Get my title there in verse 26,
where it says, We have seen strange things
today. We have seen strange things today. Our Lord Jesus, in these verses
that I read to you this morning, He performed three miracles.
And no wonder they said they were seeing strange things today.
The first miracle when they brought that man in, the first miracle
he performed was, he says, that he forgives him his sin. That's
a miracle, that God would forgive a man his sin. We find it hard
to forgive ourselves the things that we've done and that we do. But he, the first miracle that
he does is he forgives a man his sins. If you're ever forgiven
of your sins, if you ever hear the voice of Christ say to you,
your sins are forgiven, I forgive you of your sins, that's
the most blessed word you'll ever hear in this world. That's
the most blessed word that you'll ever experience when He makes
you understand that He does not hold your sin against you. He
forgives sins. Oh, what a miracle, what a miracle.
And the second miracle he performed, it says there when, verse 22,
the Pharisees began to reason about him and why he speaks blasphemies,
and our Lord perceived their thoughts, in verse 22. He knows
the thoughts of men's hearts. He knows what they think. They
didn't voice their opposition. They never said a word. They
just began to reason in themselves. They just began to think. And
our Lord perceived their thoughts, and He began to tell them what
they were thinking. Began to answer the questions
that they had in their mind, though they never said a word. You reckon God reads our minds?
Knows our minds? David said He knows our thoughts
afar off. Knows our thoughts afar off.
And the third miracle that he performed was he healed this
paralyzed man. Not only forgive his sins, but
he healed him. And he walked away from there.
And he went home. Different than when he got there.
And I tell you what, when you meet Christ, you go home different
than when you got there. And then it says there in verse
26, and they were all amazed. all amazed, just amazed, astonished, and said, we have seen strange
things today. Now, this word strange here,
the strange is used in different places in the New Testament,
but this is the only time this particular word is used in the
New Testament. And what it means, it means paradox,
paradoxes. And they said it's strange things
today. We've seen things contrary to all opinion, all common opinion. And we've seen things contrary
to all ordinary experience. That's what paradoxes mean. I'll give you some more from
the scriptures. How can he be the mighty God,
the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the Wonderful, and
the Counselor, and yet be the Son given and the Child born.
How can He be the everlasting Father? How can He be both in heaven
and earth at the same time? But He said, the Son of Man which
is in heaven, and at the same time, He said, He's standing
there talking to Him. So the Scripture's full of things
that's just, according to common opinion, it just don't opinion,
your opinion don't matter. And according to common and ordinary
experience, things don't happen. So that's why we see strange
things that our opinion just can't grasp, and our experience
just can't get it. It's strange. And beloved, when and where our
Lord Jesus, when and whence and how our Lord Jesus works, will
always, always be considered strange by the world. And that's
why Paul, when he stood on Mars Hill, he said, those fellows
said, he seems to be a setter forth of strange gods. And I
tell you, wherever Christ is preached, wherever Christ is
honored, wherever Christ is put forth as He really is, men say,
we see strange things. The Christ of the Bible is strange
to this world, paradox to this world. They don't know anything
about it. Men know how He's supposed to act. He can't do anything
unless you let Him. He must stand at your heart's
door and knock. He must give you an opportunity
to be saved. We know that He died for everybody
in the world if they'll just make the right decision. We know
that He really, really, really, really, really, really, really
wants to save you if you'll just give Him the chance. So they
know how he's supposed to act. They know how he's supposed to
heal. They know how he's supposed to save. But I'll tell you something
the Bible says about him. He does what he will, when he
will, for whom he will, and he always does it to bring glory
to his Father which is in heaven. Always. And then look what he
said here in verse 17. Let's just go through these verses
and see what happens and transpires. Why, they said, we've seen strange
things today. And it came to pass on a certain
day. A certain day. Today is just a certain day.
Not one day among another day. Just a certain day. Our Lord Jesus is in a house
in Capernaum. You keep this and look over in
Mark Chapter 2 with me, and you'll see where He's at. He's in a
house in Capernaum. In Mark Chapter 2, He's in a
house in Capernaum, and it's on a certain day. And you find
so many times in the Scripture a certain man, a certain day,
a certain woman, Because it doesn't make a difference
what day it is. God's the same, Christ's the
same today, yesterday, and forever. People are in the condition that
they are outside of Him yesterday, today, and forever. And so it
doesn't make any difference what day. It doesn't make any difference
who you are. You're a certain person on a
certain day. It doesn't make any difference.
The point is that Christ must do what He does for you on what
day it is. And look here in Mark chapter
2 verses 1 through 3. And he entered into Capernaum,
and after some days it was noise that he was in the house. And
straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there
was no room to receive them, not so much about the door. And
he preached the word unto them, and they come unto him, bringing
one sick of the palsy, which was born afore. So he's in this
house in Capernaum. Don't say whose house he's in.
That don't make any difference either, because he comes to your
house. Your house is no different than
anybody else's. The only difference it makes is whether Christ is
there or not. And wherever He's at, He's always
doing something. Back over in our text, look what
He was doing. Came to pass on a certain day there in verse
17. He was teaching. He was teaching. Our Lord's always
teaching. Always teaching. Always teaching
us. Always teaching His people. Always teaching us to trust Him.
Always teaching us to look to Him. Always teaching us our need
of Him. Always teaching you your condition.
Always teaching... And look who's listening to Him
now. Look who's listening to him. And there were Pharisees. Oh, my, Pharisees are separatists. Paul said he lived after the
straightest state of his religion, a Pharisee, a pharisee of Pharisees. They're separatists. They separated
themselves from ceremonial impurity. They wouldn't touch a heathen.
They wouldn't touch a publican. They wondered why Christ would
have anything to do with them. When they left and got back home,
they went to worship all over, and they were so scared to become
impure and unclean. They just would not get around
a heathen. They wouldn't get around publicans.
They ridiculed them. And then look who else was there.
Doctors of the law. Doctors of the law. Oh, they
didn't go around, and you know, the common Jew, the people who
didn't know the law, the Pharisees would have none of this. And
then the doctors of the law, they would be what they called
doctors of divinity, what we'd call them today. Doctors of divinity
or masters of divinity, that's what we'd call them, wouldn't
we? They'd put a D in front of their name or a doctor in front
of their name. And you know what our Lord said about these doctors?
He said over in Job, he said, they're doctors, physicians of
no value. They can't do anything for anybody. Your education's not what makes
you a preacher. Your education's not what makes
you understand God. Your education has nothing to
do with whether you know God or you don't know God. These
fellows are doctors of the law. They went to school, and I mean
they really were educated people. They were called scribes and
doctors of the law. They studied, and they taught,
and they interpreted the law of Moses. And you know how they
generally explained it? They transgressed the commandments
of God, teaching their traditions. That's what it said in Matthew
5, 15. They taught their traditions. Why do you transgress, our Lord
said? You teach your traditions, and
you forget the Word of God. You forget the law. And, oh,
beloved, here they come, and look what it says there in verse
17, they came out of every town of Galilee. I don't know how
many villages and towns were in Galilee, but they can't somebody
come out of every one of them in all of Judea and Jerusalem.
They come from everywhere. They come from everywhere to
sit and listen to the Lord Jesus. And they, beloved, and look what
it says here, and oh, my, Boy, oh, if we just understood this,
had some grasp of this, and the power, the power of the Lord
was present to heal them. The power of the Lord, wrapped
in a bag, was present to heal them. To heal them. What kind
of healing are you talking about? Now, he's talking about the scribes
and Pharisees here. He's talking about healing men
who have religion. He's talking about healing men
who know something about the Word of God. He's talking about
those kind of people. And I tell you, the healing of
the religious... You know this as well as I do. Almost everybody that's ever
been converted was converted out of religion. God saves almost
everybody that's ever been saved has been saved from some form
of religion. Fundamentalism, Pentecostalism,
Methodism, Baptism, some kind of religion. Well, our Lord said
His power was present to heal these religious people. Now,
you keep this and look with me over in John 12. Christ was present
to heal them, and that's why most people need healing from
their religion. Lots of folks got religion. Yeah, you know, you tell me somebody
ain't got some form of religion. And look what it said here in
John 12, 37. But though he had done so many
miracles before them, yet they believed not on him. Now see,
John 12, 37, there our Lord has performed these miracles, He
is teaching. But though He hath done so many miracles before
them, yet they believed not on Him, that the saying of Isaiah
the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath
believed thy report? Who hath believed thy preaching? And to whom hath the arm of the
Lord been revealed? Now listen to this, Therefore
they could not believe, because then Isaiah said again, He, God,
hath blinded their eyes, and heart their heart, that they
should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart,
and be converted, and listen to this, and I should heal thee." There's the Lord, teaching, preaching. The power of the Lord is present
to heal them. But it says, God said, you can't
see and you can't hear, because you won't be converted that I
might heal you. Heal you of your self-righteousness. Heal you of your phariseeism.
Heal you of your false religion. Heal you of your false peace.
Heal you from your, you know, false refuges. Heal you from
that bed that you've got, that you're laying on, that the bed's
too narrow and your cover's too short. Oh now, bless God, I thank God
that He healed me from my religion. I had religion, I mean, I had
it way up above my head. I was swimming in it. I had all
kinds of religion. I mean, I had it. Boy, I thank
God, bless His name, that He came and one day confronted me
with the truth about myself, my deception, my hypocrisy, my
self-confidence. the false beliefs and opinions
that I had that he came and made me understand that I was without
God, without hope, and without Christ. fell on my face before him and
said, God, if you will, you can save me. And if you don't, you'll
steal God. And if I ever, ever get another
opportunity to stand up and speak about you, I'll tell the truth
on you if nobody ever listens to me again. But one thing I'll
never do is I'll never lie on you again. Spent my life lying on God. I
ain't going to lie about him anymore. I ain't going to lie
to you. I ain't going to lie to anybody in my office. I'm not going to
lie to anybody in my home. And I'm not going to lie to anybody
in public. I'm not going to lie to them
about God. I ain't going to lie to them about themselves. But
oh my, listen, go back over to our text. Oh, the power of the
Lord, the power of God Almighty was there to heal them. What
a contrast here. Here you got the super-religious,
the Pharisees and the doctors of the law. Here they are, super-religious,
envious, closed-minded teachers of the law. And here they are,
they got all this great power, this super-religion, they got
all this knowledge in their head, and here's this super-religious,
what a contrast. There they are, and then here's
our Lord Jesus Christ, the very wisdom and power of God in front
of them. And they can't see it. Then look
what else happens now, down in verse 18. Oh, they see strange
things this day. And behold, men brought him a
bed, a man which was taken with palsy, paralyzed. And they sought
means to bring him in. Now look what happens here, see,
and delay him before him. They wanted him, brought him
to bring him to Christ. And when they could not find
by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude,
they went up on the housetop, led him down through the tiling
with his couch into the midst of, before Jesus. Now here's
this fellow's condition. He has no ability to move. He
has no ability to do anything for himself. He can't get up
and go. He can't get up and walk. If he had been in one of these
high-powered evangelistic services or in the average Baptist church,
how would this fellow have got to Jesus if he had to come to
the front or got on an altar? It would have been a lost game.
He couldn't get up and come to the front. He couldn't get up
and come to Jesus. He couldn't even raise his hand
and say, yes, I accept you. What was he going to get to him?
In fact, if he's like the average preacher saying, you've got to
come to the front, you've got to get on an altar, at least
you've got to raise your hands. You know, you can't be so proud
that you can't acknowledge by raising your hands that you need
Jesus. He had no ability to move. And if he went anywhere, somebody
else had to carry him. Somebody else had to pick him
up and carry him. And Mark says that there were
four men who carried him. Now, I don't know why he's there,
but he may have said, listen, listen, I heard that Christ is
here. I heard that somebody told me
he was in this man's house over here. Would you fellas please
pick me up and take me over there? I heard that he can heal. I've
heard that he can do things for people that nobody else can do. Or maybe they said, once that
man says, you know, the Lord Jesus Christ is over here. He's
over here in this house. You want us to pick you up and
take you over there? Maybe he'll heal you. Maybe he'll
set you free. Maybe he'll take your body and
heal your body. But anyway, it don't make no
difference who decided to bring him. We know why he was brought. It was the Lord's time. It was
the day of the Lord's power. He's willing to come. Those four
are willing to bring Him. I mean, it was the day of Christ's
power. This was His time. This was the time of the Lord. And oh, they brought Him in,
it says there in verse 19, and they sought means. Look what
it says, you know, in verse 19. In verse 18, excuse me, and they
sought means to bring him in. And here's the key to that. To
lay him before him. To lay him before him. Here's him. Here's him. How's
this him going to get before this him? And that's the thing
that they had to do. And they sought means to bring
him in. What a place. What a place to be laid before.
Oh, they sought means. They said, boy, there's a crowd
here. If y'all move out of the way, we got a man here that can't
walk. We're carrying him. And he's
getting heavy. Would y'all get out of the way
and let us in? We're going to get out of the way. There was
out in the streets listening. There's out in the streets listening.
You know, one of my house desires was, and maybe it'll happen one
of these days, that we'd have such a big meeting here in June,
or any time when we have a conference, where we'd have to raise the
windows and people stand outside to listen. I'd love that to happen
one of these times. Raise your windows! One of these
preachers get up and preach, and somebody go down and say,
I hear you, preacher! Oh, I'd love to see that happen.
Maybe it'll happen one of these days. But all this, and they
couldn't get in for the crowd. They said, oh, and they sought
means to bring him in. And so what they've done, now
you picture this if you can. Here's four men carrying another
man. He's on the bed. I don't know how they're carrying
him. They've got ropes under him. Maybe they've got handles
put on it. But there's two in the front,
two in the back, and they're carrying this man. They can't
get up, so they say, well, we'll get him up on the roof. Now,
you've got four men, they've got to come from the ground,
and they've got to go up one story. There ain't no ladders
there, now there ain't no steps. How in the world are they going
to get up there on that roof? Does somebody, they go get a
ladder and land there, and then they start walking up that thing,
two of them holding them back here, and they start walking
up, and the other two start walking behind him, and then they step
over on the roof. They've got to get him on the roof. They
don't know how to get it in. So they've got to carry this
man. Get him up on the roof some way. Because they intended for
this man to get in before the Lord Jesus Christ. Wouldn't you
love to have that desire in your heart to see people get to Christ
that much? That you'd do whatever means
was necessary to tell them. And there's lawful means. There's
God-honoring means. Tracts. Good God-honoring tracts. Bulletins, CDs, just asking people,
just saying the power of the Lord's presence to heal people
over there where the gospel is preached. You come, you need
healing. What do I need healing from?
From sin! And oh, they sought ways to bring
him in, and then they said, well, let's get up on the roof. They
went up to the housetop, and I'll tell you what, after they
got him there, some of them laid him down, and they began to take
towels off the roof. Wait a minute, that's my roof!
What are you doing taking the tiles off my roof? You know they
start taking the tiles off the roof. And they had to take off
enough tiles to where a man would fit down through that. They got
to take off enough tiles. His name was 5'4", small man. So they've got to have a place,
at least five foot six, five foot eight, to lift that fellow.
And then a couple feet wide, they've got to take all that
roof off. And while they're doing that, they're teaching, they're
going on about their business. And then all of a sudden, they're
standing on the roof and they start lifting that fellow down. And let me tell you something,
crowds does not keep people from getting to Christ. You know,
there was such a crowd around our Lord Jesus Christ that that
woman with the issue of blood crawled through that crowd to
touch the hem of His garment. And our Lord knew in that crowd
He had been touched. Zacchaeus got up on a tree because
there was such a crowd that he couldn't see Christ in the crowd,
so he climbed a tree. Crowds does not keep people from
getting to Christ. Christ can be got to no matter
where you're at and how many people are around, you get to
Him, can't you? And I'll tell you, crowds don't
make no difference. And oh, I'm telling you what, And then they,
so here's our Lord sitting there teaching, and all of a sudden,
right in front of him, right in front of him, is this man,
let down, laying on the bed. And look what it says now, there
in verse Verse 19, they went up on the housetop, led him down
through the tiling with his couch into the midst. Watch this now.
Before Jesus. Then they say, oh, let's take him
to Dr. Pharisee. Law will straighten him out.
That's what he needs. He just needs more law. He needs more standards to go
by. He needs to learn how to live
right. No, no. And then, oh, they let
him down. And our Lord Jesus is sitting
there teaching, sitting down teaching. And there's this fellow
right square in front of him, laying on the couch. And I can
just see that man look over to the Lord Jesus, and the Lord
Jesus look at him. I can see their eyes meet. And
this fellow's got desperation in his eyes. He's got need in
His eyes. He's got desire in His eyes.
He's got hope in His eyes. And He got down there. And then
look what it says in verse 20. And when He saw their faith,
those four men's faith, He said unto him, Man, thy sins be forgiven
thee. sins be forgiven." You thought,
well, well. Let me tell you something. He
wasn't paralyzed because of his sins. He wasn't paralyzed because
of his sins. No. Paralyzed because he's paralyzed. And I'll tell you something,
beloved, the greatest need of any man is the forgiveness of
sins. And that's the first thing our Lord's teaching us right
here. That the cleansing of the soul is more important than the
healing of the body. I'm telling you, you can have
the awfulest diseases and be healed of a disease, be healed
of cancer, be healed of a tumor on your brain. be healed of some
kind of awful malady. And yet, if Christ doesn't forgive
your sin, you're still going to die, and still going to face
God without Christ. So our Lord said, no matter what
condition your body's in, you need forgiveness of sin. That's
the first thing that's got to happen. If the sins take care
of, everything else will be all right, won't it? Oh, a sin's
taken care of? If a sin's taken care of, no
matter what the secondary cause God sends to take you out of
this world—heart attack, cancer, car wreck, paralyzed, whatever it is, whatever
secondary cause. It doesn't make any difference
as long as your sins are gone. We sing that little old song,
he sang it the other night. Did you hear what Jesus said
to me? They're all taken away, away. Your sins are pardoned and you
are free. They're all Taken away. They're all taken away. Away. Now I heard him say that
to me one day. Everything's been good since
then. You say, but oh my. See, I'll tell you something.
Here's the thing. Sin's my nature, sin's my name. And if I say anything
else other than that, I'd be deceived in myself and I'd make
God a liar. But He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins. and the blood of Christ cleanses
from all evil." Uh-huh. Oh, listen, that's the thing. Christ forgives your sins, and,
oh, beloved, the greatest need of any man, sin's the worst disease. And then look what happens in
verse 21. What happens in verse 21? Oh,
my. And the scribes and the Pharisees
began to reason, saying, who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
alone? Now, we consider ourselves believers,
Christians, saints, saved, and if somebody, if Christ forgives
somebody of their sins and they tell us about it, the first reaction
to us is we start crying. We start rejoicing. We start
blessing the Lord for it and thanking God for it, but these
fellas got mad about it, got upset about it, and said, Christ
is a blasphemer. He's an imposter. There's nobody
that can do anything for a man but God. Well, they didn't tell
the truth about that. Only thing is, they didn't know
Jesus Christ was God. And they're reasoning, who can
forgive sin but God only? And they're right about that.
They read what David said, "...blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth
not iniquity. Lord, if Thou shouldst mark iniquity,
who should be able to stand it? But there is forgiveness with
Thee, that Thou mayest be scared." And so what these fellows were
saying is, He must be an imposter. He must be a blasphemer. How
can anyone say your sins are forgiven? He's just a man. He
couldn't possibly be God. He ain't got the right or the
power to forgive a man's sins. And look what our Lord says down
in verse 22. When Jesus perceived their thoughts,
read their minds, You know, you go to these people, and those
people pay money to go have somebody read their minds. They go pay money. We was in
Philadelphia one time. Last time I was up at Clay's,
and we was left just resting. We was walking along, and there
was this Madame So-and-so's place here, you know, on the side of
the road. She had couches and chairs all
in there, big windows. And the couch was full and everything. People waiting for Madame So-and-so
to read their mind, tell them their future. I tell you what, the only person
I won't read my mind, God. I don't want nobody else reading
it. And I'm glad you can't read it.
If you could get into my brain, oh, And like me and Bill Kirkpatrick
yesterday, we got to think, well, where's two Bruce Dailies? It'd be too much. But that's
why I say, if there's one person who's going to read my mind,
I want it to be God. People say, I give you a penny
for your thoughts. I ain't never thought a thought
worth a penny except about Christ. But listen, he says, look at
me show you something, Psalm 139, just for a minute. You know,
that's why he said, all things are open and naked before Him
with whom we have to do. Look at Psalm 139. Oh, if anybody
reads my mind, I want it to be the Lord Jesus. Oh, he said, why reason you?
That's what our Lord said. Why reason you in your hearts?
Why reason? That's what he said. Why reason
in your heart? Why does a man faint in his heart?
That's the way he is. He thought Christ a blasphemer.
Look what he said in Psalm 139, verse 1. O Lord, Thou hast searched
me and known me. Thou knowest my downstanding
and my uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Oh, ain't you grateful that he's
the only one that can read your mind? And back over in our text,
what our Lord said, ìWhy reason these things in your hearts?î
You know, ìOut of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,
as a man thinks in his heart.î So we see what kind of men these
are. And what the Lord Jesus is doing is taking the prerogative
of God Himself, one that belongs only to God, forgiving sins.
And He thought it not wrong of me to be equal with God. Then
look what He says, ìDo you need proof? that I am God, that I can forgive
sins? Well, look what he says in verse
23. He asks them the simplest question. What is the easiest
thing to say? Is it easier to say, Thy sins
be forgiven thee, or to rise up and walk? They're all just
words. I can say, Thy sins be forgiven
thee, but it don't mean I could say, rise up and walk, but they're
just words. But which is easier? You think
I'm blasphemed by saying, thy sins be forgiven thee? But he
won't see proof that I'm God. He said, which is the easiest
one to do? I could have said, rise up and
take your bed up and walk. Without forgiving his sins. And
that wouldn't amount to anything. But look what he says. But that
you may know. That you may know. I want you
to know, you need to know, you've got to know, that the Son of
Man has power, has authority, has the right, all powers given
unto Him, upon earth, upon earth to forgive sins. See, the only
place you need your sins forgiven is on the earth. We won't need
them in glory. You won't need them after you
leave this earth. Only when we're on this earth. That's the only
place we need our sins forgiven. He says under the sick of the
palsy, that man that's paralyzed. He said, I'm going to show you
how easy it is, how simple it is, how faint it is. You want
proof? I say unto thee, that fellow's
landing before the Lord Jesus Christ, those fellows still on
the roof. He said, I say unto thee, Arise! Take your couch. You fellas turn
loose of that thing and go to your house. You left your house
paralyzed this morning, you're gonna walk back in and you ain't
gonna never ever lay on that bed again. Your sick bed, your
death, you're not gonna lay on it again. You'll never go back
to that condition. And you go home. You go home
and let people see what I've done for you. And all beloved,
and look what it says, and this says in verse 25, and immediately he rose up before, now listen
to them before them. Who's before them? Pharisees,
doctors, everybody that was there. Those four men who carried him
in, he got up immediately and rose up before them. Can you
just see this now? He got up, and he said he's never
stood before. He carried every word, and all of
a sudden he's standing up. And the Lord said, you know, he's got
his little bed there, and he just rolls that thing up, you
know, like you roll up a mat, roll it up, stick it under his
arm, and he heads to the house. And he said, Oh, praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Do you see what
the Lord done for me? He went home, and that's what
it said, he departed his own house glorifying God. Glorifying God. Oh, what a blessed thing to do,
to glorify God on your way to the house and in the house. And
then look what it says, and they were all amazed. I stand amazed in the presence
of the Nazarene. I stand amazed. I stand amazed
before the grace of God. I stand amazed before the love
of God. I stand amazed before the power
of God. I stand amazed before the Lord
Jesus Christ. Oh, how can it be, how can it
be that Thou, my God, should die for me? Me, who hither to
death pursued this worm? Oh, They and Pharisees and scribes,
everybody that was there, they were all amazed. Their eyes were
misted with wonder. And then look what else it says.
And they glorified God. Everybody there glorified God.
And look what it says, and they were filled with fear. Oh, the fear of God was there.
The presence of God was there. And, oh, they understood that
if I ever did anything, Christ was going to have to be forgiven
for me. And they were filled with fear. And then they said,
oh, we've seen things that our opinion can't grasp, and our
experience is contrary to all of our opinions and experience.
Never seen nothing like this before. And we see our Lord's
omniscience and omnipotence in healing this man. First of all,
we see his omniscience. He read their thoughts. And I
tell you why. He knows what's going on in his
service today. He knows what's going on inside of me. He knows
what's going on with me. He perceives. He understands.
He sees it. He has omniscience. And then
his omnipotence. Rise up. First, forgiving sins. Only God can do that. That's
his omnipotence. And then healing the man's body.
You know, it takes as much of the power of God says, it takes
more of the power of God to save a man than it did to create the
world. He created the world out of nothing.
He just spanked him. Creation didn't resist him. But
there's not a sinner born that don't resist the Lord Jesus and
don't resist God. And if a man comes to Christ,
he's got to exert Don't he? Great power. And all
he's got to do is exert that power. You know what he's got
to do? Just say it. Just say it. Did he say it to you today? What did he say to you today?
Did he say your sins are forgiven? Did he heal your soul where you
can say, oh, I've glorified God? Our Father, in the blessed holy
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, oh, how we thank you for the
day. Thank you for your gospel. Thank you for the great power
and mercy that you forgive sins. Lord, where would we be if you
didn't forgive sins? If all you did was mark our iniquities
and then didn't forgive us our sins, we'd be, of most men, most
miserable. And oh, Father, thank You that
You forgive sins. Thank You that You take the crippled,
the lame, the poor, the blind, the halt, people like us, people
with no abilities, can't come to Christ in our natural state
like that man was, can't come to Him. The Holy Spirit must
bring us. And so, Lord, bring people to
Yourself. Oh, Holy Spirit, bring people
to Christ. Set them before Him. where He can forgive their sins,
heal their soul, give them life. Only you can. We ask these things
in our Lord Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.