Episode Transcript
Welcome to The Nation's Church Podcast. We hope this message blesses you. Who's ready for the word of God? I can't wait to preach this sermon. Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18. It says this in verse 35. Then it happened, as he, talking about Jesus, was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging, and hearing a multitude or a crowd passing by, he asked what it meant. So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by and he cried out saying, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Watch this, verse 39, Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet, but he cried out all the more, Son of David! Have mercy on me. So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he come near, he asked him, saying, what do you want me to do for you? He said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. I'm going to read that again. He asked him, saying, what do you want me to do for you? How many of you know that when Jesus is asking a question, he's not looking for information. He's looking for a response. Come on, 8:30, Mairi, come on. He said, Lord, that I may my sight then Jesus said to him this is a very important theological statement he said receive your sight your faith has made you well and immediately he received his sight and followed him glorifying God and all the people when they saw it gave praise to God can we give Jesus a big shout of praise to the incredible text thank you so much guys today my message message is simply called The Faith of Bartimaeus. The faith of Bartimaeus. I sense in the Lord to come back one week out from conference, come back to the whole declaration we spoke over our church at the start of the year, simply called Faith. You would still notice it, I hope, when you walk in through the foyers, just look up. That's that big word, faith. I want to speak to you in particular about the faith of Bartimaeus. I also have a bit of a disclaimer. Straight off the bat this sermon may have some disturbing content. So it's a little bit like listener discretion is advised So if you're a little bit religious, you're a little bit legalistic or a little bit of a Pharisee today's sermon will bother you Okay, I am mucking around but my prayer at the end of this message is that you guys will have an incredibly Wonderfully strengthening and deepening experience of your faith than you've ever had before. Okay, that's that's the journey we're gonna go on today Because as I read the Gospels, and I've come back a little bit to the Gospels lately, I have begun to notice the interactions that people have with Jesus. And when I read about the interactions that people have with Jesus, I'm deeply challenged by the way the Gospels depict the faith of the people that had an encounter with Jesus. It is no question, there should be no question to any of us how powerful Jesus is. How many of you believe in the power of Jesus? Seven of you. Come on. How many believe that Jesus still has the power to heal? Jesus is the Son of God, the King of Kings, right? But when we read the Gospels, I want you to come with me on a journey today to see how the Gospels actually give us a template as to how we ought to be in our discipleship journey with Jesus. And one way to see how we ought to be in our discipleship journey with Jesus is when you read the Gospels, try and observe what Jesus commends and what he rebukes. If you want to know how we ought to be with Jesus, have an astute eye to see how, when people interact with Jesus, what he applauds and what he corrects. Are you following me so far? And here he has an encounter, or rather a blind man named Bartimaeus has an encounter with Jesus, and Jesus says this, Receive your sight. Your faith has made you well. That word well is the Greek word sozo. It's such a huge word that we actually don't have an equivalent English word. It conjures up... images of being saved, being healed, being restored, being set free, having broken through limitations in your life. It's like an everything word. Do you understand what I'm talking about? It's like when you become Christian, you get everything in Christianity. It's encapsulated in that word Sozo. So I want you to pause for a minute to Selah, to ponder the words of Jesus. Jesus said, Receive your sight. Your faith has made you well. Your faith has made you sozo. Notice how Jesus didn't say, Your theology has made you well. Notice how Jesus didn't say to this blind Bartimaeus, Your education has made you well. He didn't say your internet subscriptions to this YouTube content creator has made you well. He didn't say you winning a Facebook argument about what you believe has made you well. Come on, somebody. Notice how Jesus didn't even say my sovereignty has made you well. I can't explain to you why I healed you, but I just did. Jesus said, receive your sight, your faith, has made you well. So he commends this blind man for his faith. And Jesus had every right to also draw attention to himself to say, my power has made you well, Bartimaeus. My goodness has made you well. No, no, no. Jesus said, receive your sight. Your faith has made you well. That one statement has disturbed theologians for centuries. Now, if that was the only time Jesus said it in the Gospels, we could kind of pass it off as a bit of a once-off. He never said it again, so it must be a bit of a translation issue. But it's not. It's everywhere in the gospels. Matthew 9 verse 22, Mark 5 verse 34, Luke 8 verse 48, he says this to a woman who'd been bleeding for 12 years, Your faith has made you well. Matthew 9 verse 29, there was a commendation to two blind men, According to your faith, be it unto you, receive your sight. Luke 17 verse 19, he says this to a Samaritan leper. You gotta understand the context. A Samaritan leper, double rejection. Rejected on the basis of your race, rejected on the basis of your disease. Your faith has made you well. We can't ignore it. And that's not even an exhaustive list. We'd be parked on the list of all the times Jesus said it, done a deep dive, we'd be here all day. But there's so many times in the gospels where Jesus marveled at the faith of a person. like the centurion. Marveled at his faith. I haven't seen such great faith in all of Israel. When you go back home, your servant's gonna be healed. We see this account in Mark chapter two, where he sees the faith of four stretcher carriers. Incredible faith. Your friend's gonna get healed today. Now, the question I wanna ask today is this, what was it about the faith of Bartimaeus that stopped Jesus in his tracks? What was about the faith of Bartimaeus that caused Jesus to commend or applaud him in this way? Because it is my personal view that the kind of faith demonstrated by Bartimaeus and many other characters in the Gospels that earned them this kind of affirmation and delight from Jesus is the kind of faith that is actually under threat in the 21st century Western Church. And I want to unpack that today out of scripture. Because prior to all of this, you've got to understand the basis of faith is found in Hebrews 11 verse 6. It says this, without faith, it is impossible to please him. Without faith, it is impossible to please him. How many of you would like to live a life that is pleasing to God? Well, without faith, it is impossible to please him. And it's amazing to me how many of us want to please God by acquiring more knowledge. It's amazing to me how many of us want to please God by trying to behave like a good citizen. Now, don't hear what I'm not saying. I'm not saying those things are bad. I'm saying that the Bible tells us that the only way to live a life that is pleasing to him is to do it by faith. Come on, somebody. Not by religious good words. Come on. And my hot take, which is like a new way of saying controversial opinion, is that I think that there are lots of Christian internet content creators right now that get lots of views on their YouTube channels because people are marveling at their clever opinions and their sophisticated arguments. But when I read the gospels, I see that Jesus never marveled at intellectual sophistication. He marveled at the faith of ordinary people. Like Bartimaeus, which is awesome. awesome news for ordinary people like you and I thank God we don't have to do intellectual theological gymnastics to impress Jesus but we just need to live a simple life of faith and so today we're going got to remember that it is faith that pleases him. What kind of faith is this? Well, it's a simple, gospel-centric, Christ-centered faith. And we see this everywhere. And you know, faith is a great leveler. What I love about faith, and that's the reason why we declared this over our church, faith is a great leveler. And I think that's why self-righteous people hate it when we talk about faith. Because when you talk about faith, it's not just confined. Having great faith, therefore living a life that's pleasing to God is not confined just to the smart people in the room. It's not confined just to the learned people in the room. We see it everywhere. Even blind dudes like Bartimaeus can live a life that is pleasing to God. Even Samaritan lepers can live a life that is pleasing to God. Even a higher up Guys, like Jairus, come on, leader of a synagogue, can live a life that is pleasing to God. Even like nameless, faceless, stretcher carriers can live a life that is pleasing to God. And today I want to suggest to you that we ought to be the kind of people... Come on. There are men and women of faith that were coming back again to a Christ-centered, gospel-centric faith. And so, church, in this season, I want to take us back to that simple Bartimaeus-type faith, and maybe attempt today, through this teaching, to untangle some theological knots that maybe might have tied you up a little bit in this area because maybe you might have stumbled upon lately of some convincing teaching online that It might have caused you to believe less about the Bible rather than more. I want to attempt today to untangle you from theological knots today if maybe recently you found yourself believing that God is no longer or not doing as much now as he did in the Bible. Come on. Because any kind of theology that gets you more informed but has no power to make you more transformed is not a theology that Jesus died and rose again for you to have. Come on, somebody. In fact, Paul warns Timothy that in the last days, you're gonna have a lot of people that know a lot, that will have a form of godliness, but deny its power, 2 Timothy 3, verse 5. And from such people, turn away, Paul says to Timothy. Don't listen to him. And there is a teaching that is prevalent today that doesn't necessarily say to us, Don't have faith, but it is a teaching that wants us to hold to a doctrine that everything you read in the Bible, everything that you read in the gospels, everything that you read in the book of Acts, none of those things happen anymore. Those miracles, those signs, those wonders, the way God moved, the souls that were saved, the revival that happened, it all ceased once the canon of scripture was compiled by the early church fathers, and let me tell you, if you adopt that doctrine, then you actually don't need to have much faith at all. All you'll need is a faith just to believe that Jesus died and rose again for you to go to heaven. But you don't really need any faith for life and living and believe that Jesus is still active and alive today and work in your life. Come on, somebody. And so if you remove most of your faith out of your Christianity, what are you left with? Dead religion and legalism. You're left with a doctrine that tells you that spiritual gifts aren't relevant, or it just doesn't happen anymore today. And if spiritual gifts aren't relevant anymore, do you know that most of the New Testament then is not relevant to you? But I'm saying, let's come back to a gospel-centered faith. Come on, somebody. I don't want to be the kind of man or woman that goes through my life calling myself a Christian, having a form of godliness, but denying its power. I want to talk to some long-term Christians in the room today. 30 service. How many of you have been a Christian for more than 10 years? More than 10 years. Wow, that is most of the room, all right? 17, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Have you heard that verse? 17, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So the... Writer of Hebrews uses the word hearing because it was written in an era where literacy was not prevalent. So oral tradition was the way that people heard the word of God or consumed doctrine. You can replace that now by listening or watching or subscribing. Come on, right? So faith comes by hearing and hearing or consuming the word of God. So my point is, if over the years, as you've walked with Jesus, you now find yourself maybe in year 12, year 15, year 22 of your walk with Jesus, and if you find yourself believing less about the Bible now than you did some years ago, can I suggest to you, that's not the word of God you're listening to. Let me say it this way. If when you first came to faith in Jesus, And maybe you were like Emily on the screen, or when you were first baptized, you believe that everything in the Bible is the living word of God, and it's still active and alive today, and you read the gospels, and you go, oh my gosh, you read the red letters, your eyes are popping out. Jesus, you did that, you can do this for me today. And maybe after 10, 12, 14, 15 years, you go, mm. You know, I've looked into it a little bit more. I'm not really sure if scripture is relevant. like it is today, like it was back then. Can I suggest to you, if you're believing less about the Bible, you're not listening to the word of God. You're not actually consuming the living word of God. Come on, somebody, right? So if you're believing less, we don't actually get to graduate from faith in Jesus. And I think I think that's why it's so important for us, myself particularly, like, I'm in the Word all the time. I've got to be careful that I don't learn so much that I confuse myself out of a simple faith in Jesus Christ. Come on. In fact, the writer of Hebrews, actually, he was so sick of people trying to argue him out of faith, and he was bringing this correction to the Christians, to the Jewish Christians, says, Therefore leaving the discussion of the, yeah, therefore leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection. In other words, he's saying, this is kindergarten 101 Christianity. If you want to know what was in the new Christian's course of the early church, it was this. The foundation of repentance from good works is the foundation of the faith toward God, the doctrine of baptism, which is water and Holy Spirit, of the laying on of hands, of the resurrection, of the raising of the dead, and of eternal judgment. Are you following this so far? So what the writer of Hebrews is saying, like, you don't actually get to graduate from this. And as you become more mature, argue about this. He says, that stuff, you should be, it should be embedded in your faith. He says, this is kindergarten 101. Stop asking me to go through with you again, whether we should lay on our family. See, it blows my mind. mind how some people would walk through life and apparently know more about scripture and then decide, well, you know, when I was a young Christian, I used to believe in the impantation of laying out of hands. But now, brother, I don't anymore. The writer of people were saying, bro, that is like kindergarten stuff. That's not up for argument. Jesus can raise the dead. That is not up for argument. Heaven and hell, that is not up for for argument we don't actually stop having faith in the Bible by becoming more mature we should be having more faith we should be saying man I I I used to struggle a little bit because the book of Acts was so wild but now after 20 years of walking with Jesus I am convinced that everything in the Bible is still happening today that's how you know that you're hearing the the Word of God so I need somebody to get excited with me today that here at Nations Church we are about faith that we're about encountering Jesus we believe that the Bible is the Word of God and we believe in his full counsel we believe that everything that happened in the Old Testament points to an almighty all-powerful God that promises humanity a savior to the world someone say Amen we believe that the Gospels then introduces us to him and he is our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ someone say Amen we believe that he died on the cross and three days later he from the dead, seated at the right hand of God. We believe that the miracles recorded in the Gospels are still valid today and are still the inheritors on the other side of a believer's faith. We believe that the Holy Spirit came upon believers in an upper room and subsequently and distinctly, fully immersed them with power for life and living and ministry and for fulfillment of the Great Commission. And watch, we believe that as Jesus said in Mark 16, as we go out and fulfill this Commission, signs and wonders will follow. We've got to get back to the faith of Bartimaeus. I don't want you once again to hear what I'm not saying. I'm not saying if you haven't gotten your miracle, then it doesn't mean you haven't got enough faith. I'm just saying let's become a man or woman of a simple Christ-centered faith and just let Jesus do what he does. Don't unfaith him out of your life. And I know this, that if Bartimaeus was standing on the stage with me right now, he'd be saying, Yes, amen! He's in the so-greater cloud of witnesses right now in Hebrews 11 and say, Yes, amen! I'll tell you what he won't be saying. He won't be saying, as he's watching us today, from the so-greater cloud of witnesses, he won't be saying, Actually, you know what? Yeah, you know, when you read about me getting my eyesight in the Bible, it really happened to me. But you know what? It really doesn't happen anymore for the modern 21st century Christians. So it really sucks to be you guys. So, you know, but I do highly recommend that you wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and read the book about all the things Jesus is no longer doing. Like why on earth would I want to wake up and get into the word and read about all the things Jesus apparently is no longer doing? But all the gifts that people moved in, but I can now no longer move in. Come on, somebody. We need to come back to become a Bible-believing church, and we believe Jesus is who he says he is. I'll just put it out there. Cessationism is one of the most damaging doctrines to have ever infiltrated the church. And I almost hated how much time it's getting on social media. Why? Because at its core, it robs you of your faith. It will kill the very thing the Bible says that you need to please God. It'll leave you religious and self-righteous. And I'm here today to contend once again that we are about faith here at Nations Church. But we can't stop being men and women of faith. And so to understand why I think having the faith of Bartimaeus is so under threat today, we need to actually look at what fueled Bartimaeus' life of faith. Is that okay? You guys okay this morning? Yeah. I think, firstly, the fuel that was burning in Bartimaeus' faith was his desperation for a breakthrough in his own life. What fueled his faith was that there was actually desperation. He was in a desperate place of needing a breakthrough in his own life. You gotta understand that if you were blind in first century Palestine, there's no support from the government. There's no Medicare, there's no Medibank private, I feel better now. No. He was either beg to survive or die. Right. Are you following me so far? And I think because of the environmental factors around Bartimaeus's life, there was actually a desperation in him for his own Sozo. See, what we've done in the 21st century is that we've done now everything we possibly can to eradicate every occasion that we might have to ever be desperate in our lives. We've become so acclimated to comfort because we've eliminated even small occasions that at any particular point in time we're ever going to feel any kind of discomfort. We've eliminated all of that. And in the last century, I think because we're so acclimated to living a life with zero discomfort, one of the unintended consequences of comfort is actually apathy. It's one of the unintended consequences. It's not like, you know, we create this really comfortable life thinking, man, we really want to be apathetic. No, it's just an unintended consequence. For Bartimaeus, his desperation was this. It was Jesus or nothing. So I'm suggesting to you today, come on, people admiry, hello. We need to come back to becoming a Jesus or nothing people. I'm not saying let's suddenly, you know... just lose everything and be impoverished. I'm saying in spite of what we do have, it's a heart attitude. Let's come back to becoming the kind of people where we have a desperation that outside of Jesus, come on, it ain't looking good. Because I don't know about you, but you know, sometimes we've eradicated any occasion for us to even cry out to Jesus anymore. I don't know if you've thought about it, but our least attended gathering in our church across all our locations is the prayer meeting. Getting real quiet now. Not looking at anyone. I'm going to talk to the screen actually. The most least attended out of all the gatherings is actually our prayer meeting. But oh man, if you put cupcakes out, cinnamon scrolls, morning tea, photo booth, bang, overflow only. Hot cross buns. Man, we love all of those. We all love all of those gatherings, but the prayer meeting, the time, will we get on our knees and cry out, Jesus, have mercy on us. Would you heal our land? Would you break through in our church? That they're the least, least attended. Why? Why? Because I reckon we've got pretty much every area covered, myself included. You sick? Private health insurance. Accident insurances. Hot, air con, cold, heater. Hungry, go to the shops, get your food. Not feeling great, therapy. What occasion have we got to be desperate? See, sometimes the greatest opposing force of faith is not necessarily fear, it's actually apathy. We think fear is like the opposing force to faith. It's actually in our context, apathy. That's why we just don't have the faith of Bartimaeus. See, history almost repeats itself. There's a beautiful psychology when you read scripture that in the 100 year period during the Exodus time, there was a 40 year period out of the 100 year period when God's people were exodusing, coming out of Egypt, where they experienced far greater miracles than the latter 60 years when they were in the promised land. The first 40 years, they were desperate. They were running away from Pharaoh. Like, you can imagine it, right? Their first, we get introduced to this Exodus story and their chariots are chasing them. They get to the edge of the water and suddenly the seas part. Yo, that's some wild things in the Bible right here. They're walking through, there's like walls of water to the left, walls of water to the right. They're walking right through. They get to the wilderness. and there's nothing there they're in a desperate situation it's there they experience far more Miracles in that 40-year period than in the rest of that 100-year period they actually saw water coming out of rocks manna falling from heaven onto the ground creating food for them quail from heaven cloud cover by day pillar of fire by night shoes that never wore out oh man come on but when they got to to the promises of God, you can see the language that God, the interaction that God has with them starts to change. Deuteronomy 10, he starts to talk to them about eating and being full. He starts to talk to them about their silver and gold multiplying, building beautiful houses dwelling in them. He starts talking to them about their herds and their flocks and all the multiplication. He talks to them about their heart being lifted up. Put it up on the screen. Follow me. Come on, slides. That's it. Yep, that's it. So Deuteronomy, he talks to them about all of the things that causes their heart to get proud. He reminds them not to forget about the Lord their God. In verse 17, he says, Then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' And he reminds them, You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the power to get wealth. See, there's something about comfort that causes us to forget that we need God. I have to remind myself, particularly during this period of praying and fasting, I have to remind myself again that I'm actually living today in the days that I prayed for 20 years ago and not to forget that I am where I am today because of God. And I think sometimes because we get what we prayed for, we stop being desperate for Him. Oh, you guys are getting real quiet. And then to think that that we are where we are because of the work of our own hands. See, Paul, sorry, Jesus actually addresses this in the book of Revelation. Again, you'll see red letters in the gospels and it pops out these red letters in the book of Revelation when he says this to the church in Laodicea. And oh man, I was so convicted when I read this this week. 16 says, So then, Jesus says to the church in Laodicea, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Don't at me, this is Jesus' words, y'all. He said it. Because you say I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Remember, if you want to know how we ought to be with Jesus, watch what he commends and what he rebukes. Right? What was he rebuking? He was rebuking the Laodicean church about an attitude of apathy that was stealing their faith. And at the root of it was this mindset, I have need of nothing. I just need you, Jesus, to get to heaven, but outside of that, I'm sorted. I just need you to forgive me so I can be sure that when I die, I could get to be with you, but while I'm here, I'm good. need you it's good to remind ourselves that outside of Jesus we are spiritually poor and blind and naked without him some of us we're enjoying so much what we've been saved to we've forgotten what we've been saved from come on somebody I promise you right now Deb Ellis would probably be in a pit if it wasn't for Jesus Some of us wouldn't be here today. We need to remind ourselves what we've been saved from, not just enjoying what we've been saved to. Come on, somebody. It's time to get back again to a place where we confess Jesus. Outside of you, I'm nothing. I am only where I am today, and I need you every day of my life. There's got to be the desperation in our faith to say, God, regardless how good I've got this life, I never forget. that everything that I have is because of you, and that you are the very breath in my lungs. Come on, give God a shout of praise today. The second thing that I think fueled Bartimaeus' faith was actually expectation. He had an expectation. See, he was blind, so he couldn't see. But as soon as he heard a crowd, he heard the name Yeshua, Yeshua. Expectation arose, he became expectant. That's why he cried out. He actually expected that Jesus would do something in his life that day. See, I also believe that one of the great opposing forces of faith is not fear, but it's also cynicism. That, man, I'm not really sure if Jesus is gonna heal today. Nah, I'm not really sure. And the thing that causes us to live in that midpoint between hot and cold, that causes us that cynicism, is actually lukewarmness. That's what Jesus was warning the Laodicean church about. Lukewarmness is where we love Jesus, but we don't really expect Jesus to do much. And whenever a sermon like this is preached, whenever faith is preached, we say to ourselves, Oh, it's all a bit of churchy hype, isn't it? It's all just a little bit of Pentecostal hype, isn't it? See, cynicism has a voice, and that voice always tries to make your faith smaller rather than bigger. Come on. It's a voice that always tries to downplay what's in the Bible rather than upplay it so you lift your faith to begin to believe that Jesus can do in your life what He did for people's lives in the Scripture. Come on, somebody. And I've also heard it said that cynicism is actually unhealed disappointment. I tend to believe it. Often, cynicism doesn't just come from lukewarmness, it comes from unhealed disappointment. See, what cynicism does, it keeps us in this stuck cycle of faithlessness. So you might start off with a little bit of faith and really believing that God will do something for you, and because Jesus, maybe for some reason in the season in your life, doesn't come through the way that you wanted him to and in the timing that you wanted him to, how many of you know that Jesus doesn't always played a while, yeah, so we feel disappointed. And when we don't allow Him to heal us of that disappointment, it becomes cynicism. And so cynicism then steals our faith. And because we don't have faith, it's impossible to please God. Come on, somebody. So God's not moving because there's no faith. So you don't, you know, do you want to be made well? No, not really. Come on. And then it becomes this affirmation of the narrative that we always have already of a God that can't move in our lives, and we get stuck in the cynicism cycle. It's time once again, I think, in the church, for the church in the West to break out of that cycle of cynicism, to have that faith of Bartimaeus again, and I've come to conclude that after 22 years of leading a church, I have not met a single person who has experienced the power, power, wonder working power of the blood of Jesus that has ever ended up deconstructing and reforming their faith and saying, I don't really believe that the Bible is relevant today anymore. Anyone that has encountered the power of Jesus and have had their lives transformed like Emily has on the screen, has only, only ever concluded that I can't help but have a greater faith today, come on, than I did yesterday. It's time to come back again to becoming the kind of church that Jesus died and rose again for us to have. And my prayer for us is that at Nations Church, come on, we're about faith. It's time to come back again to have a faith that is fueled by desperation, a church that is filled with expectation. This is the faith of Baramea. Someone give God a big shout of praise today. Thanks for listening to the Nation's Church podcast. For more info, please visit nationschurch.com.
