We become discouraged when we are prone to lament with
Isaiah, Lord who hath believed our gospel. That's what he said,
Lord who hath believed our gospel. Or perhaps we wrap ourselves
in our mantle and stand with Elijah at the door of the cave
where the sun was going down. Elijah wrapped himself in his
mantle, went to the door of the cave where he'd been living.
The sun was going down. And he said, Lord, I'm the only
one left. Where I work, where I live, I'm
the only one. who really believes God is God. Or perhaps we wonder with the
disciples, who having watched the multitude walk away from
Christ, said, Lord, are there few that be saved? Well, when we get to feeling
that way, we can derive some comfort from the last verse of
chapter 8 of Matthew's Gospel. This was after our Lord had cast
the demons out of the man in the tombs, the Gadarenes, Ganesanes, and he had sent the demons into
the into the herd of swine, and they ran down into the water
and drowned themselves. Verse 33 says, And they that
kept these swine fled, and went their way into the city, and
told everything, and what was befallen to the possessed of
the devils, the fellow that was possessed of demons. He was clothed
in his right mind. Swine were dead, but the man
lay What's the reaction of the people? And behold, the whole
city, the whole village came out to meet Jesus. Isn't that
something? And when they saw him, they besought him that he would
get out of town and stay out. Isn't that something? That's
right. They came out to see this prophet. who had wrought such marvelous
things, and they saw him. But they besought him that he
would depart out of their coast. Just leave, they said, and don't
ever come back. That awesome, isn't it? And we
wonder why people won't hear us. They didn't hear him. An actual man receives not the
things of God. There's foolishness to it. He
was in this world, and the world knew him not. He came into his
own nation, his own temple, and they received him not. So verse
1 of chapter 9 said he entered a ship. He left their shores. He entered into a ship. climbed
aboard, and he passed over the sea, and came into his own city,
his own city. Now this wasn't Bethlehem. This
wasn't even Nazareth. This was Paparnia. This was the
city where he went to dwell after he left Nazareth. This was the
city in which he spent so very much time. And it says, and behold, they
brought to him a man sick of the palsy. Now, we need to turn
over to Mark chapter 2, and I want you just to hold Matthew 9 and
Mark chapter 2 together. Mark gives an account of this
same event. And Mark said in chapter 2, verse 1, and again he entered
into Capernaum. He came to Capernaum, and he
entered a house. After some days, it was noise
abroad that he was in that house. Our Lord came to Capernaum, went
to the house, and it was noise abroad that he was in that house,
and straightway many, many people gathered together, gathered together
to hear him preach, insomuch that there was no room to receive
them. The house was packed. Not even
about the door. You couldn't even get in the
door. They were there, scribes and Pharisees and people from
everywhere. And he preached. He preached
the word unto them. Hope you remember what I said
in a message just recently about don't neglect, make light of,
belittle the preaching of the word. Our Lord left that crowd,
crossed the sea, came to Capernaum, went into a home, and people
came. He didn't discuss things with
them or share things. He preached. Preached. Why'd he preach? The word to
them. Now watch this. And they came unto him, bringing
one sick of the policy, which was born of four. These four
men had a friend who couldn't walk. He was sick of the policy.
So they brought him to Jesus. They believed that Christ could
heal him. They believed that Christ would
heal him. And their faith was so strong. And their desire to
get this man to Christ was so strong. Verse 4 says, when they
could not come down to him, they couldn't get through the door.
For the press, they uncovered the roof. They took the pile
off the roof where he was. When they had broken
the net, they let down the bed. They had some ropes, four men,
on the four corners, holding a rope. And our Lord was standing
here preaching to these people, the multitude packed this hat,
and they looked up and these fellas were moving the towels.
What strong faith, what determination to get this man into the presence
of the Lord. that he might be healed. They
let him down with a rope in front of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
let's go back to our text. See, Mark describes it a little
more fully. Behold, they brought to him a
man sick with a palsy, lying on a bed, and Jesus seeing their
faith. Their faith was evidenced by
their determination to get this man to Christ. And the man himself
was willing to go through all this discomfort. Imagine how
difficult it was on him, how fearful it was as he was let
down in front of that big crowd, in front of the awesome majesty
of our Lord. And he endured all of that discomfort
himself. And our Lord saw their faith
and he said to the sick of the palsy, son, son, be of good Thy sins be forgiven thee. But that wasn't why he came.
This man was there to be healed of this disease. He hadn't walked.
He was there to be healed of this dreadful disease that was
destroying his body. But our Lord said, Son, be of
good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. What do you see in that? Let
me tell you what I see. Number one, our Lord is emphasizing
the cause of this man's problem. Sin is the cause. Sin is the
root of all disease, and all suffering, and all trouble, and
all death. By one man's sin enters this
world, and death by sin, and disease by sin. It all came because
of sin. And this man lying there helpless
on that bed of affliction is the result of sin. Our sins be forgiven him. Sin
put us where we are. Our sins that separate between
us and our God. The second thing our Lord is
showing here is that he came there to be healed. His friends
brought him there to be healed, and they believed he could be
healed. But our Lord showed them that forgiveness of sins is much
more important than the healing of the body. Let's put first
things first. I know that religion today seems
to be taken up with what they would like to have and see and
experience. The eradication of disease, it's
not going to be. The eradication of suffering,
it's not going to be. In this world you shall have
tribulation. In this world you shall have
sickness. In this world you shall have
fiery trials. This body is going to get sick,
it's going to die. But much more important than
the healing of the body is the forgiveness of our sins. the forgiveness of our sins.
That's first and foremost. Lord, wash me and I'll be clean.
Purge me with thyself, I'll be whiter than the snow. I may be
lame, I may suffer, I may be afflicted, I may go through life
according to God's purpose, bearing many afflictions, but my soul
is well. It's well with my soul. That's
it. I believe our Lord is showing
here that his primary purpose of coming into this world was
not to heal these old corrupt bodies. He didn't come into this
world just to heal bodies. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to
save his people from their sins. That's what the angel said to
Joseph. Call his name Jesus. He'll save
his people from their sins. I'm come that they might have
life. and have it more abundantly, not temporarily. He may heal me today of one thing,
but tomorrow I'll encounter something else. And then he said this, he said,
you know the Son? Oh, you know, I went back and
looked, the Son. He didn't say man. He said, son,
son, be of good cheer. Be happy with God, son. Your sins are forgiven. When
a man's sins are forgiven, he's a sinner. Now he's sons of God. In bringing many sons to glory,
it was necessary for the captors of their salvation to become
afflicted to learn obedience by suffering. In bringing many... Oh, I tell you, the Lord Jesus
looked at them and said, sons, sons, your sins are forgiven.
And those are the only people whose sins are forgiven, sons.
That's right. Children of God then erred. joint
heirs with Christ, one of his sons. And then the fifth thing I believe
he's saying is this, the forgiveness of sins comes to those who by
faith come to Christ. He didn't say it to anybody else
there, to this man. This man who came to Christ with
a need, with a hunger, with an affliction, with inability, like
the woman with the issue of blood, if I can get to him, I know I'll
be made whole. If I can just touch God, because
he has all power. Forgiveness of sins comes to
those who come to Christ. That's what our Lord said of
that woman that washed his feet with tears and anointed them
with the precious ointment while the Pharisees were ridiculing.
He said, her sins are forgiven. Her sins are forgiven. And then
I think the next thing that our Lord is showing us here is that
one can be of good cheer. whose sins are forgiven, though
they're still afflicted." He hadn't healed him. He was in the same shape he was
in when he came down out of that hole in the roof. But he said,
now you can rejoice. Now you can be of good cheer.
You've got something to rejoice about. You've got something to
be happy about now. You've got something to bring
cheer to your soul, now your sins are forgiven. My sins, oh,
the bliss of that glorious thought. My sins, not in part, but the
whole, are nailed to the cross and I bear them no more. It's
well, it's well. I'm not well, but it's well with
my soul. That's right. You can bear the other if you
don't bear the sin. But to bear both is impossible. You can bear the other if you
don't bear the sin. But if you bear the sin, the
other is hopeless to bear. And then the scribes and Pharisees
who came down to here and they had something to say In verse
3, and behold, certainly the scribes said within themselves,
this man blasphemes. They said it in their, under
their breath and in their heart. This man blasphemes. Well, let's
see what Mark said. You see, I told you when he came
to the house to preach in Capernaum, they knew him. People knew him
all around there. Many of his mighty works were
done in Capernaum. But even the scribes and Pharisees
came to hear him. So verse 6 of Mark 2 says, And
there were certain of the scribes sitting there, reasoning in their
hearts. Why does this man speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
only? This man blasphemes. They thought
him to be a mere man. And I'll tell you this, if he
is only a mere man, he is blaspheming. If Jesus Christ is only a man
as they thought him to be, he is blaspheming, he is talking
foolishly. They said, and what they said
was true, but what they said was only half of true. Only God
can forgive sin. That's true, but that's not the
whole message. Only God can forgive sin. They
thought they were really expressing something there. Only God can
forgive sin. I believe only God can forgive
sin. Well, hooray for you. But I'll tell you what they ought
to add in. Only God can forgive sin, and God can only forgive
sin if there's a suitable atonement. Think about that. Only God can
forgive sin. Yes, but he won't. He can, but he won't. Unless
there's an atonement. Unless there's a shedding of
blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. You know what Scripture says?
No forgiveness. So these Pharisees, proud Pharisees,
thought they were really saying something. This man blasphemes,
he can't forgive sin, he can't, he's only a man. Only God can
forgive sin, that's right. Only God can, but God won't.
God will in no wise clear the guilty. God will not forgive
sin without a suitable sufficient sacrifice. That's right. Here is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. Christ is the gift of God's love.
Christ didn't come down here to get God in the notion of saving
us. He came down here because God
had purposed already to save us. He didn't come down here
to get God in the notion of loving us. He came because God so loved
this world, he gave it to us. Christ is not the cause of God's
love. He's the result of God's love.
That's right. God set him forth to be a propitiation
for sins, to declare his righteousness, that he might be just and justify
sin. Only God can forgive sin, and
only God can forgive sin, and God can only forgive sin in Christ. In Christ. God can only forgive
sin in Christ. He is our atonement. God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them, but imputing them unto Christ, and Christ
is our atonement. But then our Lord in verse 4,
he said in Jesus, Matthew 9, now verse 4, Jesus, knowing their
He said, why think you evil in your heart? Why do you think
evil of me in your heart? Why did they hate him without
a cause? Why do you think? Why? Listen
to this. Over here in Mark 2. Turn over
there a moment. Mark chapter 2. Mark chapter 2. He asked them
this. Verse 8, and immediately when
Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within
themselves, he said to them, why do you reason these things
in your heart? Which is easier to say, listen
to this carefully, oh the brilliance of our Lord. Which is easier
to say, to the sick of the palsy, Our
sins be forgiven thee, or to say, arise, take up thy bed,
and walk. Which is easier to say? Well,
both are easy to say. Both are easy to say. Anybody
in that room could have said either of those things. Our sins
be forgiven thee, or arise, take up thy bed, and walk. But which
is easier to say with effect? They're both impossible to save
with effect, unless we have divine power. They're easy to save,
they're impossible to do. Only God can forgive sin, and
only God can heal. Life and death in His hands. And our Lord said, back here
in my text, verse 6, Matthew 9, but that you may know That
you may know that the son of man, the son of man, the son
of man, the son of God, really man, has power on this earth,
has power on this earth, the same power he has in heaven he
has on this earth. The same power, all power is
given unto me in heaven and earth. that you may know that the Son
of Man has power in heaven and also on this earth to forgive
sin. Then said he to the sick of palsy,
arise, take up your bed, and go to your house. And verse 7 said he arose, and
the men who brought him there were still upon the roof. He
arose, he stood up, he picked up his cart, His bedroll or whatever
he had, it was stiff enough they let him down by rope. So he picked
up a cot or wherever it was, he picked it up and departed. The Son of Man, our Lord, He's
the only one who has that power. The Son of Man. Only the Son
of Man can forgive sin. Only the Son of Man can give
life, heal souls and bodies. Arrive, take up your bed and
go to your house. And he picked it up. Now what
was the result and the effect on the people? Let's see what
the people, how they're going to react. Back there in the gatherings
with the Guernese when he cast the demons out of that man, what
was their effect? They came down and saw the man
clothed in his right mind, a man they couldn't tame. When the
multitude saw it, they saw it, they heard it. How did they see
it? With natural eyes. With natural ears. They saw it. Just like those people over there
across the water. They saw it. They heard it. They
marveled. You know, a word is said about
they believed. Not a word is said about they
owned him to be the Christ. Now the word is said, like Nicodemus,
you've got to be from God, no man can do this except God be
with him. They marvel. The reason Christ
did these works, it says that they might bear witness that
he's the son of God. He said to his disciples one
day, he said, if you'd believe me for the very work's sake.
But they saw the works and they marveled and listen to what they
said, they glorified God Did they really? You can't glorify
God unless you glorify his son. That's what you can't know God
unless you know the son. You cannot praise God right unless
you praise the son. But they glorified God but not
a right. They said God has given such
power to men. A mere man. has healed a man
of his disease. And God has given this power
to heal to men. Isn't that what preachers are
saying today, these Pentecostal preachers and charismatic preachers,
that God has given us power to heal? God has given us power
to heal. God hasn't given this power to
men. He gave this power to the God-men.
Not to men, to the God-man. He's God. No man can call him
Lord, but by the Holy Spirit. But these men marveled. Isn't
this something? God has given this power to me
to lay hands on folks and heal them. Now this power is vested
in one man. Christ Jesus. One man. Oh, he had a word for these people.
Just a moment, turn to Matthew 11. Our Lord had a word for these
people. Don't forget where this was,
now Capernaum. Matthew 11, 23. And thou Capernaum, and thou Capernaum, which art
exalted to heaven, You are right now, the Son of God's in your
midst. He's walking your streets. He's preaching in your houses.
He's healing your sick. The Son of God's here. You've
been exalted to heaven. You're going to be brought down
to hell. If these mighty works which were done in your presence,
in your houses, in your town, had been done in Sodom, it would
have remained to this day. But I say unto you, it'll be
more tolerable Honorable for the Lamb to spot them in the
day of judgment that's upon him. What an awful judgment. When the multitude saw it, they were amazed, they marveled.
And they said, God's given this power to a mere man. Just a man,
that's all it is. And our Lord Just two chapters
later in the Word it says, Oh, Capernaum, have you been exalted
to heaven? You're going to be brought down
to hell. If God himself had visited Sodom,
it would have remained to this day. It would be easier for Sodom. Well, verse 9. I want to get
to this. Verse 9. Here's the delightful
verse. Verse 9. This shows what happens when
the Lord crosses the path of one of his elect. Here in this
house, he crossed the path of all this multitude of scribes
and Pharisees and religious folks. But here in verse 9, without
miracles, without healing, with just his
word, he crosses the path of a man. and calls him in effectual
power. Listen to verse 9. And as Jesus
passed forth, when he left the house, and left this bunch of
folks, from then, he just passed forth, he saw a man, named Matthew,
the author of this book, sitting at the receipt of customs, He
was a publican. He was a tax collector. He was
a Jew who had a little booth here sitting at the receipt of
customs. A little booth. They usually
kept them in front of the bridge as it came over from a river
or where the boat landed or at the dock or somewhere where the
people came with their goods and taxed them, taxed them, retaxed
them, taxed them. He sat at the receipt of customs.
He sat there. Everybody hated these publicans.
He was a publican. tax collector, a Jew that served
the Romans, they hated him. And our Lord came by this receipt
of the customs and saw this man Levi, Matthew, sitting there,
and he said to him, follow me. And he arose, and Luke said,
left everything right where it was, and followed him. Now I want to tell you something
about this call. It sure was unexpected. Matthew
was a publican. He was in a degrading business.
He wasn't in that crowd over there listening to the preaching.
Finding fault with the preacher. He didn't see the miracle. Our
Lord, too, was departing from the place. He was leaving there
like he had left the gathering. And he called Matthew. Unexpected. And it was unsolved. He probably
knew of Jesus Christ. Everybody in town knew about
him. They were aware of him. But Matthew didn't seek his help.
Matthew didn't try to get in that house. Matthew probably
could have gotten in without any problem. Tell some folks
to move out of the way. But he wasn't there. Matthew didn't seek his help.
Matthew didn't need any help. He thought. He was rich and increased
with goods, had a prosperous job, didn't have need of anything. It's unsolved. Thirdly, his call
was from the Lord, who knew him. Matthew didn't know Jesus, but
Jesus knew him. It says here, when he passed
by, he saw a man. He saw him because he foresaw
him. He knew him because he foreknew
him. Like Jeremiah, God said, before
I formed you in the belly, I knew thee, sanctified you and set
you apart to be a prophet. Our Lord could have said the
same thing of Matthew, before I formed thee in the belly, I
set thee forth to be an apostle, I knew you. Whom he foreknew, He predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his son, whom he predestinated,
he called. He knew. He came by and he saw
him. He knew him. He loved him. He was one of his
own. He said, follow me. Well, this
Matthew's call forth did the man's immediate response. He
said to Matthew, two words, follow me. Follow me. Had Matthew refused
the Savior's call, would the Savior have come back? Think about that a minute. If
he had refused to follow, would he have come back? Well, I don't
know. I just know those whom he calls
respond. He told that man to stretch out
his hand, he did. He told her if I take her to
his bed and walk, and he did. He told Zacchaeus, come down,
and he did. He told John and James, leave
your nets and your father and follow me, and they did. They
just do. I can't explain. Maybe he'll keep coming back.
I don't know. He never did. He said, I know
about it. He said, Matthew, follow me.
And with that command comes the power, with that command comes
the will, with that command comes the desire, with that command
comes the response. It's just so, it's just so. Whom
he calls, whom he predestinates, he calls. Whom he calls, he justifies. And the next thing about this,
Abraham, get thee out of our fathers house. Oh, why could I persecute his
family? He just do. And this call was more than an
invitation. You don't issue an invitation,
follow me. You ask an invitation, would
you like to follow me? Could you find it in your heart
to follow me? That's a command is, follow me. Follow me. The way I preach, I got from
my Lord. I preach with soulness. I preach with conviction. I preach
totally persuaded this was so. I don't even entertain any diversion
from anybody. It's just so. Follow me. It's
simple. Follow me. It's personal. He said to him. He didn't say
to anybody else. He didn't say to the crowd. He
said to him. He saw him and he said to him. He said to him. You see that? He said to him. Follow me. Nobody else. Follow me. And it was to follow Christ.
It wasn't to follow fellows around him, the apostles, or the law,
or the temple, or the Pharisees, follow me. And Matthew's call, like all
whom he called, was obeyed. It said, and he arose. And as
I said, Luke said, he left all! And he followed it. And you know
what he called himself after that? Turn to Matthew 10. Matthew
10. Here's the name of the 12 apostles. Matthew 10, verse 2, 3, and 4.
Here's all 12 apostles. Matthew 10, 2, 3, and 4. Matthew's
writing here. Now the names of the 12 apostles
are these. The first, Simon, who is called
Peter. Andrew, his brother. James, the
son of Zebedee. John, his brother. Bartholomew
Thomas and Matthew the publican. Oh don't you love that. The rat. The traitor. The tax collector. Matthew writes about himself.
He didn't identify any of the rest of them as being publicans
but him. Matthew the publican. Isn't that
something Years after that, when he was writing about this, he
said his disciples had a fellow named Matthew who was a publican. And then Matthew had a dinner,
verse 10. He gave a dinner for all his
friends, all the publicans and sinners he knew. He invited them
to dinner to meet his Lord. I call this a farewell dinner.
Matthew was saying goodbye to all his old cohort. and companions
and friends. But before he left them, he wanted
them to hear his Lord. He said, bye fellas, I won't
be with you anymore. I won't be on the collection.
I won't be making the debit. I'm leaving. I'm following the
Lord Jesus. But I want you to hear him whom I follow. So he
invited them all to his house. That's where they went, verse
10. Came to pass, Jesus sat at meat. You remember, Zacchaeus
invited them for dinner. Lydia invited Paul for dinner.
That's right. And Matthew invited the Lord.
And they sat down, and the King of Christ, Jesus, set it meet
in the house, and many publicans. Matthew got the whole outfit.
And sinners! All his friends. His old buddies. They came and sat down with him
and his disciples. Well, the Pharisees weren't far
away. They never were very far away. They were always hounding
you and agitating you and napping at your heels like a little old
feisty Chihuahua dog. Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck,
yuck. Remember when you flipped the nose of that one, Paul, that
time, they were always barking. That's what these Pharisees were
always, yacking at your heels. They never are very far away.
They saw him sitting with the public in the center. And they
said to the disciple, why does your master eat with publicans and senators? Looks like he'd
be down at the temple associating with us learned moralists, you
know, us legalists, us disciplinarians. Our Lord heard that. And he said
to them, David, behold, do not need a position. Well, people don't go to doctors.
Sick people do, because they need them. Now go ye and learn
what that meaneth. That was an old saying the Jews
had way back. Go learn what it meaneth. That
doesn't mean he's dismissing them, you know. He says you put
forth some effort. Do some searching. Do some research.
Do some studying. Find out what this means. This
is vital. This is the key issue. This is
vital. Learn what it means. I'll have
mercy. I delight to show mercy, God
says. I'll be merciful to whom I'll be merciful. I don't delight
in sacrifice and offerings and all these things. I delight in
mercy. I'm not come to call good people,
righteous people to repentance. I come to call sinners. I've come to call sinners. I
will have mercy. I've come to call sinners, not the righteous. Wouldn't you like to have been
at that dinner? Oh my, farewell dinner.