Larry Brincefield
larkayb@earthlink.net
Title: Strike While the Iron Is Hot
Text: Mark 10:46-52
Introduction
1. There is an old proverb: "Strike while the iron is hot".
A. That proverb basically has the meaning that when the time is right...
i. you had better act...
ii. or you will miss out on your opportunity.
B. The metaphor is taken from a blacksmith working a piece of iron into shape.
i. That piece of iron must be struck with the hammer while the iron is red-hot
ii. if you wait too long, the iron will cool and you won’t be able to mold it into shape.
2. Another proverb that has a similar meaning is: "You better make hay while the sun still shines".
A. This proverb speaks about a farmer who cuts a field of hay...
B. the hay has to dry in the sun....
C. if the farmer waits until the sun has set...
D. it may very well rain;
E. and he will be unable to bail the hay.
3. Salespeople know this. I was reading an article written by Pat Zaby, a nationally known Real Estate speaker
4. He says, " Over a weekend last spring, I told a friend that I was thinking of buying a convertible....
A. I get on the Internet web site CarPoint.com first thing Monday morning.
B. I picked out the car I wanted,
i. the color,
ii. the interior
iii. and all of the accessories.
C. In moments, CarPoint gave me the completed sticker price and dealer invoice.
D. Fun over, I left it at that and started my workday.
E. Later that morning, I got a call. "This is Owen Evans with Autobahn Motor Cars in Ft. Worth and we have your auto," the voice said.
F. "WHAT?" I responded.
G. Evan reminded me that I had been on the Internet earlier and had been looking for a particular car.
H. I said, "Yes, but I wasn’t serious."
I. "That’s o.k., we have the model and color of car that you requested and wondered if you would like to see it?" Evans persisted.
J. I told him that he was in Ft. Worth and I was in Dallas and that maybe I’d get by some time that week.
K. "You don’t understand," he said. "I’ll drive it right over to your office and you can see it now"
L. I am sure you know what happened. I’m the proud owner of a Carnival Red Jaguar XK8 convertible.
M. I was sending out buying signals and this sales professional "struck" while the iron was hot.
N. I just read some interesting statistics reported in a speech that Steve Ballmer, President of Microsoft, made regarding a survey from dealers that are members of Carpoint, the Microsoft web site devoted to purchasing or selling cars.
O. Mr. Ballmer said that the participating dealers close
i. 35% of the leads if they respond to an e-mail contact in eight hours.
ii. If they wait 24 hours, the close rate falls to 20-25%.
iii. If they wait 48 hours, the close rate falls to 8%.
P. The results are obvious: the faster you respond to a customer, the better the results.
Q. (source: http://realestateprofiles.com/rep/columnists/patzaby/patzaby_01.phtml)
5. You can find the same thing in Scripture.
A. In John 5:3-4 "sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had".
i. They had to strike while the iron was hot.
ii. They had to make their move while the angel was there...
iii. or they would miss out.
B. In Mark 2:1-2 "And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them" Mark 2:1-2 (NKJV)
i. That’s when the 4 friends brought the paralyzed man and lowered him through the roof,
ii. into the presence of Jesus...
iii. They had to strike while the iron was hot...
iv. They had to act while Jesus was there,
v. or their friend would miss out!
C. In Luke 17:11-13 "Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us" Luke 17:11-13 (NIV)
i. And Jesus healed the 10 lepers.
ii. They had to strike while the iron was hot...
iii. They had to act while Jesus was passing by...
iv. or they would have missed out.
6. In our text, is the story about a man who was willing to "strike while the iron was hot"
7. Read Text: Mark 10:46-52
Body
1. The Story
A. Jericho was only about 15 miles from Jerusalem.
i. The main road ran right through Jericho.
ii. Jesus was on his way to the Passover.
B. When a distinguished Rabbi or teacher was on such a journey...
i. it was the custom that he was surrounded by a crowd of people,
a. disciples and others
ii. Then these people would listened to their Rabbi as he taught while they walked along.
iii. This was one of the most common ways of teaching.
C. It was the law that every male Jew over twelve years of age who lived within 15 miles of Jerusalem must attend the Passover.
i. This law was impossible...
ii. everyone couldn’t go.
iii. Those who couldn’t go were in the habit of lining the streets where groups of travellers must pass by
D. This gave them the opportunity to see some of the famous Rabbis
i. and hear some of their teachings
ii. as they made their way along.
E. So the streets of Jericho would be lined with people,
i. and there would have been even more people than usual,
ii. because there would be a great many who would be there to catch a glimpse of this provocative young Galilaean
iii. who everyone was talking about. —Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
F. And as Jesus made His way through the throng...
i. teaching as He went....
G. Bartimaeus (I’ll call him "Bart" for short) was no dummy.
i. Bart figured that this would be a great place to score some cash...
ii. There was a great big crowd...
iii. and maybe they would be generous to a blind man.
H. Suddenly, Bart hears the noise of the crowd intensify...
i. he begins to ask the people around him....
ii. "Who is it?"
iii. "What’s happening?"
iv. "Can you see what’s going on?"
I. A compassionate bystander tells him, "Jesus is going by...wow, I wish you could see this"
J. Bart had heard the stories...
i. He had heard about this Man from Galilee...
ii. He had heard about the miracles....
iii. He had heard about the healings....
K. So he starts to shout, "Jesus, Jesus...hey, I’m over here! Help me, Help me!"
L. The crowd around him yells back...
i. "Shut up...we are trying to listen to the Master...
ii. we can’t hear what He’s saying with you making all that racket"
M. Instead of quieting down...
i. Bart begins to yell all the louder....
ii. JESUS....JESUS....HEY, I NEED HELP...JESUS!!!
N. Jesus hears Bart and stops where He is....
i. He tells the crowd, "Bring that man to me"
O. Now, all of a sudden, the crowd changes its tune...
i. They say, "Hey, Bart, you lucky dog, Jesus wants to see you"
P. Bart jumps us and is led to Jesus....
i. Jesus says, "How can I help you"
ii. Bart says, "I want to be able to see"
iii. And Jesus heals him...
iv. And Bart just follows Jesus along....
v. praising the Lord for what happened to him.
2. The role of the church
A. I’d like for you to take a look at the crowd in this story.
i. to me, the crowd represents the attitude of the church.
B. Sometimes, when we come across people who have needs...
i. people like Bart...
a. poor,
b. beggars...
c. blind...
d. spiritual needs...
ii. and they begin to clamor for help.
iii. They just want someone to point them to Jesus.
a. but we just want them to be quiet...
iv. we don’t want them to distract us from enjoying Jesus ourselves.
C. But then, Jesus gets the crowd focused on what’s important...
i. He tells them "bring Bart to Me".
D. Suddenly the crowd understands....
i. oh, we are supposed to be ENCOURAGING people to come to Jesus...
ii. we are supposed to bring them face to face with the Messiah.
E. So, how are we doing?
i. Are we bringing people to Jesus?
ii. Or are we trying to silence them?
F. People, the iron is red hot...
i. the time is right....
ii. right now!!!
iii. Jesus is passing by!!!
a. There are people all around us with needs!
b. They are crying out for help!
iv. are we bringing people to Jesus?
G. Can I be brutally honest this morning?
i. How long has it been since we’ve seen someone come to the altar and get saved?
ii. How long has it been since we’ve pointed someone to Jesus?
iii. I know we have seen spiritual victory take place....
iv. but it has been awhile....
v. we have grown complacent...
vi. we seem to be content that the altar gathers dust...
vii. all the while, there is a world that is lost and clamoring for help...
viii. and we just don’t seem to care...
ix. or even worse...we tell them to shut up...
x. so we can just listen to Jesus ourselves.
H. God help us!!!
i. We need to be ushering people into the presence of God...
ii. we need to strike while the iron is hot.
3. Strike while the iron is hot: Bart
A. Jesus was passing by....
i. and Bart struke while the iron was hot....
ii. He didn’t wait....
iii. He didn’t pause....
iv. He didn’t say, "Well, I’ll wait until the next time Jesus comes by"
v. He didn’t give up when the crowd was against him....
vi. He knew Jesus could help him...and he was NOT going to miss out on this opportunity.
vii. He was not going to blow it....
viii. He was not going to let this chance pass him by.
B. But, I just wonder.....
i. what would have happened if Bart hadn’t spoken up?
ii. what would have happened if he just sat by and just listened to the teachings of Jesus?
iii. what would have happened if he didn’t respond?
iv. what would have happened if he would have paid attention to the crowd at first?
v. what would have happened if he would have said to himself...
a. I don’t want to stand out...
b. people might say things about me...
c. I’ll wait for another time....
d. I’ll wait until I get home tonight and talk to Jesus then...
vi. what would have happened if he had said to himself, "I’ll wait, and if they sing one more verse of "Just As I Am" I’ll go talk to Jesus"
C. We can’t know for sure what would have happened...
a. but I have a pretty good guess.
b. Bart would have missed out on an opportunity of a life time...
c. and he very well may have spent the rest of his life as a blind beggar....
d. you see, the very next verse after our text is about the Triumphal Entry...
e. perhaps occuring on the same day...
f. From this point on, Jesus spent the rest of His very short life in Jerusalem.
g. where He would be crucified.
D. But that ISN’T what happened.
i. When Jesus calls Bart and Bart throws his coat aside and jumps up...
ii. the word has the meaning of springing to his feet...
iii. leaping up with great anticipation...
iv. In fact, he threw off his coat, because he didn’t want anything to slow him down on the way to see Jesus.
E. When Jesus asked him what he wanted...
i. He didn’t stop and think about it....
ii. he didn’t hemhaw around...
iii. He didn’t stutter...
iv. he didn’t hesitate...
F. Bart was a beggar....
i. he could have asked for gold or silver...
ii. but instead, he says, "I want to see"
4. Strike while the iron is hot: Us
A. Here we sit today....
i. I’m sure to some people, this is just an ordinary day...
ii. no different than any other...
B. But let me tell you...
i. Today is special!!!
ii. Jesus is passing by....
iii. He is passing by today...
iv. just like He did so many years ago,
v. on that day that Bart received his sight.
C. Jesus is passing by today...
i. and there are people here today who have needs every bit as real at Bart’s.
ii. Oh, you might not be physically blind...
iii. but you aren’t living in the fullness of life that God has planned for you.
D. Jesus is passing by...
i. and you have a need....
a. I don’t know what your need is...
b. but I’m sure you do...
ii. You are aware of your need...
a. your sin...
iii. so what are you going to do?
iv. are you going to just stay in your spot....
v. and refuse to respond?
E. Or are you going to be like Bart?
i. Bart didn’t worry about what other people thought...
ii. He knew he had needs that only Jesus could meet...
iii. and this was his golden opportunity...
iv. so he literally jumped at the chance.
v. He struck while the iron was hot.
vi. So should you!!
Conclusion
1. I don’t want to be overly melodramatic...
A. but let me just tell you honestly...
B. Jesus is passing by...
C. and for some of you....
D. this could be your last chance....
2. For you....Jesus may not pass this way again.....
A. for whatever reason....
B. this could be your last chance....
C. If you have become accustomed to telling the Holy Spirit "NO" when He is speaking to your heart...
i. He may just give up on you and move on to more fertile soil...
3. I wonder what the closing ratio is for the Holy Spirit?
A. If I were selling cars...I guess I would be pretty happy with a 35% closing ratio.
B. But we aren’t selling cars...
C. what we are doing effects people and their eternal destination...
D. I hope and pray that the "closing ratio" of the Holy Spirit is much higher than a car salesman.
4. There are people here this morning that have spiritual needs...
A. are you going to be like Bart?
B. and jump up and come to Jesus?
5. Or are you just going to let the moment pass...
A. you don’t want to embarass yourself...
B. you don’t want to make a scene....
C. so, even though the Lord is speaking to you....
D. you remain where you are...
6. Think about Bart...
A. Do you think if he knew Jesus could heal him ...
B. that he would just sit back...content to be blind?
7. Do you want to just sit back...
A. content to live a less than victorious life?
8. The chorus says,
A. Reach out and touch the Lord as he’s passing by...
B. you’ll find He’s not too busy to answer your cry...
C. He’s passing by this moment your needs to supply....
D. reach out and touch the Lord as he’s passing by.
9. Let’s stand as we sing....
A. Jesus is passing by this moment....
B. strike while the iron is hot....
C. don’t miss out on this wonderful opportunity...
D. come and let Jesus touch your life.
