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 Sermon > Cell Bible Study |
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Title |
Lesson 48-[2013 Cell Group Service] What Do You Want Me to Do for You? |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
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Date |
2013-12-23 |
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Reading Scripture: Luke 18:41
Verse to Memorize: Jeremiah 33:3
Reference: Luke 22:44
Goal: For believers to be fully obedient and bold under the proclamation of the original voice to follow the word of God, confess their heart's desires before God and receive answers.
Although you are a new comer to church, as long as you believe God with your heart, you can have any kind of seemingly difficult and big problem resolved. Matthew 7:11 says, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!" As spoken, God the Almighty wants to give His children good things.
1. Jesus opened the eyes of the blind by giving out the original voice
The following verses after Luke 18:35 describe a blind man then being able to see. While he was sitting by the road begging, people told him that Jesus was passing by. Then he called out saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" People around him were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more.
Then, Jesus said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" And he said, "Lord, I want to regain my sight!" As Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well," his eyes were opened and he came to see. He glorified God and followed Jesus, and people who saw it gave praise to God.
The words Jesus spoke, "What do you want Me to do for you?" and "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." are issued in the original voice. The original voice is the voice of God that He issued forth when He created the heavens, the earth, and all things in them뾧ust as when light was created just by Him saying, "Let there be light". In order for us to receive God's answer working through the original voice, we have to meet some qualifications.
2. To receive answers when the original voice is issued
1) We trust God from the bottom of the heart
Jesus preached the gospel of kingdom of heaven in villages and cities and proved His message by showing signs: the disabled came to stand up and jump; lepers were healed; the blind recovered their sight; the mute came to speak; the deaf came to hear; and the demon-possessed were set free. He healed many other kinds of diseases and infirmities in addition to all these. This news was spread all around and many people gathered wherever Jesus went.
The blind man also heard about Jesus. So, when he heard that Jesus was passing by he called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" He did so because he believed that Jesus could open his eyes. Also, calling Jesus Son of David is a profession of his faith in Jesus having come to the earth as the Savior.
Every Jew knew that the Savior would come from the genealogy of David. He acknowledged Jesus as the Savior and believed from the bottom of his heart that He could heal him. This is the first qualification he met to receive God's answer.
He heard a lot of news about Jesus though he could not see. Just as Romans 10:17 says, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." he had faith that Jesus can solve any kind of difficult problems that men cannot solve and he would gain eyesight when he came before Jesus. Because his heart was of goodness he believed the news about Jesus after hearing it.
2) We should cry out in prayer in accordance with justice
Then, why did the blind man cry out loudly, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"?
In Genesis 3:17, God said to Adam, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life." In fact, the first man, Adam, could enjoy abundant things God gave him without toil before he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But he ate from the tree in disobedience, and then sin came into him and he became a man of flesh. After that he ate only by his toil.
This is the God-set justice. So, to receive answers from God we should 'sweat in toil'. In other words, we need to cry out in prayer with our hearts, will, and mind. Only then can we receive answers from God. Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know." Luke 22:44 reads, "And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground."
Since He came in flesh to the earth, our sinless Jesus also cried out in prayer to meet the justice that God had set. Then, how much more fervently should we pray if we want to receive the solutions to such problems that can't be resolved with human ability! The blind man met the second qualification of justice뾲o cry out loudly in prayer for his heart's desire, so he could receive the answer.
3) We should have perfect and unchanging faith
Some say people do not have to speak out in prayer because God knows the depth of their hearts. But it is not right. The blind man called out "Jesus!" with an even louder voice when people around him told him to be quiet. He did not listen to men, but just asked in justice and with earnest hope. That is, he showed unwavering faith in the given situation; this is the third reason his eyes were opened.
If the blind man had felt hurt and had become disheartened when people sternly told him to be quiet, he could not have received the answer. He was sure that he could see if he met Jesus. His faith was firm, so he did not care about others' reactions and he cried out in prayer and brought down the answer.
Some people just turn their back from God though they came forth before God to receive a solution to a big trouble just because they feel hurt by trivial matters. Or, others just do not rely completely on God. But if you have faith in solving any kind of problems you will unchangingly ask for God's grace with a humble heart.
4) We have to show the deeds of obedience like 'throwing aside our cloak'
When Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind beggar gained his eyesight. Mark 10:46-52 talks about the blind man who was healed by Jesus when He was leaving Jericho. It was Bartimaeus. When he heard that it was Jesus who was passing by, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" When Jesus called him, Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak and came to Jesus. Since he threw away his cloak and came to Jesus, he could receive the answer.
What does it mean spiritually 'to throw aside his cloak'? The cloak of a beggar is dirty and smells bad, but it is his only possession and it protects his body. With cloaked in such a dirty and stinky, Bartimaeus did not feel he could go before Jesus.
He knew that Jesus, whom he wanted to meet, was holy and pure. He knew that Jesus had given grace to many people, healed the sick, given hope to the poor, and comforted the abandoned. He thought out of conscience that he should throw aside his filthy and smelly cloak and he immediately threw it aside in obedience.
Though it was before he received the Holy Spirit, Bartimaeus heard the sound of good conscience and obeyed it. He threw away his cloak right away that was his only belonging and the most precious thing to him. Here, 'cloak' spiritually symbolizes our filthy heart that stinks. In other words, it refers to the untruthfulness and uncleanliness of the heart such as pride and arrogance. Therefore, throwing aside our cloak spiritually means that we should cast away all dirty and stinky sins to meet our God who is holy.
If you truly want to meet God and receive answers from Him, we should obey the voice of the Spirit and repent of every single sin that the Spirit reminds us of. We should also obey the voice and urging of the Holy Spirit without hesitation just like the beggar Bartimaeus.
Then, why did Jesus say to the blind, "What do you want Me to do for you?" although He already knew what the blind man's heart's desire is? This is because receiving answers requires the profession of faith. Only when we profess faith with our own lips can we receive the answer, which is the justice of God.
Jesus asked "What do you want Me to do for you?" since the blind man met all the qualifications to receive answers. He confidently answered, "I want to regain my sight" and he was immediately answered. That is, if you meet the spiritual qualifications according to the justice of God the Almighty, you can receive anything you ask for.
* Evaluation and Application
1. What does the cloak of the beggar Bartimaeus spiritually stand for?
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2. What is meant spiritually by the expression 'to throw aside his cloak'?
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3. Jesus knew that Bartimaeus wanted to see but why did He say, "What do you want Me to do for you?"?
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* Weekly Assignment
Read the pages 181 to 195 of Thunder the Original Voice and highlight the important sentences.
* Let's Learn about It!
'Jericho'
Jericho is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank and to the northeast of Jerusalem in the Jordan Valley. The weather is mild and because there were springs there, many people settled down there. So, it was the first city the Israelites of the Exodus conquered after they entered the land of Canaan. At that time, the Israelites obeyed God only with faith together with the leader Joshua who succeeded Moses. Just as God instructed them, they took a turn marching around the city of Jericho once per day for six days, and on the seventh day they took seven turns. After taking 13 turns, the priests blew trumpets and the people shouted out. Then, the walls of the city collapsed (Joshua chapter 6). |
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