He was wounded for our transgressions. He bore our sins in his body
on the tree. He gave us peace from our bondage,
gave release. And with His stripes, and with
His stripes, and with His stripes, our souls are He was numbered among transgressors. We did esteem him, forsaken by
his God. As our sacrifice, he died. that the law be satisfied. And all our sins. And all our sins. And all our sins. was lay a king. We had wandered, we all had wandered,
far from the foe. Of the shepherd of the sheep
But he sought us where we were On the mountains bleak and bare
And brought us home And brought us home And brought
us safely home to God Who can number His generation Who shall declare all the triumphs
of His cross. Millions dead, now live again. Mirrors follow in His train. Victorious Lord, Victorious Lord, Victorious Lord
and coming King. Wait till you hear them live. I think it's happening, doing
specials all day long. I'd like us to turn back to that
verse that we've been spending some weeks in and coming towards
the end of it. As I've reminded you so often,
Paul is a pattern. Paul is a pattern and Paul is
a pattern of all believers. And so here we have in Acts 26,
one of the clearest definitions of a believer in all of the word
of God. And this verse of scripture is
divided beautifully into two parts. The first part is the
work of God in what he does to dead sinners. He comes as a light,
verse 18 of Acts 26. To open blind eyes, he comes
as a powerful king to turn them from darkness to light and from
the power of Satan unto God. And then he comes as a giver. that they may receive forgiveness
of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by
faith that is in me. So I wanted to spend some time
looking at the gifts of the king and we need to look at the person
of the king and the acts of the king to see the gifts of the
king. And when it comes to this issue of forgiveness of sins,
For many people the forgiveness of sins is a theoretical exercise
or a theological conundrum to figure out, but for real sinners,
forgiveness of sins is a living reality. For sinners, forgiveness
of sins is unbelievably important. For sinners, there is no bigger
issue in all of this world than, am I sins forgiven? on that great
day that all of us will encounter in the not too distant future
when we stand before the holy and living God, only one thing
will matter. Are our sins forgiven? And we're not short of extraordinary
examples in the scriptures and I'd just like to briefly look
at two of them that we might get a picture and an understanding.
I love how the scriptures are a picture book. They're a picture
book which tells extraordinary stories. So if you turn with
me to Mark Chapter 2, I wanted to look at the story of the healing
of the man with palsy that was paralyzed. And I want to look
also at Luke Chapter 7 about the sinner who came and wept
at the Lord's feet. But these are pictures of forgiveness
and these are pictures of sinners and these are pictures of course
of a sovereign God who draws his people to himself. We must
never forget the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, our sovereign
God, is the first cause of all things. So let's begin in Mark
chapter two and just read this story, which is so, so glorious. And again, he entered into Capernaum
after some day, and it was noise that he was in the house. What
a lovely description of church. There's a rumor going out that
he's in the house. There's a rumor going out that he's in the house.
He's in the house. He draws his people to himself.
May it be so with us always. And straightway many were gathered
together in so much there was no room to receive them. No,
not so much as about the door. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
always about one task, wasn't he? He preached the word to them. He preached the kingdom of God
to them. He preached himself to them. And they came to 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 palsy lay. You can just picture
the scene, can't you, as the ceiling opens up above you and
it has to be a pretty big hole for a man on a stretcher to be
let down by ropes. It's remarkable. There's the
Lord Jesus sitting in the midst and surrounding him are these
scribes and Pharisees. There'll always be a way for
a sinner to get into the presence of the Lord. The Lord will always
make a way And Jesus saw their faith. See, the Lord sees faith where
men can't see faith. The Lord sees faith because he's
the author and the finisher, the author and the perfecter
of faith. When Jesus saw their faith, he
said under the sick of the palsy, son, So he speaks to him in terms
of relationship with him, a son. And he says, thy sins be forgiven
thee. Don't you love the authority
of the word of God speaking? Or the Old Testament prophet
says, thus saith the Lord, thus saith the Lord. And the Lord
Jesus Christ came along and he never ever said it once. He says,
I say unto you, I say unto you, Thy sins be forgiven thee. Now from all accounts he'd never
met this man and from all accounts this man's sins had never been
presented to him and from all accounts of course with the scribes
and Pharisees and all the legalists in that day and in this they
will attribute people's frailties and problems in this world to
some sin that they have done. Not so our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord saw their faith and
he said, under the sick of the palsy, thy sins be forgiven you.
You would think that for everyone who was there, this guy would
have had one very big problem, wouldn't he? There he is paralysed,
he can't walk, he can't get into the presence of the Lord, he
can't work, he's a beggar. He's dependent entirely upon
the goodwill of all other people just to keep him alive. He's
even dependent on them to get him into the presence of the
Lord. You would think that the first thing that he would want,
the first thing that would be of most importance, would be
that he would be healed and be able to walk and work and love
and care and walk into the temple and do all of those other things.
The Lord Jesus Christ lays the priorities in their right and
proper order. Sins are the biggest problem
that you and I have. Our sins. Thy sins be forgiven. But, verse 6, there were certain
of the scribes sitting there, reasoning in their hearts. They
didn't say a word. Reasoning in their hearts. Why
does this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
alone? Two really important things to
take note of, isn't there? The first thing is that the Lord
sees your thoughts right now. And he sees your thoughts all
the time. So don't try and play games with
him. Lay your life before him and
say, this is what I am. You're not surprising him. He's
not surprised by the sins that you bring to him. He's not surprised
by the trials and troubles of your life that you bring to him.
He knows your thoughts. What a blessing it is that he
knows your thoughts. that he knows all of them, all
the time. The other thing about the scribes
and Pharisees is that the religious legalists can be 100% right and
100% wrong, can't they? They can be 100% right about
the fact that God alone can forgive sins, and they can be 100% wrong
because they haven't attributed to the Lord Jesus Christ the
glory that is due him. Why does this man speak blasphemies?
Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately when Jesus
perceived in his spirits that they so reasoned within themselves,
see all of their thoughts, all of their thoughts were open to
him. He said unto them, why reason
ye these things in your hearts? Whether it is easier to say to
the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say,
Arise, take up thy bed, and walk. It's a lot easier, isn't it?
It's very easy to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee. And like most
of the words of most of the people in this world, they just fall
to the ground and are meaningless. And most of the promises that
most of the people in this world make are meaningless promises,
aren't they? Which is easier? Just to say
a word? Is it just a word being said? That's the question the Lord
Jesus Christ is asking. Or does he back up with his words,
with the reality of it? But, verse 10, but that ye may
know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. The forgiveness of sins is not
just a word, is it? The forgiveness of sins requires
all of the mighty omnipotent power of God, God the Father,
put this man in union with the Lord Jesus Christ before the
world began and this whole world was created so that the Lord
Jesus Christ could display his glory on this day. The world
and everything in the universe was moved that day for this one
event to take place, this one event which pictured what the
Lord Jesus Christ would do on Calvary's tree. The Son of Man
has power on earth to forgive sins. He has the power on earth
to forgive sins because all the sins that are ever forgiven and
the only sins that are ever forgiven are the sins that were laid on
him by his father. And he bore them in his own body
to Calvary's tree, and he bore them away. A just and a holy
God, but a powerful God. I say unto thee, arise. I say unto thee, arise, and take
up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately,
I love the power of the Lord's words, and I love the power of
his healings. And immediately he arose, took
up his bed, went forth before them all, insomuch as they were
all amazed. And when sins are forgiven, when
sins are forgiven, God is glorified, saying we never saw it on this
fashion. To see the Lord Jesus Christ
come with power, to see the Lord Jesus Christ forgive sins with
a word, to see him speaking to his people and speaking these
words of power. I want to remind you that our
Lord Jesus Christ never changes. The Lord Jesus Christ who did
this 2000 years ago in Capernaum is the same Lord Jesus Christ
that's with his people now, and he still speaks the same words.
Do we hear the word of God audibly anymore? We actually hear a word
from God much, much more powerfully than any who ever heard an audible
word. when the Holy Spirit takes the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ and makes them spirit and life
to us. The word of God comes with power
into the hearts, the regenerated hearts of God's people. I say,
I love what he says, I say unto thee, arise. I say unto thee,
arise. I say unto thee, thy sins be
forgiven thee. This is how he forgives sins. He draws a sinner to himself.
He reveals himself as God to that sinner and he speaks a word. He speaks a word. Let's turn
over to Reluke chapter seven. I love this story. I love the
simplicity and the beauty. I love the pictures that are
in it of sinners being brought into the presence of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Luke 7 verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired
him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's
house and sat down to meet. And behold, a woman in the city
which was a sinner. In all likelihood she was a famous
sinner and probably in all likelihood if she's a woman out on her own
at night walking as she does, she's probably representing and
maybe was a prostitute. She was a notorious sinner, a
notorious sinner. A woman in the city which was
a sinner. When she knew that Jesus sat
at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
and stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and began to wash
his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her
head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.
Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within
himself, this man, if he were a prophet, would have known who
and what manner of woman this is that touches him, for she
is a sinner. You've got to love this woman,
haven't you? There she is, with unashamed devotion to the Lord
Jesus Christ. and in his presence, unashamed
exposure of what she is before all of these people. She knew
that when she walked into that Pharisee's house, there'd be
sniggering about her. She came and she stood. She came
and then she bowed, didn't she? She stood, she came and stood,
verse 38. Then she began to wash his feet with tears and did wipe
them with the hairs of her head. As I said to you earlier, the
forgiveness of sins is a theoretical exercise that people accept real
sinners. And for real sinners, it's not
a theoretical exercise. It's a matter of absolute necessity,
and nothing is gonna get in the way of the Lord drawing a real
sinner to himself. And once again, the Lord saw
the hearts of these people. She touched him. He drew her
to himself. She was touching him. But he
was touching her. You see, once again, the Pharisees
are always wrong about the character of God. And the Pharisees are
always wrong about the nature of true saving faith. She touched him. and he touched
her. See, that's the beauty and the
wonder of the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? The God-man can touch
sinners and be undefiled by them, because any sinner he ever touches
are the sinners whose sins that he bears away. So they have no
sin before God, so they don't defile him. Only the Lord Jesus
Christ can touch sinners and not be defiled. Only the Lord
Jesus Christ, the God-man, can touch God and not be consumed. He is a glorious and a great
mediator. And Jesus, verse 40, answering,
said unto him, Simon, I have some what to say unto thee. And
he said, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors, and one owed 500 pence and the other
50. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them
both. Tell me therefore, which of them
will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose
that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, thou hast
rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and
said, Simon, seest thou this woman? Sinner's here, Pharisee's
here. See thou this woman, look at
her. She's been held up before this
world as a picture of sovereign saving grace and forgiveness
of sins. See thou this woman, I entered
into thine house and thou gavest me no water for my feet. He wasn't
even worthy of the common courtesies of the day. Thou gavest me no
water for my feet. but she has washed my feet with
tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest
me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in has not ceased
to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not
anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore
I say unto thee, her sins which are many are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom
little is forgiven, the same loveth little. There is a glorious union, isn't
there, between the forgiveness of sins and love for the Saviour
and faith. You read on with me. Verse 48,
and he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven thee. Thy sins are forgiven thee. The forgiveness of her sins is
in the perfect tense, which means it's a completed action. It's
in the passive. It means that the action is all
done by Him. It means to be forgiven is to
have those sins sent away, to be gone and put into another
place. We know where they were put brothers
and sisters, they were put on him and he bore them away such
that they're no longer to be seen. But the other issue is of course
that for real sinners the only sins that matter. for the Pharisees everyone else's
sins matter and you'll find them all over the place and I'll come
and tell you all about them if you like but you'll find them
all over the place for a real sinner There was an American preacher
who used to begin his messages sometimes saying, is there a
sinner in the house? I'm talking to the sinner out
there. I'm not going to be talking to the Pharisee out there. I'm
talking to the one that says, thy sins, who needs to hear a
word from God saying, thy sins are forgiven thee. Your personal sins, your particular
sins, those powerful sins that hold you captive. Thy sins are
forgiven thee. And they that sat at meat with
him began to say with themselves, who is this that forgiveth sins
also? Only God, they knew. Only God
forgives sins. That's the reality. That's what
David said in Psalm 51. He says, against thee and thee
only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. He had murdered
Uriah. He had committed fornication
with Bathsheba. He had brought Bathsheba's son
to death. He had brought disgrace upon
his family and his nation. He brought disgrace upon the
word of God and the character of God. And David says, against
thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
Sins always, all sins are against God, always. But I love how it
finishes. What does he say to the woman?
Thy faith hath saved thee. Thy faith has saved thee. Again,
it's in the perfect tense. You'll call his name Jesus because
he will save his people from their sins. Thy faith has saved
thee. Go in peace. And again, I remind
you, when that lady went back to her house that evening and
went to her friends as a forgiven sinner, and she was rejoicing
in the forgiveness of sins and rejoicing in the love of the
Lord Jesus Christ to her, because she loved him because he first
loved her. Would she have said, my faith
has saved me, my faith has made me whole, my faith has made me
well? Faith and the Lord Jesus Christ are so intimately entwined,
aren't they? Thy faith, it is her faith. God is the giver of faith. I want you to know and note,
as we will in Acts 26, 18 and a little while that there are
no ifs in the passage. He doesn't put one condition
upon her nor did he put one condition on the paralyzed man. There are
no ifs in salvation. All the ifs in salvation relate
to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation begins with the full and complete and
unchangeable and unalterable eternal forgiveness of all sins. See, true saving faith begins
where religion finishes. Religion finishes, doesn't it,
with you working and working and working. I remember talking
to a woman some years ago, and I said, are you ready to meet
the Lord? And she said, no, Wayne, well, I'm terrified of meeting
him. I haven't polished up my life enough. She'd been in church
all of her life, and still she was looking to polish up her
work. Salvation begins with the complete
and full, unchangeable, unalterable, eternal forgiveness of all your
sins. They were put away from the foundation
of the world. What a glorious saviour. What
glorious words he says. Thy sins are forgiven thee. Thy
faith has saved thee. What do you do? Go in peace. Rest in him. Go in peace. And just a reminder before we
sing our next hymn, let's remember that the Lord's people in this
world, those who really are the Lord's people, are wounded people. They're wounded with self-inflicted
wounds. They're wounded with the wounds
of others upon them. And may the Lord grant us the
grace to do what those poor men did to the paralytic man. Bring them to the Lord Jesus
Christ. No matter what the obstacles are between you and him, bring
them. Bring them to where he is. It's
not just about that he's in the house. Bring them. May the Lord
bless his words to our hearts. We're gonna sing again, thanks,
Normie. And then we'll have a Five minute break. 68. What's the name of it? Tell
me the old, old story. Thank you. Tell me the old, old story Of
unseen things above Of Jesus and His glory Of Jesus and His
love Tell me the story simply as to a little child For I am
weak and weary and helpless and defiled Tell me the old, old
story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Tell me the story slowly, that
I may take it in, that wonderful redemption, God's remedy for
sin. Tell me the story often, for
I forget so soon. The early dew of morning has
passed away at noon. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Tell me the story softly with
earnest tones and grave. Remember, I'm the sinner whom
Jesus came to save. Tell me the story always, if
you would really be. In any time of trouble, a comforter
to be. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Tell me the same old story when
you have cause to fear that this world's empty glory is costing
me too dear. Yes, and when that world's glory
is dawning on my soul,