Jesus Hears, Jesus Heals

Carter Conlon from the historic Times Square Church in New York City. You see, Jesus hears. Jesus hears, thank God. In all the noise and all the voices and everybody that's pushing him towards their agenda, it was the cry of one man on the side of the road. He heard him. You see, Jesus hears.

Thank you for joining us this week for A Call to the Nation with Carter Conlon. In Luke chapter 18, Jesus is walking towards Jericho. A blind man is sitting by the side of the road begging. The blind man calls out to Jesus to have mercy on him. And then Jesus asks him a very important question.

What do you want me to do for you? You see, Jesus heard this man's cry for help, and then he immediately healed him. And in today's message, Carter wants to remind you, Jesus hears, Jesus heals. Let's join Carter now. I want to speak a message that I've spoken on in this passage of scripture just a few weeks ago, but it bears repeating because no matter how often we could preach on a particular passage, I don't think we could ever fully understand the depths of it or reach the bottom of any passage of scripture. I believe I could preach on John 3.16 for the rest of my life and still add another depth to the treasure of God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son.

I do believe that I could add to that. But this message I've entitled, and it's for those that are here with us, and you need a miracle. I'm just going to say it straight out. You need a miracle. You need something in your life that only God can do.

Human beings can't do it for you. Your natural strength can't do it for you. You can't get up. You can't get out.

You can't get in. Whatever your situation is, you know that you're stuck where you are, and it's only a miracle of God that will make a difference in your life. Might I be bold enough to join with my brothers and sisters in this sanctuary and to believe God for a miracle for your life? A miracle.

There are people that are writing in that your situation is so dark, down deep, depressed, addicted. Whatever the situation is, only God can give you the victory now. The good news is that God is willing to give you the victory through his son, Jesus Christ, and I'm not bringing something to you that is not a truth.

It's not something that many of us haven't experienced in this room. We have experienced the victory of God and the power of God. So Father, I ask you to put an unusual anointing on your word. I ask you to put something deeper than God maybe I've spoken in years. I'm asking you, Lord, to go in to prisons. I'm asking you to go into places where people can't see a way forward, where their hearts are so wounded they don't think they're ever going to be healed. I ask you to go to the addicted, the oppressed, the afflicted, the marginalized, God, those that everyone else has given up on except you. Lord Jesus Christ, would you grant me the privilege of going there with you? I ask you for the privilege to visit some darkened rooms.

The lights might be on, but the room is dark. I pray, Lord Jesus Christ, that freedom would come to people's lives. I believe, Lord, that the last day will be the internet reaching.

Through the internet, God, you're going to reach people that don't go to church, won't go to church, can't go to church, but you will go to them who can't come to you. And so Father, I thank you for the touch of heaven, not just to speak this, but for people to hear it. And I thank you in Jesus' name.

Amen. Luke chapter 18, beginning at verse 35. Then it happened, as he, being Jesus, of course, was coming near Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the road begging. And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. We saw that at Princeton University when we were there just a couple of weeks ago where a group of students coming out of a prayer meeting from a religion that we do not believe embraces truth. They were coming out of this prayer meeting and they saw a multitude worshiping and many of them stopped and began to ask the question, what does this mean?

Some stayed and asked for prayer when it was all over, even though their affiliation is with something that we believe to be in error. And hearing a multitude 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. He recognized this man is the fulfillment of what was promised through the lineage of King David. He saw something as a blind man, ironically, that many people who could see couldn't see. 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. What happens to people?

What happens to religions that we want people who are desperate for God to be quiet lest they disturb our parade? There were so many people that had an agenda. They had what they call a Jesus agenda. There were those that wanted him to go immediately and overthrow Rome. There were others that had a political bend and they wanted him to take maybe the political leadership of the nation over.

There were others that were just obsessed with free bread. Whatever the situation was, others wanted to be great in the kingdom of God and such like. And nobody wanted to be disturbed by a blind man crying out for mercy. Oh, God help us.

That's all I can say. Oh, God help us. That we would never become like that in the body of Christ, that we would become so religiously deaf that we can't hear a blind man crying out to the Son of God. So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to him. You see, Jesus hears. Jesus hears, thank God. In all the noise and all the voices and everybody that's pushing him towards their agenda, it was the cry of one man on the side of the road. He heard him. For those that are online and you're part of this prayer meeting, or maybe it will be in your time zone tomorrow or the day after, could be a year from now from this very date that you listen to this.

I want to tell you something. Nobody else may hear you, but Jesus hears you. Everyone else may pass by and keep going on their agendas, but he'll stop because he hears your cry, because he cares, because he loves you, because he died for you. You were created in his image. You are the desire of his heart. You are the reason he came into this world and took on human form and walked among us for 33 years and then went to a cross and suffered a brutal death and a rejection of religious humanity, may I put it that way, so that he could get you and bring you home.

Don't think for a moment he's going to pass you by. When he had come near, he asked him, what do you want me to do for you? Now it's interesting that this man, his journey began with a cry while he was sitting in a place where walls in Jericho had once come down, but now he's in a wall of darkness himself.

It's like the type of person that might be listening and you kind of know the history. You know that Jesus Christ can walk on water and you actually, you believe it. You know that he brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and parted the Red Sea and you actually believe it. You even believe in Noah, that Noah built a boat and two by two animals of all species came in and humanity as well as other created things survived.

You actually believe it, but you're living in darkness yourself. This is where his journey began and it began with a cry. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. We sang it tonight, bring back the king. He recognized the kingship in this man. He recognized his authority.

He recognized his power and he knew that Jesus had done things for other people in the past and could do things for him as well. I know there's people online that that's you. I know who I'm speaking to and you feel that way in your heart. God, I believe that what you've done in the past, you can do again.

So God, please have mercy on me. You've set other people free. I've heard the testimonies.

I've read the books, maybe in some cases. I've heard the stories in church. If you're a casual or maybe a frequent church girl, you've heard the stories, but you say, God, I know you brought the walls of Jericho down at one time.

I know you were faithful to the people. I know you're a God of the miraculous, but here I am. History has gone and I'm living now in the present and I have to go into a dark and tomorrow have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still in the scriptures. Now this is where it gets interesting for me because he said to the blind man, what do you want me to do for you?

Now I don't know about you, but if I was in the crowd, I would say, isn't it fairly obvious? Like the man's blind. He's been begging here for years on the side of the road and you ask him, you see, God will come to you and he will ask you the same question.

What do you want to do? Because sometimes what is obvious to others, we are blind to ourselves. Sometimes Jesus will come and say, what do you want me to do?

And we'll shift to some subsidiary thing, some secondary thing or something, three or four things down the line, things that maybe we think we need. And sometimes what's obvious to others is not obvious to us. You know, some of us know people like that.

I include myself in that. We know people that it's pretty obvious what you need, but maybe you don't see it yourself. And if Jesus came to you and said, what do you want me to do for you? We'd be the first one to stand up and say, you know, he needs to be set free from drugs. Or this man's got a lying tongue. He needs to learn how to tell truth. And we could point out what the problem is, but the person that Jesus is speaking to might not be aware of what the problem is.

Now I suppose at this moment he could have gotten anything he asked for. Remember when the Lord appeared to Solomon by night and said, ask me whatever you want and I'll give it to you. Remember Solomon said, I need wisdom because I don't know how to come in and go out among all these people.

I need to be able to judge between right and wrong, et cetera, et cetera. And God gave him wisdom and God also gave him riches and honor and things like that. But the sad thing is what Solomon really needed beyond wisdom, he needed a heart to follow the wisdom and he never asked for it. We look back in retrospect and say Solomon, all your wisdom just led you into folly and foolishness. It caused you to build heathen temples at the end of your life.

It led you into depravity. If only you would have asked God for a heart. If only Solomon would have said, God, I need wisdom to govern the people, but also would you give me the heart of my father David? You called him a man after your own heart.

I want to be a man after your own heart. So I don't want to just learn. I'm talking now to people in Bible school. It's not good enough just to learn if you don't have the heart to obey it.

You don't have the heart to follow it. Jesus himself said, if the light in you become darkness, how great is that darkness? If we know truth but don't have a heart to follow it or to obey it, it can actually bring about a darkness, eventuality into our lives that is a deeper darkness than people who live in sin. You can reason with somebody who lives in sin. It's very hard to reason with a religious person who has gone dark spiritually. I've been there. It's scary.

You can't reason with these people. They've known truth and it's turned to darkness within them. How great, Jesus said, is that darkness. What do you want me to do for you? I suppose he could have had anything he'd asked for. What if he'd asked for a better begging spot?

I'm blind. Lord, you know where the best begging spots are. This place has gone dry.

The people have been seeing me here for years. They're getting tired of putting money into my cup. I need a better begging spot. Do you recommend a better begging spot?

Do you have any ideas? You can see I can't. I think if he would have asked for it, he might have gotten it. Sometimes God wants to give us sight and we settle for a better begging spot. What if there was another beggar just down the road?

He couldn't see him, but he could hear the money hitting his cup and say, look at that guy. He's honing in on my business here. Could you move him out of the way? Because he's taken half of my income that I should be getting.

It's going to him. Could you move him farther away? What if he'd asked for a new coat? This coat stinks and it's getting a little bit ratty.

Now we get very specific in our wrong requests sometimes. He could have said to the Lord, I need a new coat, but don't let it be too new looking. It's got to be a little bit old looking. It's got to be an old looking new coat because it's like buying a pair.

I can never get over it. People buy jeans with tears in them. When I was a kid, we either put a patch on that or we got a new pair.

We didn't go to the store and pay a hundred bucks for jeans that are torn. It doesn't make any sense to me what's whatever. He could have asked for a new coat, but we get very specific in our wrong requests. It's not what we need, but we get really, really specific. It's got to look like this.

It's got to be like... We get very, very specific. I need a wife and she's got to look like this or I need a husband and he's got to look like this. Not too rich, not too poor.

Then we take our scriptures. Not too rich so we forget. You're not too poor so we have to beg.

Just moderately wealthy, preferably a doctor or a lawyer. We become very specific and that's not what you need. It's a request, but it's not what you need. He could have asked for a new cup. This cup of mine is getting kind of rotten on the bottom.

I think the coins might be falling through it sometime throughout the day. Could I have a new cup? He could have asked for shoes for his feet or maybe a cushion to sit on. I'm starting to get sores from sitting in the same spot.

I could really use a cushion. Maybe he could have asked for power to forgive those who had just told him to be quiet. God, don't let me get bitter.

Don't let me hold grudges. These people are religious, but they're so uncaring and uncompassionate to me in my situation. He could have asked for a new friend. I've worn out all my friends. They're tired of my saying the same thing every day, day in and day out, saying, how's it going? It's to say, oh, well, I only have a few coins and I'm stuck in this spot.

They're just tired of me. I could use a new friend. The point is that's not what he needed. Anyone there could have helped him and given him those other things. Anyone there, any of the secular people there could have given him a better begging spot. They could have given him a new coat, a cup, shoes, healing, a cushion to sit on, power to forgive. They could have encouraged him to forgive.

They could have been a new friend to him. The point is he needed a miracle that only Jesus could give him. There was something he needed, a miracle that would cause others to praise God because it goes on to say, Lord, I want to receive my sight. Then Jesus said to him, 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.

I don't know about you, but I want God to do things in my life that will cause me to glorify him, that will cause my mouth to be open and say, I have to tell you what God has done in my life. I used to be blind. Now I can see. I used to be bound. Now I am free. I used to have a heart so wounded and so broken. I thought I'd never recover. Now my heart is open again to love and to be loved and to trust and to be trusted. I used to be a liar.

Now I'm speaking the truth. God has done a miracle in my life. That's what I want in my life. And that's what every true believer in Christ, when Jesus stops and says, what can I do for, what do you want me to do? Go right to the source. And if you don't know what the source is, stop and ask God what it is. Stop and ask God. If he wasn't sure, he could have said, what do you think I need?

And Jesus immediately I'm sure would have said, you need to receive your sight. You need something that the others here can't give you. Only God can give it to you. Listen to me online. You need a touch from heaven. You've had all the counseling. You've had more counseling. You've got enough counseling to choke a camel.

That's an odd illustration, but that's what came to me. There's nothing more than anybody can say to you. Everyone has tried. You're like the man in the graveyard. Everyone tried to help him, but nobody could help him.

He kept breaking the chains and cutting himself. You need a miracle. You need a touch from God. I challenge you to cry out to God. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. God, look upon my affliction. Set me free from these chains. Set me free from this prison. God almighty, I'm tired of just reading about miracles you've done in other people's lives. I want my own miracle.

I want something done in my life that will open my mouth to praise you. And not only that. The scripture says, and when the people saw it, they gave praise to God. The people couldn't see who Jesus was, but they saw the miracle he did on the blind man.

In one sense, their eyes were opened in a small measure as well. And they saw the power and the mercy of God when he touched this man. Only Jesus can give you salvation. Only Jesus can save you. Your friends can't save you. There's not a program on the earth that can save you. There's no amount of changing, trying to change your own behavior that can save you. Only Jesus can save you.

That's the biggest miracle of all. He said in John 10, 10, the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I've come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. Only Jesus can save you. Only Jesus can forgive you. Only Jesus can destroy the penalty and power of sin that's over your life. Only Jesus can open your prison door. Only Jesus can give sight to your blinded eyes. Only Jesus can heal your wounded heart. Only Jesus can give you the treasure of heaven that you need to go into the future.

Only Jesus can give you what you need. And so I don't care who tells you to be quiet. I'm telling you to cry out. I'm telling you to cry out in the nighttime, cry out when everyone else is gone.

Jesus, son of God, have mercy on me. You watch. It might look like your street is empty.

It might look like nobody cares. Your apartment might be empty. Your room might be empty, but Jesus is there and he's not willing to pass you by. And the moment he hears that cry coming from your heart, he will stop and he will do what only Jesus can do. He will save you.

If you just simply open your heart and say, God, I can't save myself. The blind man couldn't. He could do all kinds of stuff, but he would never be able to restore sight to his eyes. Something was broken there and only God could fix it. He could put ointment on his eyes.

He could run them under a tap. He could bang his head on a wall, but nothing is going to give him vision except the touch of God. And nothing will help you to see a way into the future until the touch of God comes on your life. It comes through opening your heart and saying, Jesus Christ, son of God, you not only came to the earth to get me, you came to the earth and you died for me so that I could be forgiven. I could be restored into a relationship with the living God so that healing could come into my life. And as the scripture says, not just to give your life, but give it to you more abundantly.

This new life, which includes healing from past conditions and eyes to see a way into the future. Oh God, it's so wonderful to be saved and to have the spirit of God come upon your life and give you hope for the future and give you the power to change, give you a vision for what your life should be in the days to come. Today, the scripture says, if you can hear his voice, if you know he's passing by, call out to him and don't be ashamed and don't let anybody tell you to be quiet. You call out to him and he'll touch you. We're going to pray a prayer in just a moment and you're going to have an opportunity to invite Jesus Christ into your life to be your Lord and to be your savior.

This is the greatest miracle of all. We're a multitude gathered here and we're telling you, Jesus is passing you by. And if you cry out to him, he'll stand still and he'll call you to himself and he'll ask you, what do you want me to do? Tell him, don't settle for plan B, C, D, E, or F. Go right to plan A. Whatever the deepest need of your heart is and your life is. Don't ask for a new coat when you can have a new life.

Don't ask for a new cup when you can have new sight. Don't ask him to save some material thing in your life when he's willing to save you and to forgive you and to bring you into eternity with him forever. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the power of God through Jesus Christ and the mercy of God is so known through him.

If you'll pray this prayer with me and make it your own, you can know that you're forgiven. You can know that heaven will be your home when you die and God will come and take up residence by his Holy Spirit inside of your physical life and you will become, the Bible says, a new creation. You'll be born again by the Spirit of God.

It's like starting all over again. A new birth. You were born once naturally, but now you'd be born spiritually by the power of God. Just as he did for this man, you'll suddenly have vision for the future.

Jesus said, I came to give sight to the blind. I came to show you a way out, not just of your condition, but a way into what I have for your life. Oh God, it's an amazing life that Jesus Christ offers you and I. Pray this prayer with me right now.

Let's all pray it together. Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for loving me. Thank you for dying for me and paying the price for all the wrong that I have done.

Thank you for hearing my cry, not turning away from me, but turning towards me. You asked me what I need. I need you, Jesus. I need your love, your forgiveness, the salvation you offer, the life you promised me. I want to see.

I want to see. Thank you for hearing me. Thank you for touching me. Thank you for giving me my sight and for doing something in me that will cause other people to give praise to you. Jesus, I love you.

Thank you for loving me. In your precious name, amen. You've been listening to Carter Conlon from Times Square Church in New York City. For more information and resources to help you in your walk in Christ, log on to tsc.nyc. And be sure to be with us next week for A Call to the Nation with Carter Conlon.