Everything you find about a believer's
life in the scriptures has something to do with being active. Walk,
run, labor, war. And the only other way they're
described is and how you can deal with all those things is
by resting in Christ. Everything else is active. Everything
else is active. That's why we rest in Him. Rest
in Him. Now I want to bring a message
from these verses that I read today here in Luke 5.17 through
verse 26. And my thoughts down there in
verse 21. And the scribes And Pharisees began to reason,
saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemy? Who can forgive sins
but God alone? Who can forgive sins? Who can
forgive sins? Now, in these verses I read today,
our Lord performed three miracles. Three miracles in this situation. First of all, He forgives sins.
That's a miracle. Lord, if thou shouldst mark iniquities,
who should be able to stand? But there is forgiveness with
thee that thou mayest be feared. Forgiving sins, you know that's
a miracle. You know how many people don't
care about their sins being forgiven? Or can go to a pope or a priest
and have their sins absolved? And that's why I said the first
thing a miracle has done, he forgives sins. And once you're
ever forgiven of sin, you don't have a problem with sin until
you're forgiven of your sin. And Christ makes you know your
sin. The second thing He does here, the second miracle is that
He reads men's minds. He knows what a person's thinking.
They reasoned within themselves. And our Lord Jesus told them,
said, what do you think in your hearts? What are you thinking
about? So he reads men's minds. He reads their thoughts. And
third miracle that he performed was he healed that paralyzed
man. When you have the palsy in the
scriptures, it means to be paralyzed. Paralyzed. And then it says down
there in verse 26, and they were all amazed. And all amazed and
said, we have certainly seen some strange things today. Well
of course it is strange to them. They had never seen anything
like that. They had never seen anybody what all happened that
day. They had never seen anything
like that and strange. It is the only word in the New
Testament the way this word is used. It means paradoxes. It
means things contrary to all common opinion and ordinary experience. So what they saw was contrary
to all their opinions and especially contrary to their experience.
So they seen strange things that day. And I'll tell you this about
our Lord Jesus Christ. When and where and how the Lord
Jesus works will always, always be considered strange by the
world. Always considered strange. You
know, men and preachers tell you how He's supposed to act.
They already got it figured out how the Lord Jesus is supposed
to act. He's supposed to love everybody. Supposed to love everybody
on the earth. And secondly, he's supposed to
give everybody a chance. And then when he gives you a
chance and knocks on your heart's door, then he can't come in until
you open it yourself. So they know how he's supposed
to act. They know how he's supposed to act. But I tell you what he
does and how he does act. He acts according to his nature.
He acts according to being God. And I know this. He acts when
he will, how he will, where he will, and upon whom he will. Ain't that right? These fellas
here said we've seen a strange thing today. But I tell you what. Are strange to them I find glorifying
don't you? Know and I'll tell you and I'll
tell you something else He always does he always what he does he
does it to bring glory to God He said he done this to bring
glory to himself glory to God now Let's go back here in verse
17 look down. Let's go down through these verses
and see what they say and it came to pass on a certain day
and Certain day now if you looked
in Mark chapter 2 in verse 1 through 3, which you don't have to do
that It says our Lord's in Capernaum this day And he went into this
house To teach and there were four men there that brought in
this paralyzed man. It said talked about four men
So when this certain day he's in Capernaum and our masters
in a house here in Capernaum, and it says he was teaching Our
Lord was teaching And I tell you, you find where our Lord
Jesus Christ was teaching so many times, so many times. It
says, you know, He was out in a boat one time, had such a crowd,
He says, push me out in the water so I can stand up and teach these
people. But look who was listening while
our Lord was teaching. There were Pharisees and doctors
of the law sitting by, sitting by. And I tell you what, Pharisees,
you know the Pharisee was the most separatist group of people
that's ever lived on the earth. They would have been our modern-day
fundamentalists, except they were much more stricter than
that. And when it's talked about them being separatists, they
separated themselves. from ceremonial impurity. Whenever
they come out in town they had to go home and wash themselves
all over again. They separated themselves from
Gentile dogs. They separated themselves from
heathens. And they separated themselves
from publicans and sinners. They didn't want anything to
do with Him. And I tell you they even separated
themselves from the common Jews. And they even made fun of those
people who didn't know the law. But now you can keep Luke 5 and
look over here in Acts chapter 26. Look what Paul says over
here in Acts chapter 26. You know, our Lord Jesus, Paul standing
here before Agrippa, And he's standing there defending himself,
speaking for himself. And he goes down and he says
there in verse 4, Luke 26 verse 4. Everybody knows, the Jews
know my manner of life from my youth. Which was at the first
among my own nation at Jerusalem know all the Jews. which knew
me from the beginning, if they would testify that after the
most straightest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. The most straightest sect. The
strictest sect. So they were separatists. Oh
my, how separate they were. And I love to be recognized that
way. And then not only was back over
in our text it says not only were they Pharisees but they
were doctors of the law. Doctors of the law. You know
we have certain denominations now won't even let you preach
in their pulpits or even consider calling you unless you've got
a doctor's degree or a master's degree. And these fellows were
doctors of the law. Doctors of the Old Testament
Law. Doctors of the Scriptures. They were scribes. They studied
the Scriptures. They taught the Scriptures. They
interpreted the Law of Moses. And what they generally did,
they explained in a way by tradition. You for the commandments of men
have done away with the commandments of God by your traditions. And
it says here, they came from out of every town of Galilee,
out of Judea and Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was present
to heal them. So these doctors of the law, you know, there's going to confer
an honorary doctorate degree on Arthur W. Peake one time.
And he told him, he says, you know, he said, why in the world
would I want a doctor's degree? Nobody in the Bible was a doctor,
except the Pharisees. You can't find anybody in the
Bible. Dr. Paul? Ph.D. Paul? Oh, Simon Peter, he had
a high... Oh, what a degree he had. You
know what they said about themselves? I'm nothing. I'm the chief of
sinners. I'm the least of the less of
the apostles. And when Simon Peter was confronted
with Christ's glory, he said, Oh Lord, depart from me, a sinful
man. Oh listen, I tell you what, go
ahead and get all the degrees you can possibly get, and that
will be fine. But I tell you what, if you don't
know God, you will not amount to nothing, absolutely nothing. They come from everywhere, out
of villages, out of the city of Jerusalem. And then look what
it says, in the power of the Lord, the power of Jehovah was
present in Christ for healing that day. Oh listen, look over
here in John chapter 12. Look in John chapter 12. Here
says these Pharisees and doctors of the law. Look what our Lord
says over here in John 12. Our Master's talking now. John
chapter 12 and verse 37. It says, but though he had done
so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him.
Our Lord performed this day, he performed three miracles in
the presence of these Pharisees and doctors of the law. Yet they
believed not on him. And listen to this now, that
the saying of Isaiah, The scriptures, the prophet might be fulfilled
which he spake, Lord who has believed our report, who has
believed our preaching, and to whom has God revealed his arm.
Now listen to what he says here, they could not believe. Because that Isaiah said before
he has blinded their eyes Harden their heart that they should
not see with their eyes Nor understand with their heart and be converted
in this what he says that I should heal them These things said Isaiah
when he saw his glory So you see the power of the Lord was
present to heal him, but it didn't heal him. You know what he was
that these were religious people and Super religious people. They spent their whole time in
nothing but religion. Super religious people. And here
it says, the power of the Lord is best to heal. Of what? Their
religion. Man's got to be healed from his
religion. I had to be healed from my religion. And I was blind as a bat. I couldn't hear anything. But
works, Obedience, Dedication, Commitment,
Devotion, Tithe, Paying. I thought all I could hear was
long, long, long, work, work, work. Until one day God opened
my eyes and gave me ears to hear and bless His Holy Name. Once
He does that, you'll never listen to anybody else. That he said
to the present Lord to heal them and they couldn't see and they
couldn't hear and they couldn't believe. Why? Because they were
so wrapped up in their religion you couldn't touch them. Even
Christ didn't. And what a contrast here. The
super religious, envious, close minded, teachers of the law.
And here's our Lord Jesus Christ, the very wisdom and power of
God sitting in their presence. And yet they condemned Him. Oh my. My my. You know, We went to Florida several times
and in the winter time you go down there, talking about religion,
talking about religion, you can't reach them. You go down there
and I'm telling you this is unbelievable how many Mennonites are down
there. I mean they got their things on their head, they got
their long dresses on, the men got their beards and their hats
and they go out on the beach and they leave their dresses
on Leave them buns on their heads,
you know that stuff on their heads. They can't, they, they,
they're so religious they want everybody to see that they're
religious. Why in the world go to the beach
if you're not going to take your clothes off and get some sun? You know? They don't even wear sunglasses. I'm telling you how absurd religion
is. How absurd it is. And Shirley
and I were sitting there one time and I'm going to tell you
how absurd it is. And that when people think nobody's
around where they watch. We went in a restaurant to eat
and there was a whole table full of them. Women on one side, men
on the other. They come out there and every
single one of them, every single one of them wanted a drink. And
I sat there and said, Shirley, did you see them? I said, I never
would have dreamed that in my life. You know, and here they
was, they was drinking. But I tell you what, I bet they
don't do that when they're at the house. But that's why I'm
telling you, see how absurd religion is? It's as phony as it can possibly
be. You know, if all your religion
is outward, and all it is is in how you dress, and how you
act in public, and the clothes you put on, then you've missed
Christ. Because as far as God's concerned,
we're all open and naked before Him. And you people think that they
can put on some clothes and special clothes and special dress and
all that and they think that that's going to make them holy
and acceptable to God. The only way you're made holy
and acceptable to God is in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Every
one of us sitting here with clothes on today. But God sees past our
clothes. He sees past what we look like
and how we act. He sees into our very hearts. And I'm so thankful he does.
Huh? Oh my. Then look what it says
here now. Okay. Verse 18 and 19. Let's go back
to our text. I run a rabbit there. See if
I can get back. I caught him. Did I catch him? and behold a man and behold men
brought in a bed a man which was taken with palsy and they
sought means to bring him in and to lay him before him and
when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because
of the multitude they went upon the housetop and led him down
through the tiling with his couch into the mist before Jesus so
here's a paralyzed man this man's paralyzed He can't move. He had no ability to move. He
couldn't move. He had no ability, had no power
to bring himself to Christ. Had to be carried. Carried by
four men. And this little old couch, it's
just a small bed that they carried people around in and that people
laid on. Little old small bed and you
could roll it up. And Mark says there were four men who carried
him. Now, I don't know why they brought him to Christ. I don't
know if he said, listen, I know I hear that Christ is here in
Capernaum where I live. Maybe it's that way. I hear that
Christ is here. And you all are my friends. Would
you all pick me up and take me to him? Or maybe those men said,
listen, we know that Christ is here, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Jesus of Nazareth is here in Capernaum. Would you want us
to take you and take you to Christ and see if He'd heal you? I don't
know what I'm writing about. But anyway, somebody told Him
about Christ and somebody wanted to bring Him to Christ. Some
men, they desired to bring Him to Christ. And it says here that
they sought means, in verse 18, they sought means to bring Him
in. They sought means. They went
to looking, looking, looking. How are we going to get Him in
before Christ? How are we going to get Him in
there? And listen to what this says right here. They sought
means to bring Him in. And here is what is more precious
than anything here. To bring Him and to lay Him before
Him. To bring Him in, what for? We
want to lay Him. Lay this paralyzed man before
Him. We ain't nobody, but He is. We
can't do anything for this man, but He can. And that's why He
said, Oh, what a wonderful place to lay before Him. What a wonderful
place to lay down. What a wonderful place to relax.
What a wonderful place to be brought before the Lord Jesus
Christ. And to lay before Him. And then
the scripture says they could not because of the crowd. When
they could not find by what way they might bring him in because
of the multitude. They had a great, great big crowd
there. They couldn't get in the house. They couldn't get in this
place. People was packed in there. And
they couldn't get in there. They sought means. They tried
to figure out they couldn't get in because of the multitude.
Huh? So they carried him. They carried
this man up on the roof. They made their way to the roof.
There ain't no way in the world to get into the presence of Christ.
Well, they said, we're going to find a way. And I tell you,
they made their way to the roof. They desired a way to get him
into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, I'm
telling you something, I don't care what kind of crowd there
is, there's always a way to get to Christ. Huh? You've got too many illustrations
in it. That woman with the issue of blood. There was a great multitude
around Christ, pressing Him, pressing Him, pressing Him. And
she started crawling through that crowd. And she said, if
I can just touch the hem of His garments, I'll be made whole.
And the Lord Jesus turned around and sent all His people around
and said, somebody touch me. Solomon Peter said, somebody
touched you Lord, everybody's touching you, everybody's pressed
around you, but oh, but somebody touched me. How do you know?
Because virtue went out of me into them. Healing power went
to them. Saving power come out of me to
them. The only place there's any place where you get anything
from God Almighty is through Christ. And then there was Zacchaeus.
He couldn't see Christ because of the great big crowd that was
around him. But I tell you what, I'll figure
out a way to see him. How you gonna do it Zacchaeus?
I'm gonna climb this tree. I'm too short. I can't see over
the heads of people. Well, I'll tell you what, I climbed
a tree. Crowds ain't gonna keep me from seeing Christ. And crowds
ain't gonna keep me from Christ. And that's the way these men
felt. They felt like that man said, Oh, I've got to get to
Christ. So they climbed. You know, they had steps. And
they climbed up these steps to get on top of this roof with
this man. Because there's such a crowd.
And then look what it says. And they went up on the housetop. And they took, there's tiles
on the roof and they start taking the tiles off. They start taking
the tiles off. They start taking the roof off.
Start taking off the roof. And they took enough off, they
took enough tiles off of that roof that a man could lay down
and be let down in there. I mean they took off enough tiles
off of that house, off of that roof that you know where you
can lay a man down and then let him down through that roof. I
mean it's a pretty good size hole in that house. When they
take off that much roof to let a man go laying down and four
men standing, then they have to have something to stand on
to let him down. But then look what our Lord Jesus
said in verse 20. And when he saw their faith, Let me show you something here. Here's the situation. They've
took off this roof. This man's laying down. I don't
know how he got down. He might have been 5'10", 5'6",
5'8". Who knows? But he's paralyzed. He was unable to do anything.
Somebody else had to do something for him. So here they're standing.
You know these men are standing here. and they've got this fellow
on ropes some way they've got him hooked on to his bed and
they start letting him down a little bit at a time and when he got
down there and there he was hanging in the air four men up on the
roof and everybody could look up and see four men on the roof
and here's this man hanging His couch Hanging in the presence
of Christ. Maybe he hit Christ right about
here Maybe maybe they just had him out for three or four foot
from Christ and foot from Christ I don't know how but I know that
there he's hanging in midair Men are holding him up And when he saw their faith These
people believe me. They believe what I'm able to
do. They believe I'm the only one who can do anything for this
man. So they brought him here. And what did Christ say to him?
What was our Lord's response? He looked at him and says, Man?
Didn't call him by his name. Just said, Man? Thy sins are forgiven thee. Thy sins are forgiven thee. Wait a minute. Is this man paralyzed
because of his sins? No. No. You know that's what
they ask that When the Lord Jesus went to that blind man's house,
born blind, they said, is this man's sin? Is that why he's blind? Or is it because he's parricide?
That's why he's blind. He says, neither. That God might
be glorified. And so this man here, the first
thing Christ says to him is, thy sins be forgiven thee. He
wasn't paralyzed because of his sins. But our Lord shows us here
the greatest need of any man on this earth. First and foremost,
the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins. Huh? Oh my! A man can be healed in
his body. Can be healed in his body. But
without his sins being forgiven, it won't do him any good. Is
that not right? I mean if you get a verdict from
your doctor and he tells you got something wrong with you,
you're going to go to the doctor and you're going to try to get
the treatment, the best treatment you can get and try to do as
best you can to stay on this earth as long as you can, in
a comfortable life as long as you can. But this man was paralyzed. They brought him to Christ. Christ
never paid a bit of attention to his being paralyzed. All he was interested in, man,
saw their faith, you brought him to me, and I'm going to forgive
him. Man, your sins are forgiven.
Now how, what, he couldn't walk, so he can't sin with his feet. He can't sin with his hands,
he can't move his arms. So where's his sin at? What does
he need forgiveness of? It's in his nature. It's in his
very nature. It's in his heart. He's born
with it. He'll live with and die with
it. And that's the thing here, and our Lord's teaching here,
that cleansing of the soul, cleansing of the soul is more important
than healing of the body. Sin is the worst disease that's
ever, ever been on this earth. It's the worst disease that's
ever been on this earth. And you know, we know it's a
disease. Our Lord said, from within, from out of the heart.
That's where the issue's at in the heart. And I tell you, get
your body healed. And I'm telling you, all kinds
of things can happen to you. But sin is the worst disease,
and that's why He said, by His stripes you're healed. Oh my, sin, sin, what a black,
horrible, despicable thing it is. It's awful, it's a horrible thing.
And it will destroy a man. How many homes have been destroyed
over sin? And I'm going to tell you this,
and you know as well as I do, the only people who know anything
about sin is God's people who's been made to be sinners. And
I've said this time and time again, the moment, the very moment
you become a sinner, I mean really become a sinner, you're saved
already. You may not know it till you
hear the gospel. But if you ever become a sinner,
you're saved. You know why? Christ came to
save sinners. You know when I lay on my deathbed
and sang that song in Jesus. I found the sweet rest. I won't
watch song of my future. I Won't hear it. I won't know
anything about it, but I want some But here I'm telling you
When I get ready to leave this world, and I'm still in my right
mind The only thing I'm gonna find comforted to me is that
Christ came to die and save a sinner like me I Save a sinner like me. That's
the most amazing thing that I've ever confronted in my life. Is
that God will save a sinner. Somebody like me. You don't,
you know, you all see me in my worst, you see me in my best,
but you ain't see me like God sees me. How in the world can God Holy,
infinite, eternal, immutable, righteous. How can He have anything
to do with me? How can it happen? The only answer
you can find is like this man did. Man, thy sins be forgiven
thee. How are they forgiven? Christ put them away by Himself
on that cross. God forgives sins justly because
Christ paid for sins in Himself in His body on that tree. So
the only way in the world God can have anything to do with
us is through His blessed Son. And when He lets you know that
your sins are forgiven you, that's the most blessed day of your
life. And I tell you what, it's a day
that you'll never get over as long as you live on this earth.
Will you? You don't get over that. We sing
amazing grace, you know why we sing amazing grace? Because amazing
grace is grace! It's amazing! It's amazing, it's as amazing
now as it was then. You get tired of saying that?
I don't. Oh no. And I tell you, our Lord is telling
us that the greatest need of any man is the forgiveness of
sin. But look what happens here in verse 21. And the scribes and the Pharisees
began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Speaking blasphemies? Christ
speaking blasphemies when he said a man your sins are forgiven
you and they said who can forgive sins but God alone? Instead of
rejoicing and saying oh my this man's sins forgiven maybe he'll
forgive me mine but instead they said who can forgive sins but
God alone and their reasoning is correct Only God can forgive
sins. Blessed is the man whose sins
are covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord, Jehovah, impurities not iniquities. O Lord, if thou
shouldest mark iniquities. So you see, beloved, only God
can forgive sins. And what they're saying is, this
man speaks blasphemy. Who does he think he is? He's
just a man here. We know him, we know his mother,
we know his father, we know who he is, know where he's from,
know everything about him. He must be imposter. To say your sins be forgiven
you, that's a blasphemous thing. Who is it that speaks this blasphemy?
I'll tell you some men that blaspheme. Pope blasphemes. Priests that
say they can absolve us of sins blaspheme. But he said, oh my, this man
speaketh blasphemy. Now listen to what happens here. In verse 22. But Jesus perceived
their thoughts. You know what that word perceived
means? He heard it. He understood it. He grasped
it. He perceived their thoughts. They were just thinking. They
never said nothing, never said a word. They were just thinking.
They were just stinking. Oh my. And he said, he answered
and said to them, what are you reasoning in your hearts? Could you imagine how they felt
when the Lord Jesus said, listen, why are you reasoning this in
your heart? What's going on here that you reason this in your
heart? And then our Lord says to him,
so you see he reads a man's heart, he knows a man's heart, and I
want you to see some things. You know, look at Psalm 139.
You know, our Lord said, well you look here in Psalm 139, I'll
quote another verse to you. You know, the word of God is
quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
to the dividing asunder soul and spirit, to the joints and
marrows, the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the hearts. All creatures are open and naked
before Him. But oh my, Christ perceived their
thoughts, He read their mind, He knew their hearts. Look what
David said here. Oh Lord, Thou hast searched me,
searched me, searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting
and my up rising. You know when I'm down, you know
when I'm up. You understand my thought afar off. What he said is before I think
of something, you know it. And you will not lay down, you
got around me and you're acquainted with all my ways. And there's
not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it all
together. The Lord is taking the prerogative
of God Almighty here that belongs to God for giving sin. And look
what He says, now back over in our text. What reason ye in your hearts,
in verse 23, our Lord asks them a question. Which is easier to
say? Which is easier to say? What's
the easiest thing to do in this situation? Thy sins be forgiven
thee, or to say, rise up and walk. Which is easier? Huh? They both are just words. They
both are just phrases. But I'll tell you where they
get their power from. It's who says it. It's who says
it. The Pharisees, they couldn't
do this. But I tell you what, you know,
they're just words, but who says them? That's what gives them
power. And look what our Lord said here in verse 24. He says
this, but that you may know. I want you to know some things.
I want you to know this beyond a shadow of a doubt. I want you
to know this right now. You Pharisees and doctors of
the law need to know this. You need to know. that the Son of Man, the Lord
Jesus Christ, born of a woman, has power upon earth to forgive
sins. Huh? Oh, listen, I want you to
know that I've got the power. I've got the power and the power
alone. Oh my, I've got the authority. I've got the right. I've got
the ability. And nobody else in this world's
got that but me. Don't go any place else to get
your sins forgiven. Don't go any place else to get
healing for your sins. Don't go any place else but to
Christ. You need proof that I'm God?
You need proof that I can forgive sins? I want you to know this. That I've got all power. I've
got all the authority. I've got all the rights. You
don't have anything. This man didn't have nothing
when they brought him in here. But I want you to know that I've
got this power And they carried him in there they carried him
before Christ But I want you to know that the
son of man that I've got the power and authority upon earth
I want you to know that I've got the power to forgive sins
And then he speaks the second time to this man He saith unto
the sick of the palsy, the paralyzed, I say unto thee, Devarim called
his name, get up, take up your couch, and go home. They carried you in here, but
you're going to walk out. Oh, my. Oh, I say unto you, you
want to know that I can forgive sins? I'm going to show you how.
I've got all power. It is easy for me to tell him
to get up and walk and not say anything about his sins, but
I tell you what, the most important thing for him is to have his
sins forgiven. And I tell you now, Lord said,
I say unto you, arise, take up your couch and go home. And look
what it says, immediately. Well, I need to wait on the Lord,
see if the Lord is going to save me. Oh, immediately. He rose up, listen to this, before
them. Before who? Before the Pharisees,
the scribes, the doctors. Before Christ, before all them
people in that room. Immediately he rose up before
them. And those men let go of those ropes or whatever they
was holding up with. And they let go of it and he
reached down and got his bed and picked it up. And took up
that rolling lay and departed to his own house. Now let me
think, you think of this, you know there's so many things that
when you're confronted with them. Now what will you imagine his
family thought when he walked through that door? They'd never
seen him walk. They didn't know anything about
what was going on. And he goes, he don't knock on
the door and say, listen can I come in? No, he went home,
opened that door and walked in. Can you imagine how his family
felt? Oh! What happened? You're walking. I was over there
in this house. And these four fellas let me
down. And my sins were forgiven. He gave me the ability to walk.
Every ability we have has to come from Christ. If you're going
to walk for Christ, He's got to give you, He's got to make
you work, make you worthy, and make you willing. He's got to
be the one to do it. He has to work in you the power
and the will. And immediately, He departed
His house. And look what it says. Glorifying God. When He got home,
He was praising God, glorifying God, thanking God, blessing God. He got in His house and said,
Oh, God done this for me. God saved me, God made me to
walk, God gave me the ability to come here, come home, and
I'm whole now. It's like Captain Mattyak, he
said, oh listen, Christ healed him and he sent him home, and
he's sitting at the feet of Christ, clothed in his right mind. Oh
my. And to glorify God in your own
house, what a blessed thing it is. Ain't it a blessed thing
to have a house and a home and a wife and a family that when
you're together at home you can glorify God? Glorify God by your
prayers? Glorify God by how you treat
your wife and how you treat your home? And ain't it a blessed
thing to glorify God at home? If you can't glorify Him at home,
you can't glorify Him anywhere. At home is where you're known
the best. Huh? And look what it says now. Verse 26, I'll hurry up. And
they were all amazed. Ain't you amazed? They were amazed. They were all
amazed. They just amazed. And look what else happened.
He says, you know, I told you Christ does everything for the
glory of God. And they glorified God. All of
them. And oh, they were filled with
fear. Oh my. I've been in the presence of
this man who has all this power and this ability and this authority.
And oh my, they were all amazed. Oh, they were amazed. They glorified
God. They ascribed to God in honor
and splendor and praise that's only due Him. And I tell you, let me close
with saying two things. We see our Lord's omniscience
and we see our Lord's omnipotence in these three things that happened
today. We see our Lord is omniscient. He read those men's thoughts.
He read their minds. He sees all. Sees all. And then
look at His omnipotence. You know how He shows you how
He's got all power? First of all, He forgives sins.
Nobody else can do that. Nobody has the power to do that
but Him. And secondly, He healed that man's body. That's His omnipotence. He's the only one who can do
those things. Huh? Are you amazed? And then it says
they saw strange things. Well, we've seen some strange
things today. I've never seen anybody brought in that was carried
in a bed and walked out. I've never seen anybody have
their sins forgiven like that. I've never seen a man read out
somebody's thoughts. But he did. He did. You know,
you see these people. You know you go by a house and
they say a fortune teller, palm reader and all these things that
they can tell you. They can tell you your past and
they can tell you your future. You know what God calls them
people? Necromancers. Witches. Oh, I got to read my stars today,
my astrology today, see what's going to happen in my life today. Do you reckon that happened this
day? No, no. I tell you, beloved, I say this
and I say it with such joy in my heart that Christ has all
power in heaven and on earth to forgive sins And it don't
make no difference what happens to this body afterwards. Because
it's going to go some way anyway. Whatever way God chooses to take
us out of here, heart attack, brain tumor. Whatever way he chooses to take
us out of here. That's His business. You know what I want to do? Glorify
God and still stand amazed in the presence of the Nazarene.
Amen. Our Father, oh, blessed, blessed
Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, oh, our God, our
Savior, oh, Lord, thank You for Your Gospel. Thank You for Your
precious Word. Oh, it gives such life. Oh, it
produces life in our very soul. Quickens our minds. Lifts up
our soul from being so down. Lifts up our heart and soul and
brings them up out of this world for just a little while. And
we thank you for it. We bless you for it. And God
bless these dear saints as they go. You preserve them and you
keep them. And Lord, Don't let people here
be like those ones that they don't have eyes to see and
ears to hear. Give them seeing eyes and give
them hearing ears. That they may see Christ, hear
Christ, and come to Christ. And do it for Christ's sake.
Amen. Amen. What's that? 67. 67 in the hymn book.