Luke 5 15 but so much the more
went there a fame abroad of him and great multitudes came together
to hear and to be healed by him of their infirmities there went
a fame that word fame might might surprise you to know that word
is logos which you might be familiar with it just means word The word
got around. It means to speak. People were
talking about him and what he had done and the things that
he had said were astonishing. And so great multitudes naturally
would form to see miracles, to perhaps be fed like those 5,000,
to be healed, or just to see it, just to witness
the spectacle of it. And verse 16, and he withdrew
himself into the wilderness and prayed. A preacher contacted me several
years ago by email once and wanted to meet with me and have a meal
together. And that happens now and then. And I, of course, never know
who they are when you don't know somebody. I'm not sure if I want
to have a meal with them or not, as you might imagine. But he
seemed to feel he had apparently seen or heard something of me
and thought that we'd have a lot in common. He wanted to talk
with me. And I looked him up on the internet, because he was
a preacher, as I said. And his website. touted him as the quintessential
gospel preacher. And it said on there that the
purpose of his ministry was to make Jesus famous. We see that in our text, there
went a fame abroad of him. But our Lord withdrew himself
from that. I emailed him back and I said
that he and I had completely different purposes. And I felt like it would be a
waste of time for us to get together. Jesus is already famous. You know who I mean, the Jesus
of religion. Everybody knows about him. But
the Lord Jesus Christ is not the same person as the Jesus
of religion. And he has always been hated
by the vast majority of this world. And he never sought to
make it otherwise, nor has he commissioned us to make it otherwise.
Our text says that there went a fame abroad, the word went
abroad about him. People were talking about the
fact that he was doing things that were miraculous and saying
amazing things in these multitudes. began to gather and he withdrew
himself. Now our Lord, we read at times,
for example, the Gadarene demoniac, he crossed a sea to go meet one
wretched, demon-possessed sinner, saved him, and then crossed the
sea and went away. The Lord of glory now crossed
the sea to meet one person and save him. But at other times,
as in our text, multitudes would gather, great crowds of people. But rather than encourage that,
rather than make himself famous, isn't there just something on
the very surface of that that's repulsive to you? He would hide himself from them. When he did many of his miracles,
he would say, don't you tell anybody. You see that you don't
tell anybody about it. If he was trying to be famous,
that doesn't sound like the right way to go about it. Does it to
you? You see, here's why this is important. To make the Lord Jesus Christ
famous, popular, widely accepted, in the sense that this world
uses the word fame, We would have to remove the offense of
the cross. Somebody can't be offensive and
famous. You can be offensive and infamous,
but not famous. The Apostle Paul said in Galatians
5.11, and our brethren, if I preach circumcision, and if you read
the context of it, he's saying if I preach to you salvation
by keeping the law, if I preach to you favor with God by what
you do and don't do, Then why do I yet suffer persecution?
Why do people hate what I preach? Then is the offense of the cross
ceased. If we preach works, that's what
people want to hear. They want to hear something they
can do to be saved. That's not going to make anybody
mad. The offense of the cross would cease if I preach that,
he said. But what we preach is Christ
crucified, under the Jews a stumbling block, and under the Greeks foolishness. But, and the Jews of our day,
quote unquote, they represent law keepers. They were sticklers
for the Pharisees, you know. I pay my tithes, you know. And
I pray, remember the Pharisee that prayed with himself, it
says in the scripture? And the Lord said, he went down
to his house yet in his sin. Those who are in the business
of finding favor with God, acceptance with God, being saved by the
deeds of the law, Christ is still a stumbling block to them. A Savior that saves whom he will,
without regard to who they are, what they do, what they decide. The one it talks about in Scripture
when it says, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth, but it's of God that showeth mercy. He's still a stumbling
block. The Savior of our text this morning
who has power to just forgive sin, forgive somebody's sins
that hasn't said a word, hasn't asked for anything, hasn't decided
anything. He's still a stone. And unto
the Greeks, the smart alecks, the doctrinal sticklers, you
know, every T has to be crossed and every I dotted. He's foolishness. He's not enough. You've got to
know more than that. There's a whole lot more in the
Bible besides Christ. I've heard that two times in
my life. I've heard it a lot, but directly from individuals
whose names I could give you this morning, and both of them
were sticklers for doctrine. They were very correct in their
doctrine. But they were too smart to see that the Word of God concerns
Christ, Christ alone, and only Christ. They were too smart,
you see. Smart. Quote, unquote. God hath made foolish the wisdom
of this world. Christ, to them that are called
though, to them whom he did foreknow, and predestinate, and call, and
justify, and glorify, to those ones that God chose from the
beginning and set his love upon, Christ is the power of God and
the wisdom of God. Christ is. That's our mission. That's our purpose. This world
is still going to hate the Lord Jesus Christ when we're finished
doing what we're doing. But we're going to tell them
about him anyway. Paul said that the Jews are looking
for a sign and the Greeks are, or the Jews are looking for a
miracle. The Greeks are looking for a sign, and the Greeks are
looking for some kind of philosophy, you know, that they can adhere
to. But we don't give them either
one. We preach Christ, who is the
wisdom of God. And He is the miracle of God.
He is the power of God unto salvation. Christ is. So that's what we do. We're going
to tell this world, and they're still going to hate Him. But not all of them. The one
here and there, the few there be that find the straight and
narrow way, which is Christ. They're going to fall in love
with Him. He's still not going to be popular. He's still not
going to be famous. But His people will be saved,
I tell you that. Because that's how He said He would do it, by
the preaching of Christ and Him crucified. They'll still, this world will
still hate him, but I pray that by his grace and by his purpose,
by his power, that he will, and I know that he will, accomplish
by the gospel ministry the very thing he sent us to accomplish.
Salvation to please God by the foolishness of this right here.
The preaching of the gospel to save them that believe on him.
His sheep, here's what will happen. He's not going to be famous. But here's what will happen,
his sheep will hear his voice. And they'll follow him. They'll
follow him. To this day, you think about
this, to this day, if our Lord were pleased to perform a true,
authentic, in the flesh, miracle here, he performs miracles every
day. We just take most of them for granted. We take them all
for granted. But if some outward miracle,
if he gave us, we know that if he did that now, And that he
doesn't do that, I know he doesn't do that now, don't you? You realize
that, don't you? Nobody is going to be physically
healed in a church service. Those miracles were done, clearly
the word of God teaches they were done to accompany and to
confirm the gospel message. And to illustrate the gospel,
to show what it is that God does spiritually when he saves a sinner.
And now the Lord, the way he distinguishes now and accompanies
and confirms the gospel between those who are his and those who
are not, is by the scriptures. We have now a more sure word
of prophecy, the Apostle Peter said. That's how you'll know. But say he did give us again,
just for a little while, the gift of healing the sick or raising
the dead, even something, some great physical power and gift. Pretty soon thousands would start
showing up, don't you imagine? And most of them would have no
desire whatsoever to glorify God. They'd have no interest
in the gospel of Christ, they'd just be wanting to see a magic
show. And before long we would have
to withdraw ourselves, we'd have to find another place to worship.
There's no way we could worship in that environment, no way.
And that's what our Lord did here. But we don't have to worry about
that. But we do need to understand what business we're in. What is the Lord doing? Is he
trying to save the world? Does he want to save everybody
and he's doing his best to save everybody? Is that what it is? I know this, we're to preach
the gospel to every creature, everybody that'll hear us. Everybody
that'll listen, we're not to cast pearls before swine. He
told those, he sent two by two to preach. He said if they don't
want to hear what you have to say, go find somebody that'll
listen. Shake the dust of that city off of your feet and go
find somebody that does want to hear it. But I know this, when we preach
the gospel, we won't have to worry about huge multitudes showing
up, I don't believe. that don't care about God or
just there as a distraction of some kind, because the gospel
just doesn't make that happen. He will bring and call out his
own in his good providence and pleasure. We preach to everybody.
I don't know who will hear and who won't. I don't know why you're
here. But I know that where the true
gospel is preached, sooner or later, And eventually when the
new wore off of the miracles and our Lord, they began to hear
what he said, the multitudes walked away and walked no more
with him. Now the following account of
our Lord's encounter with this paralyzed man in the next verses
and the men who were carrying him is a remarkable and wonderful
story, very instructive story. And we've seen this now in our
studies in the past few years in both Matthew and Mark. So
if you've been here a while, you're pretty familiar with the
story itself. And even if you haven't, you
probably are. And I hope to focus maybe this morning on some things
that we may have missed or just didn't have time to focus on
before. Every time, if I just preach from one word in the scripture,
there's going to be a lot that we don't say that's there. We don't say it because there's
just not time. But maybe we can see some things,
I pray the Lord will show us some things that we have seen
before, maybe more clearly. Maybe we've understood them in
our minds and never embraced them by faith in our hearts.
May He give us that grace. And maybe we'll see something
that we've just never seen before about Him. I know this, I want
it to be about Him. Was there, it says that the power
of God was present to heal them in verse 17. Did you see that?
We haven't read that far yet, so let's look at it. And it came
to pass on a certain day as he was teaching that there were
Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by which were come
out of every town of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and the
power of the Lord was present to heal them. Was that some strange
power, you know, floating in the air? Was there a magical this place maybe was some kind
of a magical place or maybe there was some temporary heavenly aura
of some kind there. No. You know what that simply
saying the power of the Lord was present? It just means Christ
was there. Christ was there. The Lord Jesus Christ was there. Think about that. He was there. Christ is the power of God and
the wisdom of God first Corinthians 124 And we need to see that for
two reasons first of all salvation. We're still learning this now
salvation is a is a man Salvation is the man the son of man the
God man Salvation is somebody it's not a plan It's not a chance
It's not a decision It's a person. And we need to understand that.
We need to be reminded of that. The more we see that, the better
we know that, the more we are reminded of that, the more glory
to Him, and the wiser and more at peace we will be by His grace. Secondly, we need to understand
that for this reason, the power of the Lord is somebody, and
that somebody said, if just a couple of you gather in my name, I'll
be there. The power of the Lord will be
present to heal you. Anybody need that this morning?
Think of it. The power of God is present to
heal us this morning. Is there anything, you got any
anything ailing you this morning? He can heal your mind. He can
heal your heart. He can heal your soul. He said,
take my yoke upon you and find rest to your souls. I can't do that no matter how
eloquent or more or how authoritatively I say what I say. But if the
power of God is present, if the Lord Jesus Christ is here, to heal us. Not some jack-legged
preacher who pathetically claims to have some kind of power that
he doesn't have. We're talking about the power
of God. When our Lord Jesus Christ passed
by where Bartimaeus was, remember old blind Bartimaeus? The knowledge
that he was near, Bartimaeus heard the Savior's passing by
and what did he start doing? He started crying out. for mercy. You think about that. He cried
so much it was a nuisance. Those that were around it, they
charged him that he should hold his peace because they were,
he was upsetting them. And you know what he did? It
says he cried the more a great deal. I wonder if the knowledge that
Christ himself, the power of God is in our midst, might have
that same effect upon us. The power of God to heal sinners,
to forgive sins, is in our very midst. Might that cause us to
cry out? Perhaps we could cry out for
our children, for those that we love, perhaps like these ones who were
determined in this text, as we'll read in a moment, they were determined
to get their loved one in front of the master. Maybe the knowledge that he is
present, where his people are gathered in his name, would give
us a sense of urgency, like it did Bartimaeus. To know that
he's near. He may not be near tomorrow,
there is no tomorrow. But if we are gathered in his
name this morning to worship him, to honor him, to see him
in his redemptive glory, to see him as the one who has the authority
to forgive sins, anybody's sins, your sins, my sins, whoever sins,
he's pleased. To forgive. I pray that we would have that
sense of urgency about it. And look at verse 18. And behold,
men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy. He was taken with a palsy. He
was paralyzed. The word means unstrung. He was never, ever going to get
to Christ on his own. That's us by nature. That's why
in the story of the Good Samaritan, it says the Good Samaritan came
where he was. We're not going to him first. We're dead in trespasses and
sins. Preacher calling on sinners to
take the first step. Dead people don't do that. Well, I think we should just
let our children, you know, make their own decisions. We shouldn't
tell them what to do when it comes to religious things. Well,
religious things is one thing, but when the Lord Jesus Christ
is present, and the one thing that my children need is Christ,
and if they don't have him, they'll perish forever, you better believe
I'm fixing to tell them what to do. I'm gonna tell them exactly
what to do. It may not do any good, and it
may. I don't know, but I'm gonna tell them what to do. I can't
do it for them, but I can tell them. I can tell them. I can bring them. I can pray
for them. Here is what I can do. Look at
this in the scripture now. The next phrase in verse 18.
And with this phrase in mind now,
keep in mind the first part of it though. He was paralyzed. He was paralyzed. And our children,
our loved ones, we by nature, or without strength. They're not coming to Christ.
And understand this, no man can come. No matter what they do,
no matter what you do, no matter what period, no man can come
to Christ except God the Father, which sent him, draw that person
to Christ. John chapter 6, and that word
draw means to take you from where you are and bring you to Christ.
God's got to do that. God Almighty has to arrange and
execute a meeting. That's what we see here. This
man had to meet the Son of God in order to be saved. Now think
with me. These are very simple truths.
This is not complicated. It's unpopular. It's against the flesh now. The
flesh wants a chance. The flesh wants to be in control.
The flesh wants salvation to be up to us, but it ain't up
to you. And I tell you this, if you ever
see the one who it is up to, you won't want it to be up to
you. You will praise God from then on that it was up to Him. They're not coming to Christ.
They're not coming. No man can. But this meeting
has to yet take place. God, first of all, had to send
His Son to me. Herein is love. Our brother just
read that. Not that we love God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son. His love is not that He's standing
over here in the corner just hoping the best for us. He loved
us and did something about it. His love is effectual. His love
is almighty. His love is salvation. That the
power of God according to election might stand, he said, I love
Jacob. He had to send his son to me
and he had to bring me to his son. And maybe you're thinking, well,
if God has to do that, then we should just sit back and do nothing
and wait on God. Oh, no. No. Our text teaches
against that pretty strongly, doesn't it? Don't ever confuse
waiting on God with doing nothing. Don't make that mistake. Jude 121, keep yourselves in
the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
unto eternal life. And of some have compassion,
making a difference. And others save with fear, pulling
them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the
flesh. Save them? We don't save anybody,
do we, Christian? Of course not. We're not the
cause of their salvation. But God just might, in saving them, You might just
be involved in that. You might just be included in
that. Do you care? Would you make a difference? So let's get our thoughts in
order here. What have we seen so far? They are hopeless and
helpless in themselves. Paralyzed, unstrung, helpless. If it is up to them, as religion
loves to say, it's up to you. God's done all he can do. Now
it's up to you. Thank God that's not true. Thank God that's not
true. If it is up to you, it's a lost
cause now. And secondly, only God can save
them. And he does that by Christ. By the preaching of the gospel
of Christ. Christ has to come to them, and
they're going to have to come to him. If this man does not meet the
Lord Jesus Christ, he's a goner. And he met the Lord Jesus Christ,
first of all, because God sent his Son into the world. In this was manifested the love
of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten Son
into the world that we might live through him. And then the third thing is this,
He does bring us to Him. If God's going to save you, He's
going to bring you to His Son. He does draw those that He loves. Blessed is the man, David said,
whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee. If He
doesn't cause it, you're not coming. That's what our Lord
said in John 6. You're not coming. But you're
going to come. you will be willing in the day
of his power. The Son of God had to come to
us and he had to live for us. We got to have righteousness
before God. What's that, Christ? As a man lived. As the second
Adam, as my representative, he lived a perfect, righteous, holy
life for me, as me. And he got to die for us. And
I'll tell you this, if he dies for you, you're saved. He didn't
die to give you a shot. He died to save you. If he did,
if you're going to be saved, he did. So if he came to you
for you, then you're coming to him. All of my sheep, he said. First of all, he said in John
10, I want to give you the scripture. This is not me talking. Our brother
prayed, let it not be his words, but God's word. I want that so
much. This is God's words. John chapter
10. I give my life for the sheep. I die for the sheep. And they're
not ever going to perish. Why? Because He died for us.
They're not ever going to perish. And they hear my voice and they
follow me. You see that? That's exactly
what we're talking about. He came to live for us and to
die for us and we're coming to Him. Those for whom he laid down
his life, those sheep, he said, they're going to hear my voice.
Not, I hope they will. They will. And when they do,
they're coming. And when they come, no man shall
ever pluck them out of my hand. That's the one that we preach.
We're not trying to make him famous. We're just trying to
make him known to whoever will listen. Whoever listens, and he can only
make himself known, but he does that by the preaching of the
gospel of Christ. How did this man, if he came
to you for you, then you will come to him, but how did this
man come to Christ? We know that he came to Christ
because Christ first came. If Christ is not there, if he's
not on this earth, if he's not in a body, preaching the gospel in that
house. And how are we going to meet
him? How are we going to hear him? How are we going to know him and see him? We know that he came to Christ
because Christ first came. We know that even him coming
to Christ was purposed and arranged and executed by God. No man can. But how did he come? He did come.
How did it happen? Look at the second phrase in
verse 18. I've been talking about this
second phrase for the last 10 minutes. Now we'll see what it
says. And they sought means to bring him in. They sought means. And I know
that the word means there is in italics. Which means it's
not, that word strictly is not in the original language, but
it does say they sought to bring him in. They were looking for
a way to get that person they love, that man that they love,
in front of the Master. That's just simple, simple truth,
isn't it? Simple logistics. They looked for a way to get
their friend to Christ. Do you want that for anybody?
Is there anybody you would do just about anything? They sought means. It was important
to them to get that person in front of Christ. Why? Two things
would have to be true. You see in the text, now as I
said you're probably familiar with it, we haven't read this
far down, but there was no way they could get in. There was
a great multitude in that house, the people, Well as much of a
multitude as could fit inside of a house. And surely they surrounded
the house too and they couldn't find a way to get in through
the multitude. There was just no room. And so they went up
on the roof and started taking tiles off this man's roof. Well
you don't destroy somebody's property. You do if you have
to. If you have to. And they tore up that man's roof.
a big enough hole in that roof to lower a man laying on a bed
down into that room in front of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
was important to them. Why? Think about this. Now, two
things would have to be true for you to go to that kind of
trouble. You'd have to love that person, wouldn't you? You'd have
to love them. And you'd have to be absolutely
certain that what they need is Christ. Do you have any of that in your
life? Are those two things true regarding anybody in your life? Then seek means. Seek means. There are means. God has ordained means, has he
not? God uses means. God has warned
us in his book that to neglect the means is to despise and to
disobey him. We neglect the means at the peril
of our own soul and the souls of those that we love. What are
the means? Well, our Lord has said, you
can, I'm sure you know some of them, don't you? The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Who is righteous? Everybody in
Christ. Everybody in Christ. Christ and everybody in Him.
That's James 5.16. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man. Turn to Acts chapter 12 and I
want to read you something with regard to seeking the means First
of all, we're to pray for the souls of those that we
love. We're to make intercession for
them. And as I've said to you before,
you know, often we think about everything. What can we do about
something? What can we do? We seek means in an earthly sense
a lot of times that aren't really the right means, and we say,
well, there's nothing we can do. I guess at least we can pray. All we can do is pray. Prayer
is not a last resort. Prayer is the first resort. Prayer
is a great blessing and privilege. If we don't do anything else,
let's pray. You know, if you need something
done, go to the one that can do it. Go to the one that's able
to do it. That's the Lord Jesus. That's
God Almighty. Acts chapter 12 verse 1. Now
about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to
vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother
of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased
the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. Then were
the days of unleavened bread. And when he had apprehended him,
he put him in prison and delivered him to four Quartonians. Quaternions
of soldiers to keep him, intending after Easter to bring him forth
to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison.
Now he had already killed James, the brother of John, and he took
Peter too. What do you think he's going to do with Peter? But prayer, look at that, Peter
was kept in prison, verse 5, but... I guess we could have assumed
that people that loved him were praying for him, but... it says
but... He was in prison, but... Prayer
was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And when Herod would have brought
him forth, Herod would have taken him out of that prison the next
morning. The only reason he was waiting was because it was Easter
and they didn't want to mess up their holy day. And Herod would have brought
him forth. He would have. He would have brought him out
of there and chopped his head off like he did James. But prayer was made without ceasing
unto God for him. And the same night before Herod
would have brought him forth, Peter was sleeping between two
soldiers bound with two chains, and the keepers before the door
kept the prison. And behold, the angel of the
Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison. You reckon
that's what they were praying for? Lord, shine your light on
him. I don't know if that's specifically
what they pray, but that's what we want, don't we? We need for
the Lord the light of this world to shine on those that we love.
Keep them from harm. Not just bodily harm, but from
spiritual harm. Keep them, protect them, save
them. Deliver them from the prison
of their sins. And he smote Peter on the side
and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell
off from his hands. That's why I say to you often,
pray for me. Pray for me. The effectual fervent
prayer of his people, his righteous ones, those who are in Christ.
It means a lot. It accomplishes a lot in the
purpose of God. Seek means. Are you seeking for
means? Turn to 1 Timothy then. 1 Timothy
chapter 4. I want you to see this in the
word of God this morning. Our brother prayed, let it not
be his word, let it be God's word. I believe the Lord is going
to do that this morning. I believe He's doing that. We're
going to see what God said by His grace. 1 Timothy 4 verse
6. Listen to this, are you seeking
for means to be saved, for your loved ones to be saved? Paul
said, writing to young Timothy, a young preacher, he said, I
am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at
hand. I have fought a good fight, I
have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me in that day. And not to me only, but unto
all them also that love his appearing, do thy diligence to come shortly
to me, for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present
world. I'm sorry, I'm in second Timothy.
I just figured that out before I did it. Look, just say Chris,
you're messing up. You were thinking it. So you
might as well say it. I said 1st Timothy and then turned
to 2nd Timothy. Alright, 1st Timothy chapter
4. I'll be on track here in a minute. 1st Timothy 4, 6. If thou put
the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a
good minister of Jesus Christ. nourished up in the words of
faith and of good doctrine where unto thou hast attained." Now
think about that. You have attained. You're teaching
people, you're reminding them of the things of God because
you yourself have been nourished up in the words of faith and
of good doctrine. How about you? Are you going
to be able to help anybody? You're going to have to know
something, aren't you? You're going to have to know Him. You can't introduce
Him to somebody you don't know. They wouldn't have gone to the
trouble to bring their friend to the Lord Jesus Christ, except
that they knew from the Word of God, if there's going to be
any hope for Him, it's Christ. That's good doctrine, isn't it?
That's good doctrine. Christ is all. He's salvation. So be nourished up yourself. And refuse profane and old wives'
fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. What is
godliness? Listen to the context. First
of all, it's knowing the word of God. It's being nourished
in the word of God, in the truth of Christ. In verse 8, For bodily
exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto
all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labor and
suffer reproach because we trust in the living God, who is the
Savior of all men, especially of those that believe. He's the
only hope of anybody, but He's specifically the Savior of those
that believe on Him. These things command and teach,
you see that? We labor and we suffer in the
preaching of the gospel because And we know those that we love,
they got to do business with Him. And command and teach these things,
and let no man despise thy youth, but be an example of the believers
in word, in conduct, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
Don't let anybody despise the fact that you're a young man,
Timothy, and that could mean anything. You're not a Bible
scholar. Don't let that, don't let anybody
despise you because of that. Be an example to them in the
things of God. That's where authority comes
from, from Him. And knowing Him, not from degrees
from men, or from age necessarily. Verse 13, Till I come give attendance
to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine, to the truth of God,
to the word of God, to the gospel of Christ. And neglect not the
gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy with the
laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these
things, give thyself holy to them. All this started with just
be a reminder, be a teacher. The gift God has gifted you to
preach the gospel, don't neglect that. To be a witness for him,
don't neglect that. that thy profiting may appear
to all. As God blesses you, it'll be
a blessing to everybody. You see that? Not just about
you. As fathers of your household.
Be nourished up in the doctrine, the truth of Christ, and your
whole family will benefit from that. Take heed unto thyself, and unto
the doctrine continue in them for in doing this thou shalt
both save thyself and them that hear thee. What are you talking
about? We don't save anybody. That's the second time now we've
read that today. We need to find out what that means. Christ is
salvation. But seek the means, my friends.
Seek the means. He's not going to save you in
your sleep. Just put the word of God in your mind while you're
sleeping. God uses means. How in the world are we going
to get those that we love to Christ? Same way we came. By the word, by prayer, by the
means that God uses. It still pleases Him this morning.
By what the world calls foolishness, the preaching of the gospel.
to save those that believe. That's what I've told you before
and I'll tell you again. My advice to everybody in everything
is hear the gospel of Christ. You need to hear from God. You
got anything ailing you this morning? You need to hear from
God. Now it's important to note that
Timothy, to whom Paul wrote this, is a preacher. Not everybody
is a preacher. But we know this, whether you're
a preacher or not, whether you're gifted to speak for Christ in
any capacity or not, we know this. After that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Seek for me. I don't know if God will save
my loved ones or not. But I know that if he does, I
know how he'll do it. They don't have to hear of him. I'm already out of time this
morning. Just getting started good, but listen to me for just
a few minutes more. Seek for means and don't be discouraged
in the use of means. We're taught that here now. Don't
be discouraged in it. God has ordained these means.
The text clearly teaches us that even when we see no way, as long
as Christ is present and as long as we are alive, there are means.
There's a way. There's hope. But I want you to notice something.
I'll close with this, and we'll have to bring another message
on this passage. It's so rich, isn't it? So full of teaching. Notice this. All of their effort,
all of their concern, all of their urgency, all of their determination
on behalf of this man, all of it resulted in one simple accomplishment. They laid him at Jesus Christ's
feet. You see that in the last part
of verse 18. They sought means to bring him
in and to lay him before him. They couldn't see how to do it
at first, They sought means and the Lord gave them means. And
what they ultimately ended up doing was laying Him before Him. That's all they sought to do.
And in the end, that's all that they did. And even that was by
the providence, the presence, and the power of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Here He is, Lord. The Lord doesn't have to do anything
for him. Not obligated to. He doesn't
deserve anything. But I know this, I love him.
And I know you can save him. But I know this, you'll do whatever's
right. We know that, don't we? Are we satisfied with that? That's
what we're doing. We're just laying those that
we love before Him. There are three accounts of this
story in the Gospels in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And it doesn't say in any of
those accounts that these men said a word. There were four
men carrying that bed. They just laid Him down before
the Lord. What a picture that is. If you will, Lord, you can. That's what that leper said. In Matthew chapter five, if you
will, you can. They brought him to the Son of
God. They brought him to the one who, if he wants to, he can
forgive that man's sin. And there's so much more in this
story. We see, though, in what we've
seen already this morning, that salvation is Christ. If anybody's going to be saved,
you or somebody you love, they're going to have to get to Christ.
The only way they're going to get to Christ is if Christ gets
to them. By whatever means He has ordained, may we get to Him. By the gospel, by prayer, And
all that goes into those things. You can't pray to somebody you
don't know. You can't preach to somebody you don't know. Sinners are going to have to
call on the Lord to be saved. That's what he said in Romans
chapter 10. Everybody that calls on the name
of the Lord, that's who will be saved. But how are they going
to call on Him unless they believe on Him? And how are they going to believe
on Him if they never hear of Him? And how are they going to hear of Him unless somebody preaches Him? And how are they going to hear
of Him unless somebody preaches Him? And how in the world In
this world of false religion and pharisaical, free will, man-centered
religion, how is anybody going to come preaching hymn unless
God sends them? That's Romans chapter 10. Those
are the means God has ordained means. And we are to seek them,
to thank God for them. to seek Him in them. And to fall ourselves, to bring
those that we love to His feet and ourselves, to fall at His
feet. To throw ourselves upon His mercy. If He wants to, our text teaches
and the rest of it, we'll have to see it next time. He can forgive
your sins if He wants to. Hanging upon the mercy of the
Son of God is the best place in this world to be. May he bring us there and may
he have mercy on our souls.