Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter nine, Matthew
chapter nine. Just prior to the event that
I'd like to consider this morning, The Lord had delivered two which
were possessed with demons. One of the accounts just says
a man. Two of the accounts say two men,
no contradiction. The Lord was just pleased in
one of them to mention just one of the two. So when the Lord
said it was two, Two men. And the people in that area,
this is recorded in Matthew chapter eight, the part I'm talking about
last verse in chapter eight, the people had witnessed the
Lord's casting out of these demons after these, after one of them
for sure was mentioned. But they witnessed this, the
power, the marvelous, miraculous power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the scripture says that after they saw him, cast these demons
out. Verse 34 of Matthew 8 says, and
behold, behold, make a note of that word, behold. Low, low. And behold, the whole city came
out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they besought
him that he would depart out of their coast. The spirit of
God is telling us, take notice of something. A man, for sure
one of them, has been delivered of demons. They saw it and behold, after
they saw that miracle, they told him, we don't want
you here. Oh, how evident man by nature
wants nothing to do with the Lord of glory. Now listen, you take false, free will, man-centered
religion, they want everything to do with that. They want that. But the God who rules in heaven
and earth, God Almighty who has the right
to show mercy and compassion to one and pass by another. They don't want anything to do
with that. They don't want to have anything to do with the
God who rules, who rules. There was no desire, no hunger. I want you to turn with me to
Isaiah 53, Isaiah 53. You read this before. Marvelous
revelation of man by nature. Isaiah 53, verse two and three. I'll read one, two, three. Isaiah
53, who hath believed our report? And whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? He shall grow up before him as
a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form
nor comeliness. When we see him, there's no beauty
that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and we hid as it
were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Men, women, by nature, hear the
gospel of God's free grace. They hear of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and they see nothing, they hear nothing that appeals to them. It's nothing about the Lord Jesus
Christ. These people, back in Matthew
chapter nine, we're getting ready to, I'm gonna look, Lord willing,
the first few verses, chapter nine of Matthew, but these people
wanted the Lord Jesus Christ to leave that place when he'd
cast those demons out. And there was no record given where the Lord Jesus Christ ever
came back that way again. No record. Oh, the danger. Listen to me. The danger. It's dangerous. It's dangerous.
I'm telling you right now, this is dangerous. The danger of hearing
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the gospel of God's free
and sovereign grace, the danger, the danger, the danger, and refusing to hear it. You hear me say all the time,
Almighty God, He's powerful. He can give a new heart. He sure
can. And He does to whomsoever He
will. But I'll tell you this, here's
a truthful statement too. A man or woman that will not
come to Christ, they will have the whole blame
of their refusal to come to Him laid to their account. It's dangerous. These people
refused. They refused to hear. They refused to bow. And they
wanted Him to leave. And the scripture says, he did. You may hear the gospel of God's
grace and say, I'll not have that man
rule over me. And the Lord may leave you to
yourself. You might take your last breath.
I was just, I was reminded of that this week. We had someone
in our community. Passed away. Passed away. And my first thought is, that
man is now gonna meet God. Gonna meet God. This is serious
business here. Serious business. Matthew chapter
nine. All right, he has left their
coast. Verse 34 of chapter eight, he's
left their coast. And the scripture says in verse
one of chapter nine, and he entered into a ship and passed over and
came into his own city. Now, let me tell you the first
thing that entered my mind when I read that. He entered into
a ship. You talk about the humility of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me tell you who entered into
that ship. The one that spoke this world
into existence. The one who upholds all things
by the word of his power. The one before whom the seraphims
lie, hide their faces, their feet, and they cry, holy, holy,
holy is the Lord God of hosts. The whole earth full of his glory. He made everything. And here
the scripture says, he entered a ship to get him from one point
to another. The humility of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He entered a ship. And the scripture
says, after he passed over came into his own city. Look at verse
two. And behold. There's another word. Behold. Take note of this. Oh, lo. Don't let this slip by
ya. Don't let this word slip by.
And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy. Lying on a bed, Jesus, seeing
their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good
cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. That word, behold, I've entitled
this message, Be of Good Cheer. I could have entitled it, Behold,
because of the impact of that word. We're getting ready to
watch it, see it again in just a minute. And behold, Behold,
they brought him a man. Here we see this exhortation
again, this exhortation of the Lord Jesus Christ telling us,
take note of what is about to be said. Take note of this. Don't
let this slip. It's so easy. It's just a word. No, it's not just a word. And
behold, There were some that had brought
a man sick of the palsy. In the account that's written
of this event right here in the book of Mark, I wrote it down
here, Mark chapter two, verses one, 12. I'll tell you for the
sake of time, same event, same event right here. But in that
one, they had brought their man, their friend, sick of the palsy,
and they got there because there were so many people. They took
him up on the rooftop, and he took part of the roof off, lowered
him down, same event, right there, recorded in Mark 2, and lowered
him into the very presence of the Lord. And here was this man,
sick of the palsy. I looked up, that disease to
try to find out what was it about the palsy. And I found out this,
it's a disease which causes a deadness in a particular part of the body. A disease that causes a paralysis,
it's palsy, it affects different parts of the body. And my mind
immediately went to the heart, the spiritual heart of every
man. Here's a man and he was sick
of the palsy. And if we look at that disease,
palsy, the Spirit of God was not just giving us information.
He telling us something. That man right there had a disease
which is a picture, is a type. of spiritual helplessness, deadness. This man's problem was that he
was paralyzed, he was dead in a part, he was dead in heart. And beloved, all of us, all men
and women from birth, here we possess the disease, the spiritual
disease of spiritual palsy. We're all, we're
all sick from the crown of our head, the sole of our foot. Every
one of us has got spiritual palsy and sick and he can't do anything
about it. This man couldn't walk. We can't walk before God, rightly. This man was, he was, he was
lying on a bed and here is a picture of original sin. Here's our original
problem right here. The Lord Jesus Christ is in this
place and the scripture says that behold, they brought to him. Rest hold of that. What a miracle
of God's grace. A miracle of all the people. I don't know how many people
was in that city. I don't know how many. I kind of liken it,
when I was thinking on this passage right here, I think, how many
of them live in this town we're in, this state of West Virginia? How about in America? I don't
know. But oh, behold, by the grace
of God, who orders all things after the counsel of his own
will, they moved upon some friends of this fella right here. and
gave them a heart, a desire to wanna bring their friend who
was sick of the palsy to the Lord. I'm so thankful that the
Lord caused our paths to cross with the gospel of God's free
grace. Didn't leave me or you to hear a false gospel, false little
G gospel. Paul's message that we'll do. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God and salvation.
Jew first, also to the Greek. Everyone that believeth. I'm
so thankful that God Almighty didn't leave us to be plagued
all with this spiritual palsy. And they brought this man to
the omniscient. Omniscient, what does that word
mean? He knows everything. He knows everything. Verse two
says, and behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy,
lying on the bed. And Jesus, now grasp hold of
this, seeing their faith. Nobody can see faith. But the
Lord, I see you sitting there. So good
to see you again. I'm glad the Lord's given us
a time to be together again. But I can't see your heart. I
don't know what you're thinking, but he does. And the Lord, seeing
their faith, I read different writers on that. Did they just
see the faith of the friends? Did he have, I don't know, he
just said there, seeing their faith. Mr. Gill said he believed
that they all had faith. They had faith to bring him and
he had faith to want to come, okay. But the Lord saw the faith that
was there. How did he know it was there?
Well, number one, he's God. Number two, he gave it. He saw
their faith. And seeing their faith, the Lord said unto the sick of
the palsy, verse two, son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven
thee. Son, discerning their faith. That's what it means, seeing,
discerning. He said to the one sick of the
palsy, son, son, the Lord saw the faith that he had given. This man had faith, seeing their
faith. The Spirit of God said he had
faith. For by grace are you saved through faith. not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. Philippians
129 says, For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ,
not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake. If you believe God this morning,
if you believe God this morning, truly, trust Him, not look into
your profession, or look at your baptism, If you, by the grace of God,
possess faith, Lord, I'm coming to you as a helpless sinner. I have nothing, I have nothing
to offer you that would merit you showing mercy to me. Lord,
I am helpless, and if you don't save me, like Peter, when he
saw the water, He began to sink, and he cried, Lord, save me.
He'd going down. Lord, if you don't save me, I'm
gonna perish. I'm gonna perish. If I'm standing
or you're standing, waiting to stand before God and offer up
the best that you've done, the most profitable things you've
done for the Lord, if you're depending on your works, you
ain't gonna make it. not by works of righteousness
that we've done. If there's one infraction, one
false thought associated with me, and I stand before God, depart
from me, you workers of iniquity. Lord, behold, behold. Verse two, they brought to him
a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed in Jesus, seeing their
faith. said unto him, son, son, I couldn't pass that word up.
That's one right there that I can associate with. Son, I looked
that word up. And when the Lord said unto him,
son, now in just a few minutes, I'm gonna look here. The Lord
is going to be talking about verse six, that you may know
that the son of man, now you see that word right there? I'll
get to it in a minute. Not the same word I'm about to
tell you about. When the Lord said to this man, son, look this
up, son, be of good cheer. The Lord refers to this sick
man, sick of the palsy, uses a word, and this is what that
word means when he said to that man, son, it means who were led
by the Spirit of God and closely related to the Lord, to God. Son, it's talking about the Lord's
acknowledgement of who someone is by his grace. Son, be of good
cheer. Be of good courage. Thy sins
be forgiven thee. Boy, if there was ever a reason
for somebody to be of good cheer, this is it. Your sins are forgiven. The Lord is not imputed to you. the debt of your sin. The Lord
forgave him. Son, be of good cheer. Your sin,
this is man's problem. This is a whole lot bigger problem
than that man that had just a physical ailment. The disease of sin was
his greatest, the biggest problem he had, and the Lord sovereignly
healed him. He healed them. The Lord saw
their faith. They brought Him to Him. The
Lord saw His face. I mean His faith. And that bestowing
of that blessing. That's what every believer trusts. God's mercy to me. Lord be merciful
to me. I'm a sinner. And those that
were in that area there that heard the Lord. They saw this
man brought up, standing there, and there's a bunch of them,
said there were so many of them, that's why they had to blow him
down through the roof. Too many people. Be of good cheer, son, thy sins
be forgiven thee. Oh, behold, what mercy and grace. But then I want you to look at
verses three and four here. And behold, here it is again. Behold, certain of the scribes
said within themselves, this man blasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing
their thoughts, said, wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? And here it is again. Behold,
take note. Perceive this, the Lord had spoken
to that man. He saw their faith and spoke
to him and said unto him, son, object of my mercy, object of
compassion, object of love, son, be of good cheer. Those that
were there, some of them, certain of them, This man blaspheming. This man
is blaspheming God. This man is blaspheming. Here
was that miracle of the Spirit of God telling God's people,
behold, take note of this. God has just shown mercy to some.
One, this man and their friends, and he knew their thoughts, He
knew what they were thinking, seeing their faith. Behold, behold, take note of
this. Some of them doubted him. Take
note of that. The Lord knows the thoughts of
every person. God knows what you just thought.
He knew, he knew, he knew. He knows what you're thinking
right now. You're not fooling him. He's omniscient. The psalmist
says in Psalm 139, verse two, thou knowest my down setting,
mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. All the signs and wonders that
the Lord had performed should have been unquestioning as far as they
were concerned. They'd see that this wasn't their
first dealing with the Lord. They'd seen him, they'd seen
him. They saw him, they'd just seen him cast out demons into
those swine. They said, leave, we don't want
you. Now, verse five. With their thoughts, why think
ye evil? Verse four, in your hearts. Then
the Lord asked them a question. Verse five, for whither is easier? To say thy sins be forgiven thee
or to say arise and walk? Just look at it the way it's
written. It's not saying for weather is
easier to say. Weather is easier. He's asking
him a question. Now, what is easier? For him to say thy sins be forgiven
thee or to say arise and walk. What's easier? Here the Lord's
asking them a question because they, he knew in their hearts,
they said this man's blaspheming. They didn't say anything out
loud. Oh, but what they thought in
their heart just screamed out and the Lord heard it. He knew
it, he knew what was, which is easier? Which is easier for him? Which is easier for the Lord? who is omnipotent, which is easier,
who is omniscient, who is omnipresent. What's easier? What's easier
for the one that spoke everything into existence, one in whom nothing
is impossible or too hard? What's easier for him? What is easier? For the Lord
to say, let there be light? And it was light, which is easier. Or to say to this man, son, my
sins be forgiven me, which is easier for him. They're the same. He says it, it is as it is. What's easier for him to heal
this man or to save us from the penalty, the bondage of our sins,
which is easier. He's the Lord. He's God. He says in verses six and seven,
but that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth
to forgive sins. Then saith he to the sick of
the palsy, arise, take up thy bed, and go into thine house. And he arose and departed to
his house. Which is easier. Says in verse six and seven,
but that you might know that the son, there's that word I
was talking about a while ago. One of them, he was speaking
to a man, he said, son, object of my mercy, be of good cheer. This son right here in verse
six, but that you may know that the son of man, that word right
there means Messiah. Two different words, same spell,
two different words. but that you might know that
the Messiah, God in human flesh, that you might know that the
Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, that you might
know. What he was saying to them was
this. I know that some of you hear
me say, son, thy sins be forgiven thee. And I know what you're
thinking. Well, how do we know that he
forgave sin? How do we know he can do that?
I didn't see anything. I didn't see any difference in
him. The Lord said to this man, he
was sick of the palsy, and the Lord said, be of good cheer,
son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Some
doubting and calling him a blasphemer. Well, he's just saying that.
How do we know? that he can really, truly forgive
sins. How do we know that? That's what
they're doing. Oh, that's what he said, verse
six. But that ye may know that the
Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. Then saith he
to the sick of the palsy. He said, I know what you're thinking.
He said, I'm gonna show you something. Arise, take up thy bed, and go
in thy house. This man was sick to the paws,
he couldn't walk. They had to carry him in there.
Paralyzed, he had a disease that was causing him to be lying on
a bed, he couldn't get up. He said, that you might know
it, which is easier for me to say thy sins be forgiven thee
or to say, arise, take up your bed, follow me, which is easier.
But that you might know it, that you might see it. The scriptures sets forth in
Acts 22, Acts 2 verse 22. You men of Israel hear these
words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by
miracles, wonders, and signs which God did by him in the midst
of you as you yourselves also know. How did God manifest his
power? Signs and wonders. Lord, that's
what he told him. He said, I know what you're thinking.
I know what you're thinking. I'm going to show you these things. Son, be of good cheer. Be of
good cheer. Take up your bed. And the scripture
says that that man, in verse seven, arose and departed to
his house. They'd just been looking at him.
He couldn't even walk. Man, after the Lord spoke to
him, he said, you know, take up your bed. Man got up, got
up, walked away. He walked away. And the scripture
says in verse eight, when the multitude saw it, they marveled
and glorified God, which had given such power unto man. Here the Lord was, pleased to
openly exhibit His power, mercy to this needy sinner. He did
it because it pleased Him to do it. Did He have to give them
a sign? No. You that believe God, what
do you have? What do you have to prove that
God has shown mercy to you. If you listen to this, you believe
it. He that believeth, he that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. You believe it. Someone may ask
you, what assurance do you have that God has shown you mercy? I believe it. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. This is all we got. It's all
we want. I believe it. I believe it. Oh,
are we still plagued with that old man that doubts? Yep, we
sure are. But by the grace of God, he's
given his people faith to believe him. No one may ever see any
outward evidence of something that I don't see a bit of difference
between you and me and somebody that doesn't believe God. We're
just sitting here. But God Almighty, for His people, has given them
a heart and they believe God and they rest in Him. Oh, remember,
in closing, Hebrews 4.13, neither is there any creature that is
not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open
unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Nothing's concealed
with him. The Lord knows, he knows our
thoughts, he knows our needs, he knows our desire to follow
after him. I pray that this might be a blessing
to our Lord.