SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: Good morning.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody left up here a paper that says a minister's prayer.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder if that's a hint.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know who that is.
SPEAKER_01: Good morning, welcome.
SPEAKER_01: Take your Bible if you have it or your device and open it to the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 9.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew, chapter 9.
SPEAKER_01: We've been working our way through this book.
SPEAKER_01: If you are visiting with us, I want to welcome you.
SPEAKER_01: We are just systematically working our way through the Gospel of Matthew.
SPEAKER_01: And it regularly astounds and humbles me at how sovereignly providential our God is.
SPEAKER_01: And yet it's on a communion Sunday that the Lord has caused us to arrive at a passage that is all about the Lord's ability to forgive.
SPEAKER_01: That's something that only God does, and he does it routinely.
SPEAKER_01: This is your God.
SPEAKER_01: Let's see him together.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter 9, beginning in verse 2.
SPEAKER_01: And behold, some people brought to Jesus a paralytic lying on a bed.
SPEAKER_01: And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: And behold, some of the scribes said to him, said to themselves, This man, this one here, is blaspheming.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus, seeing their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil in your hearts?
SPEAKER_01: For which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise and walk.
SPEAKER_01: But, in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he then said to the paralytic, Rise and pick up your bed and go home.
SPEAKER_01: And he rose and he went home.
SPEAKER_01: And when the crowds saw it, they were afraid and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jesus, enable us to see you clearly today.
SPEAKER_01: And to go home amazed.
SPEAKER_01: By your your spirit working in and among us, strip away the pretensions that we have in our prideful nature that we know you, that we can see you, that we understand you.
SPEAKER_01: Grant us a humility that enables us to see you as you truly are, and to be humbled and amazed at what you've done for us.
SPEAKER_01: Will your people ask this, Lord Jesus, of you, our Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: So you have a friend who is desperate for healing.
SPEAKER_01: You know this kind of person.
SPEAKER_01: You've been friends for years.
SPEAKER_01: You've grown up in the same community.
SPEAKER_01: You know the struggles that your friend has had of going to one doctor after another after another, and it just seems like instead of getting help, there's just a new diagnosis.
SPEAKER_01: There's a new medication.
SPEAKER_01: Specialist after specialist after specialist, appointment after appointment, sometimes scheduled months or even years in advance.
SPEAKER_01: And the result is not healing, not comfort, but medical debt.
SPEAKER_01: Medical debt so substantial that you can't even begin to see your way out of it.
SPEAKER_01: And then you hear, then you hear that a guy with a reputation for healing is coming to Grand Forks.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone is talking about him, everyone's excited for him.
SPEAKER_01: This is the guy.
SPEAKER_01: What do you do?
SPEAKER_01: Would you take your friend to see this healer in order to have his or her sins forgiven?
SPEAKER_01: Would you take your friend who is in desperate need of physical healing to have their sins forgiven?
SPEAKER_01: Let me answer that for you.
SPEAKER_01: Of course you wouldn't.
SPEAKER_01: No, you wouldn't.
SPEAKER_01: You would take your friend for physical healing to rescue them from a lifetime of struggle.
SPEAKER_01: Now we're not talking about Benny Hinn here.
SPEAKER_01: This is not about charlatans peddling a false healing with a false gospel, brimming with false hope because of false miracles.
SPEAKER_01: This is Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: This is the one who touches lepers and they're cleansed.
SPEAKER_01: This is the one who speaks a word and diseases are gone.
SPEAKER_01: This is the one who commands the winds and the waves.
SPEAKER_01: This is the one whom demons obey.
SPEAKER_01: We would all take our friend to be rescued from the curse of sickness and disease.
SPEAKER_01: Finally, once and for all, we can help them.
SPEAKER_01: And therein lies our problem.
SPEAKER_01: We act on felt needs and perception instead of truth and reality.
SPEAKER_01: See, the nature of sin means that every part of us is somehow distorted.
SPEAKER_01: And so we naturally incline towards what looks good, towards what feels good, and what sounds good according to ourselves in the moment.
SPEAKER_01: Here's an experiment to try.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you have already lived this, and so you know what I'm going to say.
SPEAKER_01: But if you haven't, give it a try.
SPEAKER_01: Go home this afternoon and go through your refrigerator.
SPEAKER_01: And go through your freezer and your kitchen cabinets and a pantry if you have one, and make a grocery list based off of what you already have on hand.
SPEAKER_01: Think through what you're going to need for the rest of this next week based on truth, on what you have on hand.
SPEAKER_01: That is, you're going to look at the reality of what you already possess and what you are lacking in need for your food for the next week.
SPEAKER_01: Then go to the grocery store and fill your list.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Keep track of everything that you purchased that was not on your original list.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Some of you are with me already.
SPEAKER_01: Now, next week, skip the list.
SPEAKER_01: Just find some time to go shopping for groceries.
SPEAKER_01: You know, the end of the day when you are hungry and ready for supper might make an especially poignant time.
SPEAKER_01: Go to the store and walk up and down the aisles, looking at what's on the shelves, and purchase what you think you need for the next week.
SPEAKER_01: Then when you get home, make a list, lay everything out and make a list of what you purchased that day that was out of the ordinary.
SPEAKER_01: And then compare the lists from week one and week two.
SPEAKER_01: What do you think you'll see?
SPEAKER_01: Some of you have already been there, right?
SPEAKER_01: The second trip will have far more of what you actually don't need, but sounded really good.
SPEAKER_01: Because you were tired or you were hungry, or hey, that was a good price.
SPEAKER_01: Even though it might sit on the shelves for three years and expire and go in the trash.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it felt satisfying to you in the moment.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the second list, the second shopping trip, not list, without a list, was filled almost entirely on felt needs and your perception of reality, what you needed or felt like you needed, or sensed you needed in the moment.
SPEAKER_01: The second trip will always have more of that.
SPEAKER_01: Every time.
SPEAKER_01: It will happen every time.
SPEAKER_01: Unless you're some kind of savant who can keep an accurate list of all the things in your home in your mind and stick to it every single time you go to the grocery store, you will always come home with less than you actually need and more that felt good in the moment if you go without a list.
SPEAKER_01: Am I wrong, ladies?
SPEAKER_01: The husbands always come back with something else, right?
SPEAKER_01: They don't.
SPEAKER_01: Sorry, guys, it's true.
SPEAKER_01: Why is that?
SPEAKER_01: It's because we are fallen creatures who act on felt needs and perception rather than truth.
SPEAKER_01: Let me shift shift this a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: Why do false teachers thrive?
SPEAKER_01: Why do false teachers get get these massive television deals to be broadcast in front of millions and billions of people?
SPEAKER_01: Why do prosperity teachers gain huge followings when there is very little truth in what they say?
SPEAKER_01: Why do Christian booksellers thrive on selling trash?
SPEAKER_01: Why do Christians buy into books and teachers that lead them astray little by little, inch by inch?
SPEAKER_01: Why do we buy into things that make us feel good rather than convicted?
SPEAKER_01: No, if if we had a desperate friend who needed physical healing, we would not take him to be forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: We would see his physical need of healing as primary and understand that man can heal.
SPEAKER_01: There's hope there.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to take my friend to see Jesus, and I'm going to do whatever I can to get him to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Think about your own trials.
SPEAKER_01: Whatever it might be.
SPEAKER_01: Physical trial, a family issue, an emotional struggle, a financial struggle, whatever.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine being desperate about your personal situation and going to see a counselor and hearing from the counselor, your sins are forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, that will rarely happen today because most counseling today is not confrontative.
SPEAKER_01: It's not kind and loving to point out somebody's sin and call them to repentance.
SPEAKER_01: But try to imagine it.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine being desperate about your finances because you've contracted COVID-19 and you've lost your job as a result of it, and you go and you seek help from a counselor who listens to your plight and all of your bills that are coming up and your inability to sustain your family, and then your counselor says to you, Your sins are forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: Excuse me.
SPEAKER_01: You might think, and how is that helpful?
SPEAKER_01: Now that's a hypothetical situation, obviously.
SPEAKER_01: But it's not hypothetical with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Luke tells us that Jesus was in a home.
SPEAKER_01: And that religious leaders from all around were filling the place like sardines in a can.
SPEAKER_01: Now, all of you are gonna go buy sardines, right?
SPEAKER_01: Because I placed that into your head.
SPEAKER_01: They were there trying to figure this guy out, this Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you've been following along with us in the Gospel of Matthew, we know, right?
SPEAKER_01: We know that this is the Son of Man, that Daniel saw in a vision of heaven in the throne room of heaven.
SPEAKER_01: This is God the Son.
SPEAKER_01: We know this is Messiah King who came to overthrow Satan's world system and to rescue his people.
SPEAKER_01: We know that everything, including the wind and the waves and demons, all answer to Jesus, but these people don't know that.
SPEAKER_01: Some were beginning to figure those truths out in some measure of comprehension.
SPEAKER_01: But these religious leaders, these scribes, weren't buying into that.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus was popular.
SPEAKER_01: He gathered crowds everywhere he went.
SPEAKER_01: Some were inspired by his teaching.
SPEAKER_01: There was something in what he said that attracted them.
SPEAKER_01: Some were attracted by his miracles.
SPEAKER_01: Some wondered if he might be the political savior that they had been anticipating coming.
SPEAKER_01: But not these religious leaders.
SPEAKER_01: Not these churchgoers.
SPEAKER_01: They saw Jesus and he looked, sounded, and smelled like a rebel.
SPEAKER_01: Not the good kind of rebel, the kind that God warned against.
SPEAKER_01: They felt they needed to protect their system because this guy looked like a fake and they were out to prove it.
SPEAKER_01: But their perceptions were wrong, weren't they?
SPEAKER_01: What they felt to be true, it kept them from believing in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Your felt needs and your perceptions of reality can all be very, very wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Now, in really one fell swoop, Jesus exposes this paralyzed man's greatest need, and he reveals the scribes' greatest failures.
SPEAKER_01: And as we follow along with Matthew, we we, Lord willing, will have some of those things exposed in us as well.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Mark's gospel tells us that the house was so packed that these friends that were bringing their friend on a stretcher couldn't even get to the front door.
SPEAKER_01: It's like the paparazzi surrounding the home.
SPEAKER_01: Thankfully, though the homes of those days had flat roofs, so you could spend a nice, comfortable evening up on the roof.
SPEAKER_01: So they found the staircase that went up the side of the roof and they went up top of the roof, carrying their friend on a stretcher.
SPEAKER_01: That must have been a ride.
SPEAKER_01: Then imagine the paralyzed man on the roof, laying on the stretcher, watching his friend start taking out the roof tiles.
SPEAKER_01: Thinking, what are they doing?
SPEAKER_01: They start taking apart the roof, dismantling it so they can lower their friend down into the house to be with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We don't know how far they've carried him.
SPEAKER_01: We don't know the kind of looks that they got.
SPEAKER_01: They don't know if there were jeers and sneers from the crowd as they carried him up the staircase alongside the house.
SPEAKER_01: We can surmise that they had a deep love for their friend.
SPEAKER_01: But what Matthew reveals to us is none of that.
SPEAKER_01: What Matthew reveals to us is their faith.
SPEAKER_01: Their faith.
SPEAKER_01: Something about Jesus moved them enough to believe that if they could just get their friend to Jesus, Jesus would take care of what he needed.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus saw their faith.
SPEAKER_01: That's our clue that Jesus is about to flip everything upside down, or probably more accurately, to turn it right side up.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus saw their faith.
SPEAKER_01: Now these friends have faith at least that Jesus can heal.
SPEAKER_01: We know nothing more about them than that.
SPEAKER_01: But the scribes are thinking evil in their hearts.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus sees it all.
SPEAKER_01: The scribes think they they see the major problem here in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus is about to reveal truth to all of them.
SPEAKER_01: Let's begin with the paralytic's greatest need.
SPEAKER_01: His greatest need is not physical healing.
SPEAKER_01: The paralyzed man's greatest need is not his ability to use his feet again or to use his hands again.
SPEAKER_01: His greatest need is not to be carried everywhere.
SPEAKER_01: Unknown to everybody who's looking on the outside, his greatest need is spiritual healing.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Matthew assumes that we already know the rest of the story.
SPEAKER_01: We already know those details about how he was brought up onto the roof and let down through the roof.
SPEAKER_01: That really isn't important to Matthew.
SPEAKER_01: His emphasis is not on the method by which they got him to Jesus, but that it was the faith in them that drove them to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus sees this faith.
SPEAKER_01: Let's understand what faith is.
SPEAKER_01: Faith is a fundamental and imperative aspect of a relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: It's not a type of mystical power where you simply believe in something and it comes true, you know, like a like a make a wish upon a star kind of thing.
SPEAKER_01: It's not a wishful hoping when you aren't quite sure of the facts.
SPEAKER_01: Faith is an attitude, it's a propensity, it's a tendency to trust God.
SPEAKER_01: The faith displayed by the friends of the paralyzed man was an attitude, it was a disposition towards Jesus that trusted that that man had the power to heal their paralyzed friend.
SPEAKER_01: They believed that Jesus was able to do great and magnificent things, and they trusted him with the healing of their friend.
SPEAKER_01: They said, We trust Jesus with our friend.
SPEAKER_01: He will do what's right, he will do what's best because he can do it.
SPEAKER_01: And they perceived that getting their friend to Jesus was the most important thing to do in the moment.
SPEAKER_01: They would do whatever they could to get their friend to Jesus for healing, and that's actually where this story begins to get interesting.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus told the paralyzed man, take heart, my son or my child.
SPEAKER_01: Your sins are forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: Do you hear the gentleness there?
SPEAKER_01: There's a kindness and a compassion and a grace there in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: They've probably been trying to push through the crowd and getting all kinds of bad looks and getting yelled at for trying to get in the house.
SPEAKER_01: And they go to all this work to dismantle the roof and they let their friend in, and Jesus says, Be encouraged, my son.
SPEAKER_01: Be encouraged.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Not because you're gonna walk out of here today.
SPEAKER_01: Not because your friends don't have to carry you anymore.
SPEAKER_01: Be encouraged because your sins are forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: Now, something's going on here that we can't really see in our English translations.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus isn't merely stating a fact.
SPEAKER_01: He's not saying, Yeah, your sins are forgiven now.
SPEAKER_01: He's emphasizing that right then and there, in that moment, on the spot, Jesus was forgiving the man's sins by his own authority without any atonement for them being made.
SPEAKER_01: And that would have set the religious leaders off.
SPEAKER_01: Because sins were only forgiven if there was atonement made.
SPEAKER_01: If there was a sacrifice given at the temple, blood had to be shed in order for sin to be forgiven, but Jesus simply forgives it then and there, on the spot.
SPEAKER_01: Then the man's paralysis is obvious to everyone, right?
SPEAKER_01: How could it not be?
SPEAKER_01: That's what drove the friends to bring him to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It's possible that all these religious leaders had even been a part of trying to heal him, of praying for him.
SPEAKER_01: We don't know those kinds of details.
SPEAKER_01: They may have known him.
SPEAKER_01: But they couldn't perceive the depth of his sin problem.
SPEAKER_01: My friends, the problem of sin is our most fundamental problem in life.
SPEAKER_01: It is the most fundamental problem that you and I will ever face.
SPEAKER_01: That's the truth.
SPEAKER_01: And that is the reality that Jesus came to address.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that where Matthew began?
SPEAKER_01: He told Joseph and Mary, you're going to call the name of your son Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because he will save his people from their sins.
SPEAKER_01: This paralyzed man's most fundamental problem was his sin problem.
SPEAKER_01: Now, was there suffering in his paralysis?
SPEAKER_01: Surely.
SPEAKER_01: How could there not be?
SPEAKER_01: Was there pain involved in his paralysis?
SPEAKER_01: Again, how could there not be?
SPEAKER_01: Was there mental anxiety and stress and his inability to care for himself?
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: That makes perfect sense.
SPEAKER_01: But in this moment, Jesus is saying, all of those issues that you encounter in life because of your trials and because of your pain and because of the curse of sin, all of those things are secondary.
SPEAKER_01: From an eternal perspective, the forgiveness of sins is a much greater issue.
SPEAKER_01: It is a much greater need and a much greater gift than physical healing or any other issue.
SPEAKER_01: Only eternity will show to us how much more grace the man received in forgiveness than he did in physical restoration.
SPEAKER_01: Do you want more grace from God?
SPEAKER_01: Do you want grace from God to deal with life?
SPEAKER_01: Then begin seeking eternal things over earthly things.
SPEAKER_01: And start with seeking forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: Start with seeking to be made right with God and following Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says to this man, in essence, I am healing the fundamental problem in your life.
SPEAKER_01: You thought that your paralysis was your real problem.
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you that that is not your real problem, but I'm going to heal what is your real problem.
SPEAKER_01: What those friends lowered down from the rooftop and laid before Jesus was not fundamentally a paralytic, but a sinful man.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus, rather than shrinking back and responding with some kind of revulsion, instead he responds with pure, unmerited grace.
SPEAKER_01: And isn't that the perfect picture of salvation?
SPEAKER_01: It's the way salvation works.
SPEAKER_01: It's not us and God.
SPEAKER_01: It's not I do something and then God, God does something for me.
SPEAKER_01: It's all of God, it's all of grace.
SPEAKER_01: But our difficulty is that we see that our sin and our relationship with God is not more important than our everyday lives.
SPEAKER_01: We tend to look at what's around us and give it greater significance because it's what we feel, it's what we sense, it's what we see.
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask some challenging, thought-provoking questions.
SPEAKER_01: Not intended for anything other than to make you think.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, this is not in any way judgmental.
SPEAKER_01: Are you concerned about the coronavirus?
SPEAKER_01: Does it give you more fear than your sin gives you fear?
SPEAKER_01: Are you more concerned about physical death than you are your spiritual life or death?
SPEAKER_01: Are you more afraid of contracting a virus than you are of disobeying the one who bought you with his blood?
SPEAKER_01: Are you concerned about your approaching retirement and preparing for it?
SPEAKER_01: Does it give you more concern than your walk with Christ?
SPEAKER_01: Are you concerned about getting married, making it through college, surviving without a loved one, or enduring disease or cancer?
SPEAKER_01: Those are all real, real life concerns that I am not at all interested in minimizing.
SPEAKER_01: But what we must do is put everything in this life into proper perspective and the proper place in light of eternity and in light of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: We must get our eyes off of ourselves and onto Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: What's the problem here?
SPEAKER_01: The problem is Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: The problem is scripture.
SPEAKER_01: The scripture is taught, and the scribes believed accurately, rightly, that only God could forgive sin.
SPEAKER_01: Only God could forgive sin.
SPEAKER_01: Let me run through a bunch of passages for you quickly.
SPEAKER_01: If you want, you can just write down the reference.
SPEAKER_01: Mark chapter 2, beginning in verse 7.
SPEAKER_01: Who can forgive sins but God alone?
SPEAKER_01: That's a New Testament passage referencing Old Testament theology.
SPEAKER_01: If you're interested, and I encourage you to be interested in applying what you believe to your life, sign up for foundations.
SPEAKER_01: Jeff and Scott will be available for you for questions and answers later.
SPEAKER_01: They want to shepherd you through that.
SPEAKER_01: This was looking back at what people believed and saying, What does that mean for my life?
SPEAKER_01: And they said, Who can forgive sins but God alone?
SPEAKER_01: Well, Daniel answered that in Daniel chapter 9, verse 9.
SPEAKER_01: To the Lord our God, to Yahweh our God belongs mercy and forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: You want it clearer?
SPEAKER_01: Isaiah 43.
SPEAKER_01: God says, I am He who blots out your transgressions.
SPEAKER_01: Not because I want to be kind to you.
SPEAKER_01: Not because I want to give you something.
SPEAKER_01: But for my own sake.
SPEAKER_01: And I will not remember your sins.
SPEAKER_01: Psalm 130.
SPEAKER_01: If you, O Lord, should mark, should should keep track of iniquities, if you kept a list of every time I sinned against you, O Lord, who could stand?
SPEAKER_01: What's the answer?
SPEAKER_01: Nobody.
SPEAKER_01: But with you there is forgiveness, so that you might be feared.
SPEAKER_01: Nehemiah knew this.
SPEAKER_01: Nehemiah said to God, praying before the community of Israel, but you are a God who is ready to forgive, who is gracious, who is merciful, who is slow to anger, who is abounding in steadfast love.
SPEAKER_01: Is it any wonder then that when we turn the page from the end of the prophet of Malachi to Matthew chapter 1, we read of the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
SPEAKER_01: See, the scribes were right in a sense.
SPEAKER_01: Only God can forgive sins.
SPEAKER_01: They were right.
SPEAKER_01: And if Jesus was merely a man, as they perceived him to be, verse 3, this man, this one right here is sinning.
SPEAKER_01: He's blaspheming.
SPEAKER_01: If Jesus was merely a human being, they would be absolutely right.
SPEAKER_01: Their perceptions, however, were not truth, were they?
SPEAKER_01: Now it's very unlikely that the paralytics friends saw his sin as his greatest problem.
SPEAKER_01: Generally, you and I don't look at each other and see our sin as our greatest problem.
SPEAKER_01: But these friends' perception was not accurate.
SPEAKER_01: Their perceptions blinded them to the truth.
SPEAKER_01: See, spiritual needs are far greater than physical needs.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus came to heal the spiritual need.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus' critics were the same.
SPEAKER_01: They were blinded as well, but they were blinded by their perception of who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_01: They have two options.
SPEAKER_01: One is that Jesus is blaspheming.
SPEAKER_01: He is merely a man who is assuming something for himself that was not true, that only belonged to God.
SPEAKER_01: He was assuming the power and the authority and the right to forgive.
SPEAKER_01: That only belongs to God.
SPEAKER_01: And if Jesus is a human being, merely a human being, then he is blaspheming.
SPEAKER_01: That's option number one.
SPEAKER_01: Option number two is he is actually God.
SPEAKER_01: And he does indeed have the authority to forgive sin.
SPEAKER_01: Which one do they choose?
SPEAKER_01: Blasphemy.
SPEAKER_01: We've seen the paralytic's greatest need now.
SPEAKER_01: Let's notice the scribes' greatest failure.
SPEAKER_01: Living by false perceptions.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, as we look to Jesus, as we as we pursue Jesus through his word, seeing more of him, understanding more of him, knowing more of him, must bring truth to our perceptions.
SPEAKER_01: The scene changes a bit here in verse 3 from attention being given to the paralyzed man to the scribes.
SPEAKER_01: The scribes are thinking within themselves that Jesus is blaspheming.
SPEAKER_01: It could be that they're whispering to one another.
SPEAKER_01: We don't know that.
SPEAKER_01: It seems more likely that what's going on here is that Jesus is able to see their thoughts running through their minds.
SPEAKER_01: They're all thinking along the same wavelength.
SPEAKER_01: They're processing through their perception.
SPEAKER_01: What have they just perceived?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says to a man lying on a stretcher, your sins are forgiven, my son.
SPEAKER_01: Be encouraged.
SPEAKER_01: How does a theologian process that?
SPEAKER_01: How does a Bible scholar think through a man saying your sins are forgiven?
SPEAKER_01: They're reflecting in their minds on what Jesus has just said, and Jesus sees their thoughts.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus sees the demonstration of faith in the friends, he knows their faith, he sees that, and he also sees the inward lack of faith in the scribes.
SPEAKER_01: And notice how Jesus responds to the scribes.
SPEAKER_01: Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?
SPEAKER_01: Who, me?
SPEAKER_01: I'm not the one thinking evil here, buddy.
SPEAKER_01: Proverbs 14, 12 says, there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
SPEAKER_01: These scribes are well on their way to choosing the way of death.
SPEAKER_01: But they think they've chosen the right way.
SPEAKER_01: See, they knew that only God could forgive sin.
SPEAKER_01: They could probably give you a greater list of statements than I've just given you about only God forgiving sin.
SPEAKER_01: Just off the top of their heads.
SPEAKER_01: But they were failing to grasp the truth.
SPEAKER_01: They understood that Jesus was claiming to be God by saying he had the authority to forgive sins, but they failed to actually believe in what they were hearing.
SPEAKER_01: They failed to believe that Jesus is God.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus says in response that believing that he was blaspheming, that he was lying, was not simply an amoral agnosticism.
SPEAKER_01: He says it is evil.
SPEAKER_01: Failing to believe that Christ is God with the power to forgive is evil.
SPEAKER_01: That's what Jesus says.
SPEAKER_01: How do you prove that?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, Is it easier to say that your sins are forgiven?
SPEAKER_01: Or easier to say, rise and walk?
SPEAKER_01: Notice that he did not say which is easier to do.
SPEAKER_01: Details are important, friends.
SPEAKER_01: He said, which is easier to say?
SPEAKER_01: Which one is easier to say?
SPEAKER_01: Now think about that for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: If Jesus says your sins are forgiven, how does he prove that?
SPEAKER_01: How does anybody challenge that in a real sense?
SPEAKER_01: There's no way to substantiate that claim.
SPEAKER_01: So, in a sense, it's very easy to say your sins are forgiven because nobody can challenge that.
SPEAKER_01: No one can come back and contradict it.
SPEAKER_01: However, if you say to a paralyzed man who's just been let down through the roof by his friends, rise and walk and go home, people can see for themselves right away if there's anything to it.
SPEAKER_01: If Jesus says to the man, get up off your mat and go home, and the man can't even lift a finger, then Jesus is a fake.
SPEAKER_01: He has no power, he has no authority, then his ability to forgive sin is just blasphemy.
SPEAKER_01: So in that sense, saying rise and walk is more difficult because it can be evaluated.
SPEAKER_01: And so Jesus, in his grace, offers some evidential proof.
SPEAKER_01: Notice, he says, this is my purpose, so that you might know.
SPEAKER_01: Know what?
SPEAKER_01: Not the power to heal, but the authority to forgive.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, I am the Son of Man, I'm the one who Daniel saw in the throne room of heaven.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus is now bringing home to those present the reality that He is Messiah, He is God with us.
SPEAKER_01: And so He says to the paralyzed man, rise and get up and go home.
SPEAKER_01: With a healing, Jesus proves that He can heal your greatest problem.
SPEAKER_01: He possesses the authority to forgive sin.
SPEAKER_01: And he does the harder thing and heals the man so that you and I might know that you can go to him for forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: You don't go to any other person.
SPEAKER_01: We need to understand that seeing the truth of Jesus is what brings true restoration.
SPEAKER_01: Now the healing here is immediate and comprehensive.
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus forgave the man's sin, it was immediate.
SPEAKER_01: Right then and there, his sins were forgiven, and the physical healing is a picture of the spiritual healing, right?
SPEAKER_01: The real thing that's going on here is the forgiveness of sins.
SPEAKER_01: It's the spiritual reality.
SPEAKER_01: The physical issue pictures that.
SPEAKER_01: It could have been from birth.
SPEAKER_01: But the minute you stop using those muscles, they start to atrophy.
SPEAKER_01: You start to decline.
SPEAKER_01: And in an instant, the man's muscles and his muscle memory is all there and active and usable.
SPEAKER_01: And remember, that's a picture of the reality.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, the real issue is your sins are this very moment forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: And he rose and went home.
SPEAKER_01: I love that sentence.
SPEAKER_01: And he rose and went home.
SPEAKER_01: The authority of Jesus becomes eternally applicable.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, we're in this section from the end of chapter 7 to this point in chapter 8, all about Jesus' authority.
SPEAKER_01: Who is this man and why can he say and do what he does?
SPEAKER_01: And it's not just his ability to heal a leper, it's not just his ability to calm a temporal storm, it's not even his ability to get his disciples safely through a place that people couldn't go before because of the demons.
SPEAKER_01: It now becomes applicable for all of eternity because your sins can be forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Why can they be forgiven?
SPEAKER_01: Because his name's Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And he will save his people from their sins.
SPEAKER_01: How can he save his people from their sins?
SPEAKER_01: Because he is Emmanuel.
SPEAKER_01: God with us.
SPEAKER_01: Instantly restoring a broken body proves he can instantly forgive sin.
SPEAKER_01: Just consider for a moment.
SPEAKER_01: What we see of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Don't you love his compassion?
SPEAKER_01: Be encouraged, my son.
SPEAKER_01: I know you've had a rough time of it.
SPEAKER_01: I know life's been a struggle with your friends having to take you everywhere.
SPEAKER_01: Receive divine encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that compassion inviting?
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't it say to you, yes, they took him to the right guy?
SPEAKER_01: Finally, this is the right place.
SPEAKER_01: We see then that the authority of Jesus is restorative.
SPEAKER_01: He now has reconciliation to the God of eternity because his sins are forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: He's restored to the place that God intended in Genesis chapter 2.
SPEAKER_01: The power of Jesus in the life of an individual is transformative.
SPEAKER_01: If this man, by the word of Jesus, can have his physical life transformed in an instant, what can it do for his spiritual life?
SPEAKER_01: What can it do for your spiritual life?
SPEAKER_01: And what had this man done to get his sins forgiven?
SPEAKER_01: Think about that.
SPEAKER_01: What had this paralyzed man done in order for his sins to be forgiven?
SPEAKER_01: But the only thing that we can say is he had the right friends.
SPEAKER_01: He chose the right friends.
SPEAKER_01: No, he didn't do anything.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't do anything.
SPEAKER_01: And then Mark and Luke say he picked up his bed and he went home glorifying God.
SPEAKER_01: Do you know why?
SPEAKER_01: Because the grace of Jesus is motivating in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: If you have experienced the full transformative effect of Jesus' saving power to forgive your sins, his grace overwhelms.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus has power and authority even to forgive sin.
SPEAKER_01: So how are we going to respond?
SPEAKER_01: Are we going to stand firm in our perceptions of reality, demanding that our felt needs be met by God?
SPEAKER_01: Or will we be humbled and filled with trust enough to say, I need, I, I desperately need spiritual healing, even more than any physical thing or worldly thing that I might think I need.
SPEAKER_01: If you've not heard the Savior say, take heart, my child, your sins are forgiven, then you're living without hope in this world, and for the life to come, there's only dread.
SPEAKER_01: But as God told the people of Israel, even if your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow.
SPEAKER_01: Call out to him now in faith, so your most basic problem in life can be healed.
SPEAKER_01: And what grace there is once our sins have been forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: God no longer remembers them.
SPEAKER_01: They're removed from him as far as the east is from the west.
SPEAKER_01: There is freedom from slavery to sin and freedom to be a servant to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And that is the only place for true joy and true healing.
SPEAKER_01: Because Jesus has the authority to forgive.
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jesus, we come and we bow before you.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for letting us see you.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for humbling us before your glory.
SPEAKER_01: May we continue to see more of you, not just today, but every day.
SPEAKER_01: To humbly come to you for all that we need, for healing, for restoration, not just now, but eternity.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.