a lot better. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight. Perfect submission, all is at
rest. You know what I'm saying. Would you turn to Mark chapter two once again? Now the issue at all times is
who is Jesus Christ? That is always the issue. Who is Jesus Christ? And that
settles everything else. I pray that the Lord would teach
me and you tonight just who he is. Now I've entitled this message,
An Offer or a Declaration. Let's read this whole story.
Verse. One in chapter two, and again,
he entered into Capernaum after some days and was noised that
he was in the house and straightway many were gathered together in
so much that there was no room to receive them. No, not so much
as about the door. And he preached the word unto
them. Well, I pray that's what takes
place tonight. That he will preach the word
to us. And they come unto him, bringing
one sick of the palsy, which was born of four. Four men carried
this man on some kind of pallet. And when they could not come
nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where
he was. And when they'd 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. Now let me pause and say. That statement, thy sins be forgiven
thee. That is in the perfect tense,
passive voice. When he said that, that means
all of that man's sins had been forgiven. Even the ones that
he hadn't committed yet. They had all been forgiven and
he didn't have anything to do with this. He was passive in
this. This is a declaration by the
Son of God. Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the
scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, the religious
experts, why does this Man thus speak blasphemies. Who can forgive
sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived
in his spirit that they so reason within themselves, he said unto
them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it
easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven
thee, or to say, Arise, 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 and take up thy bed and go thy way into
thine house. And immediately he arose, took
up his bed and went forth before them all in so much they were
all amazed and glorified God saying, We never saw it on this
fashion. Have you ever heard this statement? I've heard it many times. Heard
it this week, as a matter of fact. Jesus offers you the forgiveness
of sins. Jesus offers you the forgiveness
of sins. Jesus offers you salvation. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ never
offered anybody the forgiveness of sins. That would take whether
or not even out of his hands into our hands, if that were
the case. Now, even in human forgiveness,
the act of forgiving is a sovereign act. It's utterly up to the one sinned
against as to whether or not they will forgive. Forgiveness
is never an offer under any circumstance. You do not offer forgiveness. Forgiveness is not an offer up
to your acceptance or rejection. Forgiveness is a declaration
of a fact. Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Hear that from the Lord. It won't
do you any good if I tell you your sins are forgiven. That
doesn't mean they are. But if he says it. Son, thy sins be
forgiven thee. You see forgiveness is the necessary
result of redemption. Colossians 1.14. says in whom
we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of
sins. Now let's go to verse one. And
again, he entered into Capernaum and after some days it was noise
that he was in the house. Now Capernaum is the place where
he did most of his miracles. Remember, when the Lord said,
prepare to him, you've been exalted to heaven, but you're going to
be cast into hell. For if the works done in that's
been done here had been done in Sodom, they would have repented
in dust and ashes. But it'll be more tolerable for
Sodom on the day of judgment than you. That's the place he
was at. And again he entered into Capernaum, and after some
days it was noised that he was in the house, and many were gathered
together. In this house he was at, insomuch
that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about
the door. Now, picture this in your mind.
He was in a room, I don't know how large it was, But it was
so crowded, no one else could get in. You couldn't even stand
around the door. There were people pushed out.
It was so packed. And we also know from the other
accounts that there were some doctors of the law and scribes
and Pharisees sitting there. They weren't really a part of
the group. They were not listening because they wanted to hear.
They weren't listening out of sense of need, a great need to
hear what this one says, but they were sitting there to judge
and to be a critic. How sad. when someone hears the
gospel in that attitude. But there were a lot of people
there who wanted to hear what he had to say. They wanted to
hear his preaching. They were hearing out of a need. And he preached the word unto
them. You know, I like to read Charles
Spurgeon, but I cringe when they call him the Prince of Preachers.
There's only one Prince of Preachers, the Lord Jesus Christ. And no
one else fits that description. Verse three, 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, because of the crowd, they uncovered
the roof where he was. And when they'd broken it up,
I wonder what the owner of the home thought about that. All
of a sudden he sees his ceiling broken up in his house. And when
they had broken it up, they let down their bed where in the sick
of the palsy lay. Now four men want to bring their
paralytic friend into the prayer of Jesus Christ. And here's why.
They knew he could heal him. You see, faith wholly has to
do with what you believe concerning him. They knew he could heal
him, but they couldn't get in. The crowd was too great, but
you know, they didn't get up and say, well, evidently it's
not the Lord's will for this to happen. They didn't just give
up and say, well, it seems like the Lord's closing this door,
maybe tomorrow. Luke's account says they sought
means to bring him in. They were not going to be denied. I admire these men so much. They
wanted to get their friend to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I
think it's interesting that the church until the last 50 years
didn't have anything but stuff like this. People bringing people
to hear the gospel. Now that ought to inspire each
one of us to seek to bring people to hear the gospel. They wanted
this man to be in the presence of Christ and they were going
to do whatever it took to get him in. They sought means. Now
I love to Think of this, they got up on a roof. How'd they
get up there? I don't know. They started breaking
down the roof, the tiling of the roof. And while the Lord
was preaching, all of a sudden, everybody looks up and a big
hole's forming in the ceiling. And I imagine these guys looked
around first to find out exactly where the Lord was, and they
found out exactly, and they lowered that man right in front of everybody.
They lowered him down to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, these men believed. He sees faith. You see, he's
the author and finisher of it in the first place. When he sees
faith, it's what he has produced. And he recognized it when he
saw their faith. He said unto the sick of palsy,
son, forgiveness is offered to you. Nothing like that. Nothing like
that. Why the very thought of that
is ridiculous. Son, thy sins be forgiven. Matthew's account tells us, son,
be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven. Now, I'm not real sure that these
men brought this man to hear that. They wanted physical healing. But he got something infinitely
more important. He got the forgiveness of all
of his sins. Now, my greatest need and your greatest
need is the forgiveness of all your sins. There is no need greater
than that. He got a much greater blessing
than being healed of his paralytic condition. Son, thy sins be forgiven
thee. And let me remind you of what
I've already said, that be forgiven. It's in the perfect tense, passive
voice, perfectly completed. When He said your sins are forgiven,
that's a perfectly completed action never to be repeated again. That means all the sins were
forgiven, even the sins He hadn't committed yet. They were forgiven.
It was a declaration of forgiveness. To say it was in the passive
means that He didn't do anything to get it. It's the declaration
of the Son of God. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Now, let me remind you Salvation
doesn't end with the forgiveness of sins. You don't have to do this, this,
this, this, and quit doing this, this, and this. And then you'll
have the forgiveness of sins. There's not a formula to be followed
to have the forgiveness of sins. Salvation begins, it doesn't
end. It begins with the complete,
full, free forgiveness of all your sins. Now, to present forgiveness
as an offer is a denial of what the Lord said in John 19, 30.
When he said it is finished, everybody he died for, all their
sins were forgiven. Every single one of them. is finished. They're all forgiven. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
you. He didn't forgive you because
you asked for forgiveness. He didn't ask you, he didn't
forgive you because you were sorry for your sin. He forgave you
for Christ's sake. You found some comfort in that?
That's the only reason needed. Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. When he by himself urged our
sins. You know what? Every one of them
were forgiven sins. And a believer is not to look
at his sins in any other light than forgiven sins. We hate our sin, we don't want
to sin, but thank God every single one of them are forgiven sins. And it's not like they're just
swept under the rug. The reason they're forgiven is
because they've been exterminated. It's because Christ put them
away. Because there's nothing there to condemn me for because
he put them away by his glorious sacrifice and gave me his perfect
righteousness and then he forgives me of my sins. Now, if he died for somebody
to forgive their sins, And they end up in hell anyway because
they didn't accept the offer. Forgiveness is not by his blood. There's something you need to
do to be forgiven. The scenario of Christ dying
for all to make forgiveness possible for all, but it lies in your
acceptance or rejection of the message is a false message that
no one can be saved by. Verse six. But there were certain of the
scribes sitting there, our buddies, the Pharisees, they, I can't get too down on them
in the sense that I'm a Pharisee. That's the natural man's religion.
I'm looking at a bunch of Pharisees and scribes. That's what we are
by nature. I can't say, well, that's us.
Scribes and the Pharisees. Scribes sitting there reasoning
in their hearts. And what was it they were reasoning?
Why does this man speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
only? Now, they were absolutely right. Only God can forgive sins. But for long, they didn't believe
Jesus Christ to be God. That's the issue. Who is Jesus
Christ? They did not believe Jesus Christ
to be God. Now, Jesus Christ is Almighty
God. I love it when the Lord said
to that gathering demonic, he said, you go home and tell your
friends and family the great things that God has done for
thee. And what he did, he went home
and told them the great things Jesus had done. He got it right,
didn't he? I think of when the Philippian
jailer said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they replied,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Scripture
says he believed in God with all his heart. Now, verse six and seven, there
were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their
hearts, why did this man speak blasphemies? Who can forgive
sins but God only? And immediately, when Jesus perceived
in his spirit that they so reasoned with themselves. You know, he
could look into their heart. You know, one of the, I'll give
a, one of my problems in, it's not a problem, so don't get me
wrong, but one of my problems in my marriage is Lincoln read
my mind. And she can get mad at me for
things I'm thinking, don't you, Lynn? She knows what I'm thinking,
and she gets mad at me about it. And that's not right. But she can't read my mind infallibly. The Lord can. He can read the letter without
opening the envelope. He can see what's in my heart
and your heart infallibly. And he was looking upon what these men were thinking. Now, I think it's interesting,
Matthew's account says the Lord said, why think ye evil in your
hearts? You see, any thought that makes
Jesus Christ any less than very God of very God, the absolute
sovereign of the universe, the creator, the one who controls
providence, the one who has salvation in his hand, any thought that
looks at Christ not like that, is an evil thought, intolerably
evil, worthy of damnation. We're talking about the son of
God. We're talking about him who has all glory. And the Lord
could read their thoughts. And he said, why reason ye these
things in your heart? And then he asks a question that
makes it so clear. What's easier to say to the sick
of the palsy, thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say arise and take
up thy bed and walk? Now, it's a whole lot easier
to say thy sins are forgiven thee. You know why? Because it
can't be verified. Priest says, say nine Hail Marys,
your sins will be forgiven you. Okay. Are they? Just because
he says that? The preacher says, pray this
prayer after me. The soul winner says, pray this
prayer after me. Repeat after me, and you'll have
the forgiveness of sins. Now, it's easy to say that. You know, I've had people, I
don't know how many times people said, do you believe I'm saved?
What difference does it make what I believe? If I think you're
not, does that mean you're not? If I think you are, does that
mean you are? It makes no difference for a man to say, your sins are
forgiven. That's meaningless. Somebody
says, I think your sins are forgiven. Well, you know, that doesn't
give me any at all. It's easy to say your sins are
forgiven because it's impossible to verify. It's a whole lot harder to say
rise to a man that's paralyzed, that's never walked. Rise, take
up the bed, and walk, because that can be verified immediately.
It's seen in that man rising, taking up his bed, and walking. It's much easier to say, your
sins are forgiven. Then to say to the man, rise,
take up your bed and walk. Verse 10, but that you may note
That the Son of Man, you know this was our Lord's favorite
name for himself, the Son of Man. He called himself this more
than any other title, the Son of Man. But that you may know that the
Son of Man hath power on earth, hath authority on earth to forgive
sins. He saith to the sick of palsy,
I say unto thee, Arise and take up thy bed and go to thy house. Now the Lord says, you're to
know. You know what? I know that he
has power on earth to forgive sins. Do you know that? He has
power. He has authority on this earth. To forgive sins, he can do what
only God can do, forgive sin. Now, I can't forgive your sins
against God. You can't forgive my sins against
God. We ought to forgive one another
quickly. We should forgive one another quickly. But as far as
sin against God, I can't say you're forgiven of your sin against
God. You can't say that to me either. Only God can forgive
sin against himself. I love what the Lord Jesus Christ
said to that woman who was a sinner. Thy sins, which are many. What are the next words? Are
forgiven. He is the only one who can say
this. I love the way he says in verse
10, but that you may know that the Son of Man hath power, hath
authority on earth to forgive the sins. He saith to the sick
of the palsy, I say unto thee. I love it when the Lord says
that. Not one time in His earthly ministry did He ever say, thus
saith the Lord. Didn't say it once. I say unto
thee. With the same authority that
I use when I spake the universe into existence, I say unto thee. Arise, take up thy bed, and walk. I say unto thee, the one whose
will is always done, rise, take up your bed, and walk. This is God speaking. That's
the issue. Who is Jesus Christ? This is God speaking, the only
one who can say, thy sins be forgiven thee. And verse 12,
and immediately he arose, took up the bed and went forth before
them all in so much that they were all amazed and glorified
God saying, we never saw it in this fashion. Indeed, they hadn't
ever seen it in this fashion. Now, the issue of this story,
the one issue of this story is who is Jesus Christ? He was obviously a man. There
was a man some 2000 years ago named Jesus. Born in Bethlehem. Raised up in the town of Nazareth. The son of Joseph and Mary, the
carpenter, who ended up getting nailed to a cross. He was a man,
a historical figure. But he was not just a man. He is the bad man. Muhammad was just a man. was just a man. Confucius was
just a man, but not Jesus Christ. He is the God-man. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God, a distinct person,
and He was God. The second person of the Blessed
Trinity. The only one who has authority,
who has power upon earth. Now because of who He is, Now
you listen to this very carefully. Because of who he is, our eternal
destiny is in his hand. You know what that means? That means whether or not your
sins are forgiven is totally up to him. You do not have any
control in this. Whether or not you're saved and
brought into heaven or pass by as an act of his justice and
you perish forever, it's up to him. And that is the issue. Your salvation, your eternal
destiny is up to Him. Now, there are two possible responses
to that. The first one is anger. Disliking it. I don't like this. I don't like having no control. There is a resentment of this.
A resentment of him. Why is he like this? I don't
like this. Now that's one response. That's the response of the natural
man. Now, there's apathy and indifference until somebody finds
out who he really is. But you can't be apathetic about
this when you find out who he really is. Two responses. Either anger or God, be merciful to me, the
sinner. Who is Jesus Christ? He's God. He's the God-man. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And as God, your eternal destiny
is in His hands. It's up to Him as to what's going
to happen to you. Let me take this away for just,
I'm not taking it away, but if it's not up to him, if it's up
to you, nobody will be saved. You don't have a chance. I don't
have a chance. If it's up to us, no one will
be saved. Oh, we like to talk, yeah, a
lot of people will be saved. No. No, not if it's up to, not
if it's up to something we do. There's no hope in that message.
But here's the reason there is hope. It's up to him. It's up
to him and everyone who cries, God be merciful to me, the sinner,
everybody who comes to Christ for mercy. Now, listen to me.
This isn't keeping anyone away. If you come to Christ asking
Him to save you, He will not refuse. That leper, we considered
him last week. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. It's all up to you. I realize
that. If you will, you can make me
clean. And Jesus moved with compassion,
said, I will be thou clean. Let's pray. Lord, we confess that salvation
is utterly in your hand. And the forgiveness of sin is
utterly in your hand. We pray that we might be found
in Christ. And Lord, give us the faith that
these four men had who brought their friend to thy blessed son. Bless us for the Lord's sake.
Bless your word for Christ's sake. In his name we pray, amen.