Let's turn in our Bibles this
evening to Mark chapter two. Mark chapter two. And again, he entered into Capernaum
after some days and it was noise that he was in the house. Straightway
many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room
to receive them. No, not so much as about the
door. And he preached the word unto
them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy,
which was born of four. And when they could not come
nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where
he was. And when they had broken it up,
they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When
Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son,
thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the
scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts. Why does this
man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
only? And immediately when Jesus perceived
in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto
them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whither is it
easier to say to the sick of the palsy, thy sins be forgiven
thee, or to say, arise, take up thy bed, and walk? But that
you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive
sins, he saith to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, arise
and take up thy bed and go thy way into thine house. And immediately
he arose, took up the bed, went forth before them all, insomuch
that they were all amazed and glorified God saying, we never
saw it on this fashion. The Lord Jesus Christ was born
In the small town of Bethlehem, as it had been prophesied of
old, the prophet Micah had foretold the place of his birth. But thou,
Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands
of Judah, just a small village, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto
me, that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been
from of old, from everlasting. It was in the city of Nazareth,
after returning from Egypt, when Joseph and Mary were warned to
take the child and flee into Egypt, when they returned, they
turned into Nazareth, and that's where the Lord Jesus Christ was
raised or brought up. And I'm reminded of what Nathaniel
said when Philip found him, his brother, can any good thing come
out of Nazareth? It must have been a city of ill
reproach for whatever reason, the inhabitants of that city.
It was outside the gates of the city of Jerusalem that he was
crucified. But it was the city of Capernaum
where this took place, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. And when Matthew relates this
same history, he tells us that it was his city, that he came
or returned to his city. that is the Lord's city. It was
in Capernaum that the Lord, as we would say, maybe made his
headquarters as he ministered throughout Galilee. The Lord
said it was, that is Capernaum, that it was exalted unto heaven. which means that it was here
in Capernaum where he wrought so many of his wonderful miracles,
his wonderful works. Capernaum was blessed like no
other city because so many of his miracles were wrought in
Capernaum. He also said that it would be
brought down to hell. It would be brought down to hell.
We know it was so destroyed that even till today, its exact location
is not certain. If we had no other passage of
scripture to teach man's responsibility, this alone would be enough. It was here in Capernaum that
he said unto some, verily, verily, I say unto you, You seek me not
because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat the loaves
and were filled. They saw the miracles, which
should have moved them to seek him as the promised Messiah,
but they didn't. They were filled with the loaves
and fishes, and they were more concerned about the material
things of this world than their spiritual relationship with God. There was many in the house this
day to see this miracle. I have a fond memory of preaching
from this passage of scripture many years ago in a very small
place in the southern state of Mexico called Campeche. And it
was a one-room schoolhouse, had a grass roof, sticks made up
the walls, and the walls had not been muddied in like they
eventually do. And so there was people inside
that I was preaching to, but there was also people around
the building that I was preaching to. This house, this day, the
Lord Jesus Christ was in Capernaum, And John Gill believed he was
in an upper, upper room, upper story rather of this house and
maybe preaching through a window out to the people because there
was a large number of people that were gathered. So many that
the only way these people could get their friend before the Lord
Jesus Christ, they had to go up upon the roof and somehow
open the roof up and let him down on his pallet. There was many, many in the house
to see this miracle, which demonstrated that He is the Son of Man, the
Son of Man who had been promised and been called the Son of Man,
especially in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, that He is the
Son of Man who had the power on earth to forgive sins. Now, I want to make four observations
to us tonight from this passage. First, my first observation is
the importance of the written word of God. We cannot stress
this too often. If you notice in verse two, 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 what did He preach to them?
He preached the Word unto them. Here is the eternal Word of God,
who was made flesh, and thus the Son of Man. And what does
He preach? When He spoke, He spoke the Word
of God. But you see, He's here preaching
the Word of God. That is, the Old Testament would
be included in this passage, the word of God. He preaches
the word, the word of grace and truth, the word of life and salvation. In chapter one, verses 12 and
13, Mark tells us that when he was in the wilderness being tempted
or tested by Satan for 40 days, now Mark doesn't tell us, but
both Matthew and Luke when they record our Lord being tested
or tempted by Satan those 40 days that he met every temptation
with the Word of God, with the written Word of God. It is written. Every time Satan came to him
with a temptation or a testing, then he responded back, it is
written. And you remember the first test
there, he responded back, it is written, man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word of God. I must warn all
of us to beware of any, of any who would attempt to take from
us any part of the written word of God. And we live in a time
And we've lived through days when many, not enemies necessarily,
not those who are proclaimed enemies, that is, of the Church
of Christ, but those who claim to be friends, friends of Christ
and friends in the Church, have destroyed and taken away parts
and portions of the Word of God. We have so many great, exceeding
great and precious promises given unto us in his word. John Bunyan
is best known for his book, Pilgrim's Progress. And you all are familiar
with that book and you know that he had different characters,
had different names for different characters in the book. But in
his book, The Holy War, he did something similar in the sense
that he also had characters that he named. And he had one character
he named Clip, C-L-I-P, Clip Promise. Clip in the sense of
cutting away, taking away. And he warned us, and I warn
us again this evening, about Clip Promise, about anyone who
would undermine the Word of God, the promises that He has given
us. These promises are ours. If you
are a child of God tonight, these promises are ours. And Paul tells
us they are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus. They are all
fulfilled in Him. Some of you have seen, maybe
have, that book called The Checkbook of Faith. And I believe in that
book there's a promise given, and that's the check. That's
the check. It's already written out. And
you take it to the bank of heaven, and you receive the promise. Whatever the promise is, it's
yours in Christ. So that's my first observation
tonight, the importance of the written word of God. My second
observation is that God forgives sin. Notice in verse five, when
Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, son,
thy sins be forgiven thee. Now, we should notice that this
was before his death on the cross. Before the Lord Jesus Christ
died, before he shed his blood, he forgave this man his sins. If you look in Romans chapter
three, just a second here, Romans chapter three and verse 25, the apostle Paul says, Romans
3 and verse 25, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood. Now watch this, to declare his
righteousness, that is God's righteousness, to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. What is meant here by the remission
of sins that are passed? Those people who lived before
the propitiation was offered, before Christ died upon the cross. This man, who our Lord said in
the passage we're looking at tonight, Son, thy sins be forgiven
thee. Was God right? Was He just in
forgiving that man's sin before? The propitiation had been offered
before Christ had shed His blood, before He had died in the place
and in the stead of His people. Oh yes, that's what this verse
is telling us, to declare His righteousness. Yes, God was righteous
and God will never forgive any sin in any other way besides
his being righteous. God is righteous. He's just in
forgiving those that he forgave who lived before this propitiation
was set forth. As now, you and I, we live in
a period of time after the propitiation has already been offered, has
already been set forth. But God was righteous in forgiving
those sins of those who were forgiven before Christ died on
the cross, just like the man here in this history. Son, thy
sins are forgiven thee. When we think about God forgiving
sins, and all of us have sins, And all of us should be interested
in how our sins may be forgiven. Well, there's only one way. And that's through that propitiation,
through that sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ offered in
the stead of sinners. Here are five things to know
about God's forgiving sin. Number one, God When He forgives
sins, it is through the blood of His Son. Without the shedding
of blood, we read in Hebrews, without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sins. Your sin, my friend, my sin,
as great as mine are, and I'm sure just the same about you,
there are no little sinners, because all sin is committed
against an infinite God. And our sins would never and
could never be forgiven us if it had not been for the blood
of the Lord Jesus, the death of Christ, Him pain, the sin
dead. When God forgives, He forgives
through the blood of His Son. The second thing about God's
forgiveness, it is full forgiveness. I want you to look with me, if
you will, back in Isaiah chapter 44, just a moment. When God forgives,
He doesn't forgive half of your sins. He doesn't forgive 95%
of your sins, or even 99% of your sins. It's 100%. It's full
forgiveness. Full forgiveness. Every sin. Here in Isaiah chapter 44 and
verse 22 we read, I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions
and as a cloud thy sins. They're just gone. You see a
cloud up in the sky and then it's gone. And God has blotted
out our sins, not most of them, but all of them. They're gone.
I read this past week where one
man, we're told, God cast his sins behind his back. That is behind God's back. You
say, well, where is that? That's the point. They're gone,
if you can find behind His back. But you can't, because God is
everywhere. And so our sins, not most of
them, but when He forgives, He forgives fully, a full pardon. And a third thing about God's
forgiveness, it's free. It's free. If you look in Isaiah
43, They're close by in Isaiah 43 and verse 25. I, even I, am he that blotteth
out thy transgressions for mine own sake. Not for your sake, not for your
prayers, not for your fasting, not for your tears, Not for your
church attendance. No, no. God blots out the sins
of those that He forgives for His namesake. That is, for Christ's
sake. Remember that verse in Ephesians
4 and verse 32. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you. His pardon is through the blood
of Christ. There is no forgiveness without
the shedding of blood. It is full forgiveness. It is free forgiveness. And it's
irrevocable. It's irrevocable. He's not going
to forgive a person today and then come back tomorrow and say,
oh, well, I've changed my mind about that. Oh, no. It's irrevocable. The gifts and calling of God
or without what? Without repentance, without change
of mind. And number five, God forgives
sin in this world. In this world. No sin will be
forgiven once a person leaves this world. Once a person breathes
his last breath in this world, there will be no forgiveness
of sin. I don't care how many masses
are said or sung. I don't care how many candles
are lighted. I don't care how many prayers
are prayed or whatever men may think will serve to cause someone
who's departed to have their sins forgiven. No, as the tree
falls, that's the way it's going to lie. If a man dies with sins
forgiven, he's forgiven forever. If a man dies without his sins
forgiven, he is wicked and with the wicked forever. My third observation, you go
back here with me now to Mark chapter two. My third observation
is that true faith may be seen. True faith may be seen. Here
in verse five, we read, when Jesus saw their faith. You know, some have come to the
Bible and they have said, well, you know, there's a contradiction.
And people, unbelievers, always like to say that. How many times
have you heard that? Oh, the Bible's just full of
contradictions. Yeah, which one? Show me one.
Show me one. Of course, they've never read
the Bible. They don't know anything about the Bible, for the most
part. But they just are sure that the Bible is full of contradictions
because they've heard someone say that. Well, that's not true. Some have said, well, you know,
there's a contradiction between the Apostle Paul and the Apostle
James on this matter of justification, how it is that a man is declared
just before God. There's no contradiction. When
you read the epistle of Romans, read Paul speaking of our justification,
it is our justification before God. Therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. When you read in the letter
of James, and he speaks of our faith being justified. Our faith being justified before
man. That's what he's dealing with.
Our faith being justified before man. If it is faith, it has works. If it isn't true faith, it's
dead. Paul wrote, of faith which worketh
by love. In the letter of Galatians, faith
which worketh by love. What motivates a person to serve
the Lord? He trusts in the Lord, he believes
in Christ, he knows Christ as his Lord and Savior. What motivates
that person to serve the Lord, to honor the Lord? Love. Faith worketh by love. How can
we not love Him who loved us and gave Himself for us? Now,
I know none of us believe that our love is worthy to be mentioned.
I understand that, but we do love Him, don't we? We do. The Lord saw their faith, and
He saw their faith by their works. What can we know about the faith
of these four men that our Lord saw? Well, I've listed these
three things. First of all, their faith. It
was faith that believed that their friend needed to be brought
to Jesus. He was paralyzed. He couldn't
come on his own. Their faith was such that they
believed that this man, who was no doubt their friend, he needed
to be brought to Jesus. He really did. And secondly,
it was faith that believed that the Lord Jesus could heal their
friend. Why else would they bring him?
Why else would they go to the trouble they went to? Knowing
that their friend needed healing, they believed that the Lord Jesus
Christ had the power that he could heal their friend. And I feel comfortable tonight
in saying that these four men had either seen or heard of the
Lord Jesus Christ healing others. And I say that because if you
look back in the first chapter of Mark, Mark chapter 1 and beginning
in verse 21. Now remember, he's in Capernaum
when this miracle was wrought that we are looking at tonight.
Verse 21 says, and when they went into Capernaum, and straightway
on the Sabbath day, he entered into the synagogue and taught.
Do you think maybe those four men were in the synagogue that
day? I don't know. They may well have been. And they were astonished at his
doctrine, for he taught them as one that had authority and
not as the scribes. And there was in their synagogue
a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, saying, Let
us alone. What have we to do with thee,
thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
I know thee who thou art the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked
him saying, hold thy peace and come out of him. And when the
unclean spirit had torn him and cried with a loud voice, he came
out of him. And they were all amazed in so
much that they questioned among themselves saying, what thing
is this? What new doctrine is this? For
with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and
they do obey him. And immediately his fame spread
abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. And look
down to verse 32. After he had gone into Simon's
house, And Simon's wife's mother was sick of a fever. He took
her by the hand and she was healed. And then in verse 32, it says,
and it even, now the Sabbath is over. Remember the Jews, their
day was from evening to evening. And so now the Sabbath has ended
in which he was in the synagogue and cast out that unclean spirit.
And what happens? And it even, when the sun did
set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them
that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered
together at the door. And he healed many that were
sick of diverse diseases, and cast out many devils, and suffered
not the devils to speak, because they knew him. These men, their
faith was, they believed. Their friend needed to be brought
to Christ and bringing him to Christ, that Christ had the power
to heal him. And number three, it was faith
that believed that the Lord Jesus Christ was full of compassion. Full of compassion. I read this
passage, actually I was praying, thinking about this passage the
other day, this past week. And I thought to myself, I don't
remember they said anything to the Lord. And so when I finished
praying, I got my Bible and came to this place and sure enough,
they didn't say anything. That was a blessing to me. May
not be to you, but that was a blessing to me. They believed that Christ
was such a merciful and kind and compassionate person. And
he is. If they could just get their
friend before him, and the Lord Jesus saw him, I'd take care
of it. And that's what happened. That's
exactly what happened. We don't read that they said
anything to Christ. They got him through the roof
and down before the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Lord Jesus Christ
is merciful. You know, mercy consists of two
things. It consists of pity, and it also
does what it's able to do. It's easy to have pity on someone,
but if a person is merciful, as the scripture says, blessed
are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. If a person is
merciful, he not only, she not only will have pity, but will
be moved to do whatever is in his or her power to relieve that
that causes the pity. And the Lord Jesus Christ, He's
merciful. He's compassionate. My fourth
observation is a lesson for you and I tonight. Is there anyone,
can you think of anyone right now that you could wish that
you could bring like these four men brought to the Lord Jesus
Christ and bring that person. Is there someone in your heart,
in your mind, you just wish, I wish I could bring someone,
this particular person, maybe more than one. I wish I could
bring that person to Christ. Well, how can we? How can we
by faith bring one? before the Lord Jesus. He's no
longer here in the flesh like he was here in Capernaum. He's
not here in Houston, Texas. He's not in some house here,
not physically. He's at the Father's right hand.
He's seated on the throne of God, isn't he? But you know,
that doesn't mean that he still is not full of compassion. that
he is still not merciful, just because he's now at the throne
of God. In Hebrews chapter 13 in verse
8, we read Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.
He's just as merciful tonight as he was when he looked on this
man and healed him, forgave him his sins. He's just as merciful,
just as compassion. You know, as God's children,
we have this wonderful thing called prayer. This wonderful
thing called prayer. And while we cannot physically
take someone that we love and bring them, set them before the
Lord Jesus Christ tonight, we can bring them before him in
prayer. We can do that. In fact, we are
exhorted to come boldly. to the throne of grace that we
might find mercy, obtain mercy and find grace to help in the
time of need. In this way, in this way, we
too, like these four, may take others to Christ. We may bring
them to Christ. Not physically, but in our prayers,
we may bring them. And I trust and I know that we
do. There's many here that you're
praying for tonight. And you know there's some, well,
they have no hope. They have no hope whatsoever
unless Christ has mercy on them. They'll go through, I'm thinking
of some, you are too, they'll go through this world just like
they came into it and die and spend eternity in hell. We've
got to bring them to Christ. We can't make him save anyone,
but we have this promise. If we ask anything according
to his will, he hear this. And that's the way we pray, isn't
it? Not our will, but thy will be done. That's the way he taught
us to pray. As our will is done in heaven,
so even upon earth. Well, I pray the Lord would bless
these words to you and to me. It was a blessing to me thinking
about this once again.