Jesus, What Would You Have Me to Do? — Dwight Steven

Bartimaeus Cries Out to Jesus

We're going back approximately 2 ,000 years ago in the streets of Jericho. Alms for the blind, alms for the blind, alms for the blind. This was the cry of a blind beggar. Alms for the blind. He heard something in the distance.

The crowd was coming passing by his way. He stopped. His keen sense of hearing was wide open. As he listened, he asked, Who is it? What's happening? Who's passing by? The reply was, Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus! Salah David! It was pretty loud. The crowd tried to hush him. Shh! Be quiet! Take it easy. Settle down there now. Blind Bartimaeus. He longed for the mercy of Jesus to fall upon him. Bartimaeus was the son, he tells us.

He was the son of Timaeus. More than likely, born this way. Was born blind. Rejected by his peers, perhaps. His family. It was a common way of thinking and believing that his parents had sinned. That's why he is blind.

This wouldn't have been unusual for them to think this way. As they look at him, they watch him daily, sat by the wayside. The way to Jericho. Blind Bartimaeus was his name. He was a beggar. He was known to be a beggar.

Bartimaeus' cry was, I'm in need. I'm in need. Do you remember being a beggar? Do you remember that day when you sat there, stood there, however it was, and you remember you were lost in your sins? Blind to the goodness of God and His love.

Do you remember when Jesus passed by? You cried out for Him for grace? For mercy? Do you remember when grace came your way? The scales fell off your eyes. The glorious light of Christ shone into your heart.

Do you remember? Do you remember when the blood of the precious Lamb of God was applied to your heart? And it cleansed you from your sins? If you don't remember, perhaps you're in need of a savior this morning.

Jesus is passing by. Cry out to Him. Cry out to Him. May that be your heart's desire this morning that if God perhaps have a word for you, which I believe He does. Would you commit yourself to responding to the word this morning?

Let's bow our heads. Lord, Lord, help our need. Help us to see our need this morning, Lord. Lord, help us to see it from the way, from the viewpoint in which you see it, Lord Jesus. Lord, pass by us this day.

Lord, meet the beggars. Oh, you delighted to meet beggars, Lord. Open our eyes, Lord. We want to see Jesus. Lord, let us not pass by this opportunity this day again. Let Your Spirit, Lord, move amongst this people.

Oh, we ask You this in Jesus' name today, Lord. Lord, we ask You this today in Jesus' name, Amen. Turn with me in your Bibles to Mark 10. You find this account in various places of the Gospel. In Matthew, in Mark, in Luke.

We are going to be looking at it from the Gospel according to Mark 10. Verse 46, He said,. And they came to Jericho, Jesus and His disciples. And as they went out of Jericho with His disciples, a great number of people followed Him.

Blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the wayside, begging alms for the blind. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and said, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Many charged him, Hush, hush.

Hold your peace. Be quiet. Take it easy. Settle down. But he cried, The more. Son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus stood still, commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man, saying unto him, Okay, okay.

Cheer up there now. Be of good comfort. Let's go. Get up. He's calling you. He cast in away his garments, rose, and came to Jesus. Jesus answered and said unto him, What would you have me to do for you?

That's the question to you this morning. What would you have Jesus to do? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I may receive my sight to see, Lord. Jesus said unto him, Go thy way. Thy faith hath made thee whole.

And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way. Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was passing by. His heart was open to hear that Jesus was passing by. Not only that Jesus was passing by on the 86th, way down a couple of kilometers from here.

But Jesus was passing by right past your bench this morning. Near. He's passing by. Near. Can you imagine, Bartimaeus as he sat there. He tells us he was sitting. He wouldn't have sat way back under some shady tree away from the pathway as he was seeking to find a means of surviving his income.

Arms for the blind. He was right by the wayside. And Jesus passed by near. He's passing by near this morning. What would you have Jesus to do for you? There's still hope. There's still opportunity. As you take that breath, it spells hope.

Time is still on your side for you to come to Jesus. For you to cry out to Jesus. He's passing by near. Let your need known to Him. Take hold of this opportunity. On the other side of the grave, there's no such thing.

Yes, we want to take hold of that opportunity. But as we look at this account here this morning, we want to go down it and just look at some very important things. Essential things. As Jesus passed by near, we look in our own hearts how we respond to it.

Seeing the Need for Salvation

First of all, we see here, Bartimaeus saw his need. He saw his condition. He saw his predicament. He saw the place in which he was in. His impotence. His incapability of doing something for himself. He was unable.

He saw his need. He desired to be transformed. Bartimaeus desired to recover. He desired to be saved. And as we know in Matthew 1 .21, one of the first promises we read in the New Covenant, His name shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.

And that's Jesus' desire to continually save us from our sins. Jesus is still in the saving business. But you know, as you look at the crop of Christians coming off today, we stop and look in the mirror and we ask ourselves, am I able to truly see my need?

Am I really gripped by my need? Do I have the capability of knowing that I am in need? We watch the locked state. Many are living today. We want to take heed to ourselves that this doesn't be the condition.

This doesn't be the place. We find ourselves that we live in such a state that we are not even able to detect that we have a need. Amazing story. We find, or in our account, in Revelation 3, in verse 17 there, the church of Lydiacea, they thought they were able to see.

And Jesus came along and gave them His perspective. He said, Because thou sayest, I am rich, I am increased in good, I have need for nothing, nada, nush. Knowest not that thou art wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

They were blind and didn't even know that they were blind. Living in darkness. We think, no possible way that could be me. I mean, if I'm blind, duh, I would be able to know. Look at it, beware. Look at it.

We have the potential to be in that state also. Blind and don't even know. Right there in the first part of Revelation 3, chapter 3 also, the church at Sardis, said they had a name that they lived. Jesus' perspective was, they're dead.

You're dead. He said, you're dead. Now can't somebody actually have a name out there, that he's alive and he's dead? We would think that's absurd. There's no possible way that that would be possible. Read the word of God.

Read it slowly. It tells us here, these two churches in Revelation chapter 3, one was blind and didn't even know, one was dead and didn't even know him. Christ came along, gave his perspective. We desire to know our need now.

Don't you? You want to stand before God someday and be surprised? We want to know our need now. Bartimaeus knew his need. Amazing account, not a story. Happened several years ago. True story. This one man, I forgot how old he was at the time, 60's or close to 60's, somewhere in that area.

Daughter left him at home, she took off, went to buy some stuff, came back, ah, where's Papa? Can't find him. Look all around the house, hollering for him, calling his name, where are you? Where are you?

Where are you? Oh, checked out in the barn, he wasn't there. The woods was right close to their land, looked in the woods for a little bit, shouted his name, couldn't find him, called 911, the rescue team came along, they begin to look, the neighbors, others begin to help.

Soon there was over 200 people looking for this man. So they're sweeping the forest, looking for him. Their little radios. All of a sudden the news came on, one of the radio, we found him. You know how they found him?

He's sitting over here on a little stump. One man was looking for him, passed by right him, didn't even see him. He's like, what are you looking for? Hmm? Fellow said, he's like, you? He said, you know what he said?

He said, what for? Man said, you're lost, we're looking for you. He said, no way, I'm home. This was in a September night, and it was cold. So he was cold, he didn't even knew it. He was lost, he didn't even knew it.

It's possible for you and I to be in that spiritual state. It's possible. It is possible. He didn't even knew his condition. They had to strap him down on the stretcher, pull him back out, take him home.

There's many people. Don't you hear it? Don't you see it? Go talk to the neighbors. You'll find out in a hurry. You know, Jesus is Lord. I'm home. I'm okay. I'm just fine. I'm doing just fine. Co-workers sometimes, you share Christ, and they find themselves, I ask, are you ready to die?

One of my co-workers recently, I said, are you ready to die? He said, for sure. Let it come when it come. Doesn't matter me. I said, no, are you ready to die? He, just fine. I mean, we don't even know if there's anything beyond the grave anyhow.

So, what does it take to get ready? I'm home. I'm fine. We could live in a state of being cold, lost, away from home. Away from home where God wants us to be. Where the Lord desires for us to be. And don't even know it.

Don't even know it. Brothers and sisters, we could be home today, and if we don't stand fast and stand firm, tomorrow, you could be out in the woods, cold, away from home, lost, and don't even know it.

I speak these things this morning, brothers, as an encouragement. And sisters, to you all, as an encouragement. Not a condemning way, by no means. But as an encouragement, we could shake each other. Hey, you know your need.

You have needs? No, no, no. Just fine. All my needs met. Blind Bartimaeus saw his need. He saw his condition. He cried out to the Lord, deception. The inability to know your true state. That's a simple way of explaining it.

The inability to know your true state, or seed. Many times our opinion of truth stops us from really understanding truth. Well, Bartimaeus knew his need. He saw it. And he cried out to Jesus. Will you?

Will you cry out to Him this morning, with your need? Persistently he did. We see here one of the great accounts of importunity, where a man was crying out, not just once, but until Jesus met his need.

He cried out. Son of David, have mercy on me. The crowd tried to stop him. Be quiet. Leave Jesus alone.

I don't have time for you. He cried out all the more, he said. Have mercy on me, Jesus.

You know, Bartimaeus saw something there too. Jesus is amazing. He saw something that the scribes, the Pharisees, many of these men didn't see. He saw Jesus was the one that would have been able to meet his need.

And he cried out. The crowd tried to hush him. The crowd is trying to hush us this morning. You hear the voices? You hear the voices? Don't try. You're never going to make it. You hear the voices? You've tried this before already.

Look at the state you're in again. You hear the voices? The crowd tried to hush you. Come this way. Look at this. See this? See that? Leave Jesus alone. Yes. The things of this world says, leave Jesus alone.

Jesus doesn't seem to want to help you. Don't you see you asked Him once already? It never worked for me. Yes, it works for others. I could see others, God meeting their needs. I could see others how the Lord blessed them.

And they could grow spiritually. But me? No. No, that's not possible. You hear the voices? You hear the voices? They try to stop you. They try to stop you from crying out. Well, I asked already. So, I won't anymore.

Beware of the voices of the crowd. Don't let them stop you from crying out to the Lord. You see your need? Son of David. New Covenant. Abba, Father. Papa. Papa, help me. Daddy, Daddy. Many times these things intimidate us.

The voices. The voices, they intimidate us. And we pull back. We pull on our little cloak, our garment. We pull back in more and just say, this is my condition. I might just always remain this way. Yeah, yeah.

Don't let the crowd, don't let the voices intimidate you. So, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2 .21. Isaiah 55, 6 and 7. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. It's passing by you this morning.

Call upon Him while He is near. Very, very near. He's very, very near. So near. I tell you, don't let the opportunity pass you this morning. Whatever your need might be, let Him show you, if you can't even see it too.

Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him. And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. Will you? Will you this morning?

Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. You know, passivity doesn't get this done. Okay? Listen up, church. Passivity doesn't get this done. You want to live a passive life? It's not for you. Okay? You desire a life for God?

Persistent Prayer and Calling on the Lord

Find your need. God. Oh, I long to be the papa that I should in my home. I find myself feeling terribly much. Bartimaeus, he acknowledged Jesus. He called Him by name. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.

He knew Jesus was the Savior. He knew Jesus was the One that would be able to do this for him. He knew this was the source in where he goes to find help. It was Jesus. He saw his predicament. He saw his condition.

The depth in which it was. He saw his incapability, his impotence of helping himself or even others helping him. He knew Jesus was the way for him out of this. So, he confessed Jesus. Right out. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.

He said, Jesus stood still. Jesus stood still. Now this God came down to us in flesh dwelling amongst men. Wouldn't you think he had the foreknowledge of what's going to happen as he passed through Jericho?

Bartimaeus is going to be over here, a blind man. And we're going to stop and heal him. Without even asking. There's accounts you find where Jesus healed, delivered, without the people asking. Legion.

He saw that man's condition. Possessed. He said, out. He went out to the pigs. Jesus stood still. He stood still for a purpose. He commanded him to be called. He's calling you this morning. He's saying, come to me.

Come to me, all ye that are laden, burdened, heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come. Come, Jesus is saying. Come. Do you have the capability of even hearing him this morning? Or you're so cold, so lukewarm, so far away that you can't even hear him.

Ask him to quiet your heart this morning so you could hear. Jesus said, come. Bring him to me. So they went over to Bartimaeus and they said, hey. Take it easy now. He's calling you. Let's go. Let's go.

Come on, come on. Bartimaeus. He was there. He's like, yeah. He cast aside his garment. He got up, it says. And he went to Jesus. Cast aside. Got up. Stand up and let your need known to Jesus. He wants to hear them.

He loves beggars, by the way. Don't despise beggars. Yeah? There's lazy beggars out there. But you could have never been saved if you weren't first a beggar. We're all beggars. And you continually remain to be saved because you're a beggar.

I'm not saying it's the beggar that decides salvation. Right? I trust you got what I'm trying to say. We continually cry out, Lord, save me. Help me. Guide me. Fill me. Use me. Well, Bartimaeus came to Jesus.

Jesus knew his condition. Jesus heard him saying, Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus could have said, it's okay. It's okay, Bartimaeus. He said, it's okay. And showed him compassion. Jesus asked him the question.

The same He asked us. What would you have me to do for you? And Bartimaeus didn't beat around the bush and just say, you know, give me love. No. He said specifically what he needed. Give me love for that brother.

Lord, give me a heart through love for this boss. Lord, give me the heart I need to to be the right husband. Lord, give me a submissive heart towards my husband so I could honor you. Bartimaeus was specific.

He said, that I may see. The crowd is quiet now. You could probably hear Bartimaeus breathing. He came with such excitement to Jesus. And we see one of the great miracles of Christ here. He said, your faith has made you whole.

You are able to see. Receive your sight. Bartimaeus received his sight. He first confessed to Jesus specifically what his need was. Do you know it this morning? Do you know it? Take it to Him. Jesus delights in hearing your needs.

He knows them already. But He wants to hear it from your lips. You find it in various accounts in the ministry of Christ. You find it in various accounts where He knew already what the need was for the people.

It's like, duh! We could see it. And Jesus said, what do you want? What do you want? What would you like? Don't you like it sometimes when the children come your way and they say, Papa, you know already what they want.

Can I go with you? Or something, you know. You're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. You could come with me. No, we like to hear sometimes. What is it? Can I go with you? Please, can we? He filled in the space. He was specific.

Lord, I have a grudge in my heart towards... Please, help me. And I find it when we're specific to God. As a young Christian, I was like, Lord, I don't want the devil to hear it because then he might want to tempt me more if I say it specifically.

So I just then say it quietly in my heart. I say, away with that. Great is He. He's able to give me the grace if I humble my heart, right? Let it known to Him exactly what it is, who it is, why it is.

He wants to hear it. He wants to hear it. Beaten around the bush and they say, you talk through the flower and you got all these sayings, you know. Don't do that with Jesus. Be specific with Him. And I say, God, I know your grace was there.

You went through similar stuff like this, didn't you? And you were able to overcome. Please pour out that grace upon me. Weak, weak, weak. I can't. I can't alone. Confess His need. He was specific. He believed.

It tells us here that He believes because He received His sight. And it was by faith that this took place. He said, without faith, it is impossible to please God. It tells us in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 and verse 6.

But without faith, it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Yes, Lord. Help me with this. Okay, yes.

Thank you.

Diligently. Please, Lord. I need it. I desire it. I want it, Lord. Please, please, please. What's your need this morning?

I trust that none of us are like the story of this man lost in the woods, cold, away from home because of his Alzheimer's. He was incapable of understanding, seeing, realizing what his true state was out in a dangerous place.

Bartimaeus believed this is the way we must come to God. We find there in the account of Mark 9 .23, this one man came along and they were trying to cast out the demon out of his son. And they couldn't.

And Jesus came and He said, okay, Jesus said in verse 23, Thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth. Believe the Word of God. He said, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Listen to the prayer and the cry of this man in verse 24 in Mark 9. Straightway the father of the child cried out with tears. He said, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. That's an encouragement to me.

Many times I come that way. It's like I desire, Lord, to believe. But I find within me still an element of unbelief there. Help my unbelief. Jesus ministered to him just like that. He was specific. Don't you think people were looking on too?

It's like, I don't want them to know. I'll pretend as if though I believe. The crowd, the voices, they try to stop you. Don't let them. Don't let them. And then you find this part more in the Luke 18 account.

You find more of these words. It said, and immediately he received his sight. He followed Him glorifying God. And all the people when they saw it gave praise unto God. So you see here then the whole follow-up of this thing.

Following Christ After Receiving Mercy

He saw Christ. He saw His need. He cried out to Him. He knew Jesus. He acknowledged Jesus as being the one that could help him. Not the books. Knowledge. Many theories out there. Jesus can help him. So simple.

Isn't it simple? Simple gospel it is. Don't make it complicated. He saw His condition. Yes, he believed. He came to Jesus and acknowledged Christ. He came persistently to Him. Believing in His heart. Jesus ministered to him.

And he glorified Jesus. He said he followed Him. When Jesus opened our eyes and He helped us in our need. It's not to then go run after some North American dream. Or go run after this. Or run after that.

The things of this world. And go run after my own agenda. And my own likings. And my own comfort. And we run after many other things than running after Christ. Following Him. After He helped us with our needs.

Don't you? Don't we find ourselves in that place many times? We're like, God help me, help me, help me. I'm going the wrong way here. Remember what you did for me. We turn to Him. Follow Him. We're glorifying.

Glorifying Him not just with our lips. But with our lives. With our lives. We desire Him to help us. Restore us. Save us. Transform us. Deliver us. In your need. Pulled us out of our predicament. That's why Jesus came.

That is why Jesus came. To pull us out of our predicament. That while you were yet sinners. He said, Christ died for you. You were still down in the slumps. In your own predicament. Couldn't save yourself.

He said, you want it? He sent His Spirit to convict you. And you begged Him. And He said, out you come. Put your feet on a rock to stay. Put a song in your heart. He said, a song of praise. Hallelujah.

We want to follow Him. We want to follow Him with passion. Without shame. Without shame. We find ourselves weak in these areas. Many, many times. Don't we? What's the temperature this morning? At your heart?

Does it match outside? Or it is so warm? For Christ. When last had the word of God burn in your heart? When last did you cry to God? Please. Do not take these words. In any way as condemning. I'm sharing this as encouragement to your brothers and sisters.

When last did you cry before God because of your need? Yeah. Five years ago. Brother. Perhaps you're out in the woods. You hurt a brother. Offended someone. In a wrong way. Sometimes we preach the gospel and they get offended.

That's their problem. And I say that in the right way. I trust you understand it that way too. We hurt our wives. There's no response to it. There's no apology. No sorry. No forgive me. You're that cool?

You see your need and then when you see your need you realize, God I don't want to be here. Where I find it in my own life personally is with my children. The most. Be consistently loving them. In a impartial way.

Being patient with them. As they grow. And you can pray for me in that. I desire prayer in that. Share that various times here. And I thank God for what he's been doing in my own heart. Desire him to do more.

That's my longing. My desire. I want Christ. Engulf my bosom. It would explode with him. Read this verse in closing. Ephesians 3. Ephesians 3 verse 20. He said now unto him. This is the one you cry out to.

This is the one you look to. This is the one you make your need specifically known to. Unto him that is able. He is able. Do you believe these words? To do. He's able to do. He's able to do more than that.

Right? He's able to do exceedingly. More than that. Abundantly. More than that. Above all that we ask or think. According to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church. By Christ Jesus.

Throughout all ages. World without end. Amen. I ask you this morning. You have a need. Had the Lord. You with the Lord been able to identify that need this morning. In your life. Are you willing to cry out to him.

To minister to that need. He's eager to help you. He longs to. He desires it. Cry out to Jesus. I'm leading the singing. So I find a song here. Just as I am. I want to give you that invitation this morning.

I'm not asking anyone to come up here. Just as in your seat you bow your heart before God. Make known your need to him this morning. Tell him what's on your heart. Please. We don't want to get to that condition.

Where we're out in the woods. Cold. Away from home. Don't even know it. But if you and I don't respond to the word of God. When he speaks to us. That's where you're going to end up. That's where we're going to find ourselves.

Drifting slowly. Lord bless.