-
This is something that I know that
-
James and I encounter on a regular basis.
-
And maybe some of the others of you
-
can relate to dealing
with people like this
-
or even maybe in your own life
-
there's these kind of wrestlings.
-
From Joseph Foster:
-
"Pastor Tim,
-
I feel like I'm spiritually dying."
-
In fact, I thought, that's probably
-
a good name for the study tonight.
-
I feel like I'm spiritually dying.
-
"My desires for God
-
have come and gone,
-
and I don't know what's happening.
-
Maybe I committed the unpardonable
-
with my willful sin.
-
I need help, because I can see God
-
in everything except for my life.
-
I know that the gifts and call of God
-
is without repentance,
-
but somehow I feel like He's done with me.
-
I pray every day and ask the Lord
-
to deliver me or shed light
-
or show me what I must do.
-
Maybe I have some unrepented stuff.
-
I don't know.
-
All I know is God is silent
-
and I think He left me.
-
Yet, I'm still holding on and praying.
-
I'm the worst ever,
-
and I need help.
-
I don't know what to do or say to Him.
-
Please, if you could possibly pray for me
-
and maybe pray about it
-
and see what the Lord says to you,
-
I'd appreciate it.
-
I don't know if I'm even saved,
-
but I heard God call me once.
-
I remember when He delivered me
-
and changed me,
-
but I've fallen into somewhere
-
I don't want to be.
-
I've never been in such
a bad place spiritually.
-
I haven't been a Christian long,
-
but I know the Word."
-
And obviously, you can see some
-
back and forth here.
-
I don't know if I'm even saved,
-
and then he says,
-
I remember when He delivered me
-
and changed me.
-
He says I haven't been a Christian long,
-
but I know the Word.
-
At the same time, he says,
-
I'm in a place where I never wanted to be.
-
I've never been in such
a bad place spiritually.
-
I may have committed the unpardonable sin
-
with my willful sin.
-
So, it's obvious there's
lots of confusion.
-
"I've fallen into somewhere
I don't want to be.
-
I've never been in such
a bad place spiritually.
-
I haven't been a Christian long,
but I know the Word.
-
Maybe, I don't know the power of God.
-
I need help. Please."
-
James, how often do you get something
-
of this nature?
-
James: Every week.
-
Tim: Yeah, when the church phone
-
rang my phone,
-
and when my email address
-
was public information,
-
I got them oftentimes
more than once a week.
-
In fact, some people,
-
once they start calling -
-
do you get that?
-
Some of the same people
-
over and over and over?
-
Like, sometimes even more than once a day.
-
James: I've been emailing him for years.
-
Tim: So, this is a guy that you didn't
-
just get one message from.
-
James: Yeah, and he probably
sent that a year ago.
-
Tim: Probably.
-
And I thought answering this
-
is not just good for him
-
if he happened to listen,
-
but numerous people -
-
for one, you've got numerous people
-
that they don't know if they're saved.
-
They're back and forth.
-
Am I in? Am I out?
-
They've got things happening in their life
-
that they're not certain
what to make of it.
-
Am I Christian? Am I not a Christian?
-
They recognize something's not good.
-
Something's not right.
-
They recognize God is silent.
-
And on top of that,
-
you have people all the time,
-
and I think it's a favorite with the devil
-
to really use the unpardonable sin
-
just to paralyze people spiritually.
-
And I know, when we did
-
a full-blown message on the
unpardonable sin one time
-
and I mentioned in there
-
my own testimony that
shortly after I was saved,
-
I came under the grips
of that kind of thing,
-
and God took me through it
-
and just gave me real assurance
-
in my own soul.
-
But, you know, one of the things is
-
James has been dealing with this guy
-
for a long time.
-
And see, the thing about
one paragraph like this
-
is there's so much
-
that you really need clarity on;
-
there's so much that you need
-
to talk to somebody about;
-
there's so much you need to dig into.
-
Because here's the problem,
-
when people give you
a paragraph like this,
-
the thing is people often -
-
because we kind of have this built-in
-
protection mechanism -
-
people often present things in a way
-
that they are wanting pity.
-
I mean, you see this.
-
You can see this if you've got a situation
-
like in a pastoral situation
-
where we've got a problem
between two people,
-
and you know, if you
hear one person's side,
-
you're going to get a story
-
a lot of times that is very one-sided
-
because you're getting their side,
-
and it's going to be that way.
-
And oftentimes, when
you hear it presented,
-
well, it's presented in a light -
-
they're going to emphasize the things
-
that they want to emphasize,
-
because there is an agenda here
-
to prove oneself right.
-
Oftentimes, it's not surprising
-
that people have defense mechanisms up
-
and they want to protect themselves,
-
and they desire to be in the right,
-
and they desire to have pity,
-
and they desire other people
-
to show compassion to them
-
and feel for them.
-
So there's a sense,
-
when you can present things,
-
and you don't always get all the details.
-
Sometimes you don't get some
of the most relevant details,
-
and James, if he just
unfolded with this guy,
-
he could probably tell you things
-
that are not expressed here
-
that are really critical and necessary
-
to try to properly diagnose
-
where a guy like this is at spiritually.
-
But, I think there's some general things
-
we can say about a situation like this
-
that can be really helpful.
-
Think about what he's saying.
-
Think about the impression
that you get here.
-
You get the feeling
-
that very often, very often,
-
you get the feeling from people
-
that they are in a situation
-
that if it was in their control,
-
they would not be in.
-
See what I'm saying?
-
You get this sense
-
that they want to be saved,
-
but God's not saving them.
-
Or they want to have assurance,
-
but God's not giving it to them.
-
You see, it's presented in a way:
-
Well, I want this. I want this.
-
I would gladly be converted.
-
I would gladly be a healthy Christian.
-
I would gladly have all this assurance,
-
if it were in my power to do it.
-
If it were up to me,
that's what I would have.
-
That's the condition I would be in.
-
I would be a very healthy Christian.
-
I would have assurance.
-
I would be walking well.
-
I would be pleasing the Lord.
-
(Incomplete thought)
-
It's presented in the way it comes across,
-
they believe that they're doing everything
-
they can possibly do
-
in order to make things right with God,
-
but God isn't coming through.
-
And if you didn't hear that in this,
-
let me emphasize something again.
-
He says this:
-
"Maybe I have some unrepented stuff.
-
I don't know.
-
All I know is God is silent,
-
and I think He left me.
-
Yet, I'm still holding on..."
-
God left me. I'm holding on.
-
"...and praying.
-
I'm the worst ever and I need help."
-
Do you see the feeling
that you're getting?
-
I need help and God's not helping me.
-
He says, "I don't know what to do
-
or say to Him."
-
In other words, I've expended myself.
-
I've gone to Him for help.
-
I've said everything I know how to say.
-
I've done everything I know how to do.
-
And He's not helping me.
-
"Please. If you could
possibly pray for me.
-
Maybe pray about it
-
and see what the Lord says to you.
-
I'd appreciate it."
-
And so, you see what he's saying here?
-
He's saying I'm holding on.
-
I'm praying.
-
You get this idea again
-
that he's assuming
-
he would gladly make
everything right with God.
-
Brethren, let me tell you.
-
Look, I feel for this guy in this sense.
-
Is there confusion? Yes.
-
Is there frustration? Yes.
-
Is there ignorance? Yes.
-
I mean, to be in the place he is.
-
I feel pity for him.
-
But listen, we need to
listen very carefully
-
when people speak this way.
-
Listen, if anybody says to us;
-
they come across in this way,
-
that I'm doing everything
-
and God won't save me.
-
I'm willing to be saved.
-
I'm willing to be right.
-
I'm willing to have a
relationship with God.
-
But God is silent.
-
God's not helping.
-
God's not coming.
-
You see, you need to be very careful -
-
very careful that you pity
-
an individual like that,
-
and fall into basically
-
putting your arm around them
-
and staring at God like this.
-
You know? What are You doing?
-
Lord, what are You doing?
-
And you can do that.
-
You can do that.
-
You have to be real careful.
-
Because look, the fact is
-
that when you go to Scripture,
-
do you ever find -
-
do you ever find?
-
I was thinking the other day,
-
years ago, years ago, years ago...
-
I saw this Hollywood production -
-
Was it called "The Robe?"
-
Something that was made
-
about some Roman soldier.
-
It was "Ben Hur" or it was
"The Robe" or something.
-
And there was a woman
-
portrayed in the movie
-
who was basically on a stretcher -
-
on a bed -
-
and they were hauling her around.
-
And she said,
-
I asked the Master to heal me
-
and He didn't.
-
And He told me that it was God's will
-
that I not be healed.
-
Anybody see that movie?
-
Anybody know what I'm talking about?
-
Maybe it's probably best you don't.
-
But I've always remembered that,
-
that how dare Hollywood do that!
-
How dare they do that!
-
That is no small thing,
-
because there is no account
like that in the Bible.
-
There is no account of somebody
-
genuinely going to the Lord for help
-
and He turned His back on them.
-
Never.
-
In fact, do you know what you find?
-
Weeping.
-
"How often I would have gathered you,
-
and you would not."
-
Brethren, we need to be aware
-
of just how God presents
Himself in Scripture.
-
Look, what can happen is
-
you begin to get exposed
-
to accounts like this,
-
and you can begin to suppose
-
because this is how they feel,
-
God is cruel.
-
God is standoffish.
-
God doesn't want to help me.
-
God is just up there
-
and in all my desperation
-
and all my cries for help,
-
He just ignores me.
-
And that's not the case.
-
That's not how we find
the Lord in Scripture.
-
That is not how we find it at all.
-
And I know I've brought
this verse up before,
-
but I think it's worth looking at again.
-
Look at Luke 14.
-
I really dealt strongly with this text
-
when I dealt with hyper-Calvinism.
-
But brethren, we want to think right.
-
Don't let sinners
-
who claim to be seeking for
God and not find Him -
-
don't ever let them
change your view of God
-
from a solidly biblical view of God,
-
and from a solidly biblical view
-
of the free offer of the Gospel.
-
Sometimes, we can take sinners
-
just far too much at their word
-
to the place where we
begin to question God.
-
And to the place where
a shadow comes over.
-
Be careful
-
when unconverted people
-
or people like this,
-
who they don't know if they're in,
-
they don't know if they're out,
-
that they're doing everything
-
that He requires,
-
and they're praying,
-
and they're calling upon Him,
-
and they're believing,
and they're trusting,
-
and they're repenting,
-
but God isn't doing anything.
-
Because that just isn't true.
-
Listen, if God hasn't saved somebody,
-
be certain they have not believed.
-
Be certain.
-
But anyway, Luke 14.
-
Let's look at this.
-
Verse 16
-
We need to have this in
our mind all the time.
-
This is such a helpful and balancing text.
-
"He said to him,
-
'A man once gave a great banquet,
-
and invited many.'"
-
Notice the invitation.
-
Notice that the people aren't
-
doing everything that they possibly can do
-
to get into the banquet,
-
and he's keeping them out.
-
Scripture never paints a picture
-
of a banquet going on in here,
-
and the crowds are
amassed around the house
-
trying to get in at the door.
-
Now once the door's shut,
-
people try to get in.
-
After it's too late.
-
But in this day, at this time,
-
in this age of the free
offer of the Gospel,
-
there is never a picture of a closed door.
-
The picture is: you're invited.
-
There's never a picture of people
-
gathered at the door saying,
-
please, let us in;
please, let us in.
-
And He's saying, oh no,
-
no, you can't come in.
-
That's not what we find.
-
Remember what Scripture says?
-
The kindness of God
-
is meant to lead us to repentance.
-
Not to harden us.
-
God didn't give Joseph his meal
-
the day that he wrote this
-
to convince him that He was a cruel God
-
and unwilling to help sinners.
-
Just the opposite.
-
Just the opposite message
-
was sent by the meal he ate that day.
-
You see, the way Scripture
presents it is this:
-
It presents it as here's this banquet.
-
Here's this banquet - v. 16.
-
"A man once gave a great banquet
-
and invited many.
-
And at the time for the banquet,
-
he sent his servant to say to those
-
who had been invited,
-
'Come, for everything is now ready.'"
-
But what? They didn't flock there
-
and then he turned them away.
-
They all alike began to make excuses.
-
"The first said to him,
-
'I have bought a field.
-
I must go out and see it.
-
Please have me excused.'"
-
You see, it's not God turning them away.
-
It's them making excuses and running away.
-
That's what we have to see.
-
And look, if somebody comes along
-
and they're questioning whether
-
they are even saved at all,
-
they put God in a bad light.
-
Brethren, be careful that
you don't take sinners -
-
unconverted sinners -
-
too much at their word
-
as far as the picture they paint
-
of an unwilling God to save.
-
Don't go there.
-
Because you know what?
-
Lost people are in the
power of the evil one.
-
Lost people are deceived.
-
Lost people do not have
-
proper views of God.
-
Be careful that you don't
buy into that view.
-
Because what God does is
-
He shows Himself in Scripture
-
very willing to save.
-
And He sends His Son into this world
-
to actually even look at a city
-
of His rejectors and weep tears,
-
and say how often I
would have gathered you,
-
as a hen gathers her chicks,
-
and you would not.
-
You would not.
-
Not, I would not. You would not.
-
That's how God communicated to this world.
-
That's the kind of Messiah
He sent into this world.
-
"They all alike began to make excuses.
-
The first said to him,
-
'I bought a field. I
must go out and see it.
-
Please have me excused.'
-
Another said, 'I bought five yoke of oxen
-
and I go to examine them.
-
Please have me excused.'
-
Another said, 'I've married a wife
-
and therefore I cannot come.'
-
So the servant came and reported
-
these things to his master.
-
Then the master of the
house became angry."
-
Why?
-
Is He angry at a bunch of people
-
that want to be saved
-
and are standing at the door
-
trying to get in to the banquet?
-
But He's angry because
He didn't elect them?
-
Nothing like that.
-
He's angry because the
invitation was free;
-
it was full;
-
and they refused it.
-
Sinners on judgment day
-
will not talk like this.
-
They won't talk like this.
-
Look, I know there's confusion here.
-
But, did you hear?
-
He said maybe I committed the unpardonable
-
with my willful sin.
-
Do you know what he's acknowledging here?
-
Willful sin.
-
Do you know what Scripture says?
-
Can you think of
anywhere in the Scriptures
-
that it speaks about willful sin?
-
Two texts come right to my mind.
-
Can you think of one?
-
Hebrews 10:26. Let's turn there.
-
Keep your finger here because we
need to finish out this account.
-
See, he's acknowledging
that he has had light.
-
He's acknowledging that he has been
-
exposed to the Gospel it would seem.
-
He's acknowledging that he even believes
-
he was exposed to so much
-
that he thinks he may have been saved.
-
He says, "I haven't been a Christian long,
-
but I know the Word."
-
I know the Word.
-
And yet, he admits willful sin here.
-
Hebrews 10:26
-
"If we go on sinning deliberately
-
(or willfully)
-
after receiving the
knowledge of the truth,
-
there no longer remains
a sacrifice for sins."
-
Let me tell you something
else you don't want to do.
-
You don't want to come to people like this
-
and assure them that
everything's going to be ok.
-
Or even assure them that
everything is presently ok.
-
In other words,
-
you don't have to worry.
-
You haven't committed
the unpardonable sin.
-
You haven't gone too far.
-
You haven't been overly willful
-
and tread upon the blood of Jesus Christ.
-
You can't tell people that.
-
Because you know what?
-
There are such things in Scripture,
-
and when you know the Word
-
and you've been exposed to the truth,
-
and you go on in willful sin,
-
that is extremely dangerous.
-
And you don't want
to tell people it's not.
-
You don't want to tell
people at all that it's not.
-
Anyway, back to Luke 14.
-
"Another said, 'I have married a wife
-
(v. 20) and therefore I cannot come.'
-
So the servant came and reported
these things to his master.
-
Then the master of the house became angry
-
and said to his servant,
-
'Go out quickly to the streets
-
and lanes of the city.
-
Bring in the poor and crippled
-
and blind and lame.
-
And the servant said,
-
'Sir, what you've commanded has been done.
-
Still there is room.'
-
The master said to the servant,
-
'Go out to the highways and hedges...'"
-
Spurgeon preached a tremendous message
-
on this text called,
"Compel Them to Come In."
-
Notice this.
-
Notice what the master is saying.
-
"Compel people to come in
-
that my house may be filled.
-
For I tell you, none of those men
-
who were invited shall taste my banquet."
-
But it's not because they got invited
-
and then they desperately wanted to come
-
and were turned away.
-
It was only because
when the invitation came,
-
they thought there were better things
-
than the banquet.
-
See, there's only one thing
-
that prevents people from coming
-
to the banquet.
-
It's clearly that they loved other things
-
more than the banquet.
-
They were more important.
-
You know, one of the things is
-
we have to be honest.
-
He's obviously a young guy using "IDK."
-
That "IDK" shows up a lot of times here.
-
I don't know. I don't know.
I don't know. I don't know.
-
You know what? You need to know.
-
You need to know.
-
Can I tell you something?
-
Blind Bartimaeus is a great picture.
-
Why? Why do I say that?
-
Jesus came passing by
on His way to Jericho.
-
Blind Bartimaeus - what did he do?
-
He heard the throng of people going by.
-
That's Jesus.
-
Jesus, Son of David.
-
What did he do?
-
What did blind Bartimaeus do?
-
He cried out!
-
What did the crowd do?
-
James: Rebuked him.
Telling him to be silent.
-
Tim: Shut up!
-
Hold your tongue!
-
What did he do?
-
He kept going.
-
You know why?
-
Two realities gripped that man.
-
Be sure of it.
-
I'm blind.
-
And my only hope is Christ.
-
You see, you don't yell like that
-
until there's a proper assessment
-
of who you are, what your condition is,
-
and who He is
-
and that your only hope is found there.
-
That is key.
-
I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.
-
You know what?
-
You do need to know.
-
We need to be honest with ourselves.
-
You know what, no sinner ever gets saved
-
until they come face to face
-
with what they are.
-
Why do sinners flee to Christ?
-
Because they come to recognize
-
like blind Bartimaeus,
-
"Lord..." I mean, they're
not going to give up.
-
I can remember that night
-
when I cried out.
-
I mean, I saw what I was.
-
And He was my only hope
-
and my only help.
-
We do need to know.
-
Because you remember what Jesus said.
-
He said the doctor comes for the sick.
-
See, if you waffle around.
-
Sometimes the thing with people
-
who they don't know if
they're saved or lost,
-
the real issue is:
-
they don't know if
they're a sinner or not.
-
That's the real issue.
-
That's the real issue.
-
Well, I don't know if I'm
really that bad or not.
-
See, blind Bartimaeus was not waffling
-
about his blindness.
-
He knew.
-
He knew. We need to know.
-
We need to do serious and honest
-
spiritual evaluation.
-
We really do.
-
Because you know what?
-
Nobody, until they recognize,
-
I'm blind.
-
You see those people in Scripture.
-
It was desperation.
-
The woman - she had that issue of blood.
-
"I've got to get to Him."
-
That's the one thing that occupied her.
-
Versus what?
-
Luke 14
-
What were they occupied with?
-
A bunch of other things.
-
Bunches of other things.
-
There's one thing that keeps those people.
-
It's their idols.
-
It's their sin.
-
It's when you love that ox,
-
that team of oxen;
-
it's when when you love that wife,
-
that land more than the banquet.
-
Your heart is pulled after other things.
-
But they don't recognize,
-
because when you get to the place
-
where Bartimaeus is,
-
you know what?
-
Oh, remember those words?
-
Remember when the invitation came to him?
-
Remember when the invitation
-
to the banquet came to him?
-
"He's calling you."
-
Did you have that looked up?
-
Do you have Mark's account?
-
Listen when they call him.
-
Read what happens when they call him.
-
"And Jesus stopped and said,
-
'Call him.'
-
And they called the blind man,
-
saying to him,
-
'Take heart. Get up. He is calling you.'
-
Throwing off his cloak,
-
he sprang up and came to Jesus."
-
Listen to that.
-
"Jesus said to him,
-
'what do you want Me to do for you?'
-
And the blind man said to Him,
-
'Rabbi, let me recover my sight.'
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Jesus said to him,
-
'Go your way. Your faith
has made you well.'
-
And immediately he recovered his sight
-
and followed Him on the way."
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Don't you love that?
-
(Incomplete thought)
-
That was the invitation.
-
Call him.
-
He's calling you.
-
That's exactly Luke 14.
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Go call them.
-
The Master's calling you.
-
Remember, there was a master there?
-
The invitation went out.
-
The Master's calling you.
-
Do you know why the wife,
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the field, the oxen?
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Because you don't really know
-
who you are and how bad you need that.
-
You see, that's the issue.
-
Brethren, we have to know.
-
I don't know.
-
What? I don't know if I'm sick.
-
I don't know where I'm at.
-
I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.
-
Brethren, the thing that
you find in Scripture -
-
that leper that went to Christ,
-
he knew he was a leper.
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The blind man that went to Christ,
-
he knew he was blind.
-
That Syropheonician woman
-
knew her daughter had a demon.
-
The man down there at the bottom
-
of the Mount of Transfiguration
-
knew his son had a demon.
-
People in Scripture - they knew.
-
They knew they had a problem.
-
They knew - my daughter is sick.
-
I've got an issue of blood.
-
They knew it.
-
And I've got to get to Christ.
-
Brethren, there's only one
way to come to Him.
-
And that is desperate,
-
and that is helpless,
-
and that is broken,
-
and that is seeing in Him our only help
-
and our only hope.
-
"I feel like I'm spiritually dying."
-
That's what he said.
-
But you know what, we have to step back
-
and we have to say,
-
well, is there not a cause?
-
I mean, is there not a cause?
-
We have to ask ourselves that
-
even if we're in a place
-
where we're solidly
grounded as Christians.
-
If we start getting into a cold state,
-
a backslidden state,
-
some kind of spiritual declension,
-
we need to ask ourselves this.
-
Is there not a cause?
-
Did I not get here some way?
-
Brethren, we have to be honest.
-
We really have to be honest
-
with the state of our own souls.
-
You know the people that run to Christ?
-
The ones that look up and recognize
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I don't have anything to offer.
-
I'm poor.
-
I don't have any righteousness.
-
Lord, I'm guilty.
-
I'm guilty.
-
That's where I was.
-
I don't have any righteousness.
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And I don't have any hope
-
other than in Him.
-
I am hellbound and I'm going there
-
and I deserve to go there.
-
And if Christ doesn't save me,
-
there's no hope.
-
And I cried out.
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You see, when you get to the place
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where you do know
-
you're a leper;
-
you do know
-
Lazarus is dead in that grave;
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you do know you're blind.
-
When you do know
-
your daughter has a demon.
-
You're not ignorant.
-
You're not playing games.
-
Because you know what?
-
A lot of times when we say we don't know,
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it's a mask.
-
Because the fact is we do know.
-
This statement here,
-
"Maybe I have some unrepented stuff.
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I don't know."
-
That's not true.
-
You do know.
-
(Incomplete thought)
-
Look, I'm not talking about
-
looking under rocks for stuff.
-
We're sinners.
-
We're sinners by nature.
-
We've done things in our life
-
and we have idols
-
and we're wrecked in ways we do know.
-
I mean, you know, the truth is
-
if this guy even is a genuine Christian -
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if he is after all this -
-
or if you are,
-
brethren, if we begin to go into a place
-
where we find ourselves spiritually dying,
-
the way out is honesty.
-
Because you know,
-
the only way you get
saved in the first place
-
is honesty.
-
I'm a sinner.
-
You see, that was the tax collector.
-
God, be merciful to me, the sinner.
-
God doesn't save the righteous.
-
He never has.
-
He doesn't save those who are well.
-
And you know how any sinner
-
who really gets saved,
-
gets saved in the beginning?
-
They come desperate.
They come broken.
-
They come bankrupt.
They come guilty.
-
They come vile.
They come filthy.
-
They come a sinner
-
to a Savior.
-
And you know, the thing is,
-
if we begin to fall into some kind
-
of spiritual lethargy,
-
in the same way we came honest
-
in the beginning, we need to come again.
-
Lord, the truth is,
-
I do have things in my life
I need to confess to You,
-
and I need to repent of.
-
And we do know.
-
We know.
-
It's just a matter of being honest.
-
If we really think,
-
if we really think...
-
we do know.
-
Brethren, no concealment.
-
No concealment.
-
If we confess our sins,
-
He's faithful and just to forgive.
-
I really believe there's so much
-
in 1 John 1 about fellowship
-
and that relationship.
-
It's true when we come at first
-
and it's true in maintaining
-
that relationship with God.
-
You cannot be hiding things.
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No concealment.
-
There needs to be honesty.
-
We can't be compromised.
-
Unreserved openness.
-
We talked about, Sunday,
-
with open face.
-
We need to deal with God
-
with an unveiled, open face.
-
Open hearts before Him.
-
We go to Christ as sinners.
-
Once we're saved,
-
we go to Him as we really are.
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And brethren, the thing is,
-
it's the same whether
we go to Christ at first
-
or whether we go to Him now.
-
The truth is that we go to Him to receive.
-
He doesn't want anything.
-
That's what He says.
-
The water of life without price.
-
But you know the same thing goes
-
in the Christian life.
-
Yes, He expects us as Christians
-
to be living the righteous life,
-
but it's still abiding in Christ.
-
He supplies all of our needs.
-
He supplies through His riches.
-
It doesn't come from us.
It doesn't originate with us.
-
There's no starting point with us.
-
We're not the source.
-
We're not the originator
-
of anything we need to live this life.
-
And we can lose sight of that
-
as we walk in this Christian life.
-
We can lose sight of the fact
-
that we are just as dependent on God now
-
as we were at the very beginning.
-
And if we become careless and negligent
-
of that reality,
-
we become self-sufficient;
-
we become independent.
-
And look, we need to be honest.
-
Don't conceal anything.
-
And he's admitting willful sin.
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And then he says maybe I have things
-
that I need to repent of - I don't know.
-
That's the kind of attitude
-
that's going to leave you
-
in a condition like this.
-
I mean, look, when you recognize,
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I'm just like blind Bartimaeus.
-
Unless the Son of David comes to me
-
and answers my cry,
-
there's no help.
-
And so what do you do?
-
When you really recognize you're blind
-
and when you really recognize
He's your only help
-
and there is no other,
-
you are going to cry in desperation
-
until He says, "Call him."
-
"Come."
-
And then what do you do?
-
You throw off the garment and you run!
-
Why? Because you really saw what you are.
-
And you really saw that
He is your only hope.
-
He says here,
-
"I feel like He's done with me."
-
Well, I don't know that
and he doesn't know that.
-
But I can tell you this,
-
Jesus Christ is the only Savior of sinners
-
and there is no other hope this guy has.
-
What are we going to say?
-
If we feel this way,
-
or if somebody else feels this way,
-
what are we going to say?
-
So, ok, you feel like God's done with you.
-
What? Should you assume He is?
-
And just be content to go to hell?
-
I wouldn't advise that.
-
I wouldn't advise anybody to take that.
-
If I'm sitting there
like blind Bartimaeus,
-
might I say to Christ,
-
I'm bad.
-
I'm real bad.
-
I'm so bad that I don't know
if there's any hope for me.
-
But, He's the Savior and if
anybody's going to help me;
-
if anybody's going to provide
hope for me it's Him.
-
Lord, help me.
-
Help somebody that's committed
the unpardonable sin,
-
because I want to be saved!
-
Anyway, brethren, you guys understand,
-
saving faith is not
believing you're saved.
-
That's assurance.
-
Saving faith is like blind Bartimaeus
-
where you recognize,
-
He is my only hope.
-
And I'm trusting Him.
-
I'm trusting Him to save sinners
-
as He shows in His Word
-
that He will for those who trust Him.
-
Faith believes,
-
not that I'm saved;
-
faith believes in the Person
-
and the work of Christ,
-
and that that alone is my hope
-
and it satisfied God.
-
My only hope.
-
Anyway, I think my primary reason
-
for bringing this up
-
is that we want to be careful, brethren,
-
that we don't think wrongly of God
-
when we find sinners struggling,
-
and assuming and wanting to convince you
-
that they're doing
everything in their power
-
and that they're actually responding
-
in a biblical manner,
-
and God wants nothing to do with them.
-
Don't fall for that.
-
Don't fall for that.
-
Listen, those who do not
want to give up their sins,
-
typically find the Gospel
very difficult to understand,
-
and typically find fault with God
-
for not saving them on their terms.
-
People that are scared to death of hell,
-
but love their sin,
-
they will tell you stories
-
that will cast a shadow
over God's character.
-
Beware.
-
And the reason they will
-
is because they want to get to heaven
-
holding their sins,
-
and God won't save them
-
because they want to skip hell
-
and hold on to the sin
they so dearly love.
-
And you see, that is precisely the thing
-
and the only thing
-
that keeps men and women from responding
-
to the invitation.
-
They love their stuff.
-
They love their sin.
-
And you know, you can imagine the guy.
-
You can imagine the guy, right?
-
That went to see his oxen?
-
Once he comes to recognize,
-
you know, ok, I've checked them out now.
-
I might like to get into the banquet.
-
Now, God's going to keep me out?
-
Yeah, be careful.
-
Scripture says that if you hear
-
the fullness of this truth;
-
you hear about the blood of Christ,
-
and you go on willfully sinning,
-
you may find that the Master is angry
-
and you'll never get in.
-
Be very careful.
Be very careful.
-
Brethren, the big thing
that I want to stress
-
in situations like this
-
is we want to stand for
the character of God.
-
And in Scripture, God sent His Son
-
into this world
-
to shed tears over His rejectors,
-
and to shed tears
-
and to exclaim with great pathos
-
that I would have gathered you.
-
I would have gathered you
-
and you would not.
-
See, that is the character
-
of the God that we find in Scripture.
-
Anybody want to add anything to that?
-
James: We could maybe just give a thought,
-
you mentioned a couple times:
-
Come to Christ broken,
-
and constant response to that is
-
then they look inwardly and think,
-
am I broken enough?
-
Tim: Yes, and that's so good.
-
I was just reading
Lloyd-Jones the other day,
-
and he said this:
-
He said there was a day
-
when the term repentance
-
communicated weakness.
-
What a saying.
-
What a thing to say.
-
Today, I get this distinct feeling
-
when we talk about repentance,
-
it doesn't make people think of weakness.
-
It makes people think of
something they need to do
-
in order to get God's attention
-
or to get on God's right side
-
or to twist His arm.
-
But you see, the very
nature of saving faith
-
and the very nature of true repentance -
-
it's blind Bartimaeus.
-
It's, "Lord, I don't have
anything to offer."
-
You see, that's what repentance is.
-
The idea of repentance is this idea
-
that remember, we talked about this,
-
it's re-thinking, but more than that,
-
that Greek term metanoia has to do
-
with changing your mind.
-
What happens?
-
Well, basically, we're going along
-
and we're thinking we're pretty good.
-
We think we're not blind.
-
We think we have strength.
-
We think we have something to offer God.
-
We really think - we heard
it today at the funeral -
-
people assume that they're good.
-
Blind Bartimaeus was in a position
-
where there was no assumption
-
that he had sight.
-
You see, repentance is really a mindset
-
that Christ is mighty
-
and I don't have anything to offer.
-
And then saving faith is beholding,
-
that's trusting Christ.
-
That's seeing the reality of Him.
-
That's hearing this One can restore sight;
-
this One can cure the leper;
-
this One has raised the palsied;
-
He's raised the dead;
He's calmed the storm.
-
Ah, that's what I need.
-
And so it's not so much,
-
oh, what can I do
-
so that I can get to heaven?
-
All it's about is in my desperation
-
and my emptiness
-
and my bankruptcy,
-
I just have to get ahold of Him.
-
I have to get His attention.
-
That's blind Bartimaeus.
-
He cried out. People told him to shut up.
-
But he wasn't going to shut up. Why?
-
Because his mind had been changed.
-
He knew.
-
There may have been a day
-
when Jesus didn't mean anything to him.
-
There may have been a day when
-
he had no idea about Jesus
-
having that ability,
-
but somewhere along the line
-
he came to learn about this Savior.
-
He came to learn about this One:
-
He can heal.
-
Word came to him.
-
And you remember,
-
that was the very thing that Jesus said
-
to those cities where most of
His mighty works were done.
-
He faulted them for not having repented
-
after He did those mighty works.
-
Well, here's Bartimaeus.
-
And he caught wind of those works.
-
And something happened in his mind
-
and something happened in his thinking,
-
and he wasn't thinking,
-
oh, how can I produce a repentance
-
that is somehow going to
work out God's favor here.
-
You see, the whole idea of repentance
-
is weakness.
-
Real repentance brings us to a mindset
-
of weakness; not of strength.
-
And he recognized, I can't do a thing
-
to restore my own sight.
-
But if I can just cry out to Him,
-
He is my only hope.
-
The cry doesn't save me.
-
It's the cry to Him.
-
I've got to get to Him.
-
He's my only hope.
-
Oh, think about when he heard those words:
-
"He's calling you."
-
He threw off his cloak.
-
Think about that.
-
Blind men don't throw off their cloak.
-
Blind men are going to keep in contact
-
with the stuff that is precious to them,
-
and I guarantee you a blind man
-
would have valued his cloak.
-
He threw it off because it
didn't matter anymore.
-
Because it wasn't like the wife
-
or the oxen or the field.
-
It didn't matter.
-
He's calling me and He's my only hope.
-
And if I can get to Him,
-
I don't care about anything else.
-
I've got to get to Him.
-
I don't care.
-
People that talk like this guy talks,
-
and then if you were to take a snapshot
-
of their life and see them
surfing the Internet,
-
and see them spending hours on video games
-
and see them watching smut on TV.
-
See, when you know He's my only hope,
-
and I'm sick and I'm blind
-
and I'm bankrupt
-
and I'm in trouble
-
and I'm guilty
-
and I'm a sinner before God
-
and I'm going to hell -
-
you will cry out.
-
Bartimaeus did not all of a sudden
-
decide that he was going to go
-
over to the other side of Jericho
-
and beg for awhile
-
and then he would worry
about finding Jesus later.
-
When you come to the realization,
-
when you do a proper spiritual inventory
-
and you recognize,
-
I am lost and I'm going to hell
-
and I am under God's wrath,
-
and it is not well with my soul,
-
and I'm going to perish,
-
and I need Christ.
-
He is my only hope and my only help.
-
That's it.
-
(Incomplete thought)
-
If you're here in that condition,
-
throw off the cloak
-
and run.
-
But the throwing off of the cloak
-
and the running don't do you anything,
-
don't look at that.
-
Can you imagine him?
-
He threw off those things.
-
Can you imagine him?
-
Can you imagine watching,
-
here's a blind man.
-
He had some idea of the direction
-
that Jesus was in.
-
He might have heard Jesus even.
-
I don't know, but he took off.
-
Can you imagine a blind man just running?
-
It's like he didn't care.
-
His one thought:
-
I've got to get to Christ.
-
Get to Christ.
-
I've got to get to Christ.
-
And his life proved it.
-
What he did proved the
nature of that repentance
-
and of that faith.
-
Yeah, such a question, it would be
-
so ridiculous to Bartimaeus.
-
Are you blind enough?
-
Do you sense your blindness enough?
-
Obviously, he was blind enough.
-
And obviously, he did sense his blindness.
-
But his focus was on that reality,
-
that I've got to get to Christ.
-
I've got to get to Christ.
-
Anybody have anything else?
-
Father,
-
Father, we know that You save sinners.
-
Lord, we know that from beginning to end,
-
we don't love first. You love first.
-
We don't call first. You call first.
-
We don't see first. You see first.
-
Being saved does not originate
-
in our own minds.
-
Being able to behold the reality
-
of our only hope being in Christ.
-
We even read about this on Sunday.
-
There's a veil.
-
We recognize that the god of this world
-
blinds the eyes of unbelievers
-
and those that are perishing.
-
Lord, have mercy and save sinners.
-
Lord, please, in this day,
-
bring sweeping - Lord, sweeping salvation
-
to multitudes, we pray, Lord,
-
may this be a day of salvation.
-
May today be the day of salvation.
-
Lord, would You have mercy upon
-
the masses of humanity in our country.
-
Lord, I pray for Joseph.
-
Lord, I pray. I pray for him.
-
Lord, there's no sinner beyond Your reach.
-
We just pray that You'd have mercy.
-
We pray, Lord, have mercy upon sinners,
-
just like him.
-
Just like we were; maybe some of us are.
-
Mercy, Lord. We pray for mercy.
-
Aside from Your mercy,
-
aside from Your compassion -
-
Lord, You sent Your Son.
-
And we see His tears by faith
-
as articulated there for us in Luke 19.
-
We see those tears.
-
Lord, may the reality of those tears
-
be demonstrated in our presence
-
in this generation,
-
by You sweeping many into the Kingdom.
-
We pray this in Christ's name,
-
Amen.