You Don't Have to Be a Blind Beggar

Mark 10:46-52

46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, ‘Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.’

48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, ‘Thou son of David, have mercy on me.’

49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, ‘Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.’

50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?’ The blind man said unto him, ‘Lord, that I might receive my sight.’

52 And Jesus said unto him, ‘Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.’ And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

I’m going to start by stating with authority; someone reading this word is about to be transformed.  God is giving you the opportunity today, to receive your sight. Your eyes are about to be opened to see the life that God has prepared for you. Satan has been lying to you! The devil has been deceiving you, and you’ve been unable to picture what the unfettered power of the Holy Ghost can do in you, and through you. But if you will receive this word today, God’s about to bless you with an incredible vision.

It’s time for you to get indignant, downright angry at the devil. It’s time for you to stand up in the anointing, to move out in faith, and go after your inheritance in Christ. You don’t have to be a victim of your circumstances, sickness can’t stop you, your past can’t stop you, doubters can’t stop you, finances can’t stop you; your circumstances don’t determine your destiny. Stop wearing your circumstances like chains, stop letting them hold you in bondage, stop letting them blind you to the overcoming power you have through the Holy Ghost, and stop letting them keep you from the abundant life that Jesus came to give.  It’s time to break the chains! It’s time to let the Holy Ghost open your eyes so you can see what God sees, and it is time for you to possess the promises!

Blind Bartimaeus represents those trapped in the darkness of sin.  Before we met Jesus we were foul, unclean, polluted by sin, and yet we were so important to God that He manifested Himself in the flesh, He became a man, and He dies for our sins so that we could be free from our sin, so that we could walk in a newness of life, through the power of God, the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Ghost, who lives in every true child of God.

You may be a millionaire, you may live in a mansion, but if you don’t know Jesus, you are no different than a homeless beggar, or someone who is a slave to alcohol and drugs. Without Jesus everyone is in the same condition: blind, lost and polluted by sin. There is only one cure for rich and poor alike, the blood of Jesus.

However, Bartimaeus also represents another group, not in the world but in the church, people who are in the body of Christ, who love God, who are saved, but are living a limited life.  They are living like beggars. They live with the mindset that they are not worthy, that if they could just get the crumbs from the Masters table, they would be satisfied. They are living in spiritual blindness. They are blind to their inheritance in Christ, unaware that being worthy has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Jesus. Our righteousness is in him, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – II Corinthians 5:21

Jesus didn’t come to give us crumbs, He came to give us life and that more abundantly (John 10:10): many have gone to great lengths for eternal life, but fail to experience abundant life right here, right now. Jesus came to give us power to live extraordinary lives, and yet so many are satisfied with crumbs.

The road represents the place where the business of life is going on.  And Jesus is coming toward you on the road and He carries with Him, the anointing that brings peace, joy, abundant life, and God’s favor.  Too many of God’s children are like Bartimaeus, stuck on the side of the road begging.  People who love God and yet they are willing to live a substandard life. Willing to eat a bologna sandwich, when there is a T-bone steak laid out before them, and all they have to do is make the effort receive it.

Too many of Gods people are saved but they’re living on crumbs, just getting by, trying to hang on and hold out till Jesus comes, saved but living defeated lives.  You are discouraged, anxious, fearful, worried, and stressed out.  You have no peace, no joy, and your life is a life of want, and not abundance.  Jesus didn’t come to bring us a “crumby” life, a life of just getting by, of just surviving, or of just holding on by a thread.  He came to give us abundant life, unlimited life, and a life of Joy unspeakable and full of glory.  He came to give us peace like a river and power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy.

One day Blind Bartimaeus the beggar heard Jesus was coming and he decided that day he wanted abundant life.  He decided he was tired of begging, tired of living on crumbs, tired of being in want, always in need, always in lack, always coming up short, and just barely surviving.

What happened to Bartimaeus that delivered him from the place of living the life of a beggar, with no vision, no dreams, no passion, no hope of better days, just getting by living on crumbs? You say Jesus healed him: Yes, but before healing came, something else happened in him.

First he recognized he had a need and acknowledged his deficiency.  Second, He became desperate for a change, desperate for abundant life, desperate for vision, and he wanted deliverance from a life of impotency, from a powerless life. Third, he recognized that Jesus was the only one who could deliver him, who could open his eyes and bring him into a life of vision, a life of power and abundance.  And finally he sold out, he tossed convention to the side, he wasn’t worried about what anyone thought, he would not be hindered by his circumstances, and did whatever it took to get Jesus’ attention.

A lot of people want what Jesus has, but they’re unwilling to pay for it. No you can’t buy a miracle, you can’t buy Gods presence or power with money.  But it’s not free, it will cost you something: It will cost you your pride, it will cost you your preconceived religious ideas and traditions, it will cost you your old way of doing business, and you’ll have to do what the Holy Spirit tells you to do.  It will cost you time.  It will cost you your old associations, you’ll have to run with a different group of people.  It may even cost you your reputation among men, as you may be criticized and persecuted, you may be labeled a fanatic.

That’s why there are still a lot of blind beggars in the church, they would rather be blind than pay the price to be healed.  They would rather live on crumbs from someone else’s table than to pay the price to receive personal revelation and the abundant presence and power of Jesus in their lives. 

I’m not in a position to criticize: I used to be one of those people.  I would blindly follow and be led around by someone else, living off crumbs because I wasn’t willing to pay the price for personal revelation and have the power of God in my life.  It’s not sin that is keeping most Christians from the abundant life, its self.

Bartimaeus robe represents his old life, the life of “self”.  As he came to Jesus he cast away his robe. He put off the “self” life to receive abundant life.  The only way for you and I to receive the abundant life that Christ came for us to have, is to let the cross deliver us from ourselves.

Friends today God told me to speak to those still begging and remind you: The only way to resurrection power is through the cross.  The abundant life that God offers can only be manifested in us to the degree that the cross has exercised its power over “self” in our life. First comes repentance, we turn around and leave our old life, we throw off the coat of the beggar. Second, we must be baptized for the remission of sin – we follow Jesus in his death and resurrection. The we receive the Holy Ghost which gives us the power to live in Him (Acts 2:38).

Listen to what I am saying!  Your miracle, your healing, your deliverance, and your spiritual breakthrough are in His presence.  There is peace, joy, and restoration are in His presence.  Just lift your hands right now and begin to call on his name.  Don’t watch it pass you by!  Cry out to Jesus and get His attention. Don’t let His presence pass you by.