This is both a Training and Archive Document resource.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is both a Author and Archive Document resource.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":9487,"menu_order":14,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"resource-type":[184],"class_list":["post-8611","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource-type-gospel-topics"],"acf":{"content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"module_section","row":[{"column_gap":"","column":[{"module":[{"acf_fc_layout":"rich_media_block","image":false,"header":{"":null,"title":"Record of preaching in gospel hall by John Hales","heading_level":"h2","header_styles":{"":null,"background_colour":"","background_image":false,"text_colour":"black"},"make_separator":false},"content":"
Mark\u00a010:<\/span>\u00a021,\u00a022<\/strong>; And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, One thing lackest thou: go, sell whatever thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me,\u00a0[<\/span>taking up the cross]<\/span>. But he, sad at the word, went away grieved, for he had large possessions.<\/p>\n Mark\u00a010:<\/span>\u00a051,\u00a052<\/strong>; And Jesus answering says to him, What wilt thou that I shall do to thee? And the blind\u00a0[<\/span>man]<\/span>\u00a0said to him, Rabboni, that I may see. And Jesus said to him, Go, thy faith has healed thee. And he saw immediately, and followed him in the way.<\/p>\n These two men that I\u2019ve read about, I realise I\u2019ve read about them before, and more than once, but I\u2019ve some certain measure of sense of constraint to read about them again because of what\u2019s entered into our day; certain touches we\u2019ve had as to God\u2019s concern about humanity, about the race, the whole history of the race, the feelings of God in respect of the race. And then the need of the race, the need of every person in it. And I\u2019ve read about these two men because they, in a certain sense, represent the whole scope of the race as to their conditions. We\u2019re not told what their nationality was, we\u2019re not told what their race was, what their colour was, we\u2019re not told about their ancestry. But we\u2019re told enough about them to know that they represent in a certain sense the whole span of the race. The first man was rich. One of the gospels writes about him, speaks about him, as a ruler, a young man and a ruler; and it\u2019s clear from the testimony in each that he was possessed of large territory. He had large material possessions. He was what we\u2019d call a very rich man. It would seem only reasonable to conclude that he was completely satisfied with what he had. He wasn\u2019t asking for more than what he had, and you can only conclude from that that he had everything his heart could have possibly wanted. I thought of that man in Ecclesiastes. He had the power to do that, too. And he got everything his heart was set on. He could do it, he had the means for it. And this man was like that.<\/p>\n The second man, it\u2019s clear that he had nothing, he had nothing. He was a beggar, sitting by the wayside begging. He had other disabilities as well; he was blind. And it doesn\u2019t seem as though anyone was taking much interest in him. That\u2019s not to be unexpected. It\u2019s not to be unexpected that men generally would have very little interest in a blind beggar sitting by the wayside. It\u2019s just remarkable how Scripture can compass humanity just in two men. It\u2019s the same with women. It\u2019s not a question of men or women, it\u2019s the same thing. So every one of us here fits in somewhere in this scale. You fit in somewhere. And each had a need, you see, each had a need, but their approach was totally different, totally different. They came in touch with Christ. Couldn\u2019t have had a greater opportunity, couldn\u2019t have been in a position of more advantage in the universe than to come into touch with Christ. Think of who He is, you know; just think of who He is. The Mediator of God and men, the Man Christ Jesus; that\u2019s who He is. There\u2019s only One. There could only be One, could only be One, and this is He.<\/p>\n Think of what He is as Creator, upholding all things by the word of His power, keeping it going; all these wonderful hills and mountains and valleys and rivers and streams; they never looked so lovely. Jesus is keeping it going, you know. He made it and He\u2019s keeping it going. When He\u2019s finished with it He\u2019s going to wrap it all up and put it away, it\u2019s served its purpose. How many are using it for present pleasure to eternal loss. Think of that. Think of taking advantage of what Christ has provided in His infinite wisdom for men. That\u2019s how He made it, that\u2019s why He made it; He made it for men. Why? To gain their hearts, to win men\u2019s hearts. He came, you see, He came for that purpose, to secure what was due to God. And what happened? He was cast out, rejected, crucified, done away with. Man was so content with having the world as it was, without God, that he cast out the Prince of life, the Saviour of the world; cast Him out, wouldn\u2019t allow any place or space for Jesus. Have you ever been like that? Have you ever found out from soul experience that that\u2019s what you\u2019ve been doing? Thinking only for self and of self, no room for Christ, no provision for Him? Have you ever been like that, ever come to that in your own soul\u2019s experience?<\/p>\n See, this first man, he calls Him, Good Teacher. The Lord wouldn\u2019t accept that, the Lord wouldn\u2019t accept that. Why callest thou Me good? See, he was just patronising the Lord. You can see him, can\u2019t you? He was just patronising the Lord: Good Teacher. The second man didn\u2019t say that. He said, O Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me, have mercy on me. This man was at the very depths of human wretchedness: a beggar. Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever in any time in your life, have you ever felt that you were the very epitome of human wretchedness? You won\u2019t really get the full blessing till you do, beloved. You say, Well, that\u2019s a very miserable picture. Not really! It\u2019s the only way of hope. You see the contrast between these two men. The first man didn\u2019t ask Jesus for anything, he didn\u2019t say, Lord, will You give me something? All he said was, You tell me how I can earn eternal life. I suppose he thought he could do anything. If he had to pay for it, he could have paid for it. Ever met anybody like that? That\u2019s this man. He didn\u2019t ask the Lord for anything. The second man, the Lord asked him what He could do for him. He says, What wilt thou, What wilt thou that I shall do to thee? He didn\u2019t ask Him for money. He could have asked anybody for money. Very, very few people have got no money. Just a coin, just toss a coin; I wouldn\u2019t despise it. You wouldn\u2019t notice it. It would add up to something, wouldn\u2019t it? He didn\u2019t ask Jesus for money, he didn\u2019t ask Him for eternal life, he didn\u2019t ask Him for any possessions, he only asked Him for one thing, a need that only Jesus could fulfil.<\/p>\n Have you ever felt that way? Knew you were wretched, knew you were at extremity, wasted every opportunity, resisted every appeal, every approach, every offer of help, refused it, rejected it, steeled yourself against every overture that was made to offer help. Ever felt like that? And then suddenly something happens, you see, something happened. He heard that this Jesus was passing by. And this man threw away his garment. He wanted no more of it, he wanted no further connection with what had marked him, what had distinguished him. He threw it away, came to Jesus. And the Lord says to him, What wilt thou that I shall do to thee? He says, Rabboni, that I may see. He knew, he knew what he needed, and he asked Christ about it. And the result is so fine. He says, Thy faith has saved thee. Go, thy faith has healed thee. And he saw immediately, and followed Him in the way. It\u2019s so beautiful.<\/p>\n The other man, the Lord said, One thing you\u2019re lacking, only one thing you\u2019re lacking. Would you like the Lord to say that to you today? He\u2019s looked over the whole situation, all the circumstances, and He says, One thing lackest. I think it\u2019s Luke says, One thing lackest to thee yet. It\u2019s still outstanding. What did He say? Go and sell all that you have and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me, follow Me. Do you think he\u2019d have a need? Do you think he would ever have been in want, in company with Jesus? See, you can\u2019t have eternal life without Jesus. This man wanted eternal life by himself, to enjoy his possessions, so as he\u2019d never have to leave them. You couldn\u2019t have eternal life without Jesus. Can\u2019t possibly. You could get the whole world, and you still couldn\u2019t have eternal life without Jesus. And if you had Jesus in eternal life you wouldn\u2019t want the world. That\u2019s the secret, beloved, of salvation. It\u2019s possible to so come into touch with Jesus that He can so meet the need of my soul that all these other things are unwanted.<\/p>\n This man followed, this blind man, he\u2019s not blind any longer. It doesn\u2019t say anything about him begging. He didn\u2019t go on begging, he followed Jesus in the way. O beloved, let\u2019s get to grips today, in company with Christ, with the depth of my need, that He\u2019ll put His finger on, He\u2019ll touch it for every one of us. What it may be, He\u2019ll know, and He\u2019ll make you know what it is. But submit, just submit; at whatever cost, submit to His scrutiny, to His counsel. Come into the gain of it today, and you\u2019ll find you\u2019ll go a free man or a free woman or a free child, you\u2019ll be trustworthy. The Lord told him to go, you\u2019ll notice, told him to go. But he didn\u2019t go; he stayed and followed. That\u2019s a trustworthy person. Have you ever known what it is in your life to come to a depth of extremity and wretchedness, and then found an answer in the person you\u2019d most been set against, and find that that\u2019s the answer? This man found it in Jesus; Rabboni, that I may see. O beloved, let\u2019s today submit to His scrutiny, to His probing, to His searching. Let Him put His finger right on it, and submit, and find what it is to be in the enjoyment of eternal life in the company of Christ. For His name\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n