Now turn in your Bible once again
to Mark chapter 2. Mark chapter 2 and let's read
verses 1 and verse 2. Mark chapter 2 verses 1 and verse
2. And again and again he entered
into the city of Capernaum and after some days After some days
it was spread, the news was spread, it was noised, it was sounded
out that he was back in compartment, back in the house of one Simon
Peter. And straightway many gathered,
many came. And so much as there was no room,
no room to receive all them, no not so much as about the door,
Look at the last part of verse 2. And He, the Lord Jesus, what's
He going to do with His Christ? What's He going to say to them?
He preached the Word to them. The Lord Jesus Christ was a preacher. That prophet that God said would
come. Soon when He came to this city
again of Capernaum, the news spread that the Lord Jesus was
back. In town and many many came to
see him. I'm sure some out of just pure
curiosity Some as we're going to read they came because they
were in need of healing as this sick man came to the Lord Jesus
Christ But we see of another crowd here, as it says in Luke
chapter 5, that the scribes and Pharisees, the doctors of the
law, they were also among that crowd who didn't come out of
curiosity, who didn't seek a miracle cure, they were not in need,
they didn't think, but they came for one reason, to criticize
him, to curse him, to cause him much, much trouble among the
people. But when He brought them together,
and when they were gathered together, the Lord Jesus Christ as the
faithful servant of God, the faithful righteous servant of
God, He has one thing on His mind. It says there, He preached
the Word unto them. Now you remember back in chapter
1, verse 38, it said this, And He said to them, Let us go into
the next town, that I might preach there also, for therefore came
I forth." This is the reason, one of the reasons that he came,
to declare God's will in salvation, to declare the testimony of God,
the gospel of God concerning himself. Look right across the
page in Mark chapter 1 verse 14, now after that John was put
in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching, preaching the gospel
of the kingdom of God. What is the gospel of the kingdom
of God? I'll tell you what it is. It's
salvation of the Lord and salvation in the kingdom of the kingdom,
the Lord Jesus. Saying the time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God is at hand. The salvation of the Lord
is at hand. Repent now. and believed the
gospel. Our Lord was a preacher. He preached
the Word. He took the very written Word,
the Law of God, to Him give all the prophets witness. Moses wrote
of the Lord Jesus. He took that very written Word
that they were familiar with, these scribes and these Pharisees
and the doctors of the Law. He took that very Word and preached
unto them salvation in Himself. in Christ Himself. Now, turn
to Luke 24, and let me give you, I believe, an illustration of
that, what He said, and some of the things that He said to
this crowd that day. In Luke 24, verse 44, Luke 24,
44, He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets,
And in the psalm concerning me. You see the word of God in the
gospel is all about him, all about the Lord himself. Then opened he their understanding
that they might understand the scripture, understand the word.
And he said, and thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to
suffer, to rise from the dead the third day, that repentance
and remission of sin should be preached in His name, beginning
among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." And you are witnesses
of these things. Remission of sin in Christ Jesus. And as He was preaching... Now,
can you picture in your mind what's going on here? Here's
this house, Simon Peter. And the Lord has come to this
house to stay there, to reside there. And here the word gets
out that He's back in town. This One who has healed others,
He's back in town. And they begin to come to this
house. And this great crowd is gathered. And the Lord Jesus, He does what
He always does, He tells the truth. that salvation is of the
Lord. And as he is preaching the Word,
as he is preaching the Gospel and telling sinners that they
need to come to Christ, he said, Come unto me all ye that labor
and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. As he is
preaching this message, he looks up and he is disturbed. He is
interrupted. Some men are taking off the roof. Look what it says. And they come
unto him bringing one sick of the palsy which was born of four.
Here's four faithful friends carrying this sick friend on
this makeshift bed or makeshift stretcher. And when they could
not come nigh unto him for the press. Now they're seeking him. They're seeking him. They're
after him. They uncovered the roof. It says
over in Luke they took off the tiling. And somehow, they took
this man and rigged up some ropes somehow. You see, they were determined
in their hearts. And this is what saving faith
is all about. Saving faith is true and genuine, is determined
to come to Christ. Determined to rest in Him and
look to Him. They uncovered the rope where
he was, and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed
wherein the sick This sick, paralyzed man, he couldn't walk, he couldn't
move, he was completely paralyzed. And when Jesus saw their face,
he said unto this sick man, Thy sin be forgiven. Here's the first
point of five points in this message. Four faithful friends
carry a paralyzed man to see the great physician of sinners. What a blessing to have such
friends. Now you think about that. What
a blessing to have such friends, to seek whatever means they could
to bring their sick friend to the Lord of glories. They faced
some difficulties that day, but believing, their faith overcame
each difficulty that they were faced with. They were determined
in their heart to get their sick friend before the Lord of glory,
and they sought means to do so. May God be pleased to give us
that kind of zeal in our heart, to use the good means that we
have been given to bring the gospel to our friends and to
bring our friends to hear the gospel. God has given to us such
great means to present the gospel to our friends and to bring our
friends to hear the gospel. Now what did these faithful friends
know about the Lord Jesus Christ? What did they know that day?
Well, they knew several things. They knew their friend was a
cripple. They knew he was unable to walk that day to see the Lord
Jesus. They knew their friend was a
cripple. They knew he was paralyzed. They knew he had no ability.
They knew he had no power in himself to come to the Savior
and to seek mercy. in Him. He was totally helpless. And my friend, that is our state
by nature. We are helpless. And this crippled,
paralyzed man is a picture of us. We have no ability, no power
to come to Him. He said, no man can come unto
Me except the Father which sent Me. Draw him. That is our helpless
state by nature. Ruined in Adam. Fallen in Adam. And like that story of Bethesda,
Do you remember that story in 2 Samuel 9 when his nurse took
that young lad up in his arms to flee because his father had
been slain in battle? And that young man, Bephibosheth,
he fell and became crippled. And that's us, ruined in a fall,
ruined in a fall. No ability, no will to come to
Christ. We must be brought to Him. And that's what this is a picture
of. The second thing they knew is this. These men knew that
the Lord Jesus had power to heal their friend. They know He had power to heal
their friend. They knew His ability to help
in time of need. You see, the Lord Jesus, He came
for this very purpose. In this same chapter, notice
verse 17. The publicans and sinners came
to the Lord, and the Pharisees saw that and said, Why does he
eat with publicans and sinners? And the Lord said, verse 17,
They that are whole don't need a doctor, but they who are sick. I've come not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. The Lord Jesus Christ is able
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him. They
knew their friend was a cripple. They knew the Lord Jesus Christ
had all power, all ability to save. And you know what else
they knew? They knew they were helpless.
They knew they were helpless. They knew that they couldn't
heal him at all. Now, notice this. Secondly, here's the second point.
This man had a great affliction. But you know what? This affliction
worked to his benefit, not to a hindrance. It worked to his
benefit. How great a blessing affliction,
sickness, and sorrow may prove to be to us. It was to him that
day, was it not? You see, all things are of God. And all things work together
for good to them who love God, to them who are the cause according
to His purpose. Oftentimes great trials are forerunners
of great blessings. Had this man not been stricken
with this crippling disease, he would not have met the Savior
that day and experienced such blessings. Sin forgiven and a
body healed. Turn, if you will, to Psalm 119.
You need to mark this in your Bible. Next time you are afflicted,
may this ring out and echo in your heart. It is for our good. Psalm 119, look at verse 71. Psalm 119, verse 71. It is good for me that I have
been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. Look at verse
75, I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that
thou in your faithfulness has afflicted me. It is good for
me. It is good for me. You see, in
this story, this affliction that this man was given of God worked
to his benefit. It brought him to the Lord out
of his need. I remember years ago, a dear
friend of mine, by the name of John Howsam. Some of you remember
Brother John. He used to come up here and he
was a little amigo. He was a crippled man. He couldn't
walk. He was given a debilitating disease. One day back in the late seventies,
he lived in a town of Chillicothe, Ohio. And he was a working man. He worked in Port Columbus. And
he drove there every day and he had a very important job.
of figuring the weight that each plane could carry and
where to put it so the plane could take off and land safely.
And he started experiencing some debilitating disease. He had
MS. Multiple Sclerosis. And his legs
got weak and eventually he was flat on his back and he couldn't
walk. Wasn't able to work. Wasn't able to go to work. He
had to take disability. And one day, laying on his back,
he turned the TV on, one Sunday morning, and started to listen
to a preacher named Henry Mahan. And God used that ministry of
one Henry Mahan to the salvation of that man who was afflicted
and laying on his back. And he heard the gospel, and
he listened to it again. He couldn't wait for the next
Sunday. He listened to it again. And one day he called Pastor
Mahan. I'm going to move to Ashland. It's a true story. Some of you
met him. I'm going to move to Ashland.
I want to hear more of that gospel. And he came. Rode that little
amigo, that little electric wheelchair. He came, sat on the front row.
And there he was, every surface, listening to the gospel, listening
to the gospel. And he often said, God gave me
this disease to put me flat on my back that I might hear the
gospel. And that's exactly what's happening
in this story. You see, my friend, our steps
are ordered of the Lord, who is too wise to err, too strong
to fail, too good to do wrong, shall not the judge of all the
earth do right, and whatever our God does, it is right. The old songwriter put it this
way, God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform,
He plants his footstep in the sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in unsearchable minds of
never failing skill, he treasures up his bright design and works
his sovereign will. You fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break with blessings on your
head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his
grace. Behind the frowning providence he hides his smiling face. His purpose will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet, sweet will be the flower. How great a blessing
afflictions and sorrows may prove to be to us. Thirdly is this,
our Lord Jesus Christ who is none other than God our Savior
has all power, ability to justly forgive, pardon the guilty. The Lord Jesus Christ has that
power, has that ability to justly forgive. Look at verse 5 in our
text. When the Lord saw their faith.
Faith is a gift of God. He said to the sick man, the
one who was in need, he says, son. He addresses him as his
son, a son of his love, a covenant son, an adopted son. Son, thy
sin is gone. Can you imagine hearing such
a thing? Your sin is gone. Your sin is
gone. Now be sure you hear this. The
Lord Jesus Christ alone has power to forgive sin. Now be sure you
hear this. No denomination, no church has
power to forgive sin. No council, no minister, no preacher,
no priest has power to forgive sin. None. Only the Lord Jesus
Christ. Neither is there salvation in
any other. There's no other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. He is the only one
who had power to forgive sin. He says in Matthew's account,
Matthew 9, Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins are gone. Our Lord deals
with this man's greatest problem first. He is indeed a paralyzed
man, but that's not his greatest need. His greatest need is he
needs pardon. He's guilty before God. He's
sinned against God. His palsy was bad, but his sin
was far worse. And the Lord dealt with the greatest
issue first, his sin. Notice this, he calls him his
son. His son. This man, though sinful and sick,
is one of the Lord's covenant children. In this life you shall
have tribulation. He's a son by adoption. Adopted
in that covenant of grace. He's a son of God's love of which
the Lord said, All that the Father has given to me, they will come
to me. Behold, I am the children that
you have given to me. Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called sons of God."
He addresses him as that special son of his love. The one for
whom the Lord Jesus Christ is getting ready to mount Calvary's
tree and to die for his sin. And he said, son, if not your
sin shall be forgiven. He said, your sin is gone. You're justified. You're pardoned. He's a son by divine election,
by divine predestination. Notice this, he says, thy sins
forgiven. All sin gone. Original sin, I
mean by that, Adam's guilt that was imputed. Actual sin, sin
that I've committed. Sin of omission, things that
I should have done and didn't. Sin of commission, things that
I should have done and did. All sin forgiven. Turn over here to 1 John. 1 John
chapter 1. What a blessing to hear. What
a blessing to hear such a thing. Thy sin. All thy sin. He didn't say some of it. All
of it. Gone. 1 John. Look what it says right here.
1 John chapter 1. If we walk in the light, as He
is in the light, We have fellowship one with another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. No greater words
can any sinner hear than thy sins are gone. Turn over here
to Romans 4. No wonder Paul said in Romans
chapter 4 that man who is pardoned, justified in Christ, he is a
blessed man. Remember Romans 4 verse 6. Even as David also described
the blessedness of the man. unto whom God imputed righteousness
without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven, whose sins are covered." That's a blessed man. That man
that God has given a perfect righteousness that justifies. Sin all gone. Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not charge my sin to me. That's a
blessed man. Romans 8.1. Turn over there. That's what happened to this
man that day. The Lord pardoned him. Pardoned the guilty. He
died for the ungodly. Romans 8.1. There is therefore
now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation,
no sin, never to be remembered no more. God said there's sin
in their iniquity, well I remember no more. This sin was never an
issue. It was never brought up again
in the courts of God's holy justice. Pardoned. Gone. Separated as
far as the east is from the west. What a blessed, blessed thing
it is to be forgiven. worked on that point and I got
thinking about something. This man was blessed. God said
to this man, this son, your sins are gone. Now here's what I thought
about myself. How can I know my sins are gone? How can I know that my sins are
remitted? That the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses all my sins? How can I? It's personal with
me. Is it with you? I'm a sinner. I want to know.
My sin is gone. I think we can answer that question
by three other questions. Do you have a great high priest?
Do you have a representative? Do you trust him? Turn to Hebrews
2. How can I know my sin is gone?
Well, if I have a great high priest, who stands for me, to
put away my sin, who shed his blood for the ungodly. And that's a description of me.
He says he justifies the ungodly. Hebrews 2. Here is my great high
priest. Here is the reason I have hope.
My sin is gone. Wherefore in all things it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a
merciful, faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,
to make atonement for the sin of the people. I have a great
high priest. He did put away my sin. He says
over here, those who have a great high priest who look to the Lord
Jesus Christ alone, turn to Hebrew chapter 4 verse 14, seeing then
that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmity,
but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace. that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. One other scripture on
that. Do we trust Him to put away all
our sin? Turn over here to Hebrews 9.
Do I have a great high priest? Yes. Yes, I do. Do I trust Him to put away all
my sin? Yes, I do. I believe Him. Look what it says right here. Hebrews 9 verse 11, But Christ,
being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood he entered at once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. In the last
part of verse 26 in the same chapter, he hath appeared to
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Do you believe him? Turn over here to John chapter
3. How do I know the Lord Jesus Christ has put away my sin? Do
I have a great high priest that he deal with my sin? Do I trust
him alone? Yes. All my sin gone. Look what it says right here
in John 3.18. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. John chapter 3 verse 36, He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Turn over here to John chapter
5 verse 24, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my
word and believeth on him that sent me an everlasting life and
shall not come into condemnation." Why? My sin is gone. But it's
passed from death unto life. Now don't miss this one. John
8, 24. Look what it says over here. John 8, 24. I said therefore
unto you that you shall die in your sins For if you believe
not that I am, you'll die in your sin. How do I know my sin
is gone? I have a great high priest who
dealt with my sin and I trust him alone to put away all my
sin. What a blessing! Thy sin forgiven. Now, back to the text. Here's
the fourth point. Our blessed Lord is not only
all-powerful, forgiving sin, He's also all-knowing. He's all-knowing. Verse 6 in our text, down through
verse 9. But there were certain scribes,
Luke says, doctors of the law and Pharisees who were there,
sitting there, reasoning in their hearts. They're watching this
scene. And they're hearing what the
Lord says. And being afraid to speak out, they just kind of
mumble under their breath and say in their heart, but the Lord
knew their heart. Reason in their heart. And they
said, they were thinking in their heart, this man's a blasphemer,
which means this man is speaking evil. Who can forgive sin but
God only? And immediately when the Lord
perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves,
he said, Why do you reason these things in your heart? Whether
it is easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven
thee, or to say, Arise, take up your bed, and walk. They were
right in saying that none can forgive sin but God only, but
very wrong in charging him with speaking evil because he is God.
without controversy, great is the mystery of God, as God was
manifest in the flesh. Now listen to me carefully. If
He's not God over all, blessed forever, He was a blasphemer. And we who worship Him as God,
our Savior, if He's not, we're idolaters. And we're blasphemers. Thank God that He is God, our
Savior. He knew their thoughts. He knew
their heart. He knows all about us. The Lord
of Glory knows us through and through. This is terrifying to
the hypocrites, but I tell you what, it's great comfort to the
believer. When the Lord asked Peter those
three times, Peter, do you love me? Remember what he said? Lord, you know me. As weak and frail as I am, Lord,
You know all things about me. You know that I love You. And believers do love the Lord.
Not like they ought to. Not like they should. Not like
they will one day, will love Him without any sin one day.
But we do love Him. And He knows our heart. Well,
here's the last point. The Lord Jesus clearly and powerfully
demonstrates His deity and His Lordship. His Godhead and His
Lordship. Look at verse 9. Whether it is
easier to say to the sick of the palsy, this paralyzed man,
thy sin be forgiven, that would be pretty easy to say. Or to say, take up your bed and
walk. But that you may know that the
Son of Man has power as the God-man mediator on earth to forgive
sin, you get up and walk and go home. Now, searching question
to the self-righteous accusers. Now, both would be easy to say,
but both would be impossible for man to do. Both would require
divine power, only God speaks and it is done. He says in verse
10, that all may know that I have all power to heal, all power
to forgive, and that we may know, I want to know, that we may know
that He is God our Savior. He demonstrates this clearly
in verse 11. He said to this man, forgiven,
justified, but he's still a cripple, he's still laying on that bed,
and God says to him, you get up, I command you to get up,
to rise up, not only to get up, take your bed, pick it up, put
it on your shoulder, and go home to your friends. Go to your house. Well, what's going to happen?
Something's going to happen. Verse 12, immediately, He arose. When He speaks, it's done. When
He commands, it stands fast. Immediately, this man rose up.
Just as when the Lord spoke with power, your sins are forgiven,
immediately his sins are gone forever. And immediately he arose
and took up the bed and went forth before them all as much
as they were amazed and glorified God saying we never saw it on
that fashion. I want you to look at this scripture
here in Luke 5. Turn over there. Luke chapter
5. I want you to see this because
it's added here in Luke 5, 24, that you may know that the Son
of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. He said to the
sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, arise, take up your couch,
go into your house, and immediately he arose up before them. took
up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying
God. And they were all amazed, and
they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, Well,
we've seen strange things today. Strange things today. Immediately,
this forgiven sinner was completely restored, commanded to take up
his bed, and to go home. To go home. Back in Mark chapter
5, turn over there. Remember when he healed that
wild demoniac that was naked and dwelling in the tombs? And
when the Lord healed him, he told him this. In Mark 5, verse
19, Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but said to him, You go
home to thy friends. Tell them how great things the
Lord had done for thee, and how he had compassion on thee. And
he departed and began to publish and Decapolis how great things
Jesus had done for him and all men did marvel. That day, as
I said earlier, they were all amazed at the power of Christ
and the strength of this man, given to this man. That morning
he left his family crippled, guilty. That evening he comes
home justified and he's walking through the front door. Second,
what his wife asks, Honey, where you been? What happened to you? Oh, this man had something to
say, didn't he? I've met the Master. I've met the Redeemer. He's forgiven all my sin, and
He's made me whole. In Him dwells all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily, and in Christ we are complete. He went home healed and forgiven. And I say with David, this is
the Lord's doing. This is the Lord's doing, and
it's marvelous. In our eyes, we've seen strange
things today. We've seen some sinners who had
no interest in the gospel of God's grace become lovers of
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the strangeness of God's
grace. And that's why old Newton said,
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like
me.