Be sure of what you are going to get! Luke 18:35-41a
I love this account of Jesus and the blind beggar. I realize that I didn’t read the entire story, but, if you know Jesus, you know that Jesus heals the blind man in the end.
• Why? Because of his faith in Christ!
• I stopped with the question Jesus asked the blind beggar: “What do you want Me to do for you?”
It reminds me of when I was a teenager one day, and my dad told me to mow the yard.
• I had been mowing the yard for as long as I could remember…for nothing!
• But at this point I was driving my car, and having to pay for my gas and I had a girlfriend, and there were other things that I wanted, so I guess I decided that it was time for me to start getting something for mowing the yard.
So when dad asked me this time to mow the yard, I replied, “What do I get if I do?” and immediately my father replied, “You better be concerned about what you’re going to get if you don’t.”
• Whenever we do things in life, we want to be sure of what we’re going to get in return.
• This afternoon I want to tell you these things in relation to knowing and not knowing Jesus!
First, if you know Jesus, you can be sure to get REST:
A). Jesus promises, in Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
• What kind of rest does Jesus promise here?
• Too many people what a physical rest ~ they want to come to Jesus and then just sit back and enjoy a life of comfort. That’s not the rest Jesus promises.
• Jesus is promising a spiritual rest here ~ the rest that comes from a clear conscience and the knowledge and assurance that our sins are forgiven.
• Jesus also promises an eternal rest ~ a rest that comes as He has gone to prepare a place for us to spend eternity with Him.
• We have peace with God and the peace of God.
B). But failure to come to Jesus results in restlessness:
• Isaiah 57: 20 & 21 tells us that “The wicked are like the tossing sea that cannot rest…There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.”
• By refusing to follow Jesus, we assure ourselves of spiritual turmoil. They have no share in the peace made by the blood of Christ; they have no true, solid, inward peace of conscience; nor will they have any part in the happiness of the people of God.
Second, if you know Jesus, you can be sure to get LIFE:
A). I hear people say, “Wait a minute preacher, I have life right now.” But I want to ask you, “What kind of life are you really living?”
• Jesus offers life the way that God intended life to be.
• He offers abundant life ~ and if you know Jesus, He offers more than that: John 10:10 says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.”
• Jesus offers something that is more abundant than life ~ and that is LIFE!
• Eternal life with Him.
B). No coming to Christ assures you that you will get death!
• John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life…”
• Yes, unless Christ comes first, we are all going to die, but again, we’re not talking here about physical death, “It is appointed unto man once to die, but after that the judgment.” ~ the death here is a spiritual death.
So the result is that if we know Jesus, we can be assured that we’ll get Heaven!
A). Let’s go to the end of the book!
• Look at the promise of God’s Word in Revelation 21 (read vv. 1-7), now let’s look at 22:1-5
B). But look at what God’s Word promises we’ll get if we reject Christ:
• Go back to Revelation 21 and let’s pick up where we left off a minute ago (read v. 8)
• Like my dad was trying to so cleverly tell me ~ not doing what my Father tells me means that I will surely catch Hell.
Do you know Jesus? Have you asked Him to forgive you your sins and come into your life? Do you serve Him as your Lord?
• Now you know what you’re going to get if you do…
• And what you’re going to get if you don’t!
(based on a sermon by Carl G. Johnson)
