If you will, now turn with me
to Mark chapter 2. And this account is given in
verses 1 through 12. In the first several verses of
Mark chapter 2, we have the story of a sinner being brought to
Christ By some folks who absolutely believed if they could get him
to Christ, Christ could make him whole. If somehow we could
get him to Christ, Christ could do him good. He
could do some good. This man was afflicted. You had
the palsy. And palsy, according to what
I've read, was a debilitating disease. It left a man's body
in paralysis. No ability to function. And it
points, as a picture, to our inability, the inabilities of
our nature to do anything before God, any spiritual thing. Our Lord said, with man, it's
impossible. That's what he said. And here's a man. And according
to what I've read, this man was paralyzed from head to toe. And
this paralysis, it affected his speech and his ability to control
any motor function, his hands, his feet, walking, talking. And it not only caused paralysis,
but it also caused a tremor or a shaking of the body. Uncontrollable
shaking. And as I've told you many times,
the healing of those brought to Christ was done for four primary
reasons. When we read about these miracles.
They were performed, the Lord didn't just go about showing
off, showing that he could heal folks and trying to gain a big
reputation by healing people. That's what false prophets do
today. They try to build a reputation
by healing people that don't need to be healed. But these were done for four
primary reasons. First, it was the work of God
in him. The work of God in this man,
Christ Jesus. The work of God in him to confirm
his office as the Christ. When Peter began to preach at
Pentecost, he said, you men of Israel, you hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by him in your midst as you yourselves also know. And I read to you a few moments
ago out of Luke where all these doctors of the law And all these
Pharisees, they were all the uppity-ups, were all gathered
together on this day, and the Lord performed this miracle right
before them. And then again, in Hebrews chapter
2, verses 3 and 4, he says it again, the same thing about confirming
his office as the Christ. And except here in Hebrews, he
also joins that in with the miracles performed by the apostles to
confirm their office. So every time a poor sinner came
to Christ and was healed, it was an evidence of his office
as the Christ. It verified who he was. And then secondly, these encounters
with the sick were brought to pass to fulfill the scriptures. David blessed the Lord in his
holy name and tells us to forget all, to not forget all his benefits. Now listen to this. Who forgiveth
all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases. That was the
Christ that was to come. In Matthew 8, 16, it says, he
healed all that were sick that it might be fulfilled that Isaiah
had spoken, saying, himself took our infirmities and bare our
sicknesses. So it was a fulfillment of the
scriptures when he did these things. And then thirdly, he
healed the sick to establish a gospel truth. Let that sink in. When he healed the sick, it was
to establish a gospel truth. You remember the Pharisees questioned
immediately. If you read all these accounts,
you'll find out that immediately after this, and in the discussion
about him having power to forgive sins on earth, that he called
Matthew. The very next thing he did was
to call Matthew and they went down to Matthew's house for supper. And when they got down there,
publicans and sinners had gathered all in the house. All Matthew's
friends were there. And the Pharisees were there
too. And they said, told his disciples, went over and hit
him and said, why is your master eating with publicans and sinners?
Why is he doing that? And the Lord knew what to say.
And he turned to him and he said, because the whole need not the
physician but the sick. The sick. He said, now you go
learn what this means. I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. For I'm not come to call the
righteous but sinners. to repentance. So here is a gospel
truth being established by the healing of this sinner. He's
gonna have mercy and not sacrifice. He's gonna have mercy and not
sacrifice. The healing of the sick took
place to establish the sovereign grace of God and the salvation
of sinners according to the good pleasure of his will. On a certain
day, a certain man was brought there by certain men. And that's how it always is.
And then lastly, these miracles of healing were accomplished
for the glory of God. They said, who sinned that this
man was born blind? Over in the book of John, it
talks about it. Who sinned that this man was born blind? And
the Lord said, They said, his parents, or did he do it? He
said, neither one. He was born blind for the glory
of God. God's going to heal him, going
to give him eyes and he's going to get all the glory for it. And then our Lord said to his
disciples after he received the message that Lazarus was sick,
He said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory
of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. And every time we read about
the healing miracles of Christ, we need to think about these
four things, because this is what's taking place. So let me
begin this morning's message with this. The whole need not
the physician, but the sick. Seeing is at the root of all
our troubles. I don't know what your troubles
are this morning, but you do. Or at least some of you do. And I'm telling you this, sin
is at the root of it. It's at the root of all of our
troubles. Sin entered and death passed. If there were no sin, there'd
be no sickness, no suffering. no misery, and no death. If there were no sin, there would
be no urgency, no uneasiness, and no fear. Sin is at the root of all of
our problems, and Paul said to his kinsmen, we're no better
off for all our advantages because I before proved that both Jew
and Gentile are all under sin. We're troubled because we're
under sin. I don't care what the trouble
is, you trace it back far enough, you'll find out it's all from
sin. Sin is at the root of it. Jew and Gentile are all under
sin. They're under the condemnation
of it, the curse of it, the nature of it, and the consequences of
it. He said, by the offense of one judgment came upon all men
the condemnation. And sin is a curse. It's a curse. He was made a curse for us. Isn't
that what it says? What's he talking about a curse? A curse is the holy law from
a holy God and a sinful carnal man sold under sin. That's the
curse. Here's the law. The Lord went
into detail. He said, I'll bless you if you
keep the law. If you do all of these things, I'll bless you.
But if you don't, I'm gonna condemn you. And that's what Paul reminded
his kinsmen of. He said, it's not the sayers
of the law. It's not the confessors of the
law, it's the doers of the law that stand just before God. And
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The curse
is a holy law from a holy God and a sinful carnal man sold
under sin. The curse is a God whose nature
is infinite perfection and a man whose very nature makes him a
child of wrath even as others. That's the curse. And the scripture said, sin,
when it's finished, bringeth forth death. Not just a discontinuance
of life as we know it, but the second death, which is eternal
agony. You know, our Lord said one of
his disciples, he called him and he said, wait a minute, he
said, my father died. And he said, I need to attend
his funeral, I need to go out and see to this. He said, let
the dead bury the dead. You think he's talking about
discontinuance of life there? No, he's talking about men who
are dead in trespasses and sins. Sin is at the root of all of
our problems. and all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. If I dare to view this man's
palsy as a type of my sin, I'll discover that my sin has left
me in a paralysis of nature. That's what I'm going to discover
in it. This is me. This is me, the sinner, being
brought to Christ. These men sought means to get
him there. He couldn't get there on his
own. Didn't do any good to go over there to him and say, now,
we're going to sing one more verse. And if you'll take the
first step, God will take the rest. No. This man couldn't talk. He was paralyzed. He was lying there in his bed
at the house, and he couldn't move. And he was just shaking
and couldn't talk. He was a mess. And they said,
how are we going to get him down to Christ? How are we going to
do this? Now in my mind, you couldn't
just pick the couch up with him because he's shaking all over.
He's got the palsy. He'd have just rolled off on
the ground. So I had to get some rope and tie him onto the couch
and took four of them to carry him. And when they got there,
they couldn't get in the door. I'm telling you, we're in a bad
shape if you view yourself in the light of this man with the
palsy. That's how we are. That's how
we are. I have a carnal mind that's enmity
against God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither indeed can be. And to will may be present, even
in the believer, but how to perform it he can't find. I'm so sick
of hearing people say, well, I'm a believer now. Now I can
keep the law. Oh, no, you can't. Paul said,
the will was present. I would. I honor that law. I'd keep it if I could, but I
can't. How to perform it, he said, I find not. And finally,
he cries out from his soul, oh, wretched man that I am. Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death? Can you see yourself in this
sinner? Now remember, he didn't just
tell him. He did tell him take up his bed.
He did tell him all that, but the first thing he said to him
was, man, he said, thy sins be forgiven thee. Can you see yourself
as you are? Can you see the paralysis of
your own nature? Can you see your helplessness?
Can you see yourself at the mercy of God? God had to seek this
man out. He wasn't seeking God. He wasn't
seeking anything, maybe seeking death. He was in a bad way. All right, here's the second thing
I want you to see. This palsied sinner must be brought to the
Lord of glory. In Romans 3.11, describing what
it is to be understand, Paul said, there's none that understandeth
and none that seeketh after God. Unregenerate man is totally depraved. You believe that? Totally depraved. Religion preaches
a depravity, but they don't preach total depravity. Man totally
depraved, his nature, his birth, his life, his mind, his ways,
his concept, his heart. And all of us, all of us like
to think of men as knowing a little bit of truth, don't we? Having a little bit of light,
having a little understanding, but it's just not so. Every thought of the imagination
of their hearts is only evil continually. All their so-called
righteousnesses are as filthy rags, depraved, debilitated sinners
who have to be sought out. Listen to this. Isaiah said they
shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, and
thou shalt be called sought out. Isn't that what he said? a city not forsaken. The scripture says, after some
days in Capernaum, Mark chapter 2 verse 1, after some days in
Capernaum, it was noised that he was in the house. Oh, I hope he's in this house. Don't you? lest we didn't just gather here
to put on a show, gather here to fulfill some duty. I hope he's in the house. It was noise, straightway it
says, after it was noise that he was in the house. And straightway
many were gathered together in so much that there was no room
to receive them. No, not so much as about the
door. And he preached the word to them.
The word of salvation, the establishing of the righteousness of God in
Christ, the atonement offered for him once for all. He showed
them in the word the things concerning himself and opened unto them
the scripture saying it is written and thus it behoove Christ to
suffer and rise from the dead the third day and that repentance
and remission of sin should be preached in all nations. He preached
the word to them. He opened to them the scriptures.
And oh, how the sick came to Christ. It said in Luke's account
that the power of the Lord was present in the house to heal
them. And I tell you, if it ain't,
you won't be healed. I can't do nothing for you. I can't do a thing for you, but
he can. So what makes the difference
is who's in the house. See, that's what these four men
knew who bore this palsied man. They knew who was in the house.
They knew him. And they knew if he was there,
that the power to heal them was present. And when the news spread that
Jesus Christ himself was in the house, then many were gathered
before him. And so many you couldn't even
get in the door. I'm going to tell you something.
There's only one who can alter your course. Right now, every
sinner's walking according to the course of this world. His
course must be altered. There's only one who can alter
it. Right now, every sinner's walking according to the prince
of the power of this air, and there's only one me. who can
take you out of his reign. There's only one strong man that
can bring that strong man armed down. Right now every sinner is walking
in the vanity of his mind and there's only one who can give
him an understanding. This man is in a far worse condition. I'm talking about us. In a far
worse condition than that palsied man. Man can't do anything for himself
until the Lord does something for him. And the only one who could do
anything for him was in the house. All right, here's the next thing.
The Lord of glory moved in the hearts of his friends. Do you
believe that? You believe they just sitting
around and said, I know what let's do. Let's go down there
and get that old palsy guy out of the house. I don't believe
that. I don't believe that. I believe
the Lord laid it on their heart. I don't believe they could do
another thing until they got him down to that house. Do you
ever have a burden for sinners? Ever had a burden for somebody
that you know that just consumed your mind? You couldn't think
about anything else? You couldn't pray about anything
else? It just totally consumed your mind. That's what happened.
The Lord laid it on their hearts. put his name upon their hearts
and minds and caused them to have compassion, and they said
to themselves, let's take old Arvin down to the high house,
where Christ is. Well, he's in bad shape. He can't
walk, he can't talk. Nobody else seems to care about
him. So let's get us a stretcher,
and we'll carry that old sinner down to the house of God. In Luke's account, it says, they
sought means to bring him in and to lay him before the Lord. And in Mark's account, it said
he was born, B-O-R-N-E, that is, he was carried before. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
the Son of Man was in the house, and then listen to this, Luke
5, verse 17, and the power of the Lord was present to heal
them. It's not by chance or luck. He
was there for the express purpose of healing these sinners. And
then fourthly, faith finds a way. Always does. Faith finds a way. Seems physically impossible.
It certainly must have appeared as a waste of time. But faith
don't think that way. Faith lays on the heart a desperation,
a necessity. And it must be today. Well, they
could have waited. Faith won't wait. Faith don't think that way. Faith
lays to the heart of desperation. It must be today. It must be
now. And so they found some means
to get this debilitated sinner up on the roof. And with anxious
hands they tore a hole in the roof, or removed the tiles, and
with ropes they let this poor sinner down before the Lord. We're not told that the palsied
sinner ever said a word. He wouldn't know what to say
if he could. He never said a word. Now picture
this, here's this man and he's shaking all over. You've seen
people with epilepsy or things like that and they're shaking
and they're uncontrollable and their eyes are kind of rolled
back in their head and it's a frightening sight to see it. And here he is down there before
the Lord. And it doesn't say that the Lord
even looked at the man. It said, when he saw their faith. Whose faith? These four guys
up on the roof. Then he spoke to the man. Faith finds a way. Not told that
the Pauls and Sinners said a word, and in fact, He might not even
have been able to speak. But what it does say in Luke
5.20, and when he saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the
palsy, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. But you say the Lord didn't
even call out his name. His name's never mentioned here.
Oh, yes, he did. Oh, yes, he did. He said, Man. Huh? That's his name. at your name. What's that mean? He said it never entered into
the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us. Man? By one man sin entered into the
world? Death by sin, and so death passed
upon all men. Man, that's what he's telling
him, man. Ballin' man, depraved man, cursed
man. Oh, wretched man that I am. That's
your name. And I tell you, everybody who
comes to Christ is gonna own up to that name. That's the first
thing he's gonna reveal to you, what your name is. Your name's
man. Job said, oh, he said, he don't
put any trust in his saints. And how much more abominable
and filthy is man that drinketh iniquity like water? When the
Savior gives eternal life to the sinner and declares his free
justification of grace, he makes the sinner to own up to his name,
man. Who is man that thou art mindful
of him? But that's not all. Look over
here at Mark's account. Mark chapter 2 verse 5. Jesus
saw their faith. He said unto the sick of the
palsy, Son... Huh? Well, I thought he was a
man. I thought he was a maggot. I
thought he was a worm. I thought he was cursed of God.
He wasn't. And he wasn't. Son... If you look, both of those
words are capitalized, man and son. Son. That's to show us our oneness
in Christ. That's to show us our adoption,
having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.
Son. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Paul
said in Galatians 3.26, we're all the children of God by faith
in Christ Jesus. When Christ speaks peace to the
sinner, he makes him to own his sinful self, but he also speaks
to him as the son that he was chosen to be. Speaks to him as
an heir. And in Matthew's account, he
tells this poor sinner, still lying on his bed, he said, be
of good cheer. That don't mean a thing to most
people. But I tell you, a man under the
conviction of sin, it means everything. It means everything. Be of good
cheer. And after all the objections
of the self-righteous theologians, the Lord turned again to old
Darwin, and he said, Arise! Take up your couch, and go back
to your house. And he took up that whereon he
lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. Now it doesn't say what the four
who brought him said, But I'm guessing that one may
have looked at the other. All these down here at the bottom,
they said, boy, today we've seen a strange thing. Huh? It always happens that way. We
come in here week after week after week. Nothing happens.
All of a sudden, somebody's born of God. And we all look like
it's some kind of strange thing. Huh? A strange thing has happened
here today. But not those four guys. Those
four guys still on the roof, still looking down through the
hole. I'm just guessing. I'm not told what they said,
but I'm just guessing. I think maybe one might have
looked up at the others and said, I told you. I told you. I told you if I could get him
down to the house of God and lay him down before the Lord,
the Lord of Heaven, I told you. Now listen to this and I'll close.
Luke chapter 5 verse 26, they were all amazed and they glorified
God and they were filled with fear saying, we have seen strange
things today. Happened right before their eyes.
They saw this man convulsing in a paralysis upon a couch. One minute, and the next minute,
he gets up, puts the couch up on his back, and goes home singing,
my sins are all taken away. I picture old Darvin sitting
down on that old couch, carrying his cot home. Somebody
knew him, says, Hey, buddy, what are you carrying that bed for?
Where are you going with that bed? How come you're carrying
that bed? Oh, he said, let me tell you
something about this old couch. Some dear friends of mine bound me to it. I was in bad
shape. I was paralyzed. I was convulsing. I couldn't do anything. bubble
out the old sin, foam out my shame. That's all I could do. And these friends of mine bound
me to my couch with cords of love and brought me down and set me
down before the Lord. And he said to me, son, You know it's hard for me to
believe that even today? Son, be a good cheer. Be a good cheer. Thy sins are all gone. Now, if there ain't too much
to ask, pick up your bed and go on home. And he did. And he rejoiced all
the way to the house. And it may seem a strange thing
to the onlookers, but those of faith all say the same thing.
I told you. I told you. Salvation in Him. Life in Him. Forgiveness in Him. Glory in Him. Everything's in
Him. Christ is all. If I can get a
man to Christ, he's complete in him. He's complete. What about you? Do you believe that you can get
one of your friends and one of your neighbors and one of your
children? Do you believe you can get him into the presence
of the king? Do you believe the Lord can do
something for him? Bring him. Well, I don't know if I can convince
him of anything. This man didn't convince the
Lord of anything. He never spoke a word. The Lord
saw their faith and did something for him. Let me tell you why we ain't
got our whole family out there in the truck, because we don't
believe that God can do it. Now, that's the cold, hard truth.
We just don't. If we did, we'd find a way, wouldn't
we? We'd find some way to get somebody
into this house to hear. And that's what happened on this
day. I don't know too much about the man. I don't know too much
about his past, except in general what man is. But I'll tell you
this. They brought him in, and the
Lord looked up and saw their faith, and then he started talking
to him. Now he was a son, he was a chosen
man of God, he was one of God's beg, but I'm just telling you
how the Lord works, how he works. Oh, may he lay it on our hearts.
That's where it's gonna have to start. God's gonna have to
give us a burden for sin. A burden for sinners. And where
he gives you a burden for sinners, you can't quit praying for them.
You just can't. And you'll find some way to get
them here. I don't know if you have time on a cot and bring
them, I don't know, but you'll find a way. You'll find a way. And when you do, don't be surprised. Don't think it a strange thing
if the Lord does something for you. When he does, I'm gonna
tell you, I told you.