Jesus of Nazareth Passeth by

I want to ask you a question, friends. If you could make a list of the most important things in the world to you, what would they be? Would it be your family, or perhaps your church, or possibly your career? What would fill the number one spot on that list? I believe the most important thing in the world is where we'll spend eternity when we die, and the second most important thing is where your loved ones will spend eternity. Let's face it, friends, this life is short and filled with trouble.

All that really matters is your salvation in Christ Jesus, for if you miss Christ, then you miss heaven, and believe me, friend, you don't want to be sent to hell. Hell is more horrible, more terrifying than your imagination will ever realize. Being chained to a smoking furnace would be better than hell.

We spend a good part of our time on things of this world, but we often give too little thought to the next world. What I'd like for us today, friends, to do a little exercise. If you could start it now and possibly finish later, but at least get it started.

Take a piece of paper, if you will, and a pen, and draw a line down the center of that piece of paper, and on one side, write the word SAVED, and then on the other side, write the word LOST, then I'd like you to write your name under one of those headings, then I'd like for you to think about your family members and their spiritual condition, and write under each column, SAVED or LOST, their names, then take the time, friend, to write down the names of people you know, maybe some of your best friends, who were saved or lost, then take the time to write your co-workers name down there, and your neighbors who were lost, and then let me ask you a serious question, friend, as you think of those names, whom you are familiar with, how much time do you really spend in praying for those lost individuals whose names are on the lost side of your list? Will you at least write down beside each name how many days a week you pray for their souls? Be honest, friend, because we'll have to give an account of our time to our Lord Jesus Christ when we die, and stand before him at the bema seat, and he reviews our life in the most minute detail, as it goes over every minute of every day, with his fine-tooth comb of eternity. If we say we have concern over someone's soul, then how much time do we spend in prayer, interceding on their behalf, so that person won't end up in a burning hell? The title of my message today, friends, is Jesus of Nazareth Passeth By, and my text can be found in Luke's Gospel, in chapter 18, you can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. We will begin in verse 35, and let me read us this familiar passage of scripture, about old blind Bartimaeus, and his encounter with Jesus of Nazareth, Here now is the word of God, and may the spirit of the Lord attend the reading of his holy word.

And it came to pass, that it is he that is 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. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace, but he cried so much the more, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him, and when he was come near, he asked him, saying, what wilt thou, that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.

And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight, thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

I will stop there, friends. There is nothing more important in this world than a person's salvation from sin. Listen, friend, when Jesus, in his earthly ministry, would pass through towns and villages, those who encountered him experienced change.

One touch from the master can alter and change your entire destiny. Here is a blind beggar. In the Gospel of Mark, he's named Bartimaeus, and he sits day after day by the wayside, begging, for he has no way to support himself, and no family to help him.

And our text begins with five little words. And it came to pass. Oh, friends, when Jesus comes near and stands still to take notice of us and our desperate need, and we cry unto him with importunity through prayer, and have faith that he is able to do and accomplish all he desires to do, then we too are like poor blind beggars coming to him for mercy.

For a lost sinner, friend, is nothing but a poor blind beggar, begging for mercy and seeking a touch from the master's hand. There's a story about George Whitefield I like, the great British evangelist, and I'd like to share it with you now, friends, as it pertains to our message today. Whitefield was addressing a room full of royalty in London, and Lord Chesterfield was among his hearers.

Whitefield was describing the miserable condition of a lost sinner, and he illustrated his subject by describing a blind beggar. The night was dark and the road dangerous. A poor old blind beggar makes his way in the darkness, leaning on his cane with his little dog beside him as a guide.

And as he gropes his way to the top of a hill, his little dog deserts him. And there, at the edge of a great precipice, he loses his grip on his cane, and it falls below into the chasm of darkness before him. The poor blind beggar tries to catch his balance, but he just totters back and forth, with nothing to aid him, and nothing but darkness and danger below.

And Whitefield so warmed his subject and enforced it with such graphic power that his whole auditory was kept in such breathless silence as they saw the movements of the poor old man, and as the beggar was about to take the fatal step which would hurl him down the precipice to certain death and destruction, Lord Chesterfield leaped from his chair and rushed forward, exclaiming in a loud voice, My God, he's gone! And friends, that's the condition of every man outside of Christ. He's nothing more than a poor, spiritually blind, bankrupt beggar who gropes his way in the dark, and who will eventually totter and fall into the outer darkness of a region which is Hell, and there's no hope for him but in Christ and his blood. If you miss Christ, friend, you'll surely end up in the torments of Hell.

Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. Don't let him pass you by, friend, because you'll miss him. Blind Bartimaeus knew his need.

He recognized Jesus as the Messiah, and he turned his aching heart to him, and cried in desperation unto him until he was heard and healed. He came to Jesus empty-handed, and he became a beggar for mercy, and in Mark's Gospel it reads, And Jesus stood still. That poor blind beggar had the full attention of the Son of God, who was able to heal and save him.

O friends, Jesus of Nazareth passes by. Let the empty and the hungry, let the weary and the thirsty come to Christ. Let those who are guilty, let them come for pardon of sins.

Let us be like beggars seeking mercy, sensing our need and coming to him with nothing in our hand but a cry in our heart and the faith that he can pardon our sins. I can almost hear his footsteps now. Lost sinners can come to him and believe on him.

Jesus said, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. He invites poor sinners to come to him and believe on him.

The duty required, friend, is to come, and he has a pure gospel promise to all who come, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Listen, friend, there isn't a sinner this side of hell. Too bad to come to Christ for pardon.

Jesus of Nazareth passes by. O everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found.

Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Let us pray.