We Never Saw It On This Fashion

Q: What does the Bible say about miracles and faith?

The Bible emphasizes that faith in Christ's words and His gospel is more important than seeking signs and miracles. In Mark 2, we see a man paralyzed by palsy who was brought to Jesus by his friends. Despite their desire for physical healing, what Christ first addressed was the man's spiritual condition by declaring, 'Son, thy sins be forgiven thee' (Mark 2:5). Here, Christ indicates that true faith lies not in miraculous signs but in the acknowledgment of spiritual need and the authority of His word. The passage highlights the importance of the word of God over transient experiences, as Peter noted that even miraculous experiences cannot replace the enduring truth found in Scripture (2 Peter 1:19).

Q: How do we know Jesus has the power to forgive sins?

Jesus demonstrated His authority over sin through His miracles, particularly by healing the paralyzed man and declaring his sins forgiven. In the account from Mark 2, Jesus not only claimed the authority to forgive sins but also provided physical healing as proof of His divine power. After forgiving the man's sins, He asked the religious leaders which was easier: to forgive sins or to heal. He then demonstrated His authority by healing the man, proving that He possesses the power to forgive sins, as only God can do (Mark 2:10-12). This underscores the unity of Christ's healing and His gospel message. The miracles performed were never ends in themselves; rather, they pointed to His redemptive work and authority.

Q: Why is faith in Christ more important than miraculous signs?

Faith in Christ and His word is foundational for salvation, while signs and miracles can mislead if separated from the truth of the gospel. The sermon emphasizes that while miraculous signs can be eye-opening, they are not the heart of the Christian faith. Jesus rebukes the desire for signs, indicating that true faith comes from hearing and believing the word of God. In Mark 2, instead of merely focusing on the physical healing of the paralytic, Christ highlights the deeper spiritual need: the forgiveness of sins. The Apostle Peter affirmed that God's word is more reliable than any miraculous experience (1 Peter 1:25). Thus, believers are reminded that faith grounded in Scripture leads to genuine transformation and assurance of salvation.

Q: What does it mean to have spiritual eyes opened?

To have spiritual eyes opened signifies understanding and perceiving the truth of the gospel, leading to faith and salvation. In Isaiah 35:5, the opening of blind eyes is symbolic of spiritual awakening and enlightenment. This spiritual insight is essential for recognizing one's need for Christ and the need for His redeeming work. In the context of Mark 2, having one's eyes opened allows one to see and understand the glory of God as revealed through Christ. This awakening leads to the realization of sin's severity and the beauty of Christ's offer of forgiveness. True spiritual eyesight is a gift from God, facilitating a transformative relationship with Him and enabling believers to walk by faith (Ephesians 1:18).

Q: Why should Christians focus on the word of God?

The word of God is eternal and unchanging, serving as the ultimate source of truth and guidance for believers. As articulated in the sermon, while Jesus performed miracles, He emphasized preaching the gospel as central to His mission (Mark 1:14-15). Peter affirmed the enduring nature of God's word, stating, 'The grass withers, and the flower fades, but the word of our God remains forever' (Isaiah 40:8). This indicates that the preaching of Scripture not only provides lasting truth but also cultivates faith and understanding. For Christians, focusing on God's word fosters a relationship with Him, equips them for life and ministry, and shapes their understanding of salvation.

Marked up to 2. Apologize, it's a little warm
in here this morning. I didn't turn the air conditioning
on quite early enough this morning. I need to turn it down to about
50. Get it ready to accommodate all
this body heat, all this 98.6. Mark chapter 2, look at verse
12 again. Let's read that amazing verse. It says, "...immediately the
man sick of the palsy 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 in this fashion." ever seen anything
like it. Our Lord said, our Lord said,
an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after sin. And this world today, this religious
world, is altogether taken up with signs and wonders and miracles. Most of these so-called miracles
today are bogus or fake. Some of them, I believe, are
real. I think that some of these supposed miracles you see are
real. I really do. But I think it is
God sending strong delusions. like he said in 2 Thessalonians
2. You don't have to turn, I'll read it to you. It says in 2
Thessalonians 2, it says, the coming of Satan, Satan will come
with all power and signs and lying wonders, with all deceivableness,
or that is, miracles, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness
in them that perish, unbelievers. Because they received not the
love of the truth, just the love of the word of God. They say
there's more. There's got to be more. I want
more. The Bible's not enough. The preaching of the gospel's
not enough. Give us more. Christ is not enough. We want more. Show us a sign. So God says, all right. My word's
not glorious enough. My son, the preaching of my son
is not Marvelous enough, I'll send you a sign that says, "'This
cause God shall send them strong delusions, that they might believe
a lie, and they all might be damned who believe not the truth,
who wouldn't receive just the preaching of the word of God
and want it more, and want something else.'" The world is taking up signs.
and wonders and miracles. Now, Peter, the apostle Peter,
said this. And Peter and the rest of the
apostles, they saw for three and a third years, oh, what they
saw. They saw the Lord of glory. They
saw him heal lepers. Now, I'm not talking about people
that said they had arthritis. Like you see in these meetings,
these miracle meetings, that people come and say, he says,
what's your problem, old Benny, Henny Ben, or Benny Chickie Ben,
whatever that guy is. That fool. He says, what's wrong with you?
They say, I've got arthritis in my knee. Who knows that? Nobody
knows. Well, be healed. And all of a
sudden this person walks fine. I'm talking about people who
had leprosy. I'm talking about their hands had melted off, rotted
off. Their faces were horribly disfigured
with the melting process of leprosy. Leprosy literally melted your
flesh. Your flesh just literally dripped
off of your body. And our Lord healed them. I mean, their flesh was new as
a newborn baby. after he healed. They saw these
things. They saw him. They saw him heal the blind. I'm not talking about people
who are nearsighted. I'm talking about the blind,
born blind, never had seen. There was nothing in their eyes. Heal them. They saw our Lord
raised dead. I mean, walking along beside
a funeral, beer, a body of a young girl laying in a casket, and
all of a sudden our Lord grabbed her by the hand and said, Get
up, honey. And Peter, in talking about one
of the greatest miracles they ever saw, he said, We beheld
the Lord of glory. We were on the mountain one day
when We saw him. He peeled back his flesh. He took off his flesh, his body,
and we saw light. God, who dwells in light, which
no, he who is light, life, that. John tried to describe it, he
said, that. John was there, he said, that. We beheld that. If you'd have seen him, You couldn't
have come up with another adjective either. That. Peter said we saw
that one in all his books. He said but. Even though we saw
all that. He said we have something better.
There's something better. There's something more sure.
There's something more real and substantial. Something you can
refer to over and over and over again. You see, once an experience
is gone, once a vision is gone, it's gone. Peter said, we have
a word of prophecy, the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in heaven. The word of God, which is the
power of God, which he upholds all things by his word. Peter
said, we saw these miracles. But he says we have something
more miraculous, the word of God. And that's what we looked
at last Sunday morning, the miracle of God's word, where it came
from and what it is and how it changes people. It's it's the
power of God, not just the book. This is the word, this is how
God speaks, how God speaks. A vision, it's gone. Word is
right there. all the time. It's even hidden
in your heart. And our Lord performed miracles. Look at Mark chapter
1. Turn over to Mark chapter 1,
back of page. Our Lord performed miracles,
but that was not why he came. That was not why he came. Jesus Christ did not come to
perform miracles, except one glorious miracle. primarily one
glorious miracle. I'm talking about the miracle
of salvation, of which all of these miracles are a picture. Our Lord was first a preacher. Look at Mark chapter 1, verse
14. Now, after John was put in prison,
Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of
God. He was preaching the dominion of the king. The dominion of the king, the
one whom God has made king, declared king. Who's that? One time he
was looking at the Pharisees and he said, Kingdom of God's
not going to come when you're looking around. He said, it's
right in front of you. Kingdom of God is a person. He's
the king who has dominion. who has come from God, the kingdom
of God. The good news is, Christ came. And look at what he preached,
saying, The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent ye and believe. Fear God, repent toward God,
and believe the Lord God and what he did. Look at verse 38. So he came preaching. Verse thirty-eight,
it says, And he said unto them, Let's go unto the next towns,
that I may preach there also. Four. Look at that. Look at it. Therefore came I forth. And he preached, the next verse
says, in their synagogues. He says, Let's go to the next
town that I may preach. That's when I came to preach. So Christ was a preacher foremost,
primarily. He was a preacher. And yes, he
performed miracles, but those miracles were to substantiate
what he said. In another place, I think it's
John 14, he said, if you believe not in me, though that is what
I've said, all that I say, believe the They bear witness of me. They bear witness, the works
bear witness that what I said was true. See the works, see
Christ says something and then he did something to back it up.
Because the scripture says if a prophet tell a thing and it
doesn't come to pass, he ain't no prophet. And that doesn't
mean he has nine out of ten times, that means ten out of ten times.
If a man calls himself a prophet or he's called a prophet, if
he tells a thing and it doesn't come to pass, he ain't no prophet.
I mean, one out of a thousand if it doesn't come to pass, he
ain't no prophet. Christ is that prophet because
everything he said came to pass. He said, if you don't believe
that, the works I do, they bear witness to me. So Christ came
to prove who he was. He did these things. did miracles
to prove who he was. And I don't think these things
are in disorder. But he, secondly, he did these
things as a type of salvation, as a demonstration of salvation,
of spiritual miracles. Didn't he say in one place, my
words are spirit? Right, Deborah? You remember
that. verse that meant something to you years ago when you first
heard it for the first time. Christ said, my words, and I'm
just telling you little moral stories just to be, my words
are spirit. Everything Christ said had a
deep, infinite spiritual meaning to it. Everything he did was
spiritual. Christ said, my kingdom's not
of this world. He said, I'm not from this world. I'm from above.
Everything I do has some higher meaning to it. Right? I'm not
a worldly. I'm from above. Everything I
do and say is something from above, has something to do with
what's above. And quite often it's above us. He came to demonstrate
salvation. He came to artifify, to prove
his person. He came to relieve the sick.
Yes, he performed miracles to relieve the sick. He helped people that were sick.
You wish you could sometimes, don't you? I wish I could. I
see people suffering, I wish I could just say, be healed.
I can't. He could, he did. His scripture says in one place
he healed everybody that had need of healing. He went into one place and everybody
that needed healing was healed. I can't say that about old Ernest
Angley. He just heals all that he sets
up beforehand. Christ went into
a place and healed everybody. Everybody that came to him had
a need of healing. It didn't matter what it was. Is anything
too hard for the Lord, he said? Yeah, but this man's been blind
from birth. That's a picture of salvation
too, isn't it? Christ heals or saves, everybody needs saving.
A man doesn't need saving, Christ won't save him. Everybody needs
saving, he'll save them. Every sinner needs saving. Turn
over to Isaiah chapter 35. Isaiah 35. And keep your place
there in Mark 2. We're going to come back and
look at this story in a moment. Isaiah 35. What I'm about to say is very
important. The word of God is of infinite importance. The miracles
our Lord performed were types of salvation, like I said. Everything
he did was a type of spiritual healing. And that's what man
needs most of all. You see, if physical healing
were man's greatest need, If physical healing were man's
greatest need, Christ would heal every one of his people of everything.
They would never be sick. And that's what these deluders
are saying today. These deceivers are saying today.
But that's not so. Because he said in one place,
he said, I wound. You know, God makes people sick. Quite often he leaves them sick.
We see that in the scriptures. There were men and women in the
scriptures who stayed sick. Paul had an affliction, a bodily
affliction, all his life. Charles Spurgeon, one of the
greatest preachers ever lived, was sick for thirty-eight years. Robert Murray McShane, one of
the greatest preachers ever lived, died when he was twenty-nine
of tuberculosis, or David Brainerd. Robert Murray McShane died of
sickness at 29 years old. He makes people sick. He said,
I won for purposes known only to men. He says, and I heal. Sometimes I heal. All the time
he heals. Any time healing goes on, he's
one of them. But not all the time does he heal. Not all the time does he heal,
but he does make sick. If physical healing were man's
greatest need, wouldn't Christ heal everybody? If God wants you in health, why
aren't you? Huh? Why aren't you? Because God doesn't want you
in health. That's why you're not. Cut out whatever God wants,
he gets. The fact is, now listen, physical
health is just temporary anyway. What if you are healed of all
your problems? What if a man never got sick,
never had any physical problem, a woman? They'd never die, would
they? Doesn't that tell you what people
are after? This is all they're interested
in, health and wealth. God's people have here no continuing
city, and they see sickness as a step toward glory. If we never got sick and never
had any problems, we'd never die, would we? Physical healing. If you are healed, it's only
temporary. You're going to get old, like Charles Ross back there. You're going to get old. You're
going to have problems. And before long, they're going
to either put you in a nursing home or in a box. But you're
going to die. Right? We're going to die. But spiritual health is of the
utmost importance, because the Spirit goes on. And the Spirit
needs healing, doesn't it? The Spirit needs healing. Look
at Isaiah 35. Now, look what he says here in
Isaiah 35, beginning in the last part of verse 2. It says that
they shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God. Who's that? Blind. Blind people
will see. Read on. Strengthen the weak
hands. Confirm the feeble knees, say
to them that are of fearful heart, Be strong, fear not, behold your
God." Listen, this is talking about Christ. Your God will come
with vengeance, even God with a recompense. He'll come and
save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened. It didn't say healed, it said
saved. Then your spiritually blind eyes will be opened, your
spiritually deaf ears, the ears of the deaf, shall be unstopped.
You'll see his glory, you'll hear his voice. Then shall the
lame man, that man who walks by sight, will begin to walk
by faith. He'll leap as a heart, the tongue
of the dumb, who never thanked God, who never praised God, who
never knew God, that he'll sing unto God." Or if you just read
on. Or turn over to Isaiah 61. Look
over here. Our Lord quoted this. Isaiah
61, the first thing when he entered into Nazareth one day, says he
took the book. A young thirty-year-old man came
into his hometown, and it's his time to read the scriptures.
He'd come of age, and they let him read the book.
You get the privilege, young man. Oh, my. And he opened it, and
he didn't happen to open it. He knew it by heart. He wrote
it. But here's what he read. In Isaiah
61 is what our Lord said. It said, "'The Spirit of the
Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me,' look
at the first thing he said, "'to preach the gospel.'" Good tiding,
the gospel unto the meek. "'He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted.'"
That is, brokenhearted over sin, not just lonely old widows, but
brokenhearted sinners. To proclaim liberty to the captives,
not prisoners in the cell, but prisoners to sin. To open the
prison to them that are bound, bound by superstition, bound
in ignorance. To proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord. the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all that mourn, mourn over their sin, to appoint unto
them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, that is,
righteousness for sin, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees
of righteousness." And then he sat down, and it says, looked
on him and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his
mouth. And he said, he looked on them all and said, this day are these words fulfilled in
your ears? I'm here. Come unto me. Yeah, I've got arsenal. Sin.
Sick with sin. Labor and heavy laden over their
sin. Any blind? Oh yeah, I've got myopia. No, no, no. You can't see God. You haven't seen his glory. You
haven't seen Christ. You haven't seen the Word of
God. You don't see. You say when the preacher preaches,
you say, I just don't see. Are you blind? I give eyesight. You haven't heard the gospel?
God hasn't spoken to you? I'll speak to you. I'll open
your ear. Man's greatest need is all of these things. Spiritual
eyesight, spiritual hearing, spiritual legs to walk by faith,
spiritual healing. Now back to the text in Mark
2. Christ is the only one that can
do this. He's the only one. Is there anyone
who can help us? One who understands our pain,
when the storms of life have pricked us till they bleed? Yes,
there's one. Only one. Only one. Salvation is of the Lord. Mark
2 is a story of a man who came to be healed, and he was healed. Poor was he. He left that place with more
than he bargained for, didn't he? All right, let's read verse
1 and 2 again. It says that after some days
he entered into Capernaum. After some days, people said
that he was in a certain house, and straightway many people,
they packed the place in so much there was no room. There was
no standing room even, even at the door. Nobody could get in. Nobody could sit down, standing
room only. And what was he doing? Preached. He was preaching. I'll tell you what, I believe
I'd break the roof open to hear that voice, wouldn't you? We've
got a lot of empty seats in here this morning. People don't have
to come down through the roof. They can come through the front
door if they wanted to. I'll tell you what, if Ben knew
that Christ If they ever heard his voice, they'd come to him. They'd come hear him. He preached
the Word. I believe he was preaching Old
Testament types. The Old Testament was all they had, wasn't it? The Word. Preach the Word unto
them. Wouldn't you, Joe, love to hear
the Lord of Glory preach on Boaz? You know, the only time men preach
really preaches when something touches their heart. Unless the
Lord overrules now and takes dead, dry exposition or whatever
and just miraculously touches your heart. That happens. But
sometimes a man really preaches when God takes a live coal from
the altar of God and burns that man's lips and his heart and
he says, I'm like a bottle of wine ready to bust. I've got
to tell you. Two verses only. I've got to
get to this. And on second thought, let's
not sing another one. I've got to preach. I've got
to tell that. Wouldn't you love to have heard
the Lord of Glory preach one of those Old Testament poems? The serpent on the pole. Wouldn't
you have loved to have heard that? the Ark of the Covenant. I believe he was preaching one
of those Old Testament titles. He said, They are they which
testify of me. Whatever he was preaching, he
was preaching about himself from the Old Testament. It says in
verse 3 that they came unto him, that somebody, a group, came
unto him. That is, they wanted to get in
the house. They had a fellow sick of the palsy, was born of
four. That is, he was on a cot, some
kind of mobile bed that they were carrying, four of them,
and they wanted to come to Christ. They had heard that the Lord
Jesus was in this place, and they wanted to get to him. It
says they brought one sick of the palsy. Palsy. Have you ever known anybody who
didn't want to have the palsy? There are different kinds of
palsy, cerebral palsy, which which numbs the brain or slows
the brain. Palsy is something that puts
a stop to it. Having a stroke is a type of
palsy. It renders people paralyzed. Palsy, this fellow was paralyzed all over. He was
bedridden. He had the palsy. He couldn't
walk. He was lame. He couldn't come
to Christ. Somebody had to bring him. Somebody
had to bring him. Somebody brought him. Somebody
carried him. Somebody fetched, went down his
house and fetched that old boy and said, we're going to go see
Christ and get you healed. He couldn't bring himself. He
could not come. And the same way with every sinner
who's dead in trespasses and sins. There's no more palsy than
death. Death renders us all with a palsy. Dead and trespasses and sin,
it makes you blind, it makes you halt, it makes you lame,
it makes you deaf. You can't see God, you can't
hear God, you don't want God, it renders your will against
God, your legs, you don't walk by faith, you don't want to come
to Christ. You're dead. and trespassing
sin, but God, who is rich in mercy. For that great love, that
great manner of love wherewith he sets his love upon some people,
that manner of love, he chooses some people and says, I'm going
to bring you. And he sends his Holy Spirit
through the preaching of the gospel to fetch an old Mephibosheth,
who is lame, and brings him to the king to be healed." Brings
them to be healed of their sin, looks on them with mercy, and
brings them by the Spirit of God. Now, listen, here are three
major points to this message, and I'll make it brief. If you
take a note, we're going to see the resolve of true faith, the
resolve of true faith. They will see the recognition
of true faith. And lastly, the reward of true
faith, the resolve of true faith. What did these fellows want? What did they want? What did
this fellow sick of the palsy, what did these four friends of
his, what did they want? They wanted to get to Christ.
They weren't going to see the Orioles that day. They weren't
going to the races. They had to come to Christ. They had a need. They wanted
to come to Christ. And that's the need of every
sinner. Everyone whom God reveals his
terrible state to. He said, when God ever convicts
a man of his sins, he's got to come to Christ, and he'll tell
the soul winner, get out of my way. He'll tell the creature,
get out of my way, or at least show me where he is. I've got
to get to him. I've got to get to Christ. That's
the resolve of true saving faith, to come to Christ, to know him.
Not to be saved from hell, but to be saved from sin. Not to
have a carnal utopia in heaven someday, but to be with him,
to know him. Paul said, Oh, that I might know
him. I want to know this person. Oh,
that I might win him and be found in him. Oh, that I might have
him. Faith's resolve is to come to
Christ in spite of the difficulties. These fellows, do you realize
how tough it would have been to carry that fellow's bed up
on that roof? I loaded a little hay yesterday. You know, forty,
fifty pound bales of hay. But to carry a man up on a roof? They wanted to come to Christ,
didn't they, in spite of the difficulties. They said, you
can't come in the door. There's no other way in. They
said, well, we're going to get there. We're going to get to
him. We're going to get to him. Like
the woman with the issue of blood. You remember that woman with
an issue of blood? And there was a huge crowd of people around
him. And this woman was weak. She had wasted, she was wasted
away with this sickness. For twelve years she had this
issue of blood, this sickness. She was weak, emaciated. About
all she could do was crawl, and here was this vast song of hundreds,
maybe thousands of people, and she said, I've got to touch the
hem of his garment. I'm not going to be healed unless
I touch the hem of his garment. But there's a big crowd. I'm
going to get there. You can't, you watch me. And she crawled, and she crawled,
and she'll Zacchaeus, little old fella. And those of you who aren't little
old fellas don't know what it's like to be in a crowd of people
you can't see over by his head. Some of you little fellas do.
I remember, and still do, what it's like to be in a crowd of
people you can't see. You want to see so bad? Zacchaeus
said, I'm going to see him. I want to see him. I want to
see him. What'd he do? find a tree. But everybody will
laugh at you. I don't care, I want to see him.
In spite of difficulty. Blind Bartimaeus, sitting over
at the side. He heard Christ was coming by,
the vast crowd of people, everybody making a lot of commotion. Blind
Bartimaeus, Jesus thou son of David. Shut up, shut up! Everybody
shut up, old man! I'm telling you, if a man or
woman ever becomes a sinner, they're going to get to Christ.
They're going to come to Christ. They're going to be brought by
His grace, by His Spirit. They're going to be like that
importunate widow. They're going to mock until He opens. They're
going to ask until they receive. They're going to seek until they
find. I'd like to find a sinner in
here as well. I mean a new one. See, and you'll find true seekers,
truly interested. That's the reason Sunday morning
to me is. Well, and I know, and I recognize
that God creates a spark and begins an interest in people
that is generally phenomenally interested. Boy, I'd like to
find somebody that says, I ain't going to leave this place until
I see Christ. Oh, I'd love to hear somebody
say, I'm not going to preach. I'm going to sit right here until
I hear him. Keep preaching. Keep preaching. It's time to quit. Don't stop.
I ain't heard him yet." That person will heal. Well, here's the recognition
of true faith. Look at verse 5. It says, "...when Jesus saw
their faith." They opened the roof and let him down in front
of Christ, and the Lord Jesus saw their faith. See, he saw
their faith. He didn't say he heard it. What do you think about this?
This man, this man sick with a palsy, he didn't say anything
in this whole thing. He never said a word. Almost
like he was passive in the whole thing. But he was thinking it.
From the heart, he'd heard. Maybe his mouth, maybe he was,
maybe he was paralyzed. People that have strokes become
paralyzed and they can't talk. You don't have to say a word
to cry out to the Lord. You can be blind and look. You can be
deaf and hear. You can be dumb and holler. That's
what he was doing from his heart. Well, and that's a picture also
of every sinner who's passive in this thing of salvation. He's
passive until the Lord saves him. Oh, boy. Well, Christ saw
their faith. He saw their resolve. He saw
their perseverance. True faith is always recognized
by Christ. Always recognized by Christ.
Oh, woman, great is thy faith. Who touched me? Why, the Lord? Oh, no. Somebody touched me.
True faith is always recognized by the Lord. You know why? Because He gave it. He always
recognizes what he gives. He always. He gave this true
faith. Recognize it. He saw their faith. He saw. Now here's the reward
of faith. Look at verse five. That when
Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son,
he who is the Father, the everlasting
Father. It's. Not to say that you. Daughter. By the end of the year. By the end of the year. By the
end of the year. You'd think, you'd thought, that
that right there had been enough to make the man leap out of that
bed. That's, you know, I'm sure he
came, I'm sure he did. I'm sure he came wanting to hear
something else. What he wanted to hear from the
Lord of Glory, from this Jesus, this healer, what he wanted to
hear was, Son, thy disease is healed thee, is healed thee. from David. Our disease is gone. Well, it was. It was. His disease, his real disease. And he wanted to hear about his
physical healing. He had a physical problem. And
people, that's, you know, people most of the time come to church because they got problems. Not with sin, but problems when
they're married, problems with their children, problems with
their job, when they're sick or something. And they come and
they want some kind of miracle along those lines. When you tell
me something, people come to me for advice and counsel, and
what they want is to get out of their troubles. And I say
to them, that's not your trouble. That's not your trouble. Your
biggest problem is this thing called sin. Get rid of that,
and the other things will seem minor. Right? Light affliction. Well, this
man wanted to hear about his legs being healed, and instead
he heard the greatest news ever heard by human ear. Son, thy
sins be forgiven me. Let me ask you this. Let me ask
you. Ask yourself. Honestly, what would you rather
hear? What would you rather hear this
morning? John Davis, I pick on you. What would you rather hear
this morning? John, all your earthly troubles are over. You'll
never have another problem on this earth. You'll never be without
anything, and you won't, but you'll never be without anything.
You'll have all you could possibly desire. You'll never get sick.
All your earthly problems are gone. That, poor John, thy sins
be forgiven thee. You see, if all your earthly
problems are over, and that's the reason people commit suicide,
they think, I'm going to put an end to all my earthly problems.
Well, you did. But oh, but oh, If you don't know Christ, those earthly problems would
be heaven to you. Your big, your problem, eternal
problem, has just begun. Right? Son, thy sins be forgiven. Not all your earthly problems
are gone, your sins are gone. Did you hear what Jesus said? That man, I bet that man wrote
that poem. I bet he's the one. I never have
known who wrote that. This man did. Did you hear what
Jesus said? They're all taken away. My sins
are pardoned and I'm free. Oh yeah, I can walk too. They're
all taken away. They're all taken away. They're
off. Oh, boy. The gospel comes and
tells an old sinner he's fully, freely, effectually, that's the
only gospel there is. Sin's gone. Sin's gone. Comes to an old sinner, tells
him his sins are fully, yes, fully, I mean, faith don't have
to answer for any of nothing. You mean even that dying sin,
that dying sin, paid for. Past, present, and future sin,
washed in the blood, gone. I'll remember no more. Freely, don't have to do anything.
No, I did it all. Effectually put away, put away. That's the best news an old sinner
will ever hear. The best news. Glad tidings. That's what Christ
says. I've come to preach glad tidings. to the poor. Glad tidings
to the poor. Self-righteous is not too glad
to them, not too good news to them. Religious people, they
want something else. That's the reason they get tired
of the gospel, don't they? That's all you preach. They say,
Christ, Christ, Christ. That's all we want. Is that all you all do up there
is preach the gospel? That's all we want. Yeah, but there's more to me." Boy, Christ is either all or
he's nothing at all. Look at verse 6 and 7, and there's
some fellows sitting there, some religious fellows, and they heard
all this and saw all this, and they said, what is this? Verse 6, there are certain scribes
sitting there, reasoning their hearts, thinking, mumbling to
themselves, verse 7, why does this fellow speak blasphemous? Blasphemy. Oh, my grace, Lord,
forgive me. Blasphemy. Why does this fellow
speak blasphemy? But, fellas, this is the only
man that ever lived that didn't speak blasphemy. Oh, he never
spoke blasphemy. Clean hands, a pure heart, never
swore deceitful. They said, who can forgive sins
but God only? You're close. Oh, my, the wrath of man, O praising
woman. Huh? Just a pair of seats. Men said
so many things when the Lord was here that were down to His
glory, didn't they? Huh? They said things in derision
about Him which were some of the greatest words of praise
heaped on His head, didn't they? Why, this man receiveth publicans
and sinners. He's a friend of sinners. That's
right. Isn't that glorious? Huh? Isn't that glorious? Hanging
on the cross one time they said, He saved others, himself he could
not save. That's right. Just and justified. Oh, and here
they say, who can forgive sins but God only? That's right. That's who said this. That's
right. That's who this is, God with
us. God with us. The only one who can say justified. Who is he that condemns? God
justifies. This old man, this fellow could
run out of here and Pharisees say, well you're still a sinner.
No I ain't. No I ain't. What makes you say so? He said
so. That publican in the temple that beat his chest Christ said,
this man went out justified. They said, well, you're still
an old publican. No, he ain't. No, he ain't. What makes you say
that? He said so. Don't have any sin. Who is he that condemns? It's
God that justifies. He's the only one that can save
him. God's the only one that can forgive sins, and God forgave
his sins. God in human flesh, by his righteousness
imputed to this man, by his blood shed And look at verse 9 and 10 now,
and I'll close this time. Verse 9 and 10, verse 8, Our
Lord, who is the all-knowing, all-seeing God, read their thoughts,
and he knew their thoughts afar off. And he said unto them, Why
reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to
the sick of palsy, Thy sins be forgiven me, or to say, Arise, take up your
bed, and walk. Which is easier? Which is easier? Suppose I, and men do this today,
Catholic. The pope. Says. I've seen him. And they say that. People go
into these confessional moves and they confess all their sins
to some might get behind the screen and they say father forgive
me for I have seen that he says I forgive me. Well that's really. And who knows. Are they forgiven He said so. And there's a lot
of people going around with that confidence. That man said so.
Well, what about this? Is that easier, or is this? Go to a man who's been in a wheelchair
all his life, or laying on a bed, paralyzed, and say, get up and
walk. Which is easier? Hmm? That's
what our Lord said when he posed that question, which is it? Huh? And listen to his answer here.
He said, but that you may know that the Son of Man hath power
on earth to forgive sins, so that you'll know that the first
thing I said was so. Watch this. In other words, to prove what
I said. There's no proof. The sins are
gone. Watch. Which is easier? To say your
sins are forgiven? Now, believers know that that's
much more difficult, to put away sins. It takes an eternal sacrifice. Christ said, which is easier?
To say your sins are gone, or get up? But that you may know
that everything I say is so, that I have power, all power
is given unto me in heaven and earth, all authority is given
unto me to bind, to loose the kings of hell and death. Salvation
is of my hand, of the Lord. Forgiveness of sin is totally
in my power, and mine alone. That you may know, whoever I
say, your sins are gone, they're gone. That you may know, watch
this, son, get your bed, get up, get your bed, go to the house." And immediately, the man jumped
up, got in bed, and skipped through my loom of darkness in front
of them all. went to the house. Our Lord said,
which was easier? But you might notice, I said
his sins are gone, but they're not. And he is turning. He'd gone to the house. Gone
to the house. And it says in verse 12, It says,
immediately, he arose, took up his bed, and went before them
all. And who got the glory through all this? It says that they were all amazed
and glorified God. That's how you know the things
of God, when God gets the glory. That's how you know preachings
of God, when God gives the glory. It's not a show of the flesh,
it's a show of his power and his glory. It's a show of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They glorified God saying, have
you never seen it like that? We've never seen it like that.
We've never seen it like that. And there's A lot going on today
in the name of Jesus, isn't there? A lot of healing and so-called
healing, and a lot of rigmarole, a lot of spirit, a lot of yackety-yack,
don't come back. Well, how do you know there's
things of God when you hear the gospel first? Right? That's what Christ did
first. First thing he said. The emphasis
of his ministry, preaching, that's why he came. He said, son, your
sins are forgiven today. When a man gets up and preaches
the gospel. Barnard used to say this, he said, these healers,
all these healings going on, he said, if just one of them,
if just one of them was doing all this supposed healing, would
get up and open his Bible. and started
Romans 1 or Ephesians 1, and expound verse by verse and preach
the gospel, the sovereign grace, mercy, glory of God in the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, imputed righteousness, shed blood,
the gospel, in no uncertain terms. Just once, if one of these fellows
do that and then healed somebody, he'd say, I believe it. I believe
it. That's what Christ did, he said.
He came preaching, preaching, and his miracles backed up his
preaching. Same way with the disciples,
wasn't it? The apostles. He said, I'm going to give you
credentials to substantiate your word. See, people didn't have
a Bible back then. How do you know a man's come
from God? Well, back then it was These miracles. How do you
know man's come from God now? Miracles? No. It's right here. He that hath my word and proclaims
it faithfully, he it is of God. All right. Brother Joe, did you
have a song picked out?

We Never Saw It On This Fashion

What does the Bible say about miracles and faith?

How do we know Jesus has the power to forgive sins?

Why is faith in Christ more important than miraculous signs?

What does it mean to have spiritual eyes opened?

Why should Christians focus on the word of God?

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We Never Saw It On This Fashion

What does the Bible say about miracles and faith?

How do we know Jesus has the power to forgive sins?

Why is faith in Christ more important than miraculous signs?

What does it mean to have spiritual eyes opened?

Why should Christians focus on the word of God?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

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