Morning, everybody. Let me read
this morning on Romans 10. Brethren, my heart's desire.
and prayer to God for Israel, is that they might be saved.
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according
to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness
which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things
shall live by them. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise, saying, Not in thine heart. Who
shall ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down
from above. Or who shall descend into the
deep? That is, to bring Christ up from the dead. But what saith
it? The word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the word of faith with which
we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they
call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear
without a preacher? and how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things." Lord, we thank you for your word,
Lord. We pray that you cause us to
believe on you, Lord, that you would give us your spirit, Lord,
cause us to turn and call upon you, Lord. Have mercy on us.
Please give our pastor your words, Lord, to preach Christ clearly
and to our hearts and that we receive it gladly, Lord, and
continue and abide in you. In your name we pray. Amen. Alright brethren, let's begin
with Mark chapter 2. Mark chapter 2. And our text
will be in the first 12 verses of Mark chapter 2. And while
you're turning there, let me just say that we have here another
example of how the sinner here in our text is a picture of how
the sick one in our text is a picture of the sinner that Christ saves,
that the Christ has mercy upon. This so happens to be one who
is sick with the palsy, and we see that Christ alone is the
Savior, that he is both willing and able to save by bearing the
burden of all those who feel their need of Him and come to
Him seeking mercy and grace and forgiveness. For Christ alone
is the one who forgives sin, and He's the one who can forgive
sin. He can do that because He's not shifting the burden onto
someone else. He knows that when He forgives
the sin of anyone, he's going to be the one bearing that burden
of sin for them. So he has the authority to forgive
sin. Acts 5 31, Him hath God exalted
with his right hand to be a prince and a savior for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Our title this morning
is Christ Bears Another Man's Burden. Christ bears another
man's burden, and we'll have three divisions. Today is the
day of salvation, and then we'll see the burden justly lifted. Christ justly lifts this burden
off of a man who is sick with a palsy, and then we'll see assurance
given, and by that I mean that we shall know that Christ does
forgive sins. We shall see the assurance that
is given to us that Christ does forgive sins. He does relieve
his people of the burden of their sin. Alright, so our first point. If you'll remember, if you look
there in Mark chapter 1 at the last verse, verse 45, we'll remember
and recall that Christ wasn't able to come into any town, right? He was out there in the wilderness
for some time because he couldn't come into a town without being
just overrun with the people coming to him. It says that that
healed leper went out and began to publish what Christ had done
much and to blaze abroad the matter in so much that Jesus
could no more openly enter into the city but was without in desert
places and they came to him from every quarter. But now we read
in verse one that Christ returns back into Capernaum, right? And it says, and again he entered
into Capernaum after some days and it was noise that he was
in the house. And that means he was likely
back in Peter and Andrew's house where he was originally when
he was in Capernaum and healed Peter's mother-in-law. So many
had been seeking him when he last left Capernaum, and so now
they're coming quickly to hear him again. They want to see the
Christ again. If you recall, the reason why
they were probably so eager to see him is that he left so quickly. disappeared from their sight. It says that in verse 133 that
all the city was gathered together at the door, this is back in
chapter 1, and he healed many that were sick of diverse diseases
and cast out many devils. But then we read that the next
morning the apostles came or the disciples came and they said,
Lord all men seek for thee. And Christ said to them, let
us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, for
therefore came I forth." So now in our text, in Mark 2 verses
2 and 3, we read, and straightway many were gathered together,
insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much
as about the door, and he preached the word unto them, likely from
a window. He had to stand there and preach
the window out. If there was a second story or
something, he probably had to preach that that word out to all those
so that they could hear him and be fed by him. And they came
unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was born of
four." So here they come. They weren't able to get him
there the last time, and probably when they came and showed up
looking for him to heal this one, Christ left. Christ left. And so they were taking no chances. They weren't going to risk missing
Christ again. So they come carrying their friend,
born of four, that Christ would see him and heal him, because
they knew if he could just get to Christ, Christ would heal
this one. And they show great tenacity
in trying to reach the Lord, because they hit an obstacle.
They couldn't even get into the door where Christ was, and they
didn't want him slipping out the back door when all was said
and done, and then missing Christ again for their friend, whom
they loved, and had to get before Christ. And it says in verse
4, 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." So our first point, what I want us to see is that today
is the day of salvation. This is the day of grace. We don't know what tomorrow is
going to bring. You might be thinking, today
I just want to do the things that I had my heart set on to
do. I just want to go out and do
that which entered into my thoughts and my heart and my mind last
night and I planned out my day. I just want to do what I want
to do. I'll worry about eternity tomorrow or maybe some other
day when I have nothing else to do and I'm dead and dying
or just about dead. I'll worry about it then, but
not today. Today I want to do what I want
to do. but we don't know whether we
have a tomorrow. We don't know what this day is
going to bring. Go over to Genesis 19. Genesis 19, and I want us just
to consider for a moment Lot's wife. Lot's wife. We're not going
to spend a lot of time here, but I want you to consider Lot's
wife in Genesis 19 and in verse 16. In Genesis 19, we know that
the Lord had determined that he was going to destroy Sodom
and Gomorrah. He had already determined he
was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, but he goes down there with two
angels and they go and check it out just to make sure that
what they have heard is indeed so, that these are Sodomites
and that the Lord is going to destroy them. And this is where
Lot lived, Lot and his family, his wife and his two daughters.
And verse 16 says, And while Lot lingered, the angel said,
Get out, get your family and get out. And while he lingered,
the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife,
and upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful
unto them, and they brought him forth and set him without the
city." So we find that there of all the people in Lot's family,
The one who was ill-prepared, the one who was not ready for
the things that this day was bringing, was Lot's wife. Lot's wife. Because everything
she loved, everything she cherished, lay in that city of Sodom. Everything
she desired, everything that she loved, was there in that
city, and she was not ready for this day. Alright? So, it says
in verse 25, And the Lord overthrew those cities, and all the plain,
and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon
the ground. But Lot's wife looked back from
behind him, and she became a pillar of Saul." I would have to say
that she never weighed, or pondered, or thought in her heart that
the end is coming. This is the last and final day
on the earth. She never considered what the
Lord was going to bring upon her whole world in an instant,
and how it was going to come to a very bitter and abrupt end. And she perished. That world
that she loved, she loved it so much that she perished in
the same day that it perished. And the day that it was overthrown,
she was destroyed right along with Sodom. The Word of God is
very clear to each of us that God is going to destroy this
world because of ungodliness and unrighteousness. He tells
us very clearly in his word. Paul wrote to the Ephesians in
5 verses 6 and 7 saying, Let no man deceive you with vain
words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon
the children of disobedience. Be ye not therefore partakers
with them, were it to come out of their ways, lest the wrath
of God should come upon us and take us along with all of the
wicked. And in Ephesians 5.14 it says,
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from
the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye
walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time,
because the days are evil. Days are evil, wherefore be ye
not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
And Peter writes in 2 Peter 3, 7, but the heavens and the earth,
which are now by the same word are kept in store. That same
word that overthrew the world of old with water, covering it
with water and a great flood, that same word is keeping this
world in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment
and perdition of ungodly men. Therefore, we ought to take heed
to the warning that is given to us in Scripture. It says in
Revelation 18, 4, And I heard another voice from heaven saying,
Come out of her, my people, come out of her, my people, that ye
be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues. Let nothing prevent you or slow
you down from fleeing to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ and
Christ alone is salvation and every one of us has a need of
the forgiveness that He alone gives to those who come seeking
to Him for mercy and forgiveness because he creates that need
in them. He creates that burden in them and shows them that they
are sinners and that he alone is the one that forgives sin.
He's the only one that can heal the sin sick soul. So let nothing,
nothing prevent you from coming to Christ. Don't put it off for
another day because you don't know that you have another day.
You don't know. Consider Lot's wife. Now these
men may have missed that last opportunity when Christ was there
in Capernaum. But they took no risks in missing
him again, so they brought this one and ripped open a roof to
get him before the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said that since
the days of John the Baptist, the kingdom of heaven suffereth
violence, and he says the violent take it by force. It's suffering violence, but
the violent take it by force. Don't let anything prevent you
from seizing the Lord Jesus Christ, from getting to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Seek Him with all your heart. I ask you, where is your
heart today? Is it with Lot's wife, looking
upon the things of this world and looking upon all those things
that you cherish and love in this world? Or is your heart
with these men who are desperately seeking the Lord Jesus Christ
to get their friend before Him who has a great need only Christ
can lift that burden. And that takes us to our second
point, the burden justly lifted. Look at Mark 2 verse 4 again.
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. So Like all those that we've
met in Mark so far that were sick and burdened and couldn't
do anything for themselves, we see a picture of our sin and
our infirmity in those that we've met so far in Mark. And this one is no different.
Our Lord literally healed those who were sick and diseased and
had evil spirits in them. He literally did heal them of
those things. It's not just a picture, but it literally happened,
but it also is a picture for us to see that Christ heals every
sin sick soul in this way. He must lift the burden. He's
the one who must do it, and He alone can do it. So we must be
given life from the dead because that's what we are. That's how
we all come forth, being dead, bound in sin and darkness. John
3.19 says this is the condemnation, that light is coming to the world,
but men love darkness because their deeds were evil. They love
darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. So there's
the root of the problem. There's the root of our problem. But Even though our sickness
is a picture of our sin, we know that, I don't want any brother
or sister to think that just because they're sick or someone
that they know and love is sick, that doesn't make them any more
of a sinner than any one of us. If anything, the sicknesses that
we go through are oftentimes a blessing and they're a mercy
because they lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ. They show us our
weakness and our fallibility. It shows us our mortality that
we don't know what a day brings and it shows us our need of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So, though you grown in your
flesh and you're weary, don't fear. Don't think because I'm
sick or because someone I love is sick that the Lord has forsaken
us. Not at all. Paul said, for we
that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened. Not for that we would be unclothed,
but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life. So, brethren, we trust the Lord
through this. The Lord tells us in his word,
he says in Hebrews 12 verse 5, and we have And ye have forgotten
the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My
son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou
art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye
endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what
son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? And how do we know whether
or not we've endured the chastening of our Lord and that the Lord
is using this to bring us to Himself? How do we know that
we've endured that chastening? You know it when your prayers,
when you're praying and saying, Lord, please have mercy. Lift
this burden from me. But not my will be done. Thy
will be done. And as He teaches you in the
heart that prayer, and He makes it stronger and stronger in your
heart, and you're willing to just trust the Lord who does
all things well for you. That's how the Lord is leading
us. So whether it's sickness, or some other trial, a mental
strain, or firing from a job, or some physical injury, Whatever
it is, if it brings you low and humbles you before the Lord,
and shows you your need of Him, and you find yourself praying
and begging to the Lord, have mercy upon me. Have mercy upon
me. Heal me, Lord. You alone can
heal me. Yet, nevertheless, not my will
be done. thy will be done. You know the
Lord is working on you when He gives you that ability to just
let it go and trust Him for the healing as it pleases Him. So just trust the Lord. Despise not thou the chastening
of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. He means
you well. You know, He's filling up your
lamp with oil in that time. He's preparing you for that day
so that you're constantly looking and watching. waiting for the
coming of the Lord, because you can't wait for Him to come then. So there's nothing wrong with
you who are sin, sick, and weary, and struggling in this life.
If it's leading you to Christ, that's a blessed thing. If everything's
going well for you, and life's all lining up, and everything
you will to do is all coming into place, that's a fearful
place to be. That's a fearful place to be,
because it may be that God is letting you go off and having
that which is in the desire of your heart, and that's not where
you want to be. So we have one here that's sick
of the palsy, which was born of four, which tells us that
this man was paralyzed. He was past feeling, past movement,
unable to do anything for himself. He couldn't provide for himself.
He was completely dependent on the kindness and the good graces
and the care of others who loved him and took care of him. They
could have just thrown him out in the street, but he was dependent
on them to do everything for him. He couldn't do a single
thing for himself. And so are all sinners left in
a state of nature. We're past any feeling of God,
so we have no repentance, no desire for true godly repentance. We're unable of ourselves to
move ourselves closer to God, to get ourselves nearer to Him.
God must bring us nearer to Him. We're unable to provide any righteousness
for ourselves. We can't do anything that brings
righteousness so that we can now stand confidently before
God in our own works We're unable to do that and we're completely
dependent upon the mercy of God to do everything that we have
need of. He must do it all. That's the way in which the sick
person is a picture of those who are sinful, who are sinners
and know that they're sinners. And here, our sick friend is
brought to the Lord. Therein, him being carried and
brought to the Lord is another picture, for our Lord said in
John 6, 44, no man can come unto me except the Father which sent
me draw him, unless the Father drags him to me, and I'll receive
him. He said, I'll raise him up at
the last day. So here's a man brought in just
the same way. In Mark 2, 4, again, we read
they uncovered the roof where Jesus was. And when they had
broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy
lay. No doubt, I have no doubt in
my mind, they believed that when they dropped him down, the Lord
would see him and have mercy upon him and heal him of that
which he had need of being healed. And it says, verse five, when
Jesus saw their fate, he said unto the sick of the palsy, son,
thy sins be forgiven thee. Don't miss that word, son. Son,
is this man a son of Christ? Is he a son of God? What has
this one who's paralyzed and can't do anything for himself,
what has he done to earn and deserve the grace of God? What's he done to earn such a
pardon and be called son, a son of God? Note well the order of
this scripture I'm about to read to you. It says, I will be a
father unto you. And ye shall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty. We may think, naturally, that
we've done something to move ourselves to God. We might think
that we chose or made a decision for the Lord, but it will always
prove, if you're the Lord's, the one who did anything first
is the Lord God Himself. He's the one that has mercy and
compassion on the sinner. It's not because of what we do
that we're saved, it's because of what God Himself does for
the sinner. It's according, as Paul wrote
to the Ephesians, it's according as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated. It doesn't say earned an inheritance,
it says we've obtained it. because Christ earned it for
us. He's the one who provides it, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. So this man was a son before
the foundation of the world. Having done neither good nor
evil, he's a son because Christ made him a son of God. And this
is the covenant that God will put all His children in. This
is the covenant that He makes with His people. He says in Hebrews
8 verse 10, For this is the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws
into their mind and write them in their hearts, and I will be
to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall
not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord. We don't need any inquisitions
here and force people to believe on Christ. God's going to save
those whom he loves and is calling out and bringing to himself.
He says, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and
their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. So our God establishes us, this
covenant with us. He puts us in the covenant of
his mercy and he does it justly. He does it justly. God doesn't
do anything one way for some people and another way for others.
Everything he does is justly. and right, and we can't call
them into question and say, how could you do that? You can't
do that for them and not do that for me. Oh no, he ensured that
everything he did, those for whom he saved, he did it justly
and right and perfect. And no man can lay any charge
against God. No man can say that he did something
that wasn't right. He sent his son, Jesus Christ,
into this world, taking upon him the likeness of our sinful
flesh. He came in the form of a man
in flesh, yet he had no sin. He wasn't born of the seed of
Adam. He came in the likeness of the seed, but he was born
of the Spirit of God and born of a woman. So he was a perfect
man, having no sin, no unrighteousness, and yet he fulfilled all righteousness. He kept the law of God perfectly
and fulfilled it, Every job, every tittle, nothing fell to
the ground that needed to be done that Christ let fall to
the ground. He did it all. He did everything
necessary that his people needed that they might stand before
God. Christ bore all the sin that his people are. He bore
all the debt that his people owed because of their sin. Everything
that results because of our sin that makes us evil and wicked
before a holy God. Christ took it all and he took
it all upon himself and he paid the price in full so that there's
nothing for us to do. Hebrews 9 tells us, 9-12, by
his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained
eternal redemption for us." Hebrews 9.26, Now once in the end of
the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And later he says in Hebrews
10.14, And by this one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Christ did this. And Paul told
the Romans in 325 and 326, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness,
that he might be just. He's a just God, that He might
be just and the justifier of them, of him which believeth
in Jesus. So that now, again, with a clear
and free conscience, I can tell you Go to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the one who saves the sinner. He's the one who heals those
that are sick and in need of salvation. Those who cannot save
themselves, that's why Christ came, to put away the sin of
His people. All those who feel the need of
Him, all those who know themselves to be sinners, all those who
know that they can't please God by their own works, look to Christ. get to Christ, look to Him because
Christ came into this world to save sinners. He came for that
very purpose. He'll put away their sin forever
and He leads us to God. He takes us right into the presence
of Holy God where we can stand before Him confidently having
no shame. So all who come to this same
Jesus of Nazareth shall find Him as this sick person, this
one sick of the palsy found Him to be humble and gracious and
kind to him, all those who come to that Jesus of Nazareth shall
find him humble and merciful and gracious and willing to receive
you. He'll save you. He'll put away
your sin. And because the Son receives
you, God the Father will receive you, because the Father delights
in the Son. He loves the Son. He is well
pleased with the Son. And so all who come to God covered
in the blood of Christ, trusting alone in what Christ has done,
God delights in that one too. He sees them as he receives his
own Son. He loves them. So come to the
Father through Jesus Christ the Son and you will not be turned
away. All right now. Assurance given. Now, there were
some there that were in the presence, they saw all that was going on
there and they were watching, they were waiting for Christ
to do something blasphemous so that they might accuse him and
justify the unbelief that they held for him in their own heart.
They hated Christ and they wanted to find something whereby they
could justify their hatred of him and justify their rejection
of him. In verse 5, they had what they
were looking for. When Jesus saw the faith of these
men, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven
thee. But in verse six it says, there
were certain of the scribes sitting there, and they were reasoning
in their hearts, why that this man thus speak blasphemies. Who
can forgive sins but God only? Indeed, who but God can forgive
sins? 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? Whether is it
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 to man,
the easy thing to say is thy sins be forgiven, right? Because
he says, well who's going to prove that? How do we verify
whether or not this man's sins are forgiven? So that seems like
the easier thing to do. And the harder thing to them
would be, arise and take up thy bed and walk, because you're
going to know right then and there whether or not this is
the Christ who was promised before the foundation of the world that
he should come and crush the head of Satan for his people.
Is this the Christ or isn't it the Christ? What's easier to
say, thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, arise, take up thy
bed and walk? But Christ was the one Christ
was the one who would bear this man's sins, so he knew which
one was harder. And Christ lifted the heavier
burden. He did that first. He's the one who did for that
man which he couldn't do for himself. He said, son, thy sins
be forgiven thee. And when Christ says, thy sins
be forgiven thee, you know it's so because he's the one who's
bearing that burden. He's the one who said, I promise
you, son, I'm going to take your burden of sin. I'm going to pay
the debt that you owe. I'll put away your sin eternally
so that you might have eternal life with me forever in the place
that I've prepared for you." So Christ knew what he was doing,
and he lifted that which was heavier and harder to say, but
he said, verse 10, that you may know that the Son of Man hath
power on earth to forgive sins. He saith to the sick of the palsy,
right? He turned from that one, from
the Pharisees that he was talking to, and he looked upon his Son,
and he said, I say unto thee, arise, and take up thy bed, and
go thy way into thine house. It makes me think of when he
said, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. All he had that
man do was take his bed and walk off. And Christ was left there
willingly standing there holding that man's burden and would go
to the cross to pay for that man's sins before the God whom
he loves and cherished and delighted in and whom God delighted in
the Son. And yet he would bear that shame
for that man that he might go free. and go to his house and
have a nice life for the rest of his life, so to speak, if
you will. And immediately it says that
he arose, took up his bed, and went forth before them all, insomuch
that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, We never
saw it on this fashion. I would say to you who hear me
today, why is it that there are some of us here who do not yet
believe? You who don't believe on Christ
and don't look to Christ for your salvation, why don't you
believe? He's the one who was sent of
God to save his people, to put away their sins. He alone is
the one who is able to forgive sins, and he can say it because
he's the one that's going to bear them, that did bear them
on the cross. He's the one who put away the
sin of his people, so he has the authority to say, I'll take
your burden of sin, I'll put it away before the Father that
you might have life. There's no other one that can
do this. No other religion that you can turn to in this world
that will save you and lift this burden. All the religions have
you doing something for your salvation. They have you doing
something that you need to do to save yourself. Even those
that go by Christian type religions, even those, they still tell you,
well, you've got to believe. You've got to believe now. It's
your decision whether or not Jesus' blood is going to be made
effectual for you or not. And while it's true that the
believer must believe on Christ, that work is done for them by
the Lord Jesus Christ, as it says in 2 Peter 1, 3, and hath
given unto them all things that pertain unto life and godliness. And so faith and believing on
Christ is necessary for life and godliness, but Christ is
the one who provided that faith for his people, and he'll bring
them to have faith and trust in him. He's going to do that
work. He's not going to leave it to themselves. So we have
assurance provided for us today that just as they saw Christ
heal that man, and when Christ healed that man, they knew, okay,
when he said, thy sins be forgiven thee, They knew those sins were
forgiven because now the power of God was just displayed before
their eyes and that man got up and he walked off and went home. So they had assurance given to
him. But so do we, brethren. We have proof, and God has given
us assurance, in that He raised His Son, Jesus Christ, from the
dead, just as He said. It says, This Jesus hath God
raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. If it weren't so,
would these men have given their lives? They began very quickly
losing friends and brothers, And family members being locked
up. They had their property taken away. They were being killed.
for their faith in Christ. If they were the ones who took
that body, if they were the ones just making this thing up, why
did they let themselves be slain and killed and destroyed in gruesome
manners like they were if they knew all along, ah, it's just
a hoax, we're just playing games here, we don't really believe
it. No, they believed it because they saw Christ when he rose
from the dead, they were made witnesses, and what they witnessed
of Christ was attended to with power. For they too were able
to heal others and to demonstrate that the Spirit of God was indeed
in this. If God wasn't in it, they would
have been forsaken and left. But God showed us. He gave us
proof and assurance in that Christ has been raised from the grave. He's not there. They don't have
his body. They don't know where his body
is because it isn't there anymore. It rose from the grave and he
has ascended into the heavens and sits at the right hand of
the throne of God where he rules and reigns, calling and drawing
his people to him. So I would say, you know, where's
your heart? Is it with Lot's wife? Is it
fixed in the things of this world? Do you love the things of this
world? If you do, and if God doesn't grant you repentance,
you will perish with the plagues that are coming upon this world. But those who feel their need
of him, Christ and Christ alone is able to bear that burden and
put it away forever. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Seek Him. Look to Him now. You either believe
Him or you don't. I'm not asking you to walk down
an aisle or anything like that. You hear it, you either believe
it in your heart or you say, nope, I don't buy it. The Lord
is still true. Whether you think he's the Lord
or not, he's still the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is able to save
and break the hard heart of even the most vile sinner here. He's
able to do it because he has done it. And there's a lot of
us here that would say, yep, he did it for me, not the vilest
of every one of you here. So I know he's able. He's able. So let's pray and go to the Lord
now in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, that you sent your son, Jesus Christ, into this world
to save sinners. Lord, show each of us here that
we ourselves are the cheapest of our brethren here, Lord. Show
us our need of Christ and show us, Lord, the grace and the mercy
that you show sinners through your Son, Jesus Christ. Lord,
we pray that you would break our hard hearts, give us assurance,
show us indeed that Christ is the Savior, that he rose from
the grave, Lord. Help us to look to him and to
continue looking to him always and forever, even unto the end
of the age. We pray this in Jesus' name, our Lord and Savior. Amen. All right, so Joe, we'll close
this with a hymn, and then you'll be dismissed. Our closing hymn is going to
be 298 from your heart back. God leads us along. 298. And
if you'd like to stand, that would be good.