A Blind Man Sees
Notes
Transcript
The blindness of Bartimaeus
The blindness of Bartimaeus
READ Mark 10:46-52.
total blindness
life-long?
defines him as a beggar
How are our infirmities and wounds used to identify us?
Alcoholic/Druggie
“Bar Crowd”
Suicide Survivor
Abused/Abuser
Eating Disorder
Mentally/Emotionally Unhealthy
Divorced
Prodigal child
Bartimaeus “Sees”
Bartimaeus “Sees”
Bartimaeus CRIES OUT!
The people rebuke
CRAB BUCKET- when others will not let you move toward a better way
Same thing happened to Gerasene Demoniac
The Disciples (evangelists) bring good news, Take Heart. Get up. He is calling you.
Bartimaeus “threw off his cloak”, “sprang up”
Spiritual Blindness
Spiritual Blindness
2 Corinthians 4:3–6 “3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
We are blinded by Satanic efforts at distraction, delusion, redefinition, alienation and destruction
We are also blinded by our own self-centered habits of mind and behavior.
Too inward looking to see Christ and others
If we could see Jesus in truth, we would:
fall down to worship
adore Him
treasure Him above all else
move past petty idols
care much less about superficial, trivial, temporal, trendy, useless things, and more about the eternal
We Shall See…
We Shall See…
1 John 3:1–3 “1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”
“Company is coming…clean the house”
1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
1 Corinthians 13:11–12 “11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”