Let's begin in Matthew chapter
9. Matthew chapter 9. Now the events
recorded in this, the part that we shall have to
do with this morning in Matthew chapter 9, the part that concerns
us is found in all three of what are called the Synoptic Gospels. That is Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Now I told you Matthew 9, but
I didn't expect you to have a problem to back up one verse, the last
one in the previous chapter. So chapter 8 verse 34 reads like
this. And behold, the whole city came
out to meet the blessed Lord Jesus. But look what happened. And when they saw Him, they besought Him, they begged
Him, that he would depart out of their coast or borders or
land. We want you to leave and we do
not want you to come back. What had happened? Our Lord had
healed the demon-possessed man that we know as the Gadarene
Maniac. Nobody could be around this man.
Nobody even tried to go through this land where he was. And yet,
our Lord has returned this man, not just to normal human nature,
but to a believer and follower of the Lord Jesus. No longer
a danger to anybody. and yet they want our Savior
to leave. Now that, my friend, is the perfect
picture of every last single one of us. We do not invite Christ into
our heart. He invites Himself and He opens
the door by the power of His grace. You and I are just like
the gatherings if he'd just be the kind of Jesus
that we could sort of keep a little bit of a handhold on and let
him do this and let him do that but he can't do this and he can't
do that. Obviously these people found
out that he is not that kind of Christ. So they send him away. He gets back in a boat on the
Sea of Galilee and heads back to Capernaum. Chapter 9, verse
1, "...he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came unto
his own city. And behold, they brought to him
a man sick of the palsy." Unable to carry himself with his limbs
and the use of his arms, I presume. This man is lying on a, like
a gurney, just a, I'm sure a homemade contraption where four people
can carry you. They brought to him a man sick
of the palsy, lying on a bed of sorts at least, and Jesus,
now watch this, seeing whose faith? the four that brought him, not
the man that's sick. He said to the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, your sins be
forgiven you. Our Savior, when on this earth,
had power to forgive sins. And behold, there's some in every
church, in every religion, behold, certain of the scribes scribes. Sometimes that word is translated
lawyers in our New Testament, but this is a very highly educated
person who has more than familiarized himself with all the Old Testament
scriptures and the writing of the rabbis and this regulation
and that regulation. That was their occupation. The scribes, plural, said within themselves, referring
to Christ, this man blasphemes. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts,
said, why think you evil in your hearts? Now catch that, it's
in their heart. Because in verse 3 it says, they
said this inside themselves, they didn't say it to each other. Wherefore think you evil in your
hearts, for which is easier to say, not to do now, to say. He's not talking about the difficulty
of doing this. He's talking about which is easiest
to say. Your sins be forgiven you or to say arise and walk. The point being this, the Lord
Jesus could declare that his sins are forgiven but nobody
there could know for absolute certainty that they were, unless
you happened to be a lover and believer of Christ and took his
word for it. But if you said to the man, arise,
take up your bed and walk, everybody in that place will know whether
what you told him did him any good or not. Now apply that to our souls spiritually. For which is easier to say, Your
sins be forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk. But that you
may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive
sins. Then said Christ to the sick
of the palsy, Arise, take up your bed, and go unto your house." Now there is a glorious, wonderful, revealing relationship between
our Savior's healing men's bodies and His healing of their souls. and religion is still divided
along those lines. But, verse 6, that you may know
that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. He turns and says to the sick
of the palsy, Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house. and he arose and departed to
his house. But when the multitude saw it,
they marveled and glorified God, which had given such power unto
men." Actually, such power to the God-man, Christ Jesus. One more verse. No, I need to
go down to 13. I don't need nine unless I can
do down to 13. Oh, we'll make it. And Jesus, as Jesus passed forth
from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom. He's collecting taxes for the
Roman government. Has something to do, I think,
with the trade by ship or boat across the Sea of Galilee. you
know the routine by now, they tax anything and everything.
He saw a man named Matthew sitting in this tax collector's booth
and he said to him, now this is how difficult it is for
God to call a man and that man come to him without delay. He said to him, follow me and
he arose and followed him and Matthew is the one writing this
he could have said and Matthew arose and followed him or I arose
and I followed him all right that's enough for now Now, if you mark your place in
Matthew chapter 9 and turn over to the very next gospel account,
that would be Mark. And notice now that both writers
are putting these events that we've just read about earlier
in virtually the same position as far as the movement of the
gospel accounts go, tracing the life and words and and accomplishments
of our Lord Jesus Christ. So here we are in Mark, and instead
of chapter 9, we're in chapter 1. Mark chapter 1. Now, if you have questions about
what I was just saying, just see Brother Rogers. The Rogers
brothers will be fine. They'll explain it more plainly.
Alright, here's what I want to read. Mark chapter 1, beginning
at verse 40, and reading through chapter 2 and verse 12. We have this event, this leper
who is healed in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And there came a leper
to Him, the Lord Jesus, beseeching Him and kneeling down to Him
and saying this unto Him. Now listen carefully. If you will, you can make me
clean. He didn't say, if you can. He
said, if you will. I used to find fault with this
guy, but I think he had a hold of something bigger than if you
can. To say to the Lord Jesus, if
you can, is an insult. But to confess to Him if he will
he can make me clean." That's adoration, that's worship, that's
commendable. So this leper came to him beseeching
him and kneeling down to him and saying, if you will you can
make me clean. Our Lord doesn't seem disturbed
by the man's words There are some other cases that he was
disturbed and dealt with before he ever dealt with the matter
that was before him, namely the rich young ruler. So in verse
41, And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched
him, and said, I will. Be you clean. I will you to be clean." And as soon as he had spoken,
now this is not a cold, this ain't a hurt finger, this is
not something wrong with your feet or your toes. Look what
it is. It's leprosy. And of all the diseases that's
ever plagued mankind since the garden, leprosy is the most telling. It represents spiritually the
disease of the soul. It's easy to get caught up with
the outward, the physical, and never have a thought about the
spiritual. Jesus moved with compassion,
put forth his hand, and touched him and said, I will be you clean. As soon as he had spoken, immediately
the leprosy departed from him and he was cleansed and our Lord
straightly charged him. There's a good bit of rules having
to do with leprosy in the Old Testament, so our Lord straightly
charged him and forthwith immediately sent him away." And here's what
the Savior said to him, "'See, you say nothing to any man, but
go your way to the priest and offer for your cleansing those
things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them.'" Our Lord said in verse 44, see
that you say nothing to anybody except the priest. Verse 45 says,
but he went out and began to publish it and to blaze abroad
the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into
the city, but was without, that is, outside the city in desert
places, and they came to Him from every quarter." Now what do you make of that? The Lord said, now be sure don't
say a word to anybody about this except the priest. And the man
tells everybody he sees. Today's religion tries to impress
you that you ought to talk to people about Christ. I mean,
some of them say every person you meet. This man was told not to. and
couldn't keep it in. Christ has healed his leprosy
and I suspect that if He heals the leprosy of our soul we too
will be anxious to tell others about it. We don't need a class on soul
winning. We need soul winners to get out of the way and let
the Lord Jesus do His saving work It ain't something you and
I can do. I know I've been there and I've
tried it. All right. Chapter 2. Mark. The same man that we read about
in Matthew. But I want you to notice some
differences in Mark's account. And again, he entered into Capernaum. After some days, and it was noised,
people got wind of it, that he was in the house. I don't know
which house or whose house, maybe Peter's house, I'm not sure.
And straightway, many were gathered together in this building of
whatever kind and type and size, I do not know. And there was
no room to receive them. No, not so much as about the
door. And Christ preached the word
unto them. And they came unto him, this
is one we read about in chapter 9 of Matthew, and they came unto
him bringing one sick of the palsy. Four people carrying this
man which was carried by four, of four. And when they could
not come near unto him for the press of the crowd, they uncovered
the roof, a tile roof, I can't remember, it seems like it's
Luke that tells us this, where Christ was, and when they had
broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy
lay. When our Lord saw their faith,
he said to the sick of the palsy, Son, your sins be forgiven you." And there were certain of the
scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, why does this
man speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
only? Now they got that much right! They don't know that Christ is
God, and they will not have Him to be their God. And this is
still the case today. Verse 8, "...Immediately when
Jesus perceived in His Spirit that they so reason within themselves. He said unto them, Why reason
ye these things in your heart? Which is the easiest to say to
the sick of the palsy, Your sins be forgiven you, or to say, Arise
and take up your bed and walk? but that you may know that the
Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. He said to the
sick of the palsy, I say unto you, arise, take up your bed,
go your way into your house. And immediately he arose and
took up the bed and went forth before them all, insomuch that
they were all amazed and glorified God. And they said, we never
saw it on this fashion." Now taking both of our readings
into consideration, why are these statements, this
passage, in three different Gospels in our Bibles? To teach us the truth about God,
the truth about Christ, our blessed Redeemer, and the truth about
a sinner and his sins. And we're all sinners. But you
can't find them. They're scarcer than hen's teeth. Somebody wrote these words, I
wish I could remember who, and I'd look up the whole paragraph
that it's found in. A sinner is a sacred thing. a sacred thing. Why? Why? The Holy Ghost hath made
him so. You see, coming to Christ for
mercy on our souls is not something that you and I have to muster
up. No, it is the person, glorious
work of our Savior that comes to us, unbeknown to us, until
the workings of faith are begun in the soul. A sinner is indeed
a sacred thing. He cannot make himself, but God
the Holy Spirit makes them, and they all come to Him, they all
trust Him, they all follow Him, and there ain't one single exception,
not a one. I preached a funeral a few years
ago for one of my older brothers. I can't remember right now how
many. I think four of them, maybe three. I don't know. First Baptist Church down on
the coast. I won't tell you the name of
the town, but it doesn't matter to me. If you want to know, just
ask me. And I'm third man on the totem pole. the mayor's there, and the first church guy's there,
and I'm there. I got to endure them before I
can get rid of the burden that I've got. And given what they
said, and given that I knew my brother far better than either
of them, they just made him an angel and went ahead and put
him in heaven. And I was so fit to be tied when I came to the
pulpit, my first words were, is there a center in this place
anywhere? If it is, I've got some good
news for you. And I just went from there. I
was just so perplexed. Let me just ask you, have you
been to a funeral that the preacher didn't lead you to conclude that
this person is in heaven? Have you? I don't know who it is or where
it is, if that be the case. When we come to this place or
the funeral home or wherever it is, there's a casket there
with a body in it. That person's eternal destiny
has already arrived. There's nothing in that box except
the physical remains. And if a man does not have the
backbone enough to tell people who are grieving the truth, the
truth, God help that preacher. He's going to face a God he doesn't
know. and doesn't love and does not believe. I'm telling every one of us in
this place, God cannot be deceived. He cannot be fooled. We can't
outsmart Him. This is the Son of God Himself. the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus,
God and man in one person, which is impossible for us to conceive.
And here He is for some three and a half years walking the
roads and streets of Judea and Galilee and even into Samaria. If you just take your Bible,
the first opportunity you get, and just start going through
the Gospels, not reading every word necessarily, but look at
the movement. Where does he go? What does he
do? Who does he talk to? What does he say? One inescapable conclusion you
must arrive at, that the Jesus of the Bible is not the Jesus
of today's Christianity. No, sir. Today's Jesus would forego telling the truth
to keep from insulting or offending you. And that philosophy is growing
like wildfire in our own country. When we were in England back
in 03, I was appalled by this fact. I did not know it, did
not realize it. The British people had rather
offend God than to offend men. Therefore, when it comes to preaching
the gospel, you have to stay on safe ground. You have to be
careful what you say. You don't want to insult someone
or harm their feelings. They may be of another religion
altogether, and it's unthinkable that you should say to them,
your religion is no good, it's a lie. And yet, the same persons, when
it comes to their social customs, don't mind going out of their
way to insult you, but never think of doing so when it comes
to religion. And that's where we are, and
this country is headed that direction with tremendous speed. Tremendous
speed. What is the Lord Jesus doing
in our generation? He's doing exactly what we see
Him do in the four Gospels. He's calling out His elect. That's what He's doing. How about
turning to one other text, please? If my mouth gets in a dryer,
I won't be able to open it, so that's a good thing. Acts chapter 13. All right, let me begin at verse 34, Acts 13. Paul is speaking in this sermon
in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia, not the same Antioch That was in the first part of
chapter 13, but a different place. And he's speaking about Christ
and he says in verse 34, "...and as concerning that God raised
Christ up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption,
He said on this wise, Jehovah speaks to God the Son, I will
give you the sure mercies of David." That is that precious
everlasting covenant of grace, the mercies of God in Christ
in that covenant. Wherefore he says also in another
psalm, you shall not suffer your holy one to see corruption. Christ could not stay in the
grave long enough for his flesh to corrupt. For David you shall
not suffer your holy one in verse 35 the last part to see corruption
for David after he had served his own generation by the will
of God fell on sleep and that's how we'll all leave this world
if we're believers we serve our own generation until we're called
home and that's it and was laid unto his father's
and saw corruption literal David's body remained in the grave. Christ was resurrected the third
day. That is significant and important.
But he whom God raised up, raised again, saw no corruption, speaking
of Christ. Now listen carefully. Be it known
unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man
Christ Jesus who is both God and man in the same person. Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins and by him all that believe are
justified. Justified from all things. Everything. Every sin, past, present, or
future sin. Why do you want to be so specific?
Because if He didn't put them all away, it doesn't matter if
He put one or two or a hundred away. That's utterly ridiculous. That's a bucket with no bottom
in it. It's just useless. Useless. You and I could not serve God
on this earth if we lived here a thousand years and put away
a single sin. Cannot be done. Cannot be done. Through this man is preached
unto you the full, free, eternal forgiveness of sins. Now watch
39. And by him all that believe are
justified from all things from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses You and I cannot keep that law. How come? Because we're still
sinners and will be to our dying day. By Him, all that believe are
justified from all things, from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. Now if you jump down to verse
44, "...and the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city
together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the
multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spoke against
those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold and said, It was necessary that the Word of God should first
have been spoken unto you, but seeing you put it from you and
judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so has the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have sent you to be a light of the Gentiles, that
you should be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the
word of the Lord." Now this statement, "...and as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed." Who believes? those that God
foreordained before the foundation of the earth to believe. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believe.