WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.800 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:25.120 Good morning. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:29.920 Somebody left up here a paper that says a minister's prayer. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:31.760 I wonder if that's a hint. 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:34.479 I don't know who that is. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:35.679 Good morning, welcome. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:43.359 Take your Bible if you have it or your device and open it to the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 9. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:46.000 Matthew, chapter 9. 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:48.560 We've been working our way through this book. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:51.679 If you are visiting with us, I want to welcome you. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:58.719 We are just systematically working our way through the Gospel of Matthew. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:13.120 And it regularly astounds and humbles me at how sovereignly providential our God is. 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:42.640 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. 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:48.079 That's something that only God does, and he does it routinely. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:50.159 This is your God. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:51.840 Let's see him together. 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:54.719 Matthew chapter 9, beginning in verse 2. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:04.799 And behold, some people brought to Jesus a paralytic lying on a bed. 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:14.960 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:24.000 And behold, some of the scribes said to him, said to themselves, This man, this one here, is blaspheming. 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:32.800 But Jesus, seeing their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil in your hearts? 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:40.960 For which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise and walk. 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:57.360 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. 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:02.560 And he rose and he went home. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:12.400 And when the crowds saw it, they were afraid and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:13.520 Let's pray together. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:18.400 Lord Jesus, enable us to see you clearly today. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:21.439 And to go home amazed. 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:37.680 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. 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:52.000 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. 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:57.039 Will your people ask this, Lord Jesus, of you, our Savior. 00:03:57.439 --> 00:03:58.080 Amen. 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:06.159 So you have a friend who is desperate for healing. 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:08.800 You know this kind of person. 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:10.560 You've been friends for years. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:14.159 You've grown up in the same community. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:25.839 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. 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:28.160 There's a new medication. 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:37.279 Specialist after specialist after specialist, appointment after appointment, sometimes scheduled months or even years in advance. 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:48.480 And the result is not healing, not comfort, but medical debt. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:54.240 Medical debt so substantial that you can't even begin to see your way out of it. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:05:02.560 And then you hear, then you hear that a guy with a reputation for healing is coming to Grand Forks. 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:08.480 Everyone is talking about him, everyone's excited for him. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:10.160 This is the guy. 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:14.000 What do you do? 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:17.360 What do you do? 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:28.079 Would you take your friend to see this healer in order to have his or her sins forgiven? 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:38.560 Would you take your friend who is in desperate need of physical healing to have their sins forgiven? 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:42.800 Let me answer that for you. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:46.079 Of course you wouldn't. 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:49.600 No, you wouldn't. 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:56.319 You would take your friend for physical healing to rescue them from a lifetime of struggle. 00:05:56.480 --> 00:05:58.879 Now we're not talking about Benny Hinn here. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:08.160 This is not about charlatans peddling a false healing with a false gospel, brimming with false hope because of false miracles. 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:12.319 This is Jesus. 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:14.720 This is Jesus. 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:21.040 This is the one who touches lepers and they're cleansed. 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:27.920 This is the one who speaks a word and diseases are gone. 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:33.279 This is the one who commands the winds and the waves. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:36.560 This is the one whom demons obey. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:45.519 We would all take our friend to be rescued from the curse of sickness and disease. 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:50.000 Finally, once and for all, we can help them. 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:52.240 And therein lies our problem. 00:06:54.079 --> 00:07:03.360 We act on felt needs and perception instead of truth and reality. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:11.040 See, the nature of sin means that every part of us is somehow distorted. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:22.560 And so we naturally incline towards what looks good, towards what feels good, and what sounds good according to ourselves in the moment. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:25.600 Here's an experiment to try. 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:28.959 Some of you have already lived this, and so you know what I'm going to say. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:33.600 But if you haven't, give it a try. 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:39.920 Go home this afternoon and go through your refrigerator. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:50.879 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. 00:07:54.480 --> 00:08:02.079 Think through what you're going to need for the rest of this next week based on truth, on what you have on hand. 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:13.839 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. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:17.519 Then go to the grocery store and fill your list. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:18.240 Okay? 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:27.839 Keep track of everything that you purchased that was not on your original list. 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:29.360 Right? 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:32.000 Some of you are with me already. 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:36.399 Now, next week, skip the list. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:42.000 Just find some time to go shopping for groceries. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:50.240 You know, the end of the day when you are hungry and ready for supper might make an especially poignant time. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:09:02.320 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. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:10.960 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. 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:16.720 And then compare the lists from week one and week two. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:19.600 What do you think you'll see? 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:22.240 Some of you have already been there, right? 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:31.440 The second trip will have far more of what you actually don't need, but sounded really good. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:36.399 Because you were tired or you were hungry, or hey, that was a good price. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:40.639 Even though it might sit on the shelves for three years and expire and go in the trash. 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:45.840 Maybe it felt satisfying to you in the moment. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:10:03.919 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. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:11.120 The second trip will always have more of that. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:13.440 Every time. 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:16.320 It will happen every time. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:34.799 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. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:36.240 Am I wrong, ladies? 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:39.440 The husbands always come back with something else, right? 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:40.080 They don't. 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:44.240 Sorry, guys, it's true. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:49.200 Why is that? 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:52.559 Why is that? 00:10:54.000 --> 00:11:03.840 It's because we are fallen creatures who act on felt needs and perception rather than truth. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:09.679 Let me shift shift this a little bit. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:12.320 Why do false teachers thrive? 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:24.639 Why do false teachers get get these massive television deals to be broadcast in front of millions and billions of people? 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:31.759 Why do prosperity teachers gain huge followings when there is very little truth in what they say? 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:37.679 Why do Christian booksellers thrive on selling trash? 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:46.480 Why do Christians buy into books and teachers that lead them astray little by little, inch by inch? 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:55.840 Why do we buy into things that make us feel good rather than convicted? 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:05.039 No, if if we had a desperate friend who needed physical healing, we would not take him to be forgiven. 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:13.679 We would see his physical need of healing as primary and understand that man can heal. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:14.639 There's hope there. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:20.639 I'm going to take my friend to see Jesus, and I'm going to do whatever I can to get him to Jesus. 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:23.200 Think about your own trials. 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:25.360 Whatever it might be. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:32.559 Physical trial, a family issue, an emotional struggle, a financial struggle, whatever. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:44.399 Imagine being desperate about your personal situation and going to see a counselor and hearing from the counselor, your sins are forgiven. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:51.039 Of course, that will rarely happen today because most counseling today is not confrontative. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:54.960 It's not kind and loving to point out somebody's sin and call them to repentance. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:56.559 But try to imagine it. 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:16.480 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. 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:18.320 Excuse me. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.960 You might think, and how is that helpful? 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:30.080 Now that's a hypothetical situation, obviously. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:34.559 But it's not hypothetical with Jesus. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.679 Luke tells us that Jesus was in a home. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:48.720 And that religious leaders from all around were filling the place like sardines in a can. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:52.799 Now, all of you are gonna go buy sardines, right? 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:55.360 Because I placed that into your head. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:00.399 They were there trying to figure this guy out, this Jesus. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:06.799 Now, if you've been following along with us in the Gospel of Matthew, we know, right? 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:14.720 We know that this is the Son of Man, that Daniel saw in a vision of heaven in the throne room of heaven. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:16.799 This is God the Son. 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:23.279 We know this is Messiah King who came to overthrow Satan's world system and to rescue his people. 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:30.320 We know that everything, including the wind and the waves and demons, all answer to Jesus, but these people don't know that. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:38.559 Some were beginning to figure those truths out in some measure of comprehension. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:44.720 But these religious leaders, these scribes, weren't buying into that. 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:48.320 But Jesus was popular. 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:51.919 He gathered crowds everywhere he went. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:54.799 Some were inspired by his teaching. 00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:57.519 There was something in what he said that attracted them. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:14:59.840 Some were attracted by his miracles. 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:05.919 Some wondered if he might be the political savior that they had been anticipating coming. 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:09.200 But not these religious leaders. 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:11.919 Not these churchgoers. 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:19.679 They saw Jesus and he looked, sounded, and smelled like a rebel. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:25.679 Not the good kind of rebel, the kind that God warned against. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:34.320 They felt they needed to protect their system because this guy looked like a fake and they were out to prove it. 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:40.639 But their perceptions were wrong, weren't they? 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:48.559 What they felt to be true, it kept them from believing in Jesus. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:16:01.039 Your felt needs and your perceptions of reality can all be very, very wrong. 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:14.799 Now, in really one fell swoop, Jesus exposes this paralyzed man's greatest need, and he reveals the scribes' greatest failures. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:23.200 And as we follow along with Matthew, we we, Lord willing, will have some of those things exposed in us as well. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:33.600 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. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:37.440 It's like the paparazzi surrounding the home. 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:45.279 Thankfully, though the homes of those days had flat roofs, so you could spend a nice, comfortable evening up on the roof. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:51.919 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. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:53.519 That must have been a ride. 00:16:54.639 --> 00:17:01.679 Then imagine the paralyzed man on the roof, laying on the stretcher, watching his friend start taking out the roof tiles. 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:04.000 Thinking, what are they doing? 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:13.599 They start taking apart the roof, dismantling it so they can lower their friend down into the house to be with Jesus. 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:19.519 We don't know how far they've carried him. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:23.119 We don't know the kind of looks that they got. 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:33.039 They don't know if there were jeers and sneers from the crowd as they carried him up the staircase alongside the house. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:39.599 We can surmise that they had a deep love for their friend. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:45.359 But what Matthew reveals to us is none of that. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:49.599 What Matthew reveals to us is their faith. 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:52.640 Their faith. 00:17:54.799 --> 00:18:05.920 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. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:10.559 And Jesus saw their faith. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:17.839 That's our clue that Jesus is about to flip everything upside down, or probably more accurately, to turn it right side up. 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:20.640 Jesus saw their faith. 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:23.680 Now these friends have faith at least that Jesus can heal. 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:25.759 We know nothing more about them than that. 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:32.240 But the scribes are thinking evil in their hearts. 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:34.319 And Jesus sees it all. 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:40.240 The scribes think they they see the major problem here in Jesus. 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:45.440 But Jesus is about to reveal truth to all of them. 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:49.680 Let's begin with the paralytic's greatest need. 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:54.480 His greatest need is not physical healing. 00:18:54.640 --> 00:19:00.640 The paralyzed man's greatest need is not his ability to use his feet again or to use his hands again. 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:04.160 His greatest need is not to be carried everywhere. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:11.759 Unknown to everybody who's looking on the outside, his greatest need is spiritual healing. 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:15.839 Now, Matthew assumes that we already know the rest of the story. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:20.160 We already know those details about how he was brought up onto the roof and let down through the roof. 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:22.079 That really isn't important to Matthew. 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:30.319 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. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:34.160 And Jesus sees this faith. 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:36.799 Let's understand what faith is. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:45.359 Faith is a fundamental and imperative aspect of a relationship with God. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:59.200 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. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:04.720 It's not a wishful hoping when you aren't quite sure of the facts. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:13.039 Faith is an attitude, it's a propensity, it's a tendency to trust God. 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:27.119 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. 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:36.640 They believed that Jesus was able to do great and magnificent things, and they trusted him with the healing of their friend. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:39.519 They said, We trust Jesus with our friend. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:43.519 He will do what's right, he will do what's best because he can do it. 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:52.640 And they perceived that getting their friend to Jesus was the most important thing to do in the moment. 00:20:53.200 --> 00:21:00.240 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. 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:09.680 Jesus told the paralyzed man, take heart, my son or my child. 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:12.559 Your sins are forgiven. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:17.920 Do you hear the gentleness there? 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:28.160 There's a kindness and a compassion and a grace there in Jesus. 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:41.440 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. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:50.880 And they go to all this work to dismantle the roof and they let their friend in, and Jesus says, Be encouraged, my son. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:53.599 Be encouraged. 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:55.680 Why? 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:59.359 Not because you're gonna walk out of here today. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:03.920 Not because your friends don't have to carry you anymore. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:09.279 Be encouraged because your sins are forgiven. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:13.440 Now, something's going on here that we can't really see in our English translations. 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:16.240 Jesus isn't merely stating a fact. 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:19.599 He's not saying, Yeah, your sins are forgiven now. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:33.279 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. 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:37.039 And that would have set the religious leaders off. 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:44.000 Because sins were only forgiven if there was atonement made. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:57.039 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. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:01.200 Then the man's paralysis is obvious to everyone, right? 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:02.240 How could it not be? 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:05.839 That's what drove the friends to bring him to Jesus. 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:12.000 It's possible that all these religious leaders had even been a part of trying to heal him, of praying for him. 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:13.759 We don't know those kinds of details. 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:15.119 They may have known him. 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:20.799 But they couldn't perceive the depth of his sin problem. 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:34.160 My friends, the problem of sin is our most fundamental problem in life. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:40.880 It is the most fundamental problem that you and I will ever face. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:44.640 That's the truth. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:49.200 And that is the reality that Jesus came to address. 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:52.319 Isn't that where Matthew began? 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:59.920 He told Joseph and Mary, you're going to call the name of your son Jesus. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:00.799 Why? 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:05.200 Because he will save his people from their sins. 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:11.519 This paralyzed man's most fundamental problem was his sin problem. 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:16.400 Now, was there suffering in his paralysis? 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:18.400 Surely. 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:20.480 How could there not be? 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:23.839 Was there pain involved in his paralysis? 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:27.359 Again, how could there not be? 00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:32.960 Was there mental anxiety and stress and his inability to care for himself? 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:34.559 Absolutely. 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:36.799 That makes perfect sense. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:49.039 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. 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:56.319 From an eternal perspective, the forgiveness of sins is a much greater issue. 00:24:56.559 --> 00:25:05.039 It is a much greater need and a much greater gift than physical healing or any other issue. 00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:18.000 Only eternity will show to us how much more grace the man received in forgiveness than he did in physical restoration. 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:23.119 Do you want more grace from God? 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:29.200 Do you want grace from God to deal with life? 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:35.359 Then begin seeking eternal things over earthly things. 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:39.119 And start with seeking forgiveness. 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:45.440 Start with seeking to be made right with God and following Jesus. 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:52.559 Jesus says to this man, in essence, I am healing the fundamental problem in your life. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:55.759 You thought that your paralysis was your real problem. 00:25:55.920 --> 00:26:01.119 I'm telling you that that is not your real problem, but I'm going to heal what is your real problem. 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:14.160 What those friends lowered down from the rooftop and laid before Jesus was not fundamentally a paralytic, but a sinful man. 00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:27.279 And Jesus, rather than shrinking back and responding with some kind of revulsion, instead he responds with pure, unmerited grace. 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:33.279 And isn't that the perfect picture of salvation? 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:37.279 It's the way salvation works. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:39.759 It's not us and God. 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:45.119 It's not I do something and then God, God does something for me. 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:47.839 It's all of God, it's all of grace. 00:26:50.640 --> 00:27:04.640 But our difficulty is that we see that our sin and our relationship with God is not more important than our everyday lives. 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:12.319 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. 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:20.079 Let me ask some challenging, thought-provoking questions. 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:24.240 Not intended for anything other than to make you think. 00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:27.039 Okay, this is not in any way judgmental. 00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:35.279 Are you concerned about the coronavirus? 00:27:39.039 --> 00:27:45.839 Does it give you more fear than your sin gives you fear? 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:58.000 Are you more concerned about physical death than you are your spiritual life or death? 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:06.559 Are you more afraid of contracting a virus than you are of disobeying the one who bought you with his blood? 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:16.559 Are you concerned about your approaching retirement and preparing for it? 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:20.720 Does it give you more concern than your walk with Christ? 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:32.319 Are you concerned about getting married, making it through college, surviving without a loved one, or enduring disease or cancer? 00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:38.799 Those are all real, real life concerns that I am not at all interested in minimizing. 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:49.839 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. 00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:54.480 We must get our eyes off of ourselves and onto Jesus. 00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:00.079 What's the problem here? 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:02.160 The problem is Scripture. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:04.319 The problem is scripture. 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:12.160 The scripture is taught, and the scribes believed accurately, rightly, that only God could forgive sin. 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:15.599 Only God could forgive sin. 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:18.720 Let me run through a bunch of passages for you quickly. 00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:20.960 If you want, you can just write down the reference. 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:23.519 Mark chapter 2, beginning in verse 7. 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:25.759 Who can forgive sins but God alone? 00:29:25.839 --> 00:29:30.319 That's a New Testament passage referencing Old Testament theology. 00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:39.359 If you're interested, and I encourage you to be interested in applying what you believe to your life, sign up for foundations. 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:42.720 Jeff and Scott will be available for you for questions and answers later. 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:44.880 They want to shepherd you through that. 00:29:46.319 --> 00:29:50.960 This was looking back at what people believed and saying, What does that mean for my life? 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:53.440 And they said, Who can forgive sins but God alone? 00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:56.400 Well, Daniel answered that in Daniel chapter 9, verse 9. 00:29:56.640 --> 00:30:02.559 To the Lord our God, to Yahweh our God belongs mercy and forgiveness. 00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:06.079 You want it clearer? 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:08.240 Isaiah 43. 00:30:09.759 --> 00:30:17.519 God says, I am He who blots out your transgressions. 00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:22.240 Not because I want to be kind to you. 00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:25.279 Not because I want to give you something. 00:30:25.839 --> 00:30:27.759 But for my own sake. 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:32.799 And I will not remember your sins. 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:36.960 Psalm 130. 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:45.519 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? 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:46.799 What's the answer? 00:30:47.119 --> 00:30:48.079 Nobody. 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:56.799 But with you there is forgiveness, so that you might be feared. 00:30:57.759 --> 00:30:59.599 Nehemiah knew this. 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:15.359 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. 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:36.079 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. 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:41.359 See, the scribes were right in a sense. 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:45.039 Only God can forgive sins. 00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:47.279 They were right. 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:56.000 And if Jesus was merely a man, as they perceived him to be, verse 3, this man, this one right here is sinning. 00:31:56.079 --> 00:31:57.440 He's blaspheming. 00:31:57.680 --> 00:32:02.720 If Jesus was merely a human being, they would be absolutely right. 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:06.480 Their perceptions, however, were not truth, were they? 00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:16.640 Now it's very unlikely that the paralytics friends saw his sin as his greatest problem. 00:32:16.799 --> 00:32:21.440 Generally, you and I don't look at each other and see our sin as our greatest problem. 00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:27.920 But these friends' perception was not accurate. 00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:34.160 Their perceptions blinded them to the truth. 00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:39.359 See, spiritual needs are far greater than physical needs. 00:32:40.160 --> 00:32:43.200 And Jesus came to heal the spiritual need. 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:48.480 Jesus' critics were the same. 00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:56.400 They were blinded as well, but they were blinded by their perception of who Jesus is. 00:32:56.960 --> 00:32:58.319 They have two options. 00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:00.880 One is that Jesus is blaspheming. 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:08.000 He is merely a man who is assuming something for himself that was not true, that only belonged to God. 00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:11.440 He was assuming the power and the authority and the right to forgive. 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:12.559 That only belongs to God. 00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:16.400 And if Jesus is a human being, merely a human being, then he is blaspheming. 00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:17.680 That's option number one. 00:33:17.839 --> 00:33:20.319 Option number two is he is actually God. 00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:25.279 And he does indeed have the authority to forgive sin. 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:30.640 Which one do they choose? 00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:33.759 Blasphemy. 00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:39.039 We've seen the paralytic's greatest need now. 00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:41.680 Let's notice the scribes' greatest failure. 00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:44.559 Living by false perceptions. 00:33:48.319 --> 00:34:07.279 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. 00:34:09.840 --> 00:34:15.840 The scene changes a bit here in verse 3 from attention being given to the paralyzed man to the scribes. 00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:21.519 The scribes are thinking within themselves that Jesus is blaspheming. 00:34:21.920 --> 00:34:24.000 It could be that they're whispering to one another. 00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:25.599 We don't know that. 00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:32.239 It seems more likely that what's going on here is that Jesus is able to see their thoughts running through their minds. 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:34.320 They're all thinking along the same wavelength. 00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:37.519 They're processing through their perception. 00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:39.039 What have they just perceived? 00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:43.039 Jesus says to a man lying on a stretcher, your sins are forgiven, my son. 00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:44.320 Be encouraged. 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:48.159 How does a theologian process that? 00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:54.719 How does a Bible scholar think through a man saying your sins are forgiven? 00:34:54.800 --> 00:35:00.400 They're reflecting in their minds on what Jesus has just said, and Jesus sees their thoughts. 00:35:01.679 --> 00:35:09.599 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. 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:12.480 And notice how Jesus responds to the scribes. 00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:18.800 Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:23.519 Who, me? 00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:27.119 I'm not the one thinking evil here, buddy. 00:35:32.159 --> 00:35:38.159 Proverbs 14, 12 says, there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. 00:35:39.679 --> 00:35:43.360 These scribes are well on their way to choosing the way of death. 00:35:43.840 --> 00:35:46.159 But they think they've chosen the right way. 00:35:46.639 --> 00:35:49.119 See, they knew that only God could forgive sin. 00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:55.280 They could probably give you a greater list of statements than I've just given you about only God forgiving sin. 00:35:55.599 --> 00:35:57.599 Just off the top of their heads. 00:35:59.039 --> 00:36:02.000 But they were failing to grasp the truth. 00:36:02.239 --> 00:36:12.079 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. 00:36:12.719 --> 00:36:16.239 They failed to believe that Jesus is God. 00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:28.000 And Jesus says in response that believing that he was blaspheming, that he was lying, was not simply an amoral agnosticism. 00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:31.840 He says it is evil. 00:36:33.599 --> 00:36:41.840 Failing to believe that Christ is God with the power to forgive is evil. 00:36:43.199 --> 00:36:45.039 That's what Jesus says. 00:36:48.239 --> 00:36:49.599 How do you prove that? 00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:55.039 Jesus says, Is it easier to say that your sins are forgiven? 00:36:55.199 --> 00:36:57.519 Or easier to say, rise and walk? 00:36:59.039 --> 00:37:03.760 Notice that he did not say which is easier to do. 00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:08.559 Details are important, friends. 00:37:08.800 --> 00:37:10.800 He said, which is easier to say? 00:37:11.519 --> 00:37:13.039 Which one is easier to say? 00:37:13.119 --> 00:37:14.400 Now think about that for a moment. 00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:20.000 If Jesus says your sins are forgiven, how does he prove that? 00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:26.639 How does anybody challenge that in a real sense? 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:29.199 There's no way to substantiate that claim. 00:37:29.360 --> 00:37:34.480 So, in a sense, it's very easy to say your sins are forgiven because nobody can challenge that. 00:37:34.719 --> 00:37:36.880 No one can come back and contradict it. 00:37:37.039 --> 00:37:52.559 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. 00:37:53.840 --> 00:38:01.440 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. 00:38:02.719 --> 00:38:07.840 He has no power, he has no authority, then his ability to forgive sin is just blasphemy. 00:38:10.239 --> 00:38:16.320 So in that sense, saying rise and walk is more difficult because it can be evaluated. 00:38:17.679 --> 00:38:23.119 And so Jesus, in his grace, offers some evidential proof. 00:38:23.519 --> 00:38:27.280 Notice, he says, this is my purpose, so that you might know. 00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:30.079 Know what? 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:37.440 Not the power to heal, but the authority to forgive. 00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:46.880 Jesus says, I am the Son of Man, I'm the one who Daniel saw in the throne room of heaven. 00:38:48.880 --> 00:38:57.519 And Jesus is now bringing home to those present the reality that He is Messiah, He is God with us. 00:38:57.679 --> 00:39:02.400 And so He says to the paralyzed man, rise and get up and go home. 00:39:05.519 --> 00:39:10.239 With a healing, Jesus proves that He can heal your greatest problem. 00:39:12.079 --> 00:39:15.360 He possesses the authority to forgive sin. 00:39:15.679 --> 00:39:23.920 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. 00:39:24.079 --> 00:39:25.760 You don't go to any other person. 00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:43.760 We need to understand that seeing the truth of Jesus is what brings true restoration. 00:39:45.360 --> 00:39:49.280 Now the healing here is immediate and comprehensive. 00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.719 When Jesus forgave the man's sin, it was immediate. 00:39:55.039 --> 00:40:02.400 Right then and there, his sins were forgiven, and the physical healing is a picture of the spiritual healing, right? 00:40:02.960 --> 00:40:06.079