There are things that the Lord is working in the period between my crying to him and his response. That only he knows the time that is necessary to accomplish what is necessary. And he allowed that to take place. And he's allowing that by the way to take place in us. Some of your prayers may last for years. I say this to your encouragement not to your discouragement. To your encouragement. Because when he does answer that prayer when it does occur you appreciate it an awful lot more. Thank you God for your goodness to me. So as all of this is taking place Jesus in verse 28 says to them do you believe that I'm able to do this? They said to him yes Lord. Do you believe that I'm able to show you mercy by curing your blindness? Do you believe that I am the one you should ask mercy from? Do you believe that my mercy will result in your healing? It would seem that they actually did believe that I was able to do what they had desired of him. They followed him. They ignored. They called him son of David. That reveals their persistence. And even though he took no notice of them they held on. Now he expects an open profession of faith. And that's going to impact any who are in the house at that moment. So the response verse 28 again yes Lord. They believe he had the power to do it. They had no doubt or hesitation in confessing that he did. And though they were physically blind they believed he could give them light. And they made an open public confession of their faith. It's like what it says in Romans 10 9 and 10 if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved for with the heart man believes to righteousness with the mouth confession is made to salvation. Do you believe? And they said yes Lord. In verse 29 he touched their eyes saying according to your faith let it be to you. His words are similar to what he had said to the woman with the issue of blood as it says in chapter 9 verse 22 when he had said to her be a good sheared daughter your faith has made you well. He's honoring their faith. They had said that they believed that he was able to do it and he rewards their faith. You know faith is a word that we use often today and we don't always understand its meaning. Faith is not a force of some sort. Faith is not blind. Faith is not simply a last resort in a bad situation. We've got nothing else to do. We better exercise some faith. Faith is not human determination. It's not used to handcuff God to his promises. In scripture faith is revealed as confident expectation. A close synonym for the word faith in English would be the word trust. We trust him. We have faith in him. There's a faith that we see in scripture, a faith that risks because it trusts God daring to do the impossible. Like when Joshua and the children of Israel walked around the walls of Jericho for seven days. It's a faith that's shown like when the apostle Peter performed a miracle on a crippled man at the beautiful gate daring God to do the impossible. There's a faith that reckons. A faith that counts the cost. That occurred when you determined to follow the Lord no matter what. You picked up your cross and you followed him. There's a faith that rests as you wait on the Lord to move. That was revealed by Job as he went through his severe testing. And then Job says in chapter 19 verses 25 through 27 of the book of Job. Job says, I know that my redeemer lives. That last on the earth and after my skin is destroyed. This I know that in my flesh I shall see God. Whom I shall see for myself. My eyes shall behold and not another. How my heart yearns within me. You wait on the Lord and he's true to his promises. And there's a faith that receives. It's often demonstrated in salvation. But it's revealed also in the healings and the touches of God that occur in our life as we wait on him and receive from him. Somebody once said, faith is the bucket let down into the fountain of God's grace without which the man could never draw water of life from the wells of salvation. For the wells are deep and of himself man has nothing to draw with. So we give our faith to God. And what happens verse 30 and 31 tells us their eyes were filled with. Jesus sternly warned them saying see that no one knows it but when they had departed they spread the news about him in all that country. Healing was immediate and he gives another command. Do not speak of this to anyone. He had already in Matthew 8.4 told the leper not to proclaim his cleansing. In Mark 5.43 he commanded that nobody speak of the raising of Jairus' daughter to say anything. He actually sternly warns them against doing so. Why would he do that? Well, it's not the time for stronger opposition and also he didn't want revolutionary Jews to rally around him for the wrong reasons. And so he says don't say anything but their response verse 31 they went out. They spread the news about him in all that country. Was that a right thing for them to do? No. They disobeyed him. Is it understandable? That's a different question. Of course it's understandable. If you were blind and you received your sight it'd be kind of obvious after a while they see you driving and they say hey can you see? When I was in Biola we had a chapel service that was put on by the Blind Students Association of Biola. We came into the gymnasium where we had chapels and as we walked in all the windows in the gym had been blocked off with drapes, black drapes. The lights were dimmed until we were all seated. When we were all seated in the chapel the lights were turned off and the back doors were closed so we were seated in darkness and we just sat there seated in darkness for several minutes. We were all talking amongst ourselves and wondering what's going on why are all the lights off why is it so dark in here and then the voice came over the loudspeaker and I still remember he said my name is David and I'm the president of the Blind Students Association. He said and today we've been given the honor and privilege of having the chapel service and so we felt that it would be good to begin the chapel service and go through on a daily basis all the lights are off all the doors are closed all the windows are blocked and as much as we could do we have provided for you an atmosphere that is complete darkness he said and that's how we live we live in complete darkness every day of our lives he said but before you begin to feel sorry and compassionate for us he says I want to give you some insight into how we feel he says because he says I cannot see a single thing I've never been able to see a thing I have not seen a thing in my entire life I've never seen a thing but the first thing that I shall ever see will be the face of Jesus Christ so don't feel bad for me because I feel bad for you that's heavy huh now I don't want to experience that personally I don't want to lose my sight of course not but I do appreciate I appreciate that sentiment very much now I do understand a little bit more about that these blind men can you imagine what they saw when their eyes were open the first thing they saw was the face of Jesus Christ the one who gave them sight why wouldn't they want to go out and tell somebody by the way if he opened your blind eyes your spiritually blind eyes why wouldn't you go out and tell somebody he told them not to say anything but he told us to tell everybody that's what the church is supposed to do and they went out and they began to speak concerning what God had done moving on that's part one part two as they went out behold they brought to him a man a demon possessed and when the demon was cast out the mute spoke the multitudes marveled saying it was never seen like this in Israel but the Pharisees said he cast out demons by the ruler of the demons now this is intended to show us how busy Jesus was as he went about doing good notice no sooner had he performed one act of mercy than another's presented to him the word mute by the way signifies that he was both deaf as well as mute so in this healing Matthew is once again revealing that Jesus is the promised Messiah it fulfills messianic prophecies for example Isaiah 35 verses 5 and 6 where it says then will the eyes of the blind be opened the ears of the deaf unstopped then will the lame leap like a deer the mute tongue water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert and so as we look at this there are two possible ways to interpret how this came about one would be while the two blind men were leaving others brought this man to Jesus or what seems to be the more preferred way of looking at it well the two blind men were leaving they encountered this man and they brought him to Christ so it would seem that the first thing that these blind men did was to bring Jesus Christ and his response is immediate he delivers the man from demon possession now he's already been delivering people in this manner revealing the kingdom's presence Matthew 816 says when evening had come they brought to him many who were demonized demon possessed he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick so as this has taken place notice verse 34 the Pharisees the religious leaders said they cast out demons by the ruler of the demons so there are two reactions to his words one you have the people's reaction we'd never seen anything like this before but then you have the religious leaders the Pharisees reaction he's simply using demonic power you see when someone determines not to believe they will find any excuse not to believe any excuse and I got saved and from my background my brother knew I was crazy and this and that when I got saved first thing my brother was saying is it's just a fad I've seen him go through so many different things I'll give him a little while to figure out what it's all about and he'll be back to what he was doing in short time that was in 1970 I never returned but my brother thought that I would because he didn't want to believe at that time he didn't want to believe that God could change somebody like me and you have people in your life who have seen the transformation in your life too and they'll say oh yeah right yeah he's changed or she's changed but it's because it's the positive thinking or it's because they're brainwashing or they can give a thousand and one reasons why you've changed but they don't give credit to God for it they had a lady in this church many years ago she didn't attend this church what had happened is she called this church because her son had come to one of our her son had come to faith in Jesus Christ her son was pretty heavy into drugs and all and he got delivered and God was moving in him and she called and spoke to the church and said you know I could handle my son when he was a doper but I can't handle him as a Jesus freak serious I would rather him be a doper than to know Jesus Christ think about that, that's the mother's love I would rather have my son in bondage to dope to drugs than have him a Christian think about that and by the way that's not the first time I heard that when I had been three weeks old in the Lord almost 45 years ago it's the first time I ever heard that when I let a girl that I used to party with to Christ went to her house I was a brand new Christian brought my Bible I didn't even know the books of the Bible let alone what's in it but I was told bring your Bible everywhere and I did I was told to who knows you might need it and I brought it in she said my mom's not going to like you bringing that Bible in here why? she said because my mom in her case this is quotation her mom she says my mom's Catholic and you bringing in a non-Catholic Bible she's going to think there's something wrong with you you shouldn't bring your Bible in here this is God's word if your mom's really a Christian then she'd appreciate that God's word is true and I was only three weeks old in the Lord and I already knew that but there were a lot of people she said oh she's going to get really mad and indeed that does happen it does happen you're at Thanksgiving you got saved say hey you know what you know how to talk to God can you talk and then you've got somebody say why would he talk and he's never done it then they want to remind you of what you were like in the past you remember last Christmas where you chased grandma out of the house they remind you so there are people who will say that you've changed not because of Christ they'll say you've changed for every other reason and some of them will even go so far as to say it's demonic man it's the devil the devils were at work here and by the way that happens to this day because when someone determines that they don't want to believe they'll find any excuse not to and then finally verse 35 to 38 we'll close with this and Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues preaching the gospel of the kingdom healing every sickness and every disease among the people but when he saw the multitudes he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd then he said to his disciples the harvest truly is plentiful but the laborers are few therefore pray the lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest Matthew makes it clear that Jesus is very busy he's ministering throughout that area it speaks concerning the fact that he went about all the cities and villages we're talking about the area up in the north there the northern region consisted of an area that was 40 miles wide and 70 miles long a Jewish historian by the name of Josephus said that there were about 200 villages in Galilee and many of the cities contained up to 15,000 people so a conservative estimate of the population was somewhere around 2 million people Matthew is giving to us a thumbnail sketch of the elements of the ministry of Christ and he tells us that Jesus is teaching that he's preaching and he's healing every manner of disease that's how he ministered he would teach the word of God which would provoke people to assimilate information he would preach which was a call to the will for them to make a decision that they were hearing and then he was doing healings for every manner of disease and so as this is taking place notice in verse 36 how it says he saw the multitudes and so Jesus sees these multitudes the question I want to ask and we're going to look at and conclude our study today is what is he teaching us related to how we react to crowds you know some people can be in a multitude in a crowd and forget that crowds are simply made up of groups of individuals you're in a group of people but you forget that that crowd is actually a group of people sometimes people only see the crowd other people can see the people in that crowd and that's something that a lot of people need to understand is that you need to be able to see crowds as individuals not just a mass of humanity but it's something much deeper than that it is a group of individuals we have an RRI I forget it must have been the 30th anniversary we had a picture of the church building but if you would have looked at the church building closely with the magnifying glass it actually was pictures of the people of this fellowship and there were individual photographs that had been condensed into small small portions so that if you looked at it if you look closer at it with the magnifying glass it was pictures of all the people of the people in the church because we were saying that that building isn't the church the people are and a lot of times people don't see that what they see is just multitudes they see crowds but Jesus saw people he saw multitudes made up of individuals other people will look at a crowd as an inconvenience even a problem and can't even put up with them some may see them as being dangerous they don't want to have anything to do with them they even fear being around a larger group of people some people look at crowds and they say well there's not enough people in it that look like me because they want to have groups of people that are all just like them I don't think the church was created by God to have people who are just like me or just like you it's supposed to be just like us all of us I was sharing this first service I don't know if I'll be able to say it second service the way that I tried to first service but one of the things that I feel very strongly about when I speak about this kind of thing is this and I've said it before many of you've heard me before but it's sincere it's true and it's something that's part of my heart and part of this ministry philosophy and that is that and you all know this let me say it anyway I don't believe the church was intended by God ever and I will never never encourage the church to ever be like this I do not believe that the church the body of Christ was intended by God to be made up of people that are the same color and same race as me I believe that the body of Christ is made up of every tongue every nation every ethnicity because God loves the whole world and when we have a church that is built on just people like me you know which could be anything you want whatever your ethnicity or heritage or language may be when you say no they have to be like me there's something very sick about that group of people no what I want is the church to be what God called the church to be now I'll go a little bit further and you some may not understand especially sometimes I see this to be true with sometimes younger younger folk who don't understand the things that went into my life to teach me who I am I do not perceive myself call myself I do not credit myself as David Rosales that and I am a Mexican-American David Rosales that Mexican pastor I am David Rosales that pastor that's what I am you know and I'm not trying forgive me some of you understand exactly what I'm saying and others won't but let me say it this way I am not trying to create a Mexican church I want the body of Christ to feel welcome here and I don't care if it's Asian I don't care if it's black I don't care if it's white and I don't care if it's Hispanic and by the way I love what my culture is I am what I am and I am grateful to be that but not to the expense of ever excluding somebody from being comfortable in this church you are welcome here I love you because of Jesus Christ and never forget that never forget that never forget that because I have had people invited out of my church saying you need to come to this church there are more of us like you more people like you in our church and that breaks my heart I can tell you story after story of people I don't feel comfortable with all those brown people hey guess what I love I love the brown people and I love the black people and I love the Asian people I love the Native American people why because God so loved the world he gave his son and I am that way too I love the people that's the way it has to be okay here we go if somebody gets caught up saying well you know you're ashamed of being a Mexican you don't know me I love my heart but if that's where it goes with you no I'm not ashamed of anything I am blessed by God to be what I am I accept it and I love what I am I wouldn't be anything else you love Mexicans I married one but I love the body of Christ more I love the church of Jesus Christ more and I am not here to be that Mexican pastor I am the pastor I love the body of Christ if you're black, if you're white if you're red I don't care I don't care you're my brother and you're my sister and we ought to make everybody feel welcome every person every person and that to me is so serious because look at the fields are white for harvest and we get caught up with such nonsense Jesus his word the power of his spirit we get caught up dividing it and making it into something I feel most comfortable about know what the one thing about the body of Christ that I know is I have met people who are so different than me it has forced me to grow up and to change to start understanding other people to start listening to the way they feel what they think where their hearts are and it's made me a better man it's made me a stronger Christian and so I'm real careful with this and forgive me it sounds like it may sound mean hearted I don't know if it does because that's not what my heart is I'm just saying that as long as I am pastor here I am going to do the best I can as long as God gives me breath to tell every one of you and I don't care that God loves you that as a pastor I love this church and I love and it doesn't matter to me it does not matter to me you know what your color is what matters to me is the color of Jesus's blood that covered you from all of your sin and that's what matters God help the church God help the church we have to understand that we have to have that and the Lord wants us to have compassion look at what it says in verse 36 he was moved to compassion because they were weary and scattered he wants to teach his men a lesson you cannot truly minister to those you cannot view with compassion in Psalm 126 verse 6 it says he who goes out weeping carrying seed to sow will return with songs of joy carrying sheaves with him when you go forth broken weeping you will doubtless come again rejoicing bringing your sheaves with you there's a brokenness in your heart for people and God wants us to work in that way the Bible says in 1 John 4.8 he who loves not knows not God we love we don't look at people as problems so much as opportunities we do our best to share the love of Jesus Christ with them though many have rejected Christ and many have rejected them it's our desire to be able to reach anybody the Bible teaches very specifically that the love of Christ is for all somebody once said let me look at the crowd as my savior did till my eyes with tears grow dim let me view with pity a wandering sheep and love them for the love of him Jesus says the harvest is plentiful the majority alive are awaiting judgment Joel 3.12-14 says let the nations be roused let them advance into the valley of Jehoshaphat for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side swing the sickle for the harvest is ripe come trample the grapes for the wine press is full and the vats overflow so great is their wickedness multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision we have to give out the gospel because these crowds face certain judgment in Melachi 4.1 it says behold the day is coming burning like an oven and all the proud yes all double the day which is coming shall burn them up says the Lord of hosts that will leave them neither root nor branch Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5.11 knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men he says the harvest truly is plentiful the laborers are few that's why we have so much ministry intended to reach people at the moment we are on 22 radio stations we have 14 U.S. daughter churches we have planted churches in Mexico and the Philippines we are involved in world missions ministering in various countries we have a missions team in Cuba even as I speak we provided disaster relief we host conferences we have outreaches we reach the children in various ways including vacation bible schools we have service over the internet with people in around 25 states listening as I'm teaching right now we minister to the hungry and the homeless we go door to door witnessing we have park outreaches we minister to the Spanish language members of our community we reach into the Muslim community we minister to the addicted in lion tamers ministry we equip you to do works of service every bible studies intended and still that isn't enough it isn't enough he said look the harvest truly is plentiful but the laborers are few I made a decision as a young believer that I was never going to be satisfied sitting a bench I'm not a bench warmer when I played when I played ball and I played a lot when Marie met me I played on three softball teams a week going to school and working I had a lot of energy and I did a lot of things I also was teaching bible studies I was the kid on the on the bench who would bite the edge of my glove and I would say I want to be in the game I don't want to just put on the uniform sit here and get the snow cone after the game and I'm not the one who wants to play half the game because I have to I want to not only play in the game I want to be a leader on the team and I want to be the best shortstop best second play, second baseman best third baseman I played every position in baseball the only one I didn't play was first base I caught, I pitched I was an all star I was quite a ball player I'm an old man now but I was quite an athlete I was still working out at the age of 40 I could bench 300 pounds at the age of 40 a lot of guys can't do that at 20 I was quite an athlete I put all of my effort into what I did I ran I won a medal in CIF in track I was a good athlete and I took all of that and I put that into my walk with God my passion for Jesus Christ don't be a bench warmer don't sit the bench expecting other people to play get your uniform dirty get out there play and watch what God will do pray that God will bring labors into the harvest but be one of those labors yourself be somebody who sits around just eating popcorn watching get your uniform dirty say God put me in the game I want to be used I want to be used by you because the fields are white for harvest and there are few who even see it give me ice to see so that I might go out there and do something for you I don't know what you live for I don't know what turns you on but what is growing more and more in my heart is the joy of seeing people serving Jesus Christ that is what I want that's what I want for my legacy so when somebody stands up and says David was always at home to be with the Lord I want them to say and he was tired because he served the Lord with his last ounce of strength and that's the way it should be that's the way it should be