In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the story of a blind man in Luke chapter 18. The blind man, who is considered a nuisance in his generation, becomes curious when he sees a large crowd passing by. He cries out to someone nearby, asking what is happening. The preacher emphasizes the importance of hearing the voice of God and moving under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order to make a difference in our generation. The sermon also highlights the danger of being forever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth, and the need for a genuine pursuit of Christ.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, PO Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771 or calling 903-963-8626. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. Luke chapter 18, if you'll go there with me, please, Luke chapter 18. I'm going to speak to you today about the cry of the blind man. Father, I thank you for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I thank you mostly for your presence. Lord, without your presence, there's no point in even opening your word. God, we don't want stories about you, Jesus. We want your presence. Lord, I thank you that today you will give an anointing both to speak and to hear so that your kingdom can advance with great power and authority. My God, set up your throne in our hearts. That's the cry of this church and the cry of my heart for this hour. Lord, we don't want to play religious games. We want your throne established the way you want it to be established in a people for this hour and for this city. Jesus, thank you for what you're going to accomplish throughout this entire day. We ask God for an overflow anointing to flow out from this house and begin to touch the hearts of people who are even walking down Broadway this very moment. Lord God, instill in them a desire to come and to hear the word of God and the praises of God. Father, we just thank you for what you're going to do. Thank you for the anointing that abides. We thank you, God, that you will anoint this house today to dissolve doubts and to cast down imaginations that the kingdom of God should advance and the kingdom of darkness should suffer great violence. Father, we thank you for it. Let hell shake today. Oh, God, in this house and around outside this house. Oh, God, Lord, we ask that you just do the miraculous for that's who you are. We call out for your presence. We thank you for responding to our cry because you're the one who put it in our heart in the first place. Thank you for the anointing today, that abiding anointing of Jesus Christ. We give you all the praise and the glory in Jesus' precious name. Luke chapter 18, verse 35. And it came to pass that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside begging and hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. I want to stop there before we go on in the story and talk about a blind man who's sitting beside the road and he's been this way all his life. All he knows to do is to beg. He is among the least of society. He has no power. He has no influence. Nobody's really interested in his life. And he's quite possibly in his generation considered a nuisance even to those who have to lead him and guide him to his spot of begging every day. All of a sudden, one day in the midst of all of his begging, he becomes aware of a multitude that's passing him by. And the scripture tells us this multitude was not approaching, but actually passing by. And he cried out to somebody perhaps near to him and say, what does this mean? What is this? What is this multitude all about? Now, is it quite a large crowd and unusual crowd? There seemed to be an excitement perhaps among these people. Something sparked his curiosity. What's happening here today? That's that's unusual. Now, we know in the multitude, there was a mixture of different types of people that were following Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us clearly that one of them was a thief. Judas was a thief. He had his hand, the scripture says, on the bag or he was the treasurer. His hand was on the gold. And that's his reason for following Jesus. Beloved, there's no shortage of thieves in the American churches, the Western churches today whose hand is on the gold. That's the reason they're following Christ. There's nothing else in their heart, but they see Christ as an avenue to become wealthy, to become rich above and beyond their peers in society, to satisfy the lustful desire for wealth in their heart. The same spirit that was on Judas is on many of them, and many are in pulpits today across the nations. Also, there were people who were following him for bread. John 6, 26, 27. Jesus told them, don't you're not following me for the miraculous, you're following me because your belly's got filled on the day that I multiply the loaves and fishes and and filled you. He said, now don't follow for that bread that perishes. And you see many people following him just really for the sake of filling their belly. It's better here. And I feel more satisfied than I did outside of the kingdom of God, or at least what they understood the kingdom of God to be. There was others who were expecting a manifestation of a physical kingdom, Luke 17, verses 20 and 21, say the Pharisees came to Christ and they said, are you going to now restore the kingdom? And there are still this type of theology is still with us today. They're following Jesus because they believe that he's going to set up immediately as it is an earthly kingdom. And this is many who are not there for the cross. They wanted nothing to do with the life of self-denial. They really couldn't hear what it was that Jesus was saying. They had an agenda. Beloved, I want to tell you something very clearly today. If you have an agenda apart from the agenda of almighty God through Jesus Christ, you're not you can't hear even what I'm going to preach today. You can't hear the words of God. The human agenda is a very blinding, mystically blinding factor that leads people not into the very work of God, but away from the very heart of Jesus Christ. There are obviously the curious who saw something a little unusual in their following. They're not quite sure they want to follow this Christ, but certainly it was an exciting time in a very oppressive era and things were happening. They were getting fed. There were miracles happening and it was exciting to follow him. There are others who are looking for position. Luke chapter nine. If you go back there with me, Jesus in Luke chapter nine, verse forty six. The scripture says there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, that's Luke chapter nine, verse forty six, took a child and set him by him and said to them, whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me for he that is least among you, the same shall be great. Now, Christ is answering their question. They want to know about greatness. Who who is going to be the greatest in the kingdom of God? And Jesus said it's not about how we see ourselves. It's not even about how others see us, but it's about how we view humankind all around us that determines whether or not we've become great in the kingdom of God. And Jesus took a child because a child perhaps at that moment, with all these people clamoring for position, clamoring for greatness, a child represented insignificance. A child could add nothing to their personal agenda, at least those who had an agenda. And Christ takes a child and says, in effect, it's determined your greatness is determined by how you view the least of those who are among you in society today. This will determine your greatness, not how people see you, but how you see people. Oh, folks, I'm telling you, in some cases we've got it totally backwards. People feel that greatness is achieved in the kingdom of God by by oration, by standing and perhaps being able to gather an audience or having some new revelation about God or being able to do certain exploits in his name. But that's not how Jesus defined it. Jesus defined greatness by the very fact that if we are looking to the insignificant around us in society and value them in our hearts the way God values them, we are surely becoming great in the sight of God, because ultimately, beloved, it doesn't matter when we stand before the throne of God what anybody says about you or me. There could be a billion voices rise up and say, oh, Pastor Carter, there's a wonderful man of God. But beloved, if my your sense of wonderfulness doesn't line up with God's, it's of no avail whatsoever. Only one voice matters on that day, the voice of Christ, who says, well done, thou good and faithful servant. I would rather be great in the sight of God and despised in the sight of man. There were others, Matthew, chapter 20, if you'll go there with me, just go back to Matthew, chapter 20. There were others who were jockeying for position as it is in the kingdom of God. James and John sent their mother. They didn't have the courage to do it themselves, so they send their mother to ask Jesus. Perhaps she's a woman of great persuasion. I really don't know. But she wants her sons to sit at the right hand and on the left hand of Christ. And Jesus says, are you able to drink the cup that I'm going to drink? John, James, are you able to yield your will to the will of God? Are you willing and able to go to Calvary? Are you willing and able to lay your life down as a living sacrifice for the purposes of God, which is your reasonable service? Now he's asking them some very pertinent issues in this one question, but they don't really fully comprehend it yet. I don't know if anybody really actually comprehended what he was trying to convey to the church that was following him. And then he tells him, he said, yes, indeed, you're going to be drinking the cup that I'm going to drink. But he said, it's not mine to give to sit at my right hand and on my left hand. It's for those whom for whom it's prepared of my father. And then he goes on to explain, I believe, who it's prepared for. He said, you know that the princes in verse 25 in Matthew 20 of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. Now, it's incredible when you look at the word minister in the Greek New Testament, one of the included definitions of this word means one who labors in the dust. Minister, those who will be great among you, let them join the laboring in the dust. Really, what was Jesus doing? The Bible tells us in Genesis that he formed Adam out of the dust to the ground. He breathed the breath of life into Adam and Adam became a living soul. Adam, because of his sin, fell from relationship and out of the life of God. And Christ had come to restore all the descendants of Adam into the fullness of that relationship. He had come to labor in the dust. He had come to labor among those that were powerless. You and me powerless in our sins. Beloved, you understand today there's not an ounce of chance that you could have inherited heaven in any of your own goodness. Any amount of church attendance, Bible reading, good deeds, none of these things would have ever gained you or I access into heaven. We are here today with hope because God became a man and walked this earth and labored among the dust, came to my powerlessness and with his mercy and grace died on the cross for my sins and by his abundant grace made a provision for me to be strong by coming to live within my life and giving me the power to live this resurrected life that God gave each one of us through the power of the Holy Spirit. When he raised Christ from the dead, he said, whoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant, even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. In other words, Christ is saying, do you want to sit at my right hand? Do you want to sit at my left hand in eternity? The father prepared it for those who will follow me, those who are willing to labor among those that are nothing and nobody in the world, those that have no power, they have no voice. There is no chance of bettering their situation. They are beside the road. They're blind. They're spiritually impoverished. They have no hope. They have no help. There is nobody there for them. And Christ said, if you're willing to be my church and go to them, the father has prepared a place of authority for you, not just for time, but for all of eternity. God, help us to hear what the spirit is speaking to the churches in our generation. God, help us to turn away from all of the human agendas and their spiritual blindness that have so inundated the house of God and have gripped the hearts of so many of God's people and left not only the poor powerless, but left the church powerless in our generation. God, help us to hear his voice again. God, help us to move once more under the unction of the Holy Ghost. Beloved, we can make a difference in our generation. We can make a difference in our city before the judgment of God comes. This city could be aflame with the glory of Jesus Christ if we can hear what the spirit is speaking to the church. Obviously, there's others who were sincere. And many, even among those that I've listed, were sincere in their pursuit of Christ, although they were as of yet not complete in their understanding. In Matthew, chapter 13, verse 10, the disciples said to Jesus, Master, why do you speak to the people in parables? Why don't you just talk to them straight out? Why parables? In verse 13, he gives the answer. He said, I speak to them in parables because they see and see not and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. John 9, 39. Jesus further expounds on this by saying, for judgment, I'm come into this world that they would see not might see and they would see might be made blind. Jesus was saying it's clear, it's evident. I've come to share something of my heart with those who would be my disciples. But those who have an agenda are not going to see it. Those who are coming for gold or coming for bread or coming for a physical now kingdom, those who are looking for position, those who desire greatness as they see it on this side of eternity are not going to see it. And the light that is in them is going to become darkness. And Jesus said, if you have received light and that light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? He warned in the scriptures to the apostle Paul that in the last days there's going to be a generation to rise that are forever learning, but not coming to the knowledge of the truth, forever studying, forever pretending as it is to be in the pursuit of God, but never coming to the knowledge of what that really means. Never themselves being enabled by the power of God, never themselves being the true church of Jesus Christ in their generation, outside of the kingdom, outside of the very resurrection light that Christ promises to those that are his powerless, an absolute joke in their society. Jesus gave a parable to a man who had right theology, but a wrong heart and the wrong heart with his right theology had produced in him a blindness. He walked up to Jesus and said, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus looked at the man and said, well, how do you see it? What does it say to you? You've got the Bible. They have the Old Testament, of course, in their generation. He says, well, how do you read it? And the man said to him, you shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength. And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And Jesus said, this is right. Do this and you shall live. Now, this man really in his heart didn't want to obey what he saw. And the only way you can see around it is to ask what appears to be a foolish question. And he asks now the son of God, who is my neighbor? You see, as long as we're studying, we can justify our inaction as long as we can say, well, I'm in pursuit of the truth. And when I find it one day, boy, am I ever going to obey it? My ship is going to come in one day doctrinally and I'm going to I'm going to have this explosion of grace in my heart and become another William Carey or Hudson Taylor. I'm going to become another one of those. And it's really just a smokescreen for a divided heart. That's all it is. Sitting in the house of God, playing with words. I see a lot of that in the churches that I've been to recently, sitting in the house of God, just inventing new phrases, just playing with words. As long as we are supposedly pursuing God, it justifies disobeying him. It justifies our inaction. He said, who is my neighbor? See, I'm studying. So obviously, Lord, you can't be displeased with me because I'm not quite sure who my neighbor is. This man is supposed to be a lawyer. He's supposed to understand the scriptures, but he doesn't know who his neighbor is. It seems like a ludicrous question. Oh, I'm sure he had many cultural and perhaps some even theological argument behind his question. But on the surface, it is a foolish question. So Jesus answers it directly. He said a man was on a road. The road was called Jericho and it was on the road to Jericho. And this man fell among thieves who robbed him and they took away his clothing and they left him for dead. He said a certain priest passed by. Now, this this priest is a man who's on his way to teach the people about God. He's maybe he's excited. He's got some new revelation about God and he's on his way to teach the people about God. He sees this man on the side of the road, all beaten up and dying and left destitute. But he's busy. He's got his revelation. He's got to get to the house and expound it. And he passes by and goes to the house. And Jesus really is using this as an illustration of an absolute bankrupt religion. It's worthless. Any religion that has no compassion for fallen humanity is absolutely bereft of the heart of God. He said to Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 58, he said, you seek me daily. You delight to know my ways. You seek the ordinances of justice. You are you have a devotional life. You're in the temple. And he says, but there's there's an issue that I have against you. He said, you're hiding yourself from your own flesh. All of the seeking is not even bringing you to the place yet where you understand the heart of God for fallen humanity around you. He said another man, a Levite, came by and Levi is a type of a worshipper. Oh, it's a type of a man who says, I love Times Square Church, man. The worship is just awesome in that place. I can lift my hands and I can sing and I can glorify God in there. And he's off on Sunday morning. He's off on Tuesday night. He's off on Friday. And he's pushing and passing by the wounded and maimed and blind all around him. Sees it, but really so busy. I've got to go worship God. I really don't have time to help you, poor fellow. I'm sorry. You understand, I got to get to church and heads off to worship. Jesus said his religion is also bankrupt of the knowledge of God. But he said it's just an ordinary man, a Samaritan just happened to pass by. And the Samaritan saw this man in his pitiful condition. Now, the Samaritans were not esteemed by the religious people of Christ's day. And he said this certain Samaritan, he saw this man and he knelt down. You can picture this man kneeling down beside him and he pours oil in. You see, Christ has given us the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit, his touch, his compassion is the oil of God. Mark 16 says one of the signs that will follow believers is that they will lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. And I don't believe we have the fullness of that verse of scripture, because I believe the fullness of that verse is revealed in this passage. They lay hands means that their hands are not selfish. Their hands are not lusting for power. Their hands are not pushing people away. Their hands are are not grasping for gold. Their hands are reaching to the sick. Their hands are meeting the need. Their hands are God's hands. Their hands are reaching down and touching that which nobody else wants to touch. They will lay hands. I don't believe it's just talking about a one time be healed situation. I believe it's it's moving with the compassion of God. They will lay hands on the sin sick. They will lay hands on the powerless. They will go to those that are without God and they will lay hands on them. They shall recover. This shall be a sign of those who are following Jesus. And he pours that oil that God has poured into his life. All the knowledge, the grace that he has received, the goodness of God, he's come to know. He pours it in. He begins to speak into this man's life and tell him, you don't have to live this way any longer. You don't have to be beaten up and bruised and dead. There is somebody that cares for you. His name is Jesus Christ. He is the son of God. And he begins to pour that oil into his life and pick him up out of his situation and begin to give him hope. Not only that, but he puts him on his own beast and at his own expense takes him to an end. And you see, this man was given resources by God. But the resources that he was given, he had it in right perspective. It was not just to lay up treasure for himself. He was given these resources to meet this need. He was given the resources to reach out and make a difference in this man's life. And he knew why he had been blessed. There's so many today running around talking about how blessed they are, but are so blind. They're worse off, in a sense, than the blind men on the Jericho Road. Luke 15, Jesus continues to teach the people and convey his heart. And he talks about a man who had a lost sheep and he left the ninety and nine and went to that one who was lost. And when he found it, he laid it on his shoulders, rejoicing and brought it home and called together his friends and said, rejoice with me, for I found my sheep that was lost. Now, Christ is conveying something always about his heart. This is why I'm here. This is the ministry the father has entrusted to me. I've left heaven and I've come for that which was lost. And when I find it, there's great rejoicing, even if it's only one. And I lay it on my shoulders. I don't I don't make it march behind me. I don't make it march in front of me and beat it with my staff. No, Christ said I pick it up and lay it on my shoulders. I carry it. I give that which was up without strength. I give it strength and I carry it home and I call together my friends and there's great rejoicing. He says he talks about the woman who lost a coin and swept all through the house and finally found this lost coin and calls together all her neighbors and says, come and rejoice with me, for I found the coin that I had lost. He said, I found the sheep, I found the coin, but then he caps it all by the parable of the prodigal son. He's conveying something of his heart. He said there was a son that was given a great inheritance, but he took that inheritance and went out and squandered it in a faraway place. Beloved, you and I were given a great inheritance. Every person alive was given a great inheritance in the fact that we breathe the virtual breath of God. We're alive because God breathed into Adam. We are given the ability to seek God. There's not another creature in all of God's creation that has the ability to seek him. We're given sound intelligence and minds that can make a rational decision. We're given the ability to worship God and to turn to God. We're given the ability to give our lives to him and to let him be glorified through those lives. He talks about this man, this boy that had wasted his inheritance and gone into a faraway place and in that place had come into great famine, great want. If you can hear me today, there are people all over New York City. There are people even in the sound of my voice today that you've taken what God's given to you and you squandered it. You've gone into a faraway place. Your heart's not been engaged with the heart of God. You've even taken perhaps some the salvation that God's given you, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which is for the work of Christ. You've taken that wonderful treasure and squandered it in a faraway place. You've gone far away from where God would have you. And now you're in the house of the Lord and you're saying, is there not more to Christianity than this? Why am I in such want? How come if the father's inheritance is in me and with me, why am I so hungry all the time? Why am I never satisfied? Why am I running from place to place and church to church and program to program and tape to tape? And why is this ache within me never satisfied? You see, oftentimes it's because you're very, very far away from the heart of God. You've never fully understood what it means to walk with Christ. And finally, this boy just got so tired that he got up and started heading home and the father had been waiting for him. This one parable in scripture touches my heart more than anything else I read in all of the Bible. This shows me the heart of God so completely, not waiting as an angry father, not waiting as a one with a list of sins. But he's conveying now the heart of God for those that have been far away from him, far away, even those that are called by his name and those who simply have life because he breathed into Adam, but because of their sin have been outside of his kingdom. But he stands and he sees this son coming home and runs down the lane to meet him and falls on his neck and kisses him and immediately commands the best robe to be brought out, the covering for all of his sin, all of the smell of the world that's on him. He says, Tom, bring the best robe and cover my son. Or it could be a daughter. I mean, this is generic in a sense, but it could be my daughter. Cover the smell of sin that is on them. Let it no more be seen. Let it no more be smelt. Let it no more be spoken about. Let the full covering, the best robe in the father's house. There's no better robe than the blood of Jesus Christ. Let the blood cover the smell of sin and the stench of it. He calls for a ring and gives him back full authority, not as a slave, but as a son. He calls for shoes for his feet because now he says, Son, you know something about my heart. Now you understand me. You have something your older brother knows nothing about. He's he's just worked in the field. He doesn't understand this. But now I'm putting shoes on your feet because you understand my mercy. You understand my heart. I'm putting shoes on your feet, a ring of authority. I'm covering you and I'm sending you now. You're going to be an emissary for my kingdom. You're going to be able to talk about the goodness of your father. You're going to go out not in your success, but in your failure. You're going to go out and you're going to know the goodness of your father. You're going to be able to go to every beggar by the roadside and tell them what your father would do for them if they will get up and just go home. You're not going to go because you've done it all right. You're going to go because you've done most of it wrong. But you're going to get up and you're going to go and have a message of God's power beyond anything your generation has ever seen. The lost son. And now, after all of this, in Luke, chapter 18, they pass by a blind man near Jericho. The way I see this, it's like it's exam time. They've been taught. So much has been imparted to them. But how much have they really heard? And Jesus makes as if he was going to pass the man by. The Bible says clearly he heard the multitude pass by. Now, the multitude would not be before Jesus. They generally would be behind him. They're following him. They're waiting on every word. So that means he's already perhaps gone by. How many times in the scripture does Jesus make at least give the impression he's passing by? I think of the disciples in the storm when they were trying to battle the elements in their own strength. And he made as if walking on the water, he was going to pass them by. I think of the men on the road to Emmaus were locked in their confusion about who they thought the Messiah to be. And Christ, again, after speaking to them, makes as if he was going to continue on until they compelled him to come in and sit down with them. And now in this situation again, he appears to be passing by and the blind man says, well, what does this mean? And they told him Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. And he began to cry out for help. Oh, Jesus, son of God, son of David, have mercy on me. Now, after all, after all that these people had been taught. I would have supposed that there would be dozens of people go running to this man. You don't have to be afraid anymore. You don't have to be this way anymore. We understand the heart of God. We now know why he's come. We've come to minister to you the love of God. I would have thought after all this time, and I do believe that Jesus made as if he was passing by because it was a test for the whole crowd that was following him. And it would it would seem logical after all of this discussion and all this teaching. That they would have finally gripped what Christ was all about and what the call was on those who are going to follow him. But instead, the scripture says they rebuked the blind man. They told him, be quiet, shut up. Be quiet. We don't want to hear your voice. I tell you, any church that doesn't want to hear the voice of the poor is in deep spiritual trouble. Any Christian who can block away the cry of those who are impoverished, the cry of those who are in bondage is in trouble, is in deep spiritual trouble. They rebuked him. They said, be quiet, hold your peace. You see, because what does a blind man have to add to our agenda? How can a blind man give us gold? How can a blind man put bread in our bellies? How can a blind man bring in a physical kingdom? How can a blind man give us a position in the church? How can a blind man give us power or authority? You see, the church couldn't hear the cry of this man because there was an agenda. I'm talking about not necessarily the church, but the people who were following Christ at that time. Their hearts were not yet perfected in the love of God. And so they couldn't hear the cry. They couldn't hear the voice of Christ. I can't help but think of the tragedy of the millions, perhaps, that call themselves Christians today in the world who are totally outside of hearing the voice of God. They're totally outside of the compassion of Christ. They don't want to hear the cry of the poor. If they have a television and they're flipping through the channels and they see another ad for Oxfam or someplace like that, they just flip it quickly away. Don't put that voice in front of me. That's perhaps a bad illustration, but I don't want the cry of the poor. I don't want to hear the cry of the widow. I don't want to hear the cry of the fatherless. I don't want to hear the cry of those that have no hope. I don't want to hear the cry of those that are going to commit suicide next week unless somebody helps them. I don't want to hear their cry. See, I've got an agenda. Christ is going to give me provision and a destiny. Of course, the destiny never involves jail like it did the Apostle Paul. Destiny is always something great as far as men are concerned. I have an agenda. You see, the poor can't help my agenda. And so they despise the poor, like the New Testament says. James warned the church he was writing to of his time. He said, you have despised the poor. An incredible indictment of God to be brought against my life or your life or any church. They told him to be quiet. Hold your peace. But he cried out. The Bible says even more. Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And finally, the Bible says that Jesus stood. Another one of the Gospels just says he stood still and commanded him to be brought to him. He stood. The people had failed the test, but Christ one more time was proving why he came. He was not interested in the agenda of the multitude. There was a purpose. He had a mission. It was to reach every soul that was crying out for truth. And quite often it's the poor who are rich in faith. It's those who have nothing who cry out to God like nobody else can cry out to God. And finally, he stopped still. And beloved, we would do well to to take heed of this. We do well at this juncture in history that we're at now. New York City is in charge. We do well to stop. We do well to stand still. Every one of us and say, God, help me to hear the voices that you're hearing. There are people crying out to God. If I can't hear them, help me, Holy Spirit, to hear it. Help me, God. Make me sensitive. Make me sensitive to those all around that are desperate and crying out for God. Help me, God, to move beyond my own agenda, beyond my own comfort, beyond, oh, God, myself. Help me, God. Help me, Jesus. Not to just see the teenagers in New York City as some kind of a vulgar nuisance and get in my way on the way home. God, help me to hear the cry. In their hearts. Help me. I feel like a blind man myself today. Oh, Jesus, Son of David, help me. Help me to hear it, God. Help me, God, to put away these other voices, the other loves, all the other things that want to come in and crowd out your work and your heart. God, help me. Take away from me the selfishness of this self-consumed generation, lust-laden, full of self, just like Paul said it was going to be. A generation who loves self, despise the things of God deep in the heart. God, help me. God, help me. God, help me is my cry. I've got maybe 20 years left if I'm fortunate. God, help me is the cry of my heart. I want to hear it. I want to hear it the way you hear it. I don't want to be isolated from the cry of the poor and the widow and the orphan and the despondent. God, help me. And Jesus stood and commanded him to be brought to him. And he said, what what do you want me to do for you? And the man said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. I want to see. And you see, this is the cry of New York City now. This is the cry of millions in New York City. I want to see. I saw last night, my wife and I went out for a walk together and we saw people leaving the theaters, angry, despondent, going to these shows, looking for happiness of some sort and coming out angry. There was such anger on the street last night. It was startling at one point. Anger on their cell phones and anger in their discussions, one with another. Anger with the parking garage attendants. They want to see. They're just looking in the wrong places. And this man was crying out, Jesus, I want to see. I want to know why I was created. I want to see it. I want to see the purpose for my life. I want to know how I can escape from the powerlessness of my situation. How? I want to see it, God. And beloved, I tell you that cry is in our society now. It's in this generation. They're sick and they're tired. They're tired of the vulgar television. They're tired of the insolent and insane radio talk show host. They're tired of it, folks. And there's a cry. I want to see. I want to know, God, you're the only one that can help me. Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus, son of David, I'd venture a guess that there are probably three to five million cries a night in apartments that nobody, God knows about, when people get alone in their beds. And they say, oh, God, if you're out there, show me. Show me. I want to see. I want to know the reason I live. That's why this sanctuary is getting filled with high school students now and junior high and college students on Friday at the end of every month. It's getting filled because of the generation finally saying, God, I want to see. If there is no God, then what is the point of living? Am I destined to beg beside the road for the rest of my life? Paul said that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know the hope of his calling, the eyes, Paul said, of your understanding being open, that you may the word for hope means that the foundation or the grounding of that hope, that you may see and know the hope of his calling and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Oh, Paul said that you could see it, church of the living God, that you could understand he has called you for a purpose, that you could see that he has won an inheritance on Calvary. And when the father raised him from the dead by the power of the Holy Ghost and this inheritance is now in those that are called by his name, he has given us an inheritance of himself. There's no greater inheritance than to have the presence of God in your life. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us were to believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought? And that word means proves which he proved in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places. He's far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. He's put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that fills all in all. In other words, it means that Christ has filled this church. He keeps on filling this church and there are all kinds of gifts of the spirit in this church. And he dwells in her and walks in this church. Paul said, oh, that you could see it, that you could understand this calling and this glorious inheritance. The blind man said, Lord, I want to receive my sight. But as the healing truly began in verse 40, when the scripture says he stood and he came to Christ in the gospel of Mark, chapter 10, the Bible tells us that this man before approaching Christ threw off his garment. That's very significant. He was a blind man. And one of the things that blind people need are familiarity. I need to know that it's my coat. I know it by the smell. I know it by the feel of it. And they become very familiar with their surroundings. A blind person needs to know every piece of furniture is in the house, for example, if they're going to walk around without stumbling and becoming injured. Familiarity is very important to somebody who has no eyesight. But this man, when he heard the voice of Christ calling him, took off his jacket, the scripture says, and threw it away, took off his outer garment. Now, if you put it on the side of the road, there's a good chance you're never going to be able to find it again or somebody else is going to steal it. You're going to be without a garment. But he took it off and put it away. And beloved, there's a signal to us in that. And the teaching is just simply this. You can't have it both ways. You can't have the old and the new at the same time. If you want the new life that Christ is calling you to, you have to be willing to put off the old. Old sins, old habits, old relationships, old ways of living, old ways of doing things. The familiarity that everyone so wants, but that familiarity can leave you beside the road begging for life, begging for hope. And God said, if you're going to come to me, you've got to take it off and throw it away. And he did, and he threw it away. And he said, Lord, I want to receive my sight. And then the scripture says, Jesus said to him, receive thy sight. Thy faith has saved thee. Your trust in me has saved you. Beloved, listen to me very closely today. If you will trust that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. If you will trust that his payment on that cross was sufficient to satisfy the entire wrath of God that you and I both deserve for the wrong things that we have done. If you will open your heart to him and receive him as your Lord and Savior. He will save you. He will give you a new life. He will open your eyes. He will lead you into a work that is so glorious. It may not be glorious in the sight of man, but it's glorious in the sight of God. The glory is something inside. It's not seen on the outside. It's inside of you. There's a glory. There's a rejoicing. Every sheep that God puts in your hands and you lay on your shoulders and by the grace of God, help to carry them home until they find Christ as their Savior. There's a rejoicing. There's a party in your heart because you know you're involved in the divine work of almighty God. And Jesus said, your faith has saved you. And immediately, the Bible says he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God. Immediately, he received his sight and he followed him. And the word glorifying means manifesting the goodness of God. Immediately, he got up. He was a new man. And he manifested the goodness of God in his physical body. He was a changed person. He had thrown off the old and taken on the new. And he could see. He could see. I always find it so ironic that in the day when Lazarus was raised, it was only a dead man could hear the voice of God on the hill that day. And it seems that it was only a blind man who could see in the whole multitude. Who saw, perhaps, as nobody else did, the purpose of God. Beloved, we're moving into a very perilous time in history. I predict that every gospel that is not the gospel of Jesus Christ is about to fail. Multitudes are going to be left on the mountainside, wandering and wandering. Angry, feeling violated by false shepherds with agendas who have misled them in their pursuit of God. Multitudes. Multitudes are going to be left in the valley of decision. I believe that there's going to be a glory of God come on the true church of Jesus Christ that is unspeakable. A glory. On those who finally say, Lord, I want to hear it the way you're trying to say it. I want to hear what it is you're trying to tell me. I want your work your way. God, forgive me for living my life in mixture. Living my life half for God and half for myself. Jesus, help me to yield my life to your purposes. I want to see. I want to see the way you do. I want to feel the way you do. I want to love the way you do. I want to touch the way you do. I want to be used as a catalyst for your glory to be manifested in the earth. And your glory comes when the poorest of the poor are touched by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, if you can hear this today, I want to tell you that all around you, there are people crying out. Oh, they're not on the outside, but they are on the inside. And only the Holy Spirit can make you and I sensitive to them. Only the Holy Spirit can tell us what they are saying. And if we want to hear it, he will. But you see, the response of the church is not just a quick prayer. Not just a God bless you. The response is a giving of ourselves as the Holy Spirit leads us to meet the need. A giving of ourselves to bring those that are outside the kingdom of God to a place where they can understand and begin to appropriate the provision of God for themselves. This is the cry of God's heart for his church. It's for you and it's for me. How is it not popular today? Everyone is using Christ for themselves now. Christ is just an add-on now to riches and a good life and a fancy home and reputation. That's all he is to so many places. And it's absolutely tragic what's being done to his name. The only way that can be changed is by you or me. By somebody somewhere saying, Jesus, I want to walk it your way now. I want to do it the way that you have prescribed it to be done. We hit the streets from this service this morning. We take CDs that are free and flyers and pamphlets. Now, not everybody can be here this afternoon. I understand that. But you can go home and you have a neighborhood. You have people crying out for God. The cry of our heart has got to be, God, take us out of ourselves. Jesus, help us to see. Help us to see. The son of David, have mercy on me. Give me your eyes, mighty God. Give me your eyes. Now, this is not some emotional thing. I mean, I could preach it in a way that perhaps brings you to tears and draws everyone to an altar. But it's worth nothing. If it's not a decision. It has to be a personal decision in the heart. I made a choice to be available for the poor for the rest of my life. In whatever capacity God calls me. It's a choice that I've made. It's not Brother Davis made a choice in taking the resources God has entrusted to him and making way for widows and orphans here in the city. It's a choice. It's not a, it's a, yes, feeling will become part of it. But it doesn't have to be, it doesn't have to start that way. It's a choice that we make. Lord, I make myself available to come out of all of these other pursuits. And I want to hear the voice of people crying out to you in my generation. That's the choice. Let's pray together. Father, I pray and I ask, oh God, that you do, Holy Spirit, what only you can do. You are the God of the miraculous. You are the one who calls us and leads us. You take us into places, oh God, where we can't go in our own strength. Lord, there are things that we don't want to do. They're not tasteful to the flesh. But God, we will never know you. We will never fully grasp truth until the simplicity of the call is embraced in our hearts. Lord, I do commit my life, whatever remains of it, to be available to the poorest of the poor throughout the world. I pray, God, that we may preach the gospel to them free of charge for the rest of our lives. I pray that you make us a people that are open-handed, open-hearted, to those all around us that are crying out for life and for truth. I pray that you break every secondary agenda off of our hearts. Begin in mine, oh God. And I'm asking that you do it for all of us here at Times Square Church. That all the secondary agendas be broken. That our hearts and ears are open to the cry of the poor and the destitute and the afflicted. Truly, this is the pathway to greatness. Lord, you've made it very clear. It's very, very plain. We need no other sermon on it. We understand it. God, give us the grace to obey it. Father, I thank you from the depths of my heart. I thank you, God. Because you're going to advance your kingdom in our hearts this day. I believe it, Lord, with all my heart, or I wouldn't preach it. I believe it, God. And I thank you for it. In Jesus' mighty name. We're going to stand in just a moment. And as we do, if the Holy Spirit has been drawing you, if you're unsaved and you need to come to Christ, you can come to this altar. And I will pray a prayer with you that will help you to understand what that salvation is about. If you're a Christian that says, God, please help me, I want to see. I want to see. I'm tired of looking in the wrong places. I want to see the way you see. I want this, oh God. What I'm hearing today, I want it to be part of my life. As we stand, I'm going to ask you to make your way to this altar. And I'm going to believe with you for a miraculous transformation in your heart. As I'm believing God for one in mine, too, as well. Let's stand. If the Holy Spirit is drawing you, make your way to this altar. And we're going to pray together. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Move in close. Make room, please, for those that are coming. I want to see. Son of David, I want to see. God, give me your heart. God, give me your heart. Give me your hands. Give me compassion for this generation. If you're here today and you haven't won a soul to Christ in a year, you should be at this altar. I believe it's a shame. It's a shame to be a spirit-filled, tongue-talking Christian and you're not winning anybody to God. Something's wrong, folks. Something's wrong. I say it very lovingly. But I have to give a loving challenge to you today. You should be out of your seat. And I'm not saying it to condemn you, but there should be a cry in your heart. God, how come I'm going through life with an empty basket? How come? What am I not hearing? What is in my heart that is blinding me to the true work of God, the true call of Christ that's on my life? God, please help me. Please help me to understand what you're speaking to me. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. If you are unsaved here today, you say, Pastor, I'm just so tired of sitting on the side of the road begging. But today I see Jesus passing by. And, beloved, let me tell you clearly, he will keep on going unless you cry out to him. There has to be something in your heart. He will never impose himself on anybody. But today you've come to this house and you're confronted with the reality of God. You know now that Jesus Christ is real. He is the son of God. He did come to earth. He did pay the price for your sins. He invites you to turn from your sin and to open your heart and to receive his offer to you of forgiveness. You see, you couldn't even form the intent to receive this if he didn't give it to you. He's being very gracious to everybody in this house today. Education annex, balcony here in the main sanctuary. If you are without Christ today and you say, Pastor, I want to give my life to Jesus Christ. I want to see the reason that I'm born. I want to understand the plan that God has for my life. I'm so tired of looking in the wrong direction. I'm so tired of dead-end streets and entertainment that never satisfies. I'm coming to Christ. I've had it. I'm tired. I don't care what anybody says around me. I don't care if my family tell me to be quiet or anybody around me. I'm coming to Christ. I'm done. I'm done with living for myself. I'm done with living on outside the kingdom of God. I want Jesus today to be my Lord and my Savior. If that's you today, raise your hand wherever you are unashamedly. Raise your hand on the balcony. Go ahead. Way up in the balcony. I see hands are in the main sanctuary at the altar. Just raise your hand. Raise it high. You don't have to be ashamed of Christ. He's not ashamed of you today. Raise your hand. We're going to pray together. Let's pray a prayer. Those that raise your hands all together. And this is going to be the beginning of eternity for you with God. Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. Jesus Christ, Son of God, thank you for loving me so much that you came to earth, died on a cross, and paid the price for my sins. I'm sorry for my sin. It's my sin. That nailed you to a cross. You suffered because of what I've done. I don't want to live in sin anymore. I open my heart to you this very moment. And I say, Jesus, come into my heart and be my Lord and be my Savior. I thank you that you will give me the power to live a new life. I thank you that because I've trusted you, and I believe in my heart, at this very moment, I am saved. I am saved. I am saved. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Be sincere in that prayer. We have New Believers classes. If you're from out of town, find a Bible-believing church and get there as quickly as you can. Get into New Believers class. If you're sincere and you attend this church or would like to, we have a New Believers class every Friday night. We'll give you a Bible to start in your walk with God. You're not ever asked to join anything at any time here at Times Square Church. We'll help you get started in your walk with God. Now, for the rest, let's pray a prayer together. Lord Jesus, open my eyes. Let me see the calling that you've placed on me. Help me to understand the gifting that you've given to me. Help me to know the purpose for which I live and I move and I have my being in you. Open my ears to the cry of the poor and the afflicted and the destitute all around me. Open my heart to them. Open my hands to bless them. I ask you, God, to bless them through my life. I ask you and thank you that you will give me the means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and to make a difference in my generation beginning today as I leave this house. I believe you will use my life to make a difference in somebody's life today before the sunset. You will use my life to make a difference for a hungry soul somewhere today. And Father, I thank you for this. I thank you for touching my heart, for giving me the ability to make this decision. And I ask that it be part of my life for the rest of my life. May I never again use Jesus Christ for anything else but the purposes of God. God, forgive me for all the times that I have used your name and it's been a wrong reason. I've been looking for the wrong thing. I want to look now and see what you see. I want to see people the way you see them. I want my heart to beat for fallen humanity all around me the way yours does. I want to be your hands, your voice, your eyes, your ears, your church in my generation. And God, I believe you're going to do that for me. And today, before this day is out, my heart will rejoice with you. My heart will rejoice with you. I will rejoice with you. Thank you, Jesus. This is the conclusion of the message.