The Power the Forgive Sins

Mark chapter two verse one. And again, he that is Jesus entered into Capernaum after some days and it was noised that he was in the house. Straightway, many were gathered together and so much that there was no room to receive them. Not so much is 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. That means carried by four by the way and when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was.

And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, son, thy sins be forgiven thee and 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 reason within themselves, he said unto them, why reason you these things in your hearts?

Whether it be 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 say it to the sick of the palsy. I say unto thee, arise, take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house and immediately, he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all in so much that they were all amazed and glorified God saying, we never saw it on this in on this fashion and he went forth again by the seaside and all the multitude resorted unto him and he taught them and as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, also called Matthew, by the way, sitting at the receipt of custom and say it unto him, follow me and he arose and followed him. It came to pass that as Jesus sat at meeting his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples for where there were many and they followed him and when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, how is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

When Jesus heard it, he say it unto them, they that are whole have no need of a physician. They that are sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance Let's go to the Lord in prayer once more. Lord heavenly father, we thank you Lord for privilege today to look into your word. That it might renew our minds after the mind of Christ Jesus, our savior.

That it might convict us of sin in our life, that it might challenge us in our service for you, that it might change us more into your image today. Lord, that you might be glorified in our lives. We thank you for Christ our savior. We pray Lord if there be one here today that's never trusted him as their Lord and savior. That today they may too put their faith in Christ alone and be safe today.

In Jesus name, we do pray. Amen. Now, we've been as we have been studying through the book of of Mark we saw the ministry of John the Baptist and the beginnings of the ministry of Jesus at his ba followed by his temptation in the wilderness in Judea and now up into Galilee around the Sea Of Galilee, the city of Capernaum was a fishing town, a trade center on the shores of the Sea Of Galilee. He healed many people there. He showed his authority over illness, over even the demons, and in use of his word which this is his word that we're reading today and they noticed that he taught with authority unlike others before him.

He healed the leper last week. He cleansed the leper. Jesus is in the business of cleansing us from sin. He is also in the business of forgiving sins and that's what we're looking at today. The two are very closely obviously tied together but in the passage this morning in Mark chapter two, Jesus is not only going to heal a man of a paralyzing illness of some kind but he is also going to publicly forgive him of his sins that others might know that Jesus Christ does have the power to forgive sins and him alone.

For he alone is God. There are no other gods and man cannot forgive men of sins committed against God. Only God can do that and Jesus is God. So, Mark chapter two, we're going to start this morning with a man's need. We see a man in need in Mark chapter two.

He has a physical ailment. Now, Jesus had already begun to heal people in the area of Capernaum and at times, he had to leave the city because so many people were coming to be healed by him. At this time, he's back in the city but the crowd is is humongous and a lot of the people can't get to him because of the immensity of the crowd that is surrounding him. As you notice here, Jesus Christ didn't just heal them but if you look at the end of verse two, it says, and he preached the word unto them. You see, Christ primary ministry in coming to this world was not to heal people of sickness and illness.

His main purpose in coming is to heal us of sin, to preach the gospel, to die on the cross, to rise again from the dead, that all men through him might be what? Might be saved. Might be saved. There are some religions today that stress healing. Some that teach that Christ primary purpose in coming was to heal us physically.

But that wasn't the case. The miracles that Jesus did, he did do out of compassion. And because he had the power to heal. But the miracles he did, he did also to demonstrate to the world who he was. He he is.

The son of God. So, he came. Yes, he healed people but he also preached unto them the word. What we do here today is we're preaching the word. We're teaching the word.

We're looking into the word. Asking the Holy Spirit to use it as the sore of the spirit to change our lives and our hearts. God is concerned about your pain. He is concerned about your discomfort, your illnesses, your trials, and your struggles. He does care.

But none of that matters. If you die in sin, without Christ and spend an eternity in hell. I can't, I'm not a doctor today. I I can't help you personally with your illnesses but what I can do is I can give you the word of God and I can introduce you to somebody who not only cares about your illnesses and your pain but somebody who came and died on the cross to save you eternally. From the spiritual illness of sin that we all carry So, Jesus preached un them the word of God but as he was preaching some friends four of them were carrying this man to Jesus to be healed He did have a physical ailment He was suffering from some sort of paralysis which rendered him first of all bedridden.

He couldn't walk. He couldn't get there himself. He had to depend number two upon the care and the goodwill of others. And that those others came through for him. Bedridden, dependent upon others, and apart from Christ, it would seem without hope.

Certainly, he had seen doctors. He had sought out medical care and it it hadn't fixed the problem that he had. It seems he only continued to get worse. And so, he was, it would seem without hope, Without hope apart from who? Without hope, apart from Christ.

So, we see his physical ailment, a very real trial in ailment that Jesus will reveal here in just a moment He was also suffering from a spiritual problem which all men suffer from All of us suffer from sin. All of us suffer from the consequences of sin in our life. All of us suffer under the condemnation of sin. Apart from Jesus Christ. We see his spiritual ailment rendered him spiritually dead.

The Bible says in Ephesians chapter one, that until we come to Christ, we are dead in trespasses and in sins. That is we are dead to who? We are dead to God. We cannot respond to him. Without faith, it is impossible to please him.

Hebrews eleven six. Zebras and Isaiah fifty nine two, but your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear you. Isaiah was writing to Israel in his day but Israel suffered from the same problem we do. Israel suffered from sin and sin separates us from God that he will not hear us. He will hear us as we'll see if we come to him in faith and cry out to him for mercy to save our souls from sin which only he can do but apart from that, we are spiritually dead in trespasses and in sins Our spiritual condition also renders us dependent upon the mercy of God.

This man could not get himself to Jesus He must, he had to depend upon the mercies of others. We cannot get to God today. You cannot work your way to heaven. You cannot climb the ladder. You cannot by good works or reformation or spiritual rituals or rights earn your way by your own merit to the presence of almighty God and it's Psalm chapter 24, it says, who can approach God?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart. Which of us today apart from Christ can be said to have clean hands and a pure heart? None of us. Our hands committed atrocities against God in our heart. The Bible says, is desperately wicked.

Only Christ can change that Only Christ can make a way for those who are staying by sin to approach Almighty God in heaven. We are dependent upon his mercy Lamentations three twenty two says, it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. Jesus told of a parable in one of the gospels of Pharisee, a religious, pious man who came to the temple to pray and and he looked over at this publican, this tax collector, this this outcast of society that was over there and he said, Lord, I thank you that I'm not like him. Over here the the publican sinner the outcast, the man who knew he was a sinner He wouldn't put, he wouldn't lift up his his face unto heaven but prostrate on the ground, he cried out, God be merc iful to me, a sinner and Jesus asked, which one of those two people went home justified in the sight of God The man who cried out, be what? Be merciful to me.

A sinner. Sin renders us spiritually dead. Sin renders us dependent upon the mercy of God for as there's nothing you can do to earn his favor. You must rely upon his mercy and it renders us hopeless apart from Jesus Christ because there's nothing we can do without him So, we see a man with a need physical ailment but a spiritual ailment from which all of us suffer We see a man with friends We see a man with friends No one gets help in a vacuum It takes friends It takes caring, compassion people who will provide assistance and help to those that are in need You we may sometimes get a little callous towards doctors and hospitals because of the money that they make. But praise the Lord for doctors and hospitals and nurses and for people that care are willing to give of years of their life to educate themselves and to give of their time at times to be on call twenty four hours a day.

In order to help us when we find ourselves in need. Thank the Lord for friends who care enough to check on us. When they don't hear from us Thank the Lord for friends who care enough point out something in our life that needs to change even though we may not like it. We need others. You know, Christ said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

He was talking about the congregation of the righteous redeemed in Christ Jesus but he was also talking about local assemblies. Of redeemed believers, of like faith and practice, who can gather together and worship God, serve God, and help who? And help one another. You know, God knows that I need you. And God knows that you need each other.

God made us that way. God knew that we needed each other. And so he says in Hebrews, he says, not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. We need friends. We need others to encourage us.

Sometimes, we need others to help us, to help get us to the doctor, to help cut our grass, to help fix this, to help do that. Our fellow believers in Christ and our own church should be the first to help us when they can. These true friends cared enough to take extreme measures and time consuming measures to get this friend to Jesus They were not deterred by the crowd or the roof They found a way We sang a song to start the service today. Love found a way The love of Jesus Christ, our savior, found a way He broke through the roof so to speak. He left heaven and he came to Earth He is my greatest friend and he is yours as well Praise the Lord for Jesus Christ No greater love hath this than a man lay down his life for his friends and that Jesus did For us, he took extreme measures that we might know him and that we might be saved.

These friends took extreme measures to get this man to Jesus. They were loyal. They were caring. They were committed friends. A man that hath friends must show himself friendly and there is a friend that sticketh what?

Closer than a brother. That's what these friends were to this man. They stuck with him closer than a brother. They they took their time. They got him there when they couldn't get him close.

They found a way to get on the roof. When they found a way to get on the roof, they found a way to tear through the roof, to get him down to Jesus. Because they had a friend in need. I just think about how many opportunities we miss because we we just don't have time to help others We don't have time to to come see him, to give him a phone call, to send him a card. We're too busy with other things today.

And then I think about these men and what it cost them to get their friend to Jesus. Friends that care. No one gets help in a vacuum Neither is anyone saved in a vacuum You see, Jesus died on the cross He is our greatest friend Without him, you can't be saved but you know something without others human friends we can't be saved either What do you mean by that, pastor? Well, let's look at this passage right here. Romans ten thirteen through 15.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Who saves us? God saves us. When we come in faith to him, in Jesus Christ, our savior died on the cross for our sins and rose again and cry out to him to save our soul. He says, he will do it.

For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved but that isn't where this passage ends. It continues on. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not what? Believe. If they do not believe in Christ, they do not believe he is the son of God, come with power to save man from sin, who died on the cross and rose again and offers them salvation.

If they do not believe that, can they be saved? No, they can't be. Without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Without faith, it is impossible.

You must believe. If you don't believe, then, you can't be saved. John three eighteen, he that believeth on him is not condemned. Him, he that believeth not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. So, you must believe but does the passage end there?

No, it continues. How then shall they call on him of whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not what? Heard. How shall they believe in him of whom they haven't heard? You can't be saved if you don't believe and you can't believe if you haven't what?

If you haven't heard. Why is it that we send missionaries out all over the world? Because we want to get the gospel out. We want people to hear because if they do not hear, they will not believe and if they do not believe, they cannot be what? They be cannot be saved.

The same thing goes for the people across the street and two of em are in our service this morning. Pedro lives on the corner. He got saved little over year, maybe two years ago. Two years ago, Pedro got saved and and Damien Kim got saved a few months ago. They live in a house next door to Pedro.

We're working our way down the street. I'm work, I'm working the the next guy over. His name is David and I've been talking with him off and on for twelve years now. Hasn't come to a service yet. He did stick his head in the door about six months ago.

He peeked in and looked around and then left. So, pray for David. Working our way down the street. Are you working your way down your street? You know, they need to hear too.

It says, how then shall I come on him, call on him of whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a what? Without a preacher, you say, oh, that's that's my job, not your job. Well, guess what?

The word preacher doesn't mean pastor. The word preacher means a proclaimer. It means somebody to what? Somebody to tell them, you don't need to be ordained to tell somebody about Jesus and you'll have opportunities this week to hand somebody a tracker to tell somebody about Christ that I will never meet. You know somebody that I do not know and vice versa.

How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? How shall they know unless somebody tells them? How shall they preach except they be sent? Are we sent? Jesus says, as the father has sent me, so what?

So, send I, you. You have been sent. Whether you know it or not, if you are a Christian, you have been sent. At least, hand them a track. You have been sinned.

You're an important part of this equation. These four men who brought this man were an important part of the equation. He would not been healed and he would not possibly have been forgiven if these four men would not have brought him to Jesus. We have friend day in a few weeks Would you bring somebody to Jesus? We'll be preaching an evangelistic message Sort of like this one.

Three weeks. About how Jesus died on the cross for sinners Would you bring em So, they can hear. So, we can introduce them to Jesus together. You say, but I'm not good at witnessing. Well, you can learn by the way.

We're working on that on Wednesday nights but in the meantime, can you take a flyer? And invite them to church. I would love to have the opportunity to introduce them. To Jesus. You say, pastor, you're spending a lot of time this year on witnessing.

There's a lot of people out there that need Christ and I really think we're not doing as good a job as we could be. Myself included You see, you're not the only one that gets preached to on Sunday. I do too but I get preached to on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday as I'm getting ready to preach to you on Sunday. A man with a need, a man with friends Friends pray for those in need. For their health but also for their salvation.

Friends, go and tell others Doctor David Livingstone he had friends all over the continent of Africa They were his friends because he went and befriended them and he cared enough to tell them about Jesus When many in his day didn't care weren't concerned, or didn't even think they could be saved. Doctor Livingstone showed them different I have a video. It's called When Silence Speaks. It's about a deaf man who grows up in a Christian home of sorts. His father is killed.

His mother dies when he's fairly young and he's completely deaf, born that way and he lives with his sister who goes to church. He goes to church when he's young but he can't hear anything and he disrupts and makes noise. He can't talk but he makes noise and and so eventually, she just leaves him at home because you know, he's deaf. He can't understand because he's deaf. Over time, God calls a new minister to the church, this little church in the country and to make a long story short, Eventually, God makes a way for him to communicate with this man He doesn't know sign language and neither does Gordy is the man's name but he's able to communicate to him a need and God brought conviction to this deaf man's heart and he got saved.

And he went to his sister and he pulled out his Bible and he pointed to a verse that the guy showed him about how he could be saved and he looked at his sister and he asked her, Why didn't you tell me? And she said, because I didn't think you could what? I didn't think you could understand. There was another man, a farmer that lived down the street. His name was Oliver.

He was mean and hateful. Bitter. Turned everybody away and the same sister that didn't tell Gordy because she didn't think he could understand because he was deaf. Didn't really tell Oliver either because he was cast hope. But eventually, guess who else God saved?

Oliver did too and God changed his heart and his life. When the little children came to Jesus, the disciples pushed them away and said, Jesus said to him, don't hinder them from coming to me. For such is the kingdom of heaven. We do not know what God is doing in the lives and hearts of others. We must not assume that they cannot understand.

We must not assume that they cannot be reached. These friends could have just assumed that this man was beyond hope. These friends could have assumed when they got to the crowd that day, they could've just assumed, well, we just can't get him to Jesus but they didn't do that, didn't they? They were determined. How determined are you to see your relative coming on Christ?

How determined are you to see your neighbor? How determined are you? To be that kind of friend. That's what they need. They don't need friends.

Who give up. They need friends who will believe. When Jesus said to this man, it look look if you would in verse in verse five. It says, when Jesus saw what? Their faith.

It doesn't say his faith alone, does it? It says, what? Says, their faith. You see, without their faith as well in bringing this man to Jesus, he would not have been healed and he might not have been forgiven. You see, it also depends on our faith to get people to Jesus Christ and as a result, we see a man in need.

We see a man with friends and we see a man forgiven. Jesus said unto him, thy sins be forgiven thee at the end of verse five. Thy sins be forgiven. The Acts five thirty one says, him hath God exalted to his right hand to be prince and a savior to give repentance to Israel and what? Forgiveness of sins.

Colossians, whoops, where did I end up there? Hold on a second. There we go. Colossians one hundred thirteen and fourteen. Speaking of Jesus, it says, who have delivered us from the power of darkness, have translated us into the kingdom of his dear son, and whom we have redemption through his blood, even the one, the forgiveness of sins.

We confess our sins, he is faithful and just to what? Forgive us our sins and an act and yeah and two, I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit. To forgive us our sins. Jesus forgave this man's sins. Neither is there salvation in any other that any other other than Jesus.

For there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. This man had a greater need than palsy. He needed to be forgiven. The only one who could do that was Jesus, Andy Watt. And he did.

He forgave my sins when I was nine years old I came to Christ at the end of a service on Sunday night and I asked him to forgive my sins and be my savior. And you know something? I am sure that he did because I believe him and God always keeps his promises My sins are washed off the books of heaven. My name is written in the lamb's book of life. And I am secure in Christ Jesus, my savior.

Not because of me. Because of him. His grace, his mercy, and his faithfulness In rabbinical thinking, in Judaism in that day the assumption was always that if you were sick and you were in pain and you were hurting it was because you had committed some particularly heinous sin and you were being punished. That's what Job's friends thought back in the book of Job. When they came to Job and Job was was sick and ill and and everything around him had been taken away.

They just assumed it was because he had committed some heinous sin of to God in which he had not repented. That was the common thinking in Jesus' day. So, the people that were gathered around that day when they saw this man being lowered down, their assumption would have been, he is sick because he has committed a what? A sin. Jesus doesn't tell us whether he was sick because he had committed a particular sin but Jesus knew he like everybody else there that day.

We're sinners in need of a savior. Like me when I was not. Like you, when you got saved or or maybe today. A sinner in need of a savior and it's not helpful to fix the malady If you don't fix the problem with the heart Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew five, unless your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, the most religious Unless your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Well, what was their problem?

It was their what? It was their heart. That's where sin resides and it doesn't do any good to fix the outward problems if you don't deal with the heart. Jesus said in Matthew 12, he said, when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none. Then he say it, I will return into my house from whence I came out and when he has come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.

Then he go then goeth he and taketh with himself seven other spirits, more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell there and the last estate of that man is worse than the first. Have you ever known somebody that had an addiction that had a sin problem and they got it under control for a while but in the end, their case ended up worse than it did at the beginning. You ever seen that? I've seen that a lot. You see, you can help a drunk become sober but without Christ and the forgiveness of sin, you just have a sober condemned sinner who is likely to go right back to it.

You can help somebody to become drug and tobacco free but you still have a drug and tobacco free condemned sinner who without Christ has a bigger problem. You can reform yourself reform your ways, become a better person, a nicer person, a kinder person, but without Jesus Christ and without forgiveness of sin, you are a reformed condemned sinner. You need more than reformation We need salvation There are a lot of reformed con sinners. There are a lot of moral con sinners. There are a lot of cancer and disease free sinners.

You can change your eating habits and you can become a healthier condemned sinner but without Christ and his forgiveness, you are still a what? Condemned sinner and so are they. You see, the gospel message isn't just that you can be free from alcohol and drugs and that you can get victory over moral failings. The message of the gospel is, you're a condemned sinner and you can get forgiveness. From God and become a child of God and receive receive the gift of eternal life.

And victory in him That's the message that Jesus had to give. These people that day, it was about more than being sick of palsy. It was about needing salvation from sin. Quickly in closing this morning, we see men in need unawares. How did the sadducees and Pharisees standing there react?

They said, well, what is this man doing forgiving sins? Doesn't he know that only God forgiven can forgive sins? A matter of fact, they didn't say it to him. They thought it in their minds and they looked at one another and thought, oh boy, this guy is blaspheming. They didn't say a word but Jesus heard because Jesus is who?

Because Jesus is God and he answered their question Jesus, if you look again in verse eight and immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they saw reason within themselves, he said unto them, why reason you these things in your hearts? Why is it easier to say to the sick of palsy, thy sins be forgiven, thee are to rise and take up thy bed and walk but that you may know the son of God, the son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he say it to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, arise and take up thy bed and go thy way into thy house. He heard their thoughts because God hears our thoughts Psalm one thirty nine, he hears our thoughts afar off. He knows our down sitting and our uprising. Even the darkness can't hide us.

From the eyes of almighty God. Jesus has the power to know our thoughts as he did theirs. Jesus has the right to judge. James four twelve, there is one law giver who is able to save and to destroy. Who art thou that judges another?

Who is the law giver? Jesus. He has the right to judge. He has the power to heal. And he has the prerogative to forgive sins.

These men didn't understand two things this morning that a lot of people don't understand. First of all, they didn't understand their need. They were sinners and they didn't see it. They fought themselves to be Jesus's judges. But in reality, it was what?

The other way around and the other thing they lacked is they didn't recognize who it was. That was standing before them. John one eleven, he came unto his own in his own what? Received him not. Who's that talking about?

These people. He came unto his own and own received him on. But it tells us in John, but for those who will believe and will receive, He makes us to be the sons or the children of what? The children of God. Even to them that believe on his name.

As many as received him. To them gave you power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name. And what did this result in? It resulted in a man healed. It resulted in a man healed.

What did this man do? He took up his bed and he walked away. Why did Jesus say first your sins be forgiven and then healed him physically? Because Jesus wanted everybody there to have a visible a visible demonstration that Jesus could not only forgive, heal illness but that Jesus could what? Forgive sin.

That's why he said, is it easier to say this or that? To do this or to do. It was all the same to who? It was all the same to Jesus but he needed them to see. And so Jesus forgave him and then Jesus what?

Healed him. And just as the man was healed instantaneously, he was also what? Forgiven. Instantaneously. And they saw.

James two seventeen and eighteen, even so faith but hath not works is dead being alone. Yey, a man may say thou hast faith and I have worked, showed thee my thy faith without my works, I will show thee my faith by my works. Jesus wants to show everybody in this world around you what he's done in your life. How does he do that? By how you live your what?

By how you live your life. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works. And glorify your father which is in heaven. So, this man picked up his bed and he walked away. We've been saved by grace through faith in Christ.

Let's let our light shine like this man did and let's go out and be that friend that somebody else needs and tell lead them to Christ and if you're here today, that same Jesus that forgave him wants to do what? Forgive you but you have to do two things. You have to realize you're a sinner and you have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That you might be saved. Would you do that today?

We're going to give a hymn of invitation. Two forty nine in our hymn books in just a moment. Would you come as we sing? Just as I am. He'll save you today.

He is able and he is offering. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you Lord for your word. Thank you Lord for the testimony of this man. And of your power to save men from sins.

I thank you Lord for the testimony of many that are here today whose lives you have saved and changed. Lord, we pray for others. Maybe one here today that's never trusted you as savior. We pray that they would come as we sing a hymn of invitation and I pray that we that know you as savior would be convicted today and challenged. To be a better witness and a friend to those around us.

In Jesus name, amen.