Good morning. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 205. 205. Free from the low happy
condition, Jesus hath ? The low and death are the fall
? Grace hath redeemed us once for all ? Once for all, O sinner,
receive it ? Once for all, O brother, believe it Now are we free? There's no condemnation. ? Come and He saves us once for
all ? ? Once for all, oh, sinner, receive it ? ? Once for all,
oh, brother, believe it ? ? Cling to the cross, the burden withal
? God's death redeemed us once for all Children of God, O glorious
calling Surely His grace will keep us from falling Passing
from death be seated we'll sing hymn number
288 288 and then that fifth verse there in the towards the end
of the second line if you don't have it written in yet we're
gonna say call on Jesus the Lord Hymn number 288. Far away in
the depths of my spirit tonight, ? And ceasingly falls ? ? O'er
my soul like an infinite call ? ? Peace, peace, wonder, wonder,
wonder ? Forever I pray In valorous billows
of love What a treasure I have in this
wonderful beast Buried deep of my soul. So secure that no power Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace
Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Peace Forever I pray in fabulous news
of love. This wonderful peace Resting
sweetly in Jesus' control For unkept from all danger By night
and by day His glory is flooding my soul. Peace, peace, wonderful peace. Forever I pray in fathomless
faith. of love. And methinks when I rise to that
city of peace, where the author of peace I shall ? That poor strain of life's song
? ? Which the ransomed will sing ? ? In the heavenly kingdom shall
be ? ? Peace, peace ? Wonderful peace coming down from
the Father above. Sweet Lord, my spirit forever
I pray, Call on Jesus the Lord. O Jesus the Lord, e'er the shadows
grow dark, O believe this sweet peace so sublime. From the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever,
I pray, In fathomless billows of love. Oh, that is such wonderful peace.
Oh, such wonderful peace. Mark, Chapter 2. Oh, that's wonderful
peace. That's the only way you can get
it. God, God give it to you. Peace of God that passes understanding. Happy Father's Day. For those of you that's got kids,
if you ain't got kids, I don't know what to tell you. But happy Father's Day. My son called me this morning
and said, ain't this something? They put us right in the middle
of June, hot. Nobody cares about that day at all. He said, just me and you. Well,
no, he's just kidding. But really happy Father's Day
to all of you. It's something to have children
to be responsible for, to raise them, take care of them, provide
for them, keep a roof over their head and clothes on their back. Try to raise them to have some
sense. It's a real responsibility. It really is. All right, I'm
going to read these first 12 verses and hopefully by God's
grace preach from them. And again, he entered into Capernaum
after some days, and it was noised that he was in the house. And
straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there
was no room to receive them, not so much as about the door. And he preached the word unto
them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy,
which was born of four. And when they could not come
nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where
he was. And when they had broken it up,
they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When
Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son,
thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the
scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this
man thus speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
only? And immediately when Jesus perceived
in His Spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, He said unto
them, Why reason ye these things in your heart? Which is easier,
whether it is easier, to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy
sons be forgiven thee, or to say, Rise up, and take up thy
bed, and walk? But that you may know that the
Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he saith to
the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, take up thy
bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose,
took up the bed, and went forth before them all, insomuch that
they were all amazed. glorified God saying, we never
saw it on this fashion. Our blessed, blessed Father,
which art in heaven, hallowed holy is your name. And Lord,
holy is your son's name. You're holy in three blessed
persons. Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, and Lord, we need
all of you to meet with us today. We need your presence and power.
We need the love of God shed abroad in our hearts. We need
the Spirit to cause the Gospel to run well here in power. So,
Lord Jesus, we look to all of you. We look to you to bring
glory and honor to your name, that we might enjoy the worship
and be blessed of the worship of God Almighty in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Father, we pray for this
service, that sinners would be converted, sinners be saved by
the grace of God, that you would take a dark mind dark with no
understanding and open it up. Cause the light to shine in that
darkness. And Father, we pray, Lord Jesus,
for all those that are not with us, please be merciful, gracious,
and give them abundance of grace. And Lord, save our children,
our grandchildren, have mercy on them. We need you so much. We just don't want to carry on
this service. just in the energy of the flesh.
We want Christ to be glorified, the saints to be edified, and
sinners to be saved by the grace of God. We ask these things and
bless you for them in Christ's name, amen. Let's all stand together as we
sing the hymn of the day in the bulletin. ? Glory to God on high ? Let earth
to Him reply ? Praising His name and joyous love Can we, let's start over again. Glory to God on high. Glory to heavenly high. Where Jesus laid his joys of
joy. Ever more worthy the Lamb, all
earned and crowned the throne. Cheerfully join in mourn, Praising
his name. We who have known his blood,
Sealing our peace with God, Sound his dear name abroad, Worthy
the lame. Be seated. Amazing grace has always been
my song of praise. For it was grace that brought
my liberty. I do not know just why He came
to love me so. He looked beyond my fault and
saw my need. I shall forever lift my eyes
to Calvary to view the cross where Jesus died for me. How marvelous the grace had caught
my falling soul. He looked beyond my thought and
saw me. I shall forever lift my eyes
to Calvary To view the cross where Jesus died for me How marvelous
the grace He looked beyond my heart and
saw my feet. Back here in Mark chapter 2,
finally got out of chapter 1, now we're in chapter 2. I want
to get the title of my message out of verse 5. Son, Mark chapter 2 verse 5, Son,
thy sins be forgiven thee. You noticed how that word son
is capitalized? That's one for whom Christ died. Got that capitalized, son, my
son, one of mine, one of my children. But back here in verse 45 of
chapter one, I want you to notice something with me. After he had
been in Capernaum and done the miraculous things in Capernaum,
it says in verse 45, But he went out and began to publish it abroad,
the man who was healed of the leprosy, insomuch that Jesus
could no more OPENLY enter into the city. Folks, his fame got
so great that he couldn't even enter into the city because there
were so many people looking for him and hoping for him, but look
what happened now. But without in the desert places,
he went into the most remote places, and listen, they came
to him from every corner, people that really wanted to go where
he was and see him and know him, they went to him, no matter where
he was. But then it says here in verse
1, And again he entered into Capernaum after a few days. He had to wait till things kind
of calmed down down there, because he had such a multitude AFTER
him, you know. You remember he waited a while,
and it says, it was noticed abroad that he was in the house. Now,
whose house do you suppose he is in? The last time I was at
Capernaum he was in Simon Peter's house. And a great multitude
came that evening, and he healed them. So I believe he is probably
back down in Capernaum. He is in Simon Peter's house
again. And how did people know he was back into Capernaum? Well,
it said it was Noah's abroad. Folks said, well, I know where
he's at. He's back in Capernaum. He's
come back into town. We don't have to go out in the
desert places and out in the wilderness and look for him.
He's come back to town. He's back here. Because they
began to talk, they began to say, I know where it is, I know
where we're at. And look what it says, and just
as quick as people found out about it, look what happened.
Straightway many were gathered together, a whole group of people
gathered together. And how many was it gathered
together? In so much as there's no room to receive them. Everybody
got in there that could possibly get in that house. And then not
so much as about the door, you couldn't get in the door anymore.
There was such a crowd outside, such a crowd inside that they
was crowded around the door, crowded around the door. And
I tell you, there's no room to let anybody get in. And what
was our Lord doing? What was our Lord doing? He is
preaching the word unto them, preaching the word. He was sittin'
in that people's house. He preached off of a boat one
time, preached off of a mountainside one time, and he was preaching. He gathered all those folks,
gathered in that house, just like we're here this morning.
We make our worship very, very simple. I was talkin' to one
of my preacher brethren, and that's what he was doing. He
says, you know, said, you don't give the flesh any opportunity
at all. You know, we read, we sing a
couple of hymns, God-honoring hymns, Christ-exalting hymns,
we have prayer, read the scriptures and have prayer, and then we
preach. We preach. Our services is gathered around
preaching. That's what happened in the scriptures,
people gathered around preaching. And so our Lord Jesus Christ
was in that house and He was preaching. Everybody in the house
heard him. Everybody outside the house heard
him, heard what he said. And then I want you to notice
this. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy,
which was born of four. First thing I want us to look
at here is man's helplessness, man's utter inability, human
helplessness. It says here there's one sick
of the palsy. You know what palsy is? It means
you're paralyzed. It means you're a paralyzed person.
It's somebody that's a paralytic, and that's why he had to be carried.
You know, that's what paralyzed, that's what it means, being a
paralytic. And he was sick. It said he was sick, sick of
the palsy. He was paralyzed. And when a
person's sick, You know as well as I do, when a person's sick,
it keeps us from enjoying so many things. When you're sick,
you don't want to have company. When you're sick, sometimes you
don't want to eat. When you're sick, you don't want
to go anyplace. When you're sick, you can't enjoy
anything. You're sick! And that's the way
this fellow was. He was sick, and it kept him
from enjoying so many things, enjoying life, enjoying walking. And let me tell you something
that really sickens the soul. Sin makes the soul sick, so desperately
sick, so horribly sick, sin does. And I tell you, how do I know
sin is a disease and makes people so sick? It's because they don't
enjoy God's mercies. They don't enjoy God's grace.
They don't enjoy delight in God's sovereign grace, sovereign mercy.
They don't enjoy it. They don't talk about it. They're
not interested in it. And no, they have the love of
the world. And when you love the world, that kills the appetite
for the bread of life. And I mean, it makes them sick.
You know what our Savior said? He said, they that are whole,
people that don't have anything wrong with them, NOTHING WRONG
WITH THEM ANYWHERE, NO WAY, NO HOW, NO FASHION. OUR LORD SAITH
THAT A WHOLE DO NOT NEED A DOCTOR. THEY DON'T NEED A PHYSICIAN,
AND THAT'S THE WAY THIS MAN HERE WAS SICK. HE NEEDED HELP, AND
HE COULDN'T HELP HISSELF. HE WAS SICK, SICK IN HIS BODY,
SICK IN HIS SOUL, AND SIN IS A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE DISEASE.
Paul said sin was so bad, he said it's exceeding sinful. How do you describe sin? It's
exceeding sinful. How do you describe sin? Whatever
Christ was made to be, that was sin. People can make light of
it, they can joke about it, they can say all kinds of things about
it, but sin is a horrible, horrible sickness. And the only person
that can do anything about it, and look what it says, they come
unto Him. They come unto Him. Where else
you gonna go? Where else you gonna get rid
of your sin? Where else you gonna go to get sin taken care of?
Where else you gonna go to be made whole? Where else you gonna
go? And oh, it says in sick of the palsy, he was helplessly
sick, had no power, had no money, unable to move, unable to do
anything for himself. And his sickness deprived him
of all his ability to even act on his own part. And this is
the condition of everybody without Christ. The scripture says, you
know, no works that a person does is acceptable to God. The
ways of man is not acceptable to God. The thoughts of men are
not acceptable to God. The heart's deceitful above all
things, and desperately, desperately wicked. You know what the Scripture
says in Romans 5, 6? When we were yet without strength. Now, what do you reckon that
means, when we was without strength? Like this man right here, no
ability to act, no ability to come. no ability to know, no
ability to, we're so unable to do anything for ourselves, but
they come to Him. That's what I want folks to understand,
they come to Him. But nothing a man does apart
from Christ is acceptable to God Almighty. He's just not. And it says, and they come unto
Him, and look what it says, bringing one sick of the palsy. Sick of
the palsy. He paralyzed. So if anybody's
going to be coming to Christ, somebody's got to bring them.
And the only person I know of that can bring a soul to the
Lord Jesus Christ is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. A priest can't bring you to Christ. A rabbi can't bring you to Christ. A preacher can't bring you to
Christ. The church can't bring you to Christ. Your free will
can't bring you to Christ. Your WORKS can t bring you to
Christ. Your good THOUGHTS and good INTENTS can t bring you
to Christ. Well, how are you going to get
to Him? The Holy Spirit s got to bring you, and somebody had
to bring this man. See what it says? And they come
unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was born of
four, And that s the next thing I want you to look at, not only
his inability, his helplessness and man-chewing helplessness,
but look at this brotherly love, look at this kindness, look at
this tenderness. It says he was born of four.
This fella must have been a pretty good-sized man. It took four
men to carry him, four men to carry him. but they cared enough
for him and the condition he was in. I don't know if they
was his brothers, I don't know if he was his neighbors, I don't
know and I don't care who they were, but it says there was four
people carrying him. He couldn't walk, couldn't move. So these fellas said, we know
that Jesus of Nazareth, we know that the only man can do anything
for this man is in a house over here in Capernaum. Let's pick
him up. You get on that side, I'll get
on this side. You get on that side and I'll
get on this side. And let's pick him up and let's start carrying
him through the street. They gotta get him in his house
and carry him through the street. That never happened before. And I tell you, they brought
him to the right person. They come unto him. and they
brought her to the right place where Christ was. Huh? Oh, they come unto Him. And you
know, they're gathered around the door, and it says there were
so many people around the door they couldn't get in. Now, you
would have thought, you would have thought that these folks,
when they saw these men, four men carrying this paralyzed man,
You would have thought that these folks say, listen, this man's
sick. He needs to get to Christ. This
man can't do anything. And these fellows are packing
him. They're carrying him. You'd think that folks would
get away from the door and said, listen, you all go on in. You
all go on in. They didn't do that. They didn't
care about him. Oh, no. Oh, no. You'd think they'd
get out of the way. And it took four of them to carry
him. They didn't give us his name. God knows whoever one of
them is and knows whoever one of them is that did this. But
oh, the crowd was so blessed they couldn't get to Christ.
Well, what in the world are they going to do? Well, we'll just
have to give up. We'll just have to give up, I
reckon. Just have to quit. Can't get Him to Christ, so let's
just quit. Look what it says. And when they could not come
nigh unto Him, See, that's the thing about it, I love about
it. They come to him and couldn't get nigh to him, couldn't get
near enough to him. Well, what'd they do? I don't know how they got up,
maybe they had a ladder, maybe they had outside steps, I don't
know. But you find people on the roof all the time, but these
fellas carried that man up on the roof. Four men getting up
on that roof, I don't know if they had steps on the outside,
but four men, two, you know, they're going up backwards, going
up forward, something like, they gotta get situated where they
can get him up on that roof. You ever try to carry something
backwards, or behind your back? Well, that's the way these fellas
had to do. Either some of them had to go up the steps backwards,
and the others go forward, or else they turn to their back
and get on like this, but they had to get him up on that roof.
They had to get him up on that roof. And you know when Peter,
the last time I heard about somebody being on a roof, it was Simon
Peter and he was up there praying. And God sent him a vision, but
look what happens now. And oh, listen, how would you
like somebody to get on your roof and start tearing your roof
up? How would you like somebody to get on your roof and start
tearing the shingles off of your roof? And start taking something
and busting in your house and getting in your house. How would
you like somebody to get on your roof and tear your roof up? Well,
that's exactly what these fellas done. They wasn't gonna give
up. This fella needed help. He couldn't help himself. So
there were some people that loved him, cared for him. And look
what happens now. And they uncovered the roof where
who was? Where Christ was, in that house
where the Lord Jesus was. And listen to this, and when
they had broken it up, oh, if this is Simon Peter's
house, I believe he didn't care. But they started breaking that
house, and they had to make it big enough, the hole had to be
big enough and wide enough to let that man down. That's what they had to do. It
had to be big enough to let a man be let down in it. Now watch
what happens now. And they let down the bed wherein
the sick of the palsy lay. Oh. Oh, they let him down. Now,
you know, this is this thing. So this these things are so when
I let my my sanctified imagination run wild with me sometimes. But
I think I think that those fellows, when they let him down, I think
that they carried ropes with them or whatever. And anyway,
I know ever how they got him down inside that house, right
in front of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Christ was preaching. Christ
was preaching. And all of a sudden, they're
tearing this house up, tearing this roof up. And he's still
in his bed. And listen to what it says, and
they let down the bed. or in that sick at the paws he
laid. Oh my. Let me tell you something. Let me give you a little something
to think about. It takes four, just like it took
four men to carry this man, it takes four things to bring a
soul out of darkness. to bring a soul into the presence
of Christ. It takes the eternal, it takes
the love of God Almighty, it takes the love of the Father.
It takes the blood of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
It takes the power of the Holy Ghost, and it takes faith, and
you'll see that here in a minute. When God comes in His love, Christ
dies for you with His blood, the Holy Spirit calls you, faith
comes with it. And that'll bring you out of
darkness. That'll bring you right into
the presence of Christ. Huh? Oh my. Anyway, look what happens now. These fellas, I mean, they wasn't
gonna give up. They wasn't gonna give up. Oh
my. And that's what people say. You
know when this, when folks get on altars and all that kind of
stuff, said, honey, don't quit, don't give up. Lay with us, stay
there, don't give up! Listen. That's what we want everybody
to do. We want you to quit doing anything, just believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. But look what happened, and look
what it says now in verse 5. When Jesus saw their faith. Didn't say anything about seeing
that man's faith. Didn't say anything about that.
But he said, they seeing Jesus saw their faith. And let me tell
you something, if you got it, Christ knows it. You don't have
to prove it to anybody else. He knows whether you got it or
not. Everybody wants to brag about their faith, but listen,
Christ knows whether he saw their faith. And if you got faith,
he sees your faith. And you know why he sees it?
He's the one who gave it to you. HE SAW THEIR FAITH, THEIR FAITH! OH, I BELIEVE THAT CHRIST, THEY
BELIEVED, THESE MEN DID, THESE FOUR MEN THAT CARRIED THAT POOR
PARALYTIC MAN, THEY BELIEVED THAT CHRIST WAS WILLING, THEY
BELIEVED THAT CHRIST WAS ABLE, AND THEY BELIEVED THAT CHRIST
WOULD HELP THIS HELPLESS SOUL AND GIVE HIM WHAT HE NEEDED AND
DO FOR HIM WHAT HE NEEDED. When we come to Christ, the old
hymn writer said, In my hand no price I bring. With this man
here, he couldn't come. Somebody else had to bring him.
And Christ saw their faith. And that's why we come. We can't
bring anything. And I tell you what, the way
of bringing I'm going to show you something. Look over here
with me in Matthew chapter 9, just for a little bit. I want
to show you something about what our Lord said about faith. There's
two things that our Lord marveled at, faith and unbelief. But look
what He said here in Matthew 9, 27. You know, He saw their faith. And Lord, how many times have
we said, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief? How many times have
we said that? And it says, When Jesus departed
thence, two blind men followed Him, crying and saying, Thou
Son of David, have mercy on us. And when He was come into the
house, the blind men came to Him, and Jesus said unto them,
You believe, that I am able to do this? That s the first thing
he asked them. You believe I m able? You believe
I m able to do what you want me to do? They said unto him,
Yes, Lord, we do. We believe you re able. Then
he touched their eyes and said, Now listen to this, According
to your faith, So be it unto you." Huh? So unto you. And I tell you what, all these,
our Lord was preaching, that house was full of people. And
no doubt some folks, you know, they thought, what in the world's
going on up there on that roof? No, there's no way in the world
these fellas could bust up that roof and make it big enough to
put a whole man down through it. And those folks sitting down
there, what in the world's going on? They start seeing the sky
and then all of a sudden here comes this man down. So they're
all, you know, some folks pretty upset probably about it and said,
well, these guys are upsetting everything. But you know what
our Lord did? He never found fault with the
way they brought him, and he'll never find fault with how a person
comes to Christ. The thing is coming to him. Oh, he never finds fault with
the ways people are brought to him. Just come to him, he's welcome.
And then look at our Lord's power. In verse five again, He said
unto the sick of the palsy, and I love this son, thy sins be forgiven thee. That's the most blessed news
you'll ever hear from Christ in your life. That's the most
precious thing that can happen to anybody. Your sins be forgiven
you. Christ came to save sinners. And I have no problem coming
to Christ all the time. But oh, he said, son, your sins
be forgiven thee. Why didn't he heal him right
immediately? Because he wanted men to understand
that the greatest need that anybody has in this world is to have
their sins forgiven. A man, a man, If our sins are forgiven, if
Christ forgave this man's sin and did nothing else for him,
that's enough. That's enough. But in Christ,
even though He healed this man, this man's going to die again.
That's why when our Lord Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead,
you know why He wept? You know why He wept? I'm going
to raise this man from the dead and he's going to have to go
through this again. He s going to have to die again. And I tell you what, if a man
can go to the doctor and get healed and get all kinds of medical
treatments and all that, but if his sins ain t forgiven him,
it won t amount to nothing. That s why our Lord said, Thy
sins be forgiven thee. Oh, They brought this man to
Christ, Almighty God, and to the Word of God. And oh, listen,
and here's the first thing that happens now. Look what happens.
There's always somebody, you know, these fellas didn't need
forgiveness of sins. These next men didn't need any
forgiveness at all. I hope you're not like that.
I hope you're not one of them that needs to be forgiven of
sins, but look what it says. But there were certain of the
scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts. Now our Lord's
got the power. Now listen, why does this man
thus speak blasphemies? There is reasoning in their hearts.
They never said a word. You understand what I'm saying?
They never said a word. They're just thinking. They're just thinking. And you know, we all do that. We'll see something happen and
we'll thank. Well, how did we know? And they was just thinking.
And look what our Lord said. And immediately when Jesus, now
I'll show you the power of Christ. This is Almighty God, knows everything.
And immediately when Jesus perceived in His Spirit that they so reasoned
within themselves. Thinking, and within themselves. Why reason you, He said unto
them, why reason you these things in your hearts? That's the first
thing we see about the power of Christ. Sit here and think
anything you want to. He said He knows our thoughts
before we think them. And I tell you what, I'm glad
you don't know what I think. And I don't know what you think.
It don't make any difference. Christ knows. Christ knows. And that gives
me comfort. It really does. These fellas was reasoning against
forgiveness of sin. And look what our Lord said.
Now let me ask you this. He said, do you all reason in
this thing? So I'm gonna ask you a question. Which is easier,
to save the sick of this palsy, this paralyzed man? Which is
the easiest to do? Huh? To save sick of the palsy,
thy sins be forgiven thee. That takes the power of God to
forgive sins. They said, this man blasphemes.
Only God can forgive sins. He said, nor to say, rise up
and take your bed and walk. Now to Christ, one's as easy
as the other. One's as easy as the other. That
man couldn't walk, the man was paralyzed, and he could only
forgive sins, so the only person could do anything for him, naturally
or spiritually, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, my. And look what he said. Oh, I
love this right here. But that you may know, I want
you to know this. I want you to understand this.
I want you to get it. That's what our Lord's saying.
I want you to know this, that the Son of Man, the Son of Man, has power on Earth to forgive
sins. That's the first thing He said,
God gave me power to do. Forgive sins. Forgive sins. There we are again. Forgiveness
of sins. And the Gospel of Christ is this. The gospel of Christ is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believe. Is the gospel to
you, I hope so? I hope it will be, or are you like
Christ said, that you may know, that you may know. Has the love
of God ever been shed abroad in your hearts like this man
here? Don't wait, oh my, he said, the
Son of Man hath power, that you may know that the Son of Man
hath power on earth to forgive sins. Tell me somebody else on
this earth that can forgive sins. Folks are waiting, and you know
this well, people are waiting to the judgment, doing something
hoping at the judgment their sins will be forgiven. Don't
wait to the judgment. Don't wait to the judgment. Don't
wait till you get ready to leave this life. Don't do that. Don't wait to the judgment and
say, oh, listen, when I get there, then God will forgive me. No,
no. There's only one person on this earth that's got the power,
the authority, and the right to forgive a man his sins, and
that's the Lord Jesus Christ in him alone. Nobody else can
do that. You know, I can forgive you of
doing something to me, but I can't forgive your sin. You can forgive
me of doing something to you or saying something wrong to
you, but you can't forgive me of my sin. Only Christ can do
that. You know, and listen, I'll tell
you what, and you say, when did He took your sin away? He put
my sin away 2,000 years ago, and I didn't exist. And since
Christ for my sin 2,000 years ago, every sin I had was future.
And so He dealt with all my sins that's in the future, all my
sins in the past, and all my sins in the future, because He
died for all my sin. No matter what day, what time
of the day, what day of the year, what moment of the day, what
second of the day, He died for my sin. Huh? How many of them? All of them. And oh my, don't wait, don't
wait, but oh listen, our Lord Jesus Christ, just to show these
fellas, and that's why he said, you know, you speak blasphemy,
oh God forgive sins. But I said, I want you fellas
to understand this. that I've got the power on earth
to forgive sins. And to show you that I have,
I'm gonna show you something else. He said to the sick of
the palsy, I say unto thee, he's the only one who can say this,
I say unto thee, arise. He's gonna do something he ain't
never done before. He's gonna walk. He's been carried into
bed all his life. And listen to this now. So I
say unto thee, take up your bed. Four people had to carry him
in there, and our Lord says, you get your own bed now this
time. You pick up your own bed. Now I don't know, they must have
been small or light or something, but you know the ticket folder.
And he said, you pick up your own bed. And look what it says. You know, he became something
he never was before. Something happened to him that
never happened before. He'd been paralyzed all of his
life, and he started walking. He got out of his bed after four
people carried him, and he walked, got up, and everybody in that
place seen this. He got up, got his bed that those
four fellas had to carry, and this is, they wouldn't let him
in through the door, but when he walked out, look what it says
here now. And the media heroes took to
bed and went forth before everybody there. Everybody there saw him walking
out of there. Saw him carried in, saw him walking out. Oh,
you know, the sins are gone. He's got a new life. That's what
happens to a man when God saves him by his grace. That's what
happens to a man when God forgives him of his sins. That's what
happens to a soul when God does something for him. He becomes
something he never was. He's a man who was paralyzed
and now he's walking. He was a man that other people
had to carry him, now he can do things on his own. He was
unable to act, now he can act. He was unable to do, now he can
do. What happened to him? God made him a new creature in
Christ. He become a man that could walk,
do something altogether new. Oh, my. And oh, my. What was the reaction to all
this? What was the reaction to all
this? Huh? Oh, my. Made him a new creature?
Made him new. Made him a new man. Made him
something he never was before. And look what happens now. Oh, my. Look at the reaction
to these people. And they were all amazed. Huh? They were all amazed. Are you
amazed at what God's done for you? Yeah, I mean really still
amazed what God's done for you. I'm still amazed. I'm still amazed
that God would have mercy on me. I'm still amazed that God
would show me grace. I'm still amazed that my sins
are gone. I'm still amazed that I can come
to Christ anytime, anyplace, in any circumstances. I'm still
amazed. I'm still amazed. And they were
all amazed. And look what else happened.
Everybody there started glorifying God. They started praising God. To God be the glory! Great things
He hath done! Great things He hath taught us
through Jesus the Son! Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound! Save the wretch like me! And oh my, they started glorifying
God. They start saying, oh, praise
God, blessed be the name of the Lord. Nobody like God. And then
look, every one of them said, never seen nothing like it. That's
it, that's one of the sayings in the South. That beats all
I've ever seen. That's the thing that people
say in the South all the time. That beats anything I've ever
seen. I've never seen nothing like it, you know? And that's
what these folks said. I've never seen anything like
this. Have all the things that I've ever seen in my life. I've
never seen anything like this. And ain't that the way we feel
when God saves somebody? We say, boy, we glorify God,
we stand amazed. And we say, boy, I tell you what.
Oh, to sit on this fashion, to sit on this fashion. Oh my, what
a blessed, blessed comfort that these men had. What a comfort,
what a blessed thing that happened to this man right here. And may
God in His sovereign mercy do the same thing for you. May He do the same thing for
you. If I was able, I'm going to tell you, I believe I could
get four people, four men right here right now, if you had to
be packed and had to be carried to Christ, I believe I could
get four men that would pick you up and bring you. I believe
they would tear up the roof and tear it all to pieces to get
you to Christ. But we can't. But the Holy Spirit can bring
you. And you know how far it is between you and Christ? From
here to there. As old Scott said all the time,
you can come to Christ and not move a muscle. You can come to
Christ Right now, where you are, come and welcome. Come and welcome. Father, thank you. Blessed be
your holy name for allowing us this wonderful privilege to preach
the gospel again. to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ,
his forgiveness of sins, his power to make new creatures out
of sinners, make new creatures, give us a new life, heart, mind,
will, understanding, ability to praise you. And Lord, let
it end in our hearts always to glorify you, magnify you, Please
meet the need of every heart. Save your people in this place.
Save sinners in this place. For Christ's sake, amen. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, But now am found,
was blind, but now I see. T'was grace that sought my heart
to, grace my fears relieved, My fears relieved How precious
did that grace appear The hour I first believed Through many
dangers, toils and snares I have already come His grace that brought
me safe thus far. Oh, bless His name. Oh, God, take me home. When we've been there ten thousand
years, bright shining as the dawn, we've no less days to sing
God's praise when we first begun. Amen. See you tonight at six
o'clock, God willing.
About Don Bell
Don Bell is the current pastor of Lantana Grace Church in Crossville, TN.
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