Don't Wait, Go!

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This sermon was given on April 25, 2010. The audio version does not match exactly with the written text.  You can listen to the sermon by clicking the play button Here

This morning I am going to be expounding on Matthew 10:11-15. There was a man that had an acquaintance that was in the hospital for bronchitis. He felt a distinct prompt from the Holy Spirit to go an talk to that man. He thought he would go see him after the man recovered from the hospital. He again felt the distinct prompting. At this point he determined that he would go. Life got busy as it often does and he forgot about this determination. The man's acquaintance was dead in the next week. He did from complication of pneumonia. He now carries the grief of not going and sharing the gospel with him.

It seems that in order to receive a message you first have to receive the messenger and then you have to listen. This may seem very obvious to some, but it bears repeating. In order to receive a message you first have to receive the messenger and listen to the message. Now in this case Jesus is not addressing those that would receive the message, but rather the messengers themselves. By extrapolation then we can say that this instruction is for us as well when if comes to the spread of the Gospel.

The first command is to Go! In Matthew 10:7 Jesus says, "As you go..." We are to go into the world, ministering to the needs of others, while sharing the all important message of "the Kingdom of Heaven."

In this section (Matthew 10:11-15) Jesus is telling his disciples what they are to do when they arrive. The first order of business was to find a worthy person to stay with. I struggle with this part because I am not sure what method or measure we are to use to determine worthiness. It seems that the disciples were to ask around to find this worthy person, but worthy for what? I think it is directing us to a person that hospitable and open. This seems to make the most sense to me. I have in the past attempted to share the Gospel with those that were inhospitable and closed to hear anything about God. The danger of this type of interaction is that it rarely leads to a change and often just reinforces what the unbeliever already stereotypes Christians as being. In that sense then a worthy person is one that is welcoming, and open to hearing something from you. I can think of Paul's trip to Athens (Acts 17:16-34). In that passage we find that Paul first went to the Synagogue (Acts 17:17), next the market place, and then Areopagus. In each of these circumstances Paul was sharing with those that were open to hearing him out. It does not appear that all agreed with him though. Some ridiculed him, some said they wanted to hear from him again, and some believed. It is also interesting to note that Paul left the presence of those that ridiculed him. Another time when Paul traveled to Corinth to start a church in that city he found a couple Aquila and his wife Priscilla (Acts 18:1-3). They took Paul into their home and gave him work to do. It would seem that Paul determined they were worthy and he stayed with them throughout his time in Corinth.

Once a person was determined to be worthy then the disciples were to offer a peace blessing on the home. It is interesting to me that often we easily fall out of the command to offer a blessing of peace to the people that are the recipients of the message of Christ. All to often we debate, deride, ridicule, dismiss those that do not believe as we do. In some sense it is a gospel according to the flesh. "I know I am right and you are wrong so don't challenge me, don't fight me, just listen it is for your own good. Jesus died for your sins after all." I must admit I have been there myself. God grant mercy to those that I have been a stumbling block to. A blessing of peace is quite a thing. If we are to bless then it seems that we selfishly keep it for ourselves. We bless those that bless us. Jesus was saying something quite different here. He was suggesting that we speak blessing and peace without regard to where the person stood at the end of our encounter.

How does one bless another's home? Prayer certainly can be a good place to start. Sharing the Gospel without prayer is a real good way to ensure that you are arguing with the mind or the flesh. Our weapons though are not soulful or fleshly. They are spirit. If the message of the Cross is a spiritual message then it would seem to me that being in communion with God's Spirit would be a requisite part of the process. Pray for the peace of God to fill another's home then. What is more we can bring a blessing of peace by being good guests so to speak. I think American's have a difficult time with the concept of being a good guest. We expect as guests to be served and waited on. Not so with Paul. Notice that Paul promptly went to work with Priscilla when he stayed with him in Corinth. Paul the missionary of missionaries there making tents to supply for his own need. I must admit I struggle with this as well. We can be a blessing by speaking peaceably. There is a time for forceful presentations to be sure, but by in large it is the peaceable person that will lead another person to the Lord. We can be a blessing of peace if we speak in such a manner that others are likely to listen to us. Being vulgar or abusive is not a blessing and it certainly is not peaceable. I would also say that keeping passions in check is important to being a blessing of peace to others. It is often our passion (fleshly ones at that) which lead us astray into paths of defensiveness, hurtfulness, strife, and destructiveness. Keeping passions in check is no easy task when it comes to sharing the Gospel. We cannot expect others to be so kind to us. In fact there will be those that we do not reach.

When we strive to be a blessing of peace though our peace returns to us when the other person is not willing to receive that peace. At this point unworthiness is defined by not reciving your nor the message. We are not to take this personally. Jesus said, "If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me before it hated you." (John 15:18) We are to realize that the peace which we offered has been rejected and returns to us in that instance.

Now some time passes and it becomes clear that the town is not going to convert to Christ. I am not sure how much time passes (God knows), but it has become clear that the audience for the message is either rejecting the message outright or not willing to listen at all. I think the hardest thing in the world is to make a break with someone when it becomes clear they are not ready to receive the message. One hopes beyond hope that a person will see it my way. If we continue down this path it is likely that the only way of conversion is by manipulation or by way of force. However, true conversion is by faith and faith alone. If a person cannot come to that place then manipulation or force will not save them. So break we must.

As a symbolic gesture of that break Jesus commands his disciples to shake the dust off of their feet. In order to understand this gesture you have to understand a practice of Jews at the time of Christ. To the devout Jew Palestine was Holy. Not just the place, but the very dust of the ground was considered Holy. When a Jew returned from a foreign city they believed that unholy dust clinched to their feet. This would lead them to shake their feet to rid themselves of the unholy dust so as not to pollute the holy dust of Palestine.

Was Jesus introducing a superstitious practice here? I do not believe so. I believe that Jesus was going with a more symbolic meaning. In the other gospels that record this event it is said that the disciples were to do this as a witness against them. In that case then it is saying we have brought a message to you and you have neither welcomed us nor accepted the message. We are not responsible for your rejection of the message. They are also making a break in fellowship with them. You see these were Jews and the Disciples were fellow Jews.

It is a sad case that there will be those whose hearts will not be changed. It is their hardness of heart that keeps them from being changed by the power of the Gospel. Making that choice hardness begets more hardness and leads them further down a path of disbelief. Arguing with a person that is on this path only chases them further along the way. That is why a break is needed.

It will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of Judgment than for those that reject the messengers and the message. That seems like quite a statement. God rained down his judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah for several sins. They had a complete disregard for God and the things of God that they were judged. They were in full on rebellion against God that they were judged and condemned. They Bible explains that they were sinning against God (Gen 13:13), guilty of moral corruption and rejecting God (Deut 32), engaged in full on sinfulness with no shame (Isa 3:9), guilty of adultery, falsehood, helping evil doers, and lack lack of repentance (Jer 23:14), promoted idolatry, prostitution, a lack of social justice (Ezek 16), and given themselves over to sexual perversion (Jude 1:7). That only to say that for these towns that rejected Christ's message for which these disciples were ambassadors are worthy of greater punishment. In my mind that is quite extraordinary. Yet there is is. Let me read it. Jesus said,

I assure you: It will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town
Matthew 10:15

The first phrase in this first sentence is "Amen I am saying to you." Jesus is removing any doubt about where He stands on this issue. His resolve is certain. There is no grace for those that reject the Gospel. And in the day of judgment they will face certain punishment. We tend to sugar coat the Christian message. I used to think that it was because we don't want to scare people off. I have come to the realization that so few Christians are engaged in witnessing that we sugar coat things we don't have to consider the responsibility we have shirked when it comes to spreading the message. To be sure those that do not accept Christ as their Lord and Savior will face eternal judgment and separation from God and loved ones who have gone on before them.

This judgment is a terrible fire (Matthew 25:31). It is a time in which we all will have to give account for our deeds whether good or bad, every careless word will come under the scrutiny of our Lord (Matthew 12:36). As Christians we will not escape Judgment.

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 says: For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on that foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one's work will become obvious, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one's work. If anyone's work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, it will be lost, but he will be saved; yet it will be like an escape through fire.

So for the Christian the terrible fire of judgment is a purification process leading to greater purity. The unbeliever on the other hand it is something much worse:

Revelation 20:13-15 says: Then the sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead; all were judged according to their works. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

If your name is not written in the book of life in the day of judgment it means that you have rejected the Gospel. I believe that every person's name is written in the Book of life . As long as that person has breath they have an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. Once they die if they never repent of the rejection of God's Grace their names are blotted out (that is erased) from the book of life (See Exodus 32:30-35; Ps 9:3-5; Ps 69:27-28, Rev 3:5). Having your named erased from the book of life means that you will face everlasting punishment (Rev 20:15).

I hope that is not true for anyone here this morning. I would be naive though to believe that everyone here has a relationship with Christ. If you have not made that step. Then I ask you, I implore you, take that first step. Enter into a loving relationship with the one that loves you enough to give his life for you. That is good news we can be free of sin and eternal death. If you are in a saving relationship with Christ then I have a question. Are you going to a lost world? If not then why not? When we go we need to find those that are open to the message. We need to be messengers of peaceful blessing. We have to acknowledge that there will be those that do not accept what you have to say. There are some that you may need to make a break with who refuse the gospel. The point is that we need to get involved in our mission to reach lost souls for Christ. We have to do it now. If we don't then we risk becoming like the man who waited too long to speak to the acquaintance in the hospital. That man caries that grief. That man was me. Don't wait. Let's Pray

My Burden is Light

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"Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."Matt 11:28-30 (HCSB)

He said, "Why is following Christ so hard?"   I had to agree with him at the time, but God has been showing me a different way of late.  If your walk with the Lord is difficult then something is missing in light of this verse above.  So what is missing?

Think about a yoke for a second.  What is a yoke for?  It is used on some beast of burden (Horse, Ox, etc) to pull a heavy load (cart, plow, wagon, etc).  Sometimes these are single and sometimes as a team.  The yoke purpose is to harness the power of the animal to accomplish the task of the one leading the animal. 

There are many yokes that we can burden ourselves with in this life.  Debt, work, bosses, partners in business, family members, sickness, rebellion,  and fear are a few among many burdens that we yoke ourselves with.  These burdens become our master of sorts as we try to pull them along.  In some ways they are cumulative.  Each adding to the stress of our life. 

I cannot recall my feelings when I was saved whether I felt lighter or not, but I have had others who  have come to Christ tell me that it was "like a burden lifted away."  So then what happens? 

It is my firm belief that we take these burdens back on.  However, that is not the biggest issue.  The biggest problem is that we are not willing to take on the yoke of Christ.  The beast of burden must submit his will to accomplish the work of the person leading.  As Christians we have to submit our will to the plan an purpose of Christ if we are to take on His yoke. 

The choice is simple when we realize that self-will leads to being burdened by the worries of the world and this life, and submission (taking on the yoke of Christ) leads to rest.  God will call you to work, but He will give you what you need to accomplish His work, His yoke will be easy and His burden will be light.  It just takes willingness.   A willing heart will move the difficult walk to a blessed walk every time. 

The Lord of the Harvest

I would like to talk with you this morning about something that deeply stirs the heart of Jesus Christ. I pray that we are ready to be moved by what moves our savior. I hope that we can share in his compassion that he feels for a lost and dying world. I pray that if you don't have a relationship with Christ that you would consider today whether Christ may be holding open arms ready to receive you and heal your physical, emotional, and spiritual brokenness. Lets read from Matthew 9 verses 32-38

32 Just as they were going out, a demon-possessed man who was unable to speak was brought to Him. 33 When the demon had been driven out, the man spoke. And the crowds were amazed, saying, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!"

34 But the Pharisees said, "He drives out demons by the ruler of the demons!"

35 Then Jesus went to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. 36 When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." Matt 9:32-38 (HCSB)

I was moved as I learned what moved the heart of our Savior. Looking at verse 36 we can see into the heart of Jesus. He say that he was moved with compassion. Compassion is a wonderful emotion that we do not often experience. We are not moved nor do we typically see it as a quality in others. There is something deeply spiritual about compassion. There is a strong connection between the person feeling the compassion and the object that compassion is felt for. Jesus looked out at the people as he was traveling from village to village town to town city to city and was moved with compassion.

Jesus saw how they were weary, worn out, and like sheep without a shepherd.

Weariness is a hard place to be. The Greek paints the word picture of being flayed, troubled, or harassed. Life is filled with conflicts that lead a person to feel weary. At times it may feel like you are being cut up by the world around you. Maybe some other person is tearing you apart. There is trouble in this life. We all face difficulties (some more than others), but I think that we all can understand trouble. Harassment is weary when it does not stop. The devil likes to harass. He continues on and on and on. He gets a foothold in your life and mounts a harassing attack that is difficult to recover from. Sometimes other people can harass. They keep on bugging you with distractions, interruptions, or with words you do not want to hear. We all can relate to the weariness. I have good news for you Jesus sees your weariness.

As if weariness is not enough then we can become worn out. There are some here this morning that are worn out by life. It has become "too much" You are cast down, flung out, and tossed about in this life.

Jesus looked out and saw that they were like sheep without a shepherd. I know this is not going to sound pleasant, but I become more and more convinced that people are like sheep. We need a shepherd to guide us through life. Give us freedom and we certainly make the worst of it and get ourselves into all kinds of trouble. The people were starving for Spiritual truths with no one to guide them to green pastures. They were lost without hope. And this moved the heart of our savior. He did not say pitiful creature. He was moved with compassion. Pity and compassion are similar. However pity is the sorrow and regret that is felt toward another's misfortune. It is possible to feel pity and not be moved. It is possible to feel pity and keep on walking by. It is possible to feel pity and do nothing. Compassion is different in this way. Compassion is an awareness of another's suffering with a deep desire to relieve the suffering. You are moved with compassion. It is not possible for compassion to walk on by. It is not possible to feel compassion and do nothing.

Jesus felt compassion for these that were weary, worn out, and like sheep without a shepherd. This morning Jesus feels compassion for those that are weary worn out, and like sheep without a shepherd.

Jesus does three things when he is moved with compassion in this passage. First he heals. There was a man possessed by a demon. This demon caused the man to be mute. When the man was brought to Jesus he cast out the demon and the man talked. The ailment was cured. Jesus also would heal various sickness and diseases. His compassion led him to act and bring healing to those people. I have recently come to understand that miraculous healings are given to us as a sign of authority of Christ. These healing were no doubt amazing to behold, but they were not an end to themselves. They were a sign to give audience to what he was saying.

Jesus taught. Everyday Jesus was teaching the Word of God. He was enlightening the people with wonderful and uplifting teachings. He also was confronting error and sin with his teaching as well. Jesus brought hard teachings as well as explaining that His yoke was easy. At first this might seem a contradiction. It has to be received by faith. You see everything that Jesus taught was hard if it was not received by faith. But if it was believed then it becomes the most glorious truth that one can experience. It brings peace and comfort to the weary, worn, and lost soul. The whole of this book the Bible is filled with the wonder of God and if we receive it by faith then we ourselves will certainly be blessed.

Jesus preached the Good News. The good news is the Gospel. It is the message. It is the path from this life into eternity with God. Good news is the path of peace. Good news is the power of spiritual victory and life. Good news is to all, but only some will receive it. Like Jesus' teachings it also must be received by faith. It is Good news to those that receive it. Jesus preached the Kingdom of heaven when he shared the good news. John 3:16 is the good news summed up.

For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 (HCSB)

God loves you so much that he sent his son (Jesus) to die for you. Why did Jesus have to die? Sin. Your sin, my sin, the world's sin. Sin means that we miss the mark. Let's face it we all miss the mark. We cannot even live up to our own standards let alone God's standards for life. We fall short. When we fall short then we are helpless without any hope of entering into a relationship with God. That is until God sent His Son Jesus Christ. It is not enough that He sent Him though. There has to be a response. We have to believe in Christ to be saved. When we believe in God's son Jesus then we have eternal life. We will live on with God in Heaven in His Kingdom. What must one do to believe in Christ. We have to turn our lives over to Him. We are sheep without a shepherd at best, but we are sheep with doubting, hateful, hurtful shepherds at worst. We need a shepherd. You may not want to admit it, but we need to be shepherded in this life. Believing in Jesus is allowing Him to be the Shepherd of our live. If you have never submitted your life to Christ as the shepherd of your life would you be willing to do that today. He is moved with compassion for you and is willing to bring you peace. Are you willing to receive it? Jesus preaches the good news.

So how did the people respond? Some by faith! The people that witness the miraculous healing of the mute man were amazed. The recognized that nothing like this had ever been done before. I have to say that in my work as a counselor I have the opportunity to be amazed. Jesus now works through the Holy Spirit of God to bring healing into people's lives. I see it every day where God is working to bring some kind of healing. Unfortunately not everyone was amazed. The Pharisees doubted. Some respond by faith others by doubt. The Pharisees took their doubt to the next level. They accused Jesus of casting out demons by the ruler of demons. Their doubt was not a lack of faith, but rather an out and out rejection of the person of Jesus Christ as well as profaning the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about these miracles of God. They were rejecting the sign of Jesus' authority given by the Holy Spirit's Power!

Jesus asked the disciples to pray. He was a man and could only be in one place at a time. As he looked out at the people he saw a task that was greater than his humanity. While on earth Jesus limited himself to dwell in the flesh as we are in the flesh. Imagine a God sized compassion bound to live with the limit of the flesh. The sheer agony that he must have felt as he looked upon those people. So he asked the disciples to pray that the Lord of the Harvest would send out workers. So they prayed.  Consider this story.

One Sunday morning after preaching, I was standing at the exit of our Church shaking hands and thanking people for coming. A young man who was a first time visitor began to exit with tears in his eyes. He paused as if to ponder something over deeply and then walked in my direction. He extended his hand towards mine and with a firm handshake began to tell me that he had made a decision to take a different course for his life. "I know that I will be all right now," he said, "I have carried this too long and now I have made up my mind to live." He did not want to speak more . . . just thanked me and shook my hand once more as he left.

I have often received things in a hand shake. People have "palmed" me money for special needs within the church. But, I have never received anything like what that young man gave me as he shook my hand and left the church. Inside a folded up one dollar bill was a live round from a 38 caliber hand gun. The young man had been pondering committing suicide and with the encouragement found in God's word -- had changed his mind.

Every now and then, I take out this little "treasure" that I keep in a drawer of my desk. It helps me to focus on how important the work of the Lord is. My prayer is that each Christian could realize the impact that they can have -- and treat each day as if it might just be -- somebody's last. (My Little Treasure, Rev Shelton Cole, http://www.sermon.org)

Is it possible for us to be moved, filled with the compassion of Christ to make a difference in somebody's life?

Some responded with faith, Some responded with doubt and some looked on with compassion and awareness of the size of the task before them.

We have the same choices this morning as the people present before Christ did on that day.

Are you weary this morning? Have you been flayed by the circumstances of your life? Good news Jesus sees and is moved with compassion!

Are you worn out, cast down? Have you been flung out like trash? Do you feel tossed about? Good news Jesus sees and is moved with compassion.

Do you feel lost? Has your life lost direction and purpose? Are you looking for something someone to believe in? Have you become hardened by the lies and deceit of the politicians and grieved by the infidelity, lack of morals, absent integrity of our leaders? Good news Jesus sees and is moved with compassion.

So how will you respond? Please do not harden your heart as the Pharisees did. Jesus wants to bring healing and hope into your life, but he cannot do this unless you receive him by faith. You need to turn your life around! Why not make today the day you turn around and received the gift of salvation that God is providing right now. Don't wait. We don't have any guarantees of how long we might live. Tonight your soul may be required of you. Can you meet Jesus knowing that you have trusted in him? Please do not wait until it is too late.

The workers continue to be few. As I look at the task of rescuing souls I am personally overwhelmed at the task. One of the reasons I feel it is so important to teach faith evangelism class is because I see a harvest of souls that is way beyond anything I could hope to reach in a billion life times. And I only get one. We need workers. We need them now. We are nearing one of the saddest times in the life of the Body of Christ. If we continue the path we are on now there will be a tipping of Christians here on this earth. That is to say more people will be going to meet Jesus in heaven than those who are being reborn by faith. This is a desperate time. Every generation of the churches has experienced growth in the Body of Believers. Ours is a time of decline. In the last decade in the United States there was a 9% decline in church membership. There was an 11% growth in the population over that same period. Taken together that would a 20% total swing in just the last ten years. Could it be that we now stand at one of the most infamous moments in church history a decline in the Body of Christ? I say no! I say we take our stand here! I say no more walking though life with pity and no compassion! I say no more lost souls never hearing the Gospel on our watch. Will you stand with me. Will you look on the people with the eyes of Christ. Will you dare to be moved with compassion to reach the weary, worn out, lost souls. The harvest is ripe! Pray that the Lord of the harvest would send out workers to bring in the harvest. Pray that God would fill your heart with compassion, that he would move you, that you would take action to bring light to a lost and dying world. The time is now, the harvest is ripe. Let's pray!

Matthew 9:27-31

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I would like to talk with you this morning about healing. The real stuff. We live in a time of great skepticism. Rightly so I would add. There are many around us that are engaged in deception. It seems that many are in it for themselves. We become untrusting of anything and at times we become so hardened that we even begin to doubt God and His power. Today's scripture stands in stark contrast with the mood of our time. I hope that I can get out of the way enough in this sermon that you would see the hope that Jesus Christ has to offer your life.


Lets read:

27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, shouting, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 28 When He entered the house, the blind men approached Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they answered Him. 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith!” 30 And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus warned them sternly, “Be sure that no one finds out!” 31 But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout that whole area.

Matt 9:27-31 (HCSB)




Jesus had just performed two amazing miracles. He had healed a woman that had been bleeding for a long time and just raised a young girl from the dead. He was heading to a house. It was most likely Peter's house as they were accustom to stay there when they were in Capernium. On his way to Peter's house two men who were blind approached Jesus.


I think of our own lives. How often we hear about what Jesus has done in other people's lives. It seems like God is always moving in other's lives. Then when it comes to our own lives then we are blinded by our circumstances. I think that we look at the things around us and say, “This is too much.” At times we come to the end of our own ability and then despair sets in. Proverb 13:12 says, “Delayed hope makes the heart sick.” Heart sickness is pervasive in our time.


Consider the recent swine flu epidemic. We have over the last several weeks been subjected to every kind of analysis of the threating pandemic that faces our world. We have seen communities in a panic. However, when we look objectively at what has happened over the last month then a different picture is painted. In the last month (in the United States) only 4 deaths have been linked to swine flu. I out of curiosity looked up the CDC stats for death rates. Based on 2005 numbers nearly 170 people a day die from complications of flu and pneumonia. Stated another way if we can assume that the numbers are similar to this year we can say that compared to the regular flu the amount of people that died from the swine flu would account for a fraction of a percent of the total flu deaths.


Let's face it that anxiety did not come from the legitimate threat of illness. I also would say that it did not come from the news media, though they had a hand in fanning the flame of our anxiety. Anxiety is a heart sickness. Proverb 12:25 says, “Anxiety in a man's heart ways it down.” You see fears and doubts come from within us. We are so materialistic in our day and age that if it cannot be seen, quantified, or felt then we doubt the very existence of the thing. When it comes to our relationship with God then this becomes a serious issue because God transcends being seen, quantified, or felt when doubt is present.


Let's look back at these verses in Matthew. The two men were shouting, “Have mercy on us.” How often we come to God with a request for his mercy. We desire that God would look our way and show his compassion on our miserable situation. We desire that God would make a way for the physical affliction that we are facing. We wrestle with the desire to see God turn a loved one around. We long to be delivered from that sin that keeps us in bondage. We fight through the pain hoping that God will some how touch and heal our body. Lord have mercy on us we pray.


Then these two say, “Son of David.” It is interesting to note that throughout the book of Matthew and Luke that this phrase “Have Mercy on me” seems to always be connected to the three words, “Son of David.” The phrase Son of David is a very important term. It is a designation of the Jesus Christ as the anticipated savior of the Jews. The idea of one who would come to save them was a significant part of Jewish thought in Jesus' day. These two were identifying Jesus as the savior of the Jews. The believed him to be this promised messiah. The term “Son of David” was based on prophecies written in the Old Testament that a new king would come from the line of David to rule forever (Is 9:7; Jer 33:17). Think about that for a second. This humble carpenter form Nazareth was being addressed as the new king of the Jews by these two blind men.


What can we learn from this? I think that it is important to note that these two did not approach Jesus as some sort of miracle worker, they did not seek him as a prophet of God, they sought Him as their savior. Stated simply Jesus is the savior of all those who believe in Him. Have you come to Jesus as your savior. Or are you simply looking at him as a miracle worker? Have you come to Jesus as your savior or are you seeing Him as a man with good moral teachings that lived about 2000 years ago? Is Jesus the “Son of David” in your mind? We must approach Jesus as the Christ the savior of us all if we are to go the next step with Him.


So these two acknowledged Jesus as their messiah the “Son of David.” But Jesus did not respond but continued on to the house. I do not pretend to understand why Jesus continues to walk by and not heal them in that place. Some commentary says that at this point the crowds were becoming so overwhelming that Jesus could no longer heal in public. Some indicated that he was not ready to be exalted to the place of kingship. I think there might be a deeper more personal meaning here. Jesus walked by and continued to Peter's house. The blind men followed Jesus in spited of their continued blindness. Without healing they were content to follow him where he was going that they might be with him. They had hope that Jesus was not going to let them stay in their state of blindness. A few minutes ago I shared the first half of Proverb 13:12 “A delayed hope makes the heart sick” I left out the second half which says, “but a fulfilled desire is a tree of life.” Also Proverb 12:25 “Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down,” again the second half says, “but a good word cheers it up.” These men were seeking a fulfilled desire. They longed for the good word that would bring healing to their lives.


Sometimes we are in this spot between acknowledging Jesus as our savior and seeing fulfilled desire. The road between saying “Have mercy on me my savior” and when we enter into the fellowship of His blessings for us is a crisis of faith. How long are you willing to walk with the Savior in order for him to bring healing into your life. Are you willing to walk to the house with him? How about the next town? Maybe your whole life? Do you have faith that God has something better for you than what is found on the street when you happened to bump into Jesus walking your way?


So often we unlike these two are walking along in our own lives and we see Jesus coming our way and we say have mercy on us Jesus. We might even stop for a second to watch as he passes by. Even after we say man that was a wonderful encounter with Jesus. And then we continue on our way. Notice we continue on our way, not His way! Sad really. We say that we want a savior yet we are not willing to walk with him. Which direction is Jesus walking in your life? Are you know willing to be obedient and follow him? There is a Hymn that says “Where ever he leads I'll go.” Can we sing that song and mean it with all of our hearts? These two followed.


Then Jesus entered the house and presumably these two followed. Jesus asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They responded, “Yes Lord.” This was their statement of faith. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” Being blind these two had no opportunity to be a witness of the works of Jesus. They like ourselves were dependent on witnesses to share the works of Jesus. Yet in their hearing they came to believe upon Jesus without seeing it first hand. That is faith. In critiquing the philosophers of his time Kierkegaard made the point that everyone is going beyond faith, and he asked where is it that they are going? I think that is a good question. Kierkegaard thought that “Faith is the highest passion in a human being.” I believe that his critique was the turning of faith from the proof of what is not seen into the tangible reality of what can be reasoned. Don't get me wrong. God gave us the ability to reason and the power of understanding. However, reason had no place in this setting. There is no reasonable explanation of how somebody blind can receive sight. That my friends is quite unreasonable.


Think about the circumstances that you are facing right now. Hold that thought. Now I ask you as simple question, “Do you believe that Jesus is able to do this?”


Father God strengthen our faith. Help us in our weakness and feebleness. Transform our despair into hope. Change what cannot be seen into the proof and reality of faith.


Jesus responded, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” Let me say something that is very challenging. Spiritually speaking you can only go as far as your faith will take you! Let me say that again. Spiritually speaking you can only go as far as your faith will take you! I don't say that as a criticism but as an encouragement. I have started working out for the last couple of months. When I started out I could only lift so much. I read that to grow in strength you have to add extra weight each time that you perform that exercise. The greater the resistance the greater strength is built. I think there is a good analogy to faith. Have you been working out your faith? Are you adding on to the weight that your faith might be strengthened? Is there a greater resistance now than when you first came to the Lord? Or are busy pressing the same 5 lbs that you had when you first came to the Lord? You will not grow spiritually without increasing in faith. Do you have weakness in faith? Praise God, because God is a prayer away from helping you in your unbelief. Mark 9:24 says, “Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe! Help my unbelief.”” This man was seeking a healing of his son. He had enough faith to come to Christ and yet was aware of doubting that was within. He asked for help and was granted this measure of faith. You see God is a rewarder of those that seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.” Let us grow in faith that God may take us into greater things as we humbly walk with him.


This story has a sad note. To be sure the two blind men received the healing from blindness that they were seeking. Jesus then gave them specific instructions to not tell anyone. It seems a strange thing when you look at this on the surface. But when we read Mark 1:45 “Yet he went out and began to proclaim it widely and to spread the news, with the result that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly. But He was out in deserted places, and they would come to Him from everywhere.” we find out that as Jesus popularity grew he was less able to minister to the needs of people. I speak to his humanity here. Jesus was a man and could only be that man ministering to the people around him. When the crowd became too large he had to move on.


Now it is interesting that they are told to not proclaim Christ and they go out and spread the news. We are told to proclaim and most have not shared Christ more than a handful of times and some have never shared Christ. However, can I say that the effect of this disobedience is the same. They proclaimed which inhibited Jesus from ministering in that town. We don't proclaim which inhibits Jesus from ministering in our community.


Sometimes we do not doubt God and that he is able. At times we simply do not want to obey. Faith and obedience must go hand in hand if we are going to see the power of God manifested in our lives. It is the denial of self that lead to greater measure of faith which comes from this type of obedience. Who is on the throne of your life? Self or God?


Let me summarize what we have learned from this passage. First we must approach Christ as our “Son of David,” our Messiah, our Savior and our Lord. Then we must be willing stop going our own way and walk with our Lord in the direction that He is going. Next we have to believe that God is a rewarder of those that seek Him. If our faith is weak then we must be willing to let God help us and put us through a spiritual work out to strengthen our faith. Finally we must walk in obedience to our Lord and Savior. If we do not walk in obedience we inhibit the work of God in our lives and in the lives of those around us.