Doing anything to get to Jesus

[0:00] Well good evening and a warm welcome to the service this evening. It's good to see all of you. And a special welcome to Ian Morrison over there on my far left who's taking the service tonight. And we're looking forward Ian to hearing what God will say through you and we're thankful to have you with us this evening leading worship. The intimations are on the sheets as you received this morning and things are happening in the week as normal.

[0:39] You fellowship after the service tonight and the ladies Bible study wrote to the Calvary prayer meeting all at the usual times, usual places. The service is next Sunday, 11 and six both taken by myself God willing. And you see the intimation there regarding the Sunday school. If there's those who can volunteer to help it would be appreciated. And one correction in relation to the Christianity Explored course. It's hope to start Christianity Explored which will last seven weeks from Thursday, not the 27th of January but Thursday the 25th of January.

[1:16] So if we could be praying in advance for that and thinking about some perhaps we could invite to that course and maybe you could be thinking also about whether or not that's a course that you would consider going to yourselves. So these I think are all the intimations and we'll pray for a moment. Our Heavenly Father we thank you for this evening. We thank you once more for your day, the gift that you've given to us a day where we can stop work and we can come apart from all the daily routine of our lives and we can take that time to be in your presence. We thank you Lord for this hour of worship. We thank you for the freedom that we have to come together. We thank you for the interest Lord, the desire that you've put in our hearts. We thank you for your word which we will be opening over this hour. We ask Lord that you would be with me and we thank you for taking him here this evening.

[2:23] And we ask Lord that you would guide him, that you would lead him, that you would bless him Lord in his life and in his ministry and as he opens your word in particular this evening we pray that you would help him and that you would help us as those under the authority of the word.

[2:40] You have promised Lord that you will be with us when we meet together in your name and we ask that we would have the assurance of that as you would experience your nearer presence. And you have promised Lord that when you call us you will equip us, that you will give us the words to say and we pray that for Ian this evening that you would know the help of the Holy Spirit in all that he does.

[3:01] So hear our prayers and take away our sin and lead us in worship for we ask these things in Jesus name and for Jesus sake. Amen. Ian, I'm going to hand over to you man.

[3:15] I was once preaching in Tain and the gentleman who introduced me said this is Ian Morrison's first time here.

[3:27] We don't know if there will be a second time. It's always nice to be asked back somewhere else. It shows that there wasn't too much heresy the first time. Thank you for your introduction. Thank you for the opportunity to come and share with you From God's word.

[3:41] Amen. That there was no room left, not even outside the door.

[4:15] And he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. And since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus.

[4:27] And after digging through it, they lowered the mat the paralysed man was lying on. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven.

[4:39] Now some teachers of the law were sitting there thinking to themselves, Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone?

[4:51] Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts. And he said to them, Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier? To say to the paralytic, your sons are forgiven.

[5:04] Or to say, Get up, take your mat, and walk. But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.

[5:15] He said to the paralytic, I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go home. He got up, took his mat, and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone.

[5:27] And they praised God, saying, We've never seen anything like this. Amen. May God bless to us that evening. From his own holy and inspired word, into his name and his name alone be all the praise.

[5:40] While we turn back to God's word, let's just bow our heads and pray. Eternal Father, as we come worshipping you this evening, as we come with your praise on our lips, we ask, Father, that that same praise would come from our very hearts.

[6:00] We thank you for the words that we were just singing. That we can come to you and ask that you would have pity on us. We need your blessing.

[6:11] We need your grace. We need your mercy. But we also give thanks for the words there in that hymn. That the wounds which mar the chosen one bring many sons to glory.

[6:25] Oh, Lord, we thank you for that. That is your plan. To populate heaven with sinners such as we are.

[6:36] And we thank you this evening for the hope that that brings to our hearts. And we ask that even tonight that that hope would be realized for somebody here.

[6:50] For Jesus' sake. Amen. Let's turn back to the chapter that we read. Mark chapter 2. Really, the whole 12 verses are what we're going to be looking at.

[7:05] But if we want something to hang our thoughts around this evening, verse 5 would probably do the trick. When Jesus saw their faith, the faith of the men who carried this paralyzed man to Jesus.

[7:17] When he saw their faith, he said to the paralytic son, your sin. Your sins are forgiven. This miracle that we read about here happened.

[7:31] It took place in Capernaum where Jesus' public ministry really started. We think of Jesus as Jesus of Nazareth. Of course, that was the family home of Mary and Joseph.

[7:44] But it says here that when Jesus had come home. So this was, if you like, Jesus' northern headquarters in his campaign, in his preaching campaign in Judea.

[7:59] It was where his public ministry really started. It was where he began preaching about the kingdom. It was where he demonstrated his power. By casting out demons. By healing diseases.

[8:11] It was also where he made his public claims to be the long-promised, long-waited-for Messiah. And as we'll see later, in this short 12-verse passage, there is proof that he was the Messiah that his people were waiting for.

[8:31] But there was a problem with Capernaum. Because many of the people there, they preferred his miracles than either his message or the Messiah himself.

[8:43] You can see at the end, they were amazed when the man stood up, lifted his bed and left. That amazed them. That caused them to praise God. But when his sins were forgiven, nobody said anything.

[8:55] They preferred his miracles than either his message or even the Messiah himself. They flocked to see what he would do next. Not what he'd say.

[9:07] Not what he was teaching them. And we know this because later, Jesus, he cursed Capernaum. He said it was an unrepentant city.

[9:18] And he cursed it along with other cities, Chorazin and Bethsaida. And you can read about that in Luke chapter 10. And he said, you shall be brought down to Hades. So they didn't appreciate that they had there, within their grasp, the Messiah that they'd been waiting for, for hundreds if not thousands of years.

[9:42] In chapter 1, Jesus and some of his disciples had left Capernaum. And they'd gone to preach across all of that region of Galilee. And after that, they returned.

[9:54] And word went round again that Jesus was back in Capernaum. That he was home. And people flocked to this house. Whoever's house it was. We're not told whose house it was. But there's three things this evening that I want us to consider about this event in Capernaum.

[10:11] And you know, sometimes when we're preparing sermons, we like to show off. So there's three Ps this evening that we're going to look at. Just to show you that I know of three words that begin with P.

[10:24] The first word that we're going to look at is preaching. Jesus is preaching. Because that's what Jesus was doing in this house. He was preaching. He could have easily played to his audience.

[10:37] He could have easily have pandered to what they were wanting and performed miracles. And he could have boosted his celebrity status amongst the Capernaumites. Whatever you would call somebody from Capernaum.

[10:50] He could have performed a miracle or two. Something to get them on his side and eating out of his hands. After all, that's why many of them were there. That's why he had come to this house on that day.

[11:00] To see him do these extraordinary things that they'd heard all about. Now I'm pretty sure that if they were expecting to see something, that they would have been pretty disappointed when he stood up and just started preaching.

[11:16] When he just started speaking. Preaching was central to Jesus' ministry.

[11:27] For Jesus, his message was more important than the miracles. And that's because preaching is God's preferred way to get the gospel into the heart of sinners like you and me.

[11:42] I'm not going to ask for a show of hands. But I'm sure that most of the believers who are in here tonight came to faith in a church service.

[11:53] I did. On a Sunday night 40 years ago. It was through preaching that I was saved. And I'm sure the same is true for many of you as well.

[12:04] Preaching is God's plan A. To get the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ into the hearts and minds of sinners like you and me.

[12:17] Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. It pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. The folly of what we preach.

[12:30] It's not my good seed. It's not David's good seed. It's God's good seed. We're simply the bag that carries that good seed.

[12:43] To the field of your heart. Where God blesses it. Nothing's more important than the message. Nothing is more important for you and me than what Jesus Christ did for us.

[12:57] And we should be focused on this message because that's the church's main purpose. To proclaim Jesus' message. That's what we're doing here. That's why he leaves us here.

[13:11] To take his message to this world that is looking for something that it can't find. That's what we're about. That's our core business.

[13:23] If you like. And it's our only business. We do other things. But our core business is preaching the good news of Jesus Christ.

[13:34] To a world that is broken and sick. And needs good news. And it needs good news in 2018. The second P is power. Verses 3 to 5.

[13:46] Power. Preaching. Power. So Jesus is preaching. And some men are worried. Four of them are carrying a paralyzed friend on his bed.

[14:00] But the crowd's so big. There's so many people gathered there. The house is so full that they can't get in. They can't push past him to get in the door. So what do they do? They've come all this way with this man on his bed.

[14:14] Are they going to give up? No. So some lateral thinking was called for. You don't know who it was. Maybe it was one of them. Maybe it was all of them together.

[14:25] One of them. Maybe they decided, well, to get in. We've got to come up. We've got to go up. And get him down. The houses in Judea. They had flat roofs.

[14:36] And these flat roofs were made by laying wooden joists across the buildings on the wall heads. These were covered with branches. Then there was a layer of clay tiles.

[14:48] And finally there was a layer of mud rolled over the top. And that was rolled hard to make it waterproof. Flat roofs. Any of you got a flat roof on your house, you know it's not a great design. Well, they had flat roofs 2,000 years ago.

[15:00] And they tried their hardest to make the waterproof. And there were steps on the side of these houses so that people could get up onto the roofs if they needed to. In the Feast of Tabernacles.

[15:11] The Feast of Booths. They used to sleep in tents on the roofs of their houses. So the four men, what did they do? They hoist their friend on his bed. Up onto the roof.

[15:24] They cut a sizable hole in the roof. And then they lower him in his bed down into the house. We don't read that they've asked the owner's permission to do this.

[15:36] Because they probably wouldn't have got it. Don't know about you, but if somebody started hacking a hole, a man-sized hole, a bed-sized hole in the roof of my house, I wouldn't be terribly pleased.

[15:48] Picture the scene. Jesus is preaching. Maybe some members of the audience, maybe they're getting impatient. Maybe they're thinking, when is he going to do something?

[16:01] It's all words. Do something. And then all of a sudden they're banging and scraping. And bits of clay and wood and branch fall into the house. And then this man is lowered on his bed down right in front of Jesus by four of his friends.

[16:18] I'm sure that we all know this story. We're all quite familiar with this story. It's one I've certainly heard and read about since I was a child. But let's stop and consider these men who carried their friend to Jesus.

[16:36] These were persistent men. These were persistent men. The obstacles. The crowd. The steps.

[16:46] The roof. The weight of the man in his bed. The fact that their friend did absolutely nothing. Could do absolutely nothing to help them. He couldn't make their burden light up.

[16:58] He couldn't get off his bed and walk part of the way. All of these obstacles. They were not discouraged by that. They did whatever they could. They did everything they could to get him to Jesus.

[17:13] And they didn't give up until the job was done. If you're here tonight. And you're carrying somebody to Jesus. Somebody in your heart you are carrying to Jesus.

[17:28] If you're praying for a son. For a daughter. For a husband. For a wife. For a brother. For your sister. For your friend. For your neighbour. Or if you're watching.

[17:40] And you're waiting. You're praying. You're longing with every fibre of your being. For a prodigal to come to their senses. And come back to the father's house. Then what these four men did for their friend.

[17:54] And especially what Jesus thought of their faith. That should be the greatest comfort. That should be the greatest encouragement to you.

[18:05] In fact it should make you redouble your efforts. These four men. They knew that they couldn't fix their friend. They knew they couldn't sort what was wrong with their friend.

[18:17] But they knew about a man who could. They knew somebody who had the power to fix their friend. So they did anything. They did everything that they could to get their friend to him.

[18:29] And they didn't let anything put them off. These are impressive men. They didn't let anything put them off. They didn't give up till their friend was there face to face with Jesus.

[18:44] Till he was forgiven by Jesus. Till he was healed by Jesus. And if you're carrying somebody to Jesus in your heart. Then neither should you.

[18:55] Jesus saw their faith. Wasn't the paralyzed man's faith that Jesus noticed. He maybe didn't have any. Who knows.

[19:08] Maybe all the way there from when they turned up at his house. And they picked up his bed. And carried him out the door. He was complaining his face off. All the way. Don't do this. It's all nonsense. I don't believe in your Jesus.

[19:19] I don't believe in your God. I don't want your Jesus. I don't want your God. What's he ever done for me? Look at the legacy he gave me. I'm useless because of God.

[19:32] What Jesus noticed. Is the friend's faith. They believed in Jesus. They knew their friend needed Jesus. They knew that their friend needed what Jesus.

[19:44] And only Jesus could do. So they carried him to Jesus. They took him to Jesus. He couldn't take himself. He wouldn't take himself.

[19:56] So they took him. It wasn't easy. To carry him to Jesus. It was hard work. To take him to Jesus. Would have been a hot day.

[20:08] It's a hot part of the world. So it would have been hard work. Carrying him. It wasn't just him. It was also his bed. His mat. They weren't put off by the crowd.

[20:20] When they got to the house. People spilling out the door. The windows full. People pressing in. Trying to see what Jesus was going to do next. That didn't put them off. Wouldn't have been easy.

[20:32] To get him up onto the roof. It would have been a struggle. Trying to balance his man and his mat. And trying to four of them. Squeeze into a staircase. And run out of a staircase.

[20:43] To get him up the side of the house. Trying not to tip him over the side. Trying to. Maybe if he was complaining. Trying to resist the temptation. To throw him over the side of the house. It would have been tricky for them.

[20:56] To keep their balance. As they hoisted man and bed. To the roof. And when they got onto the roof of the house. There was more to do. And they weren't put off. By the hard graft.

[21:06] By the hard work. Wouldn't have been easy. To make a hole in the roof. Big enough. Big enough. To get a man. A full grown man. And his bed. Through.

[21:17] Safely. It wouldn't have been easy. To lower him down. To get him safely down. Not to make his condition any worse.

[21:29] So that he ended up. Right in front of Jesus. Right in front of Jesus. It wasn't easy. What these men did. It wasn't easy. What they did.

[21:39] But then. As believers. We are not called. To do the easy things. Are we? We're not called.

[21:52] To an easy life. If we belong to Jesus. We're called. To difficult circumstances. We're called.

[22:03] The Bible tells us. To a fellowship of suffering. With Jesus Christ. We are called. We are called. To spend. And be spent. For the cause.

[22:14] Of Christ. That was the attitude. That these men. These men had. They were going to do. What it takes. They were going to take. The flack. For destroying this roof.

[22:24] Because it was all. Going to be worth it. When their friend. Was forgiven. When their friend. Was blessed. When Jesus. Met with their friend. These men.

[22:35] Weren't put off. So don't let you. Don't let yourself. Be put off. Either. It's not easy. To keep praying. For somebody. That you love.

[22:46] To be saved. It's not easy. As a parent. To pray. For a child. To be saved. It's not easy. When you're waiting.

[22:56] For somebody. Who walked. Close to God. Once. It's not easy. When you're praying. For them. And carrying them. And waiting. For them. To come back. Especially.

[23:07] When they don't show. Any signs. Of wanting. To return. Maybe. As you're praying. And as you're. Burden. For somebody. All you're seeing. Is hostility. All you're seeing.

[23:19] Is rebellion. Kicking against. Against. The very thing. That you're trying. To carry these people to. But remember.

[23:31] You don't get to see. What God is doing. Behind the scenes. You don't get to see. How God is working. In the mind. And the heart.

[23:42] Of that prodigal. You don't get to see. How God. Is using. Your prayers. In the hearts. Of your children. As you're bringing.

[23:53] In the heart. In the heart. In the heart. In the heart. In the heart. In the heart. In the heart. It's difficult. It's a struggle. To keep carrying. Our friends. And our loved ones. To Jesus. It's difficult. When we're not seeing.

[24:04] Anything. When it seems. To get harder. And harsher. But remember. The God. That we believe in. Is a God. Who saves.

[24:17] And it's just. It's not. He's not just a God. Who can save. He is a God. Who saves. To the uttermost. Nobody is beyond.

[24:29] The reach. Of God. Nobody can run. From God. He is able to save.

[24:39] To the uttermost. Nobody. Can whack up. A list of sins. That makes them. Unsavable. God. We belong.

[24:50] We follow. A God. Who doesn't just. Hear our prayers. But he also. Delights. In answering our prayers. So keep praying. Don't stop.

[25:01] Don't get discouraged. These four friends. They didn't stop. They weren't. Discouraged. By obstacles. They. Didn't let the struggles. Make. You know. At no point. Did they say.

[25:12] This is. I can't do this anymore. This is nuts. They kept going. You keep going too. Keep carrying. Your sin. Paralyzed. Friend. Spouse.

[25:23] Son. Daughter. Whoever it is. You keep carrying. Them to Jesus. Every day. Every time. You pray. Bring them to Jesus. Don't focus.

[25:34] On the problems. Don't focus. On. What you think. You're seeing. In terms of the rebellion. Focus. On Jesus. His power. Keep praying.

[25:46] Till he answers. Your prayers. Keep wrestling. With him. Till he answers. Your prayer. So the man. In his bed. They're lower down. Hold his maid.

[25:57] The man in his bed. They're lower. Down. Jesus. Recognizes. The faith. Of the friends. The four friends. And he says. Son. Your sins. Are forgiven.

[26:07] Son. But this man's. Biggest problem. Surely. Was his paralysis. No. This man's.

[26:18] Biggest problem. Your biggest problem. My biggest problem. Is sin. So Jesus. Sorted that. First. Jesus.

[26:29] Sorted. His sin. Problem. First. We get too. Focused on. Physical. And material. Things. We tend to ignore. Spiritual things. We spend all our time.

[26:40] And our effort. Trying to be. Healthy. Trying to be. Wealthy. New year. How many people. Have made. Resolutions.

[26:50] They're going to start. Going to the gym more. Or go out walking more. Or do this more. Do that more. Save more. We forget about. Wise. We forget about.

[27:01] Where we stand. In God's eyes. The Bible tells us. The beginning of wisdom. Is the fear of the Lord. The beginning. Of wisdom. Is being in awe.

[27:12] Of the Lord. Of recognizing. Our need. Of the Lord. Because it doesn't matter. What you are. I think. Our biggest problem. Is.

[27:23] The truth is. That our greatest need. Has always been. And will always. Be spiritual. We are. Spiritual. Beings. We spend so much time.

[27:34] Looking after our bodies. But you know. What your body. Actually is. Your body. Is merely. An envelope. That holds. Your soul.

[27:45] When you get a letter. What's more important. The envelope. Or what's inside it. C.S. C.S. Lewis said. You are not a body.

[27:58] That has a soul. You are a soul. You have a body. The most important part of you. Is your soul. Because that's the part.

[28:09] That will never die. We become. Too fixed. On. Too fixated. On our health. On our wealth.

[28:20] We forget. About our spiritual problems. And we forget. About. The problems. That we have. With our soul. And the only place. To find a cure. For these problems.

[28:31] Is in Jesus Christ. And that's what this man. Received. First. Jesus says. Son. Your sins are forgiven. Two special words. There.

[28:41] In these. Five words. That Jesus said to him. Two special words. The first one is. Son. The word there. That's used for son. It can often be translated.

[28:51] As child. There's tenderness here. There's tenderness. In this. In the way. That Jesus speaks. To this man. He called him son. That's family.

[29:04] Surely. That's family. That's what happens. When sinners. Like you and me. When we meet. The master. You know the story.

[29:14] Of the prodigal son. In Luke chapter 15. The father. Takes us back. He redeems us. Through Jesus Christ. The prodigal.

[29:25] Went home. With a plan. In his head. He hatched a plan. I'm going to go home. I'm going to be a servant. The father. Would have none of that. If you read the story. And you read through. The narrative. Of what happens. When the son comes back.

[29:35] He's got this. Speech prepared. And he starts. Totting out the speech. So he's come home. To be a servant. The father cuts him off. Doesn't want a servant. He's got enough servants. What the father wants.

[29:46] Is a son. The father's plan. Through the wounds. That mark. The chosen one. Is to bring many sons. And daughters.

[29:57] To glory. If you are saved. If you are saved. Tonight. Then you are a son. Or a daughter. Of the king.

[30:08] You are a child. Of almighty God. Right now. You became. A child of almighty God. The moment. That you were saved.

[30:20] And that status. Will never change. That status. Can. Never change. Jesus says. In Luke chapter 10. I. Give them eternal life.

[30:32] They will never perish. No one can. Snatch them. Out of my hand. If you are a child. Of the king. You always will be. A child of the king. You are a joint heir.

[30:44] With the prince of peace. Jesus Christ. Isn't that a wonderful thing. To think about. At the start of a year. The second word.

[30:54] The first word is son. Second word is forgiven. Sin. In all of its ugliness. Is what stands. Between us and God.

[31:06] That's what. That's what. Separates us from God. Is our sin. But when we trust Jesus. For our salvation. Our sins are instantly.

[31:18] And eternally forgiven. And it's a wonderful thing. It's not just every sin. That we have committed. In our past. It's not even every sin.

[31:30] That we have committed. In our past. And are committing. At the moment. It's also every sin.

[31:40] That lies. In our future. Because God knows. What we're like. Jesus knows. What we're like. Jesus knows. That we will. Fail him.

[31:50] We heard about Peter. Peter this morning. And Peter denying Christ. Jesus called Peter. Knowing that Peter. Would deny him.

[32:03] And yet he was saved. Through the blood of Christ. He knows our track record. He knows our future. And he still loves us. And he still forgives us.

[32:15] And his blood still cleanses us. From all iniquity. This man's sin. His shame. His guilt. It was all gone. Your sins are forgiven.

[32:27] The first word. Some. That brought him into the family. The second word. Brought him into fellowship. Only Jesus. Our savior.

[32:39] Only Jesus. Our redeemer. The one who buys us back. Can forgive all. Our sin. Can remove all. Our guilt. When he said on the cross.

[32:51] It is finished. Jesus didn't mean. I've done everything I can. I'm sorry. I can't do any more. You do the rest. When Jesus said.

[33:02] It is finished. What he meant was. I've done. Everything. Everything. For your salvation.

[33:12] And mine. Was done by Jesus. At Calvary. So this evening. Let me ask you. Have you experienced. His forgiving power. Has he called you son.

[33:23] Has he called you daughter. Pray God that he will. If he hasn't. The third P is proof.

[33:34] This is the second half. Verses six to the end. Of the chapter. Jesus has just given this man. The greatest possible gift. That he could. He's given him forgiveness. Son.

[33:45] Your sins are forgiven. Do you think his friends. Were disappointed. After all of the hard work. After their blood.

[33:55] Sweat. Toil and tears. In getting him there. Do you think that's. What they were looking for. Do you think they were expecting. Something different. I wonder. I wonder.

[34:07] No. But no sooner. Had Jesus. Pronounced forgiveness. On the man. That there was. Some criticism. In the house.

[34:17] There were scribes. There in the house. Verses six and seven. And they were probably there. To check up on Jesus. To try and figure out. What this man. This joiner. This carpenter. From Nazareth.

[34:28] Was saying. To these people. His reputation. Had gone before him. That scribes. Were writers. They were. Men who copied. The scriptures. And because that was their job.

[34:38] They became very. Very familiar. With the scriptures. They knew. What the word of God. Contained. And so they became. Authorities on the word of God. In fact.

[34:48] In Jesus's day. The scribes. Interpretation. Of God's word. Was. Probably more. Important. Than God's word. Itself. What they said. It meant.

[34:59] Was probably more. Carried more weight. Than actually. God's word. Itself. Did. These men. Had a real problem. With Jesus. They had a real problem.

[35:10] With him. Forgiving this man's sin. We could see that. In the text. Because only God. Can forgive sin. I can't forgive sin. Only God. Can forgive sin. So this. To them.

[35:21] This was Jesus. Actually. Claiming to be God. Of course it was. And to them. This was blasphemy. But they weren't brave enough. To come right out.

[35:32] And say it. Their words. There in the text. Are actually. What they said. In their head. And Jesus. Knew their thoughts.

[35:42] So he confronted them. Verses 8 and 9. Because he is actually. God after all. He could actually. See into their minds. He did. Actually. Hear their unspoken words. They weren't brave enough.

[35:52] In the face of the crowd. Who were there. To see Jesus. Perform miracles. But he knew. What they had said. And so he challenged them. He said. What's easier to say.

[36:03] To this paralyzed man. Your sins are forgiven. Or rise. Take up your bed. And walk. What's the easier thing. To say there. Now. They're both actually. Fairly easy things.

[36:13] To just say. Anybody can say. Your sins are forgiven. Anybody can say that. It's very difficult. To prove. That that's actually happened.

[36:25] Isn't it? Very difficult. To prove. That somebody's sins. Have been forgiven. But saying. Get up and walk.

[36:36] To a paralyzed man. Now that's a real. Tangible. Test. Of Jesus' power. That's something concrete.

[36:50] You know. That's raising the bar. Quite high. Surely only God. Can make that happen. And so we get a confirmation.

[37:01] In verses. 10 to 12. So when Jesus says. Rise. Take up your bed. Go to your house. What he's doing. Is he's showing his power. He proves. That he is. Who he says he is.

[37:12] He's proving. His claim. To be the Messiah. It's an acid. Test. Now if Jesus had said. These words. To this man. And the man had just. Lying.

[37:23] Just laying there. Hadn't moved. Hadn't been able. To get up. Then Jesus would have been. Seen as a fraud. See. He can't do it. But because the man.

[37:34] Stood up. He got up. He stood up straight. He picked up his bed. And he left. Jesus proved. His power to heal. He proved. He had power.

[37:44] To heal. A paralyzed man. But he did more than that. In Isaiah chapter 35. We're given some of the marks. Of the Messiah.

[37:56] And Jesus. By healing this. Paralyzed man. In front of this. House full of eyewitnesses. And. And word of what Jesus had done. Would have spread. All through Capernaum.

[38:07] You never. Will believe. What we saw yesterday. Yeshua. The carpenter. He brought. Paralyzed man. To him. He told him. To get up. And he did. And he's been paralyzed.

[38:19] For years. So what Jesus did. In front of these. Eyewitnesses. Confirms. What Isaiah wrote. In Isaiah chapter 35.

[38:30] 700 years. Before that. Let me read the verse to you. Isaiah 35. Verses 4 and 5. Be strong. Fear not. Behold. Your God. Will come with vengeance.

[38:41] And the recompense of God. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. The ears of the deaf unstopped.

[38:52] Then shall the lame man leap like a deer. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer. One of the signs of the promised Messiah.

[39:06] By healing this man. By telling him to get up. In front of all of these witnesses. By telling him to pick up his bed and go. Jesus proved. Jesus proved. Jesus proved. That he was the Messiah.

[39:18] He proved. That he was God. In the flesh. And he proved it. To a house full of eyewitnesses. And because he proved.

[39:31] That the man was healed. He also proved. That his sins. Were forgiven. Look at verse 10. Just for a second. Verse 10.

[39:45] Son of man has authority. Or the son of man. Has power on earth. To forgive sins. Power on earth. We can maybe take that.

[39:56] A couple of ways. We can take a couple of meanings. Out of what Jesus says there. About himself. The son of man has authority. Power on earth. To forgive sins. He says that he has the power.

[40:09] The actual power. To forgive people's sins. And he proved this. Again and again and again. He proved it with this man here. By forgiving people. Who came to him.

[40:20] And he still forgives sins. If you need forgiveness. Then Jesus is the only place. That you can find that forgiveness. He's the only person.

[40:31] Who can forgive your sins. Because he is the power. Of almighty God. He is God. But Jesus is saying more than that. Jesus is also saying.

[40:43] That the place. To get forgiven. The place where we find forgiveness. Is on earth. It's too late. To be forgiven.

[40:54] When life is over. It's too late. To find forgiveness. When we close our eyes. For the last time. If you think.

[41:06] That when you die. You've lived a life. You've created a small. A footprint of sin. As you can. You've done so many good things.

[41:17] And you think. That Jesus is the judge. Will have a balance. And he'll look at your. Good works. And he'll look at your sins.

[41:31] And there'll be a balance. An unbalance. He'll say. Well yes. You did a good job. With the resources you had. You did a good job. You come. Yes. You'll add something to my heaven.

[41:43] You come into my heaven. Bible says. If that's your idea. You're going to be disappointed. Because the time to come to Jesus.

[41:54] Is right now. It'll be too late. When you leave this world. To prepare for eternity. Jesus came into the world. The first time. As the Lamb of God. To take away the sin of the world.

[42:06] The next time he comes. He is going to come. As the judge of all the earth. He's not going to come. With forgiveness. He's going to come with judgment.

[42:18] And that's a terrible thought. That's an awful thought. It'll be too late. When you leave this world. To prepare. For eternity.

[42:28] Because there's no second chances. We get one life. To have our soul saved. One lifetime. However short or long that may be.

[42:39] To get your soul saved. To get your soul saved. If you don't manage. To have your soul saved. In that one lifetime.

[42:51] Then you will have to deal. With your own sin yourself. Instead of having Jesus deal with it. The only way. That you and I. Can deal with our sin.

[43:01] If we won't let Jesus. Deal with it. Is by being in hell. For all eternity. Why would you do that? Why would you let that happen?

[43:13] When Jesus has paid the bill. For you. In full. All you need to let him do. Is to cover. Your bill. Is to trust.

[43:24] And believe. So having already forgiven. The paralyzed man. Jesus now heals him. And the man. Does what he's told. He gets up.

[43:35] He picks up his bed. And he leaves. And he goes through the door. Not the roof. This man's soul. Was healed first.

[43:46] And then his body. And he was renewed. When Jesus forgives us. We become new creatures.

[43:57] That's what the Bible says. We are new creatures. In Jesus Christ. Our hearts are changed. Our lives are rearranged. Our priorities are turned. Upside down. Because we no longer live for ourselves.

[44:09] We live for somebody else. Completely and totally. We live for Jesus. And when. What Jesus does in our hearts. Always shows through. Through faith.

[44:20] Can always be seen by others. Through faith. You can't keep it to yourself. And the crowd.

[44:31] When they saw this miracle. They were amazed. But they of course. They missed the point. They had said nothing. When the man's sins. Were forgiven. They weren't impressed by that. That wasn't spectacular.

[44:44] They were so focused. On what they could see. They overlooked the forgiveness. They were impressed. By the miracle. Not the message. Of forgiveness.

[44:54] What about you? Listen to me. Are you wanting a miracle? Are you wanting a Damascus road experience? Bright lights shining round about you.

[45:07] Jesus speaking directly to you. Is that the only thing. That will move your heart. Tonight. Are you really listening.

[45:18] For his message. Because Jesus is. Speaking directly to you. He speaks to you. Every time you open. The word of God. Every time. You open a Bible.

[45:30] He speaks to you. Wouldn't you love. To have Jesus call you son. Wouldn't you love. To have him call you daughter.

[45:41] To say. To know. That your sins are forgiven. Because his blood. As we heard in the last psalm. This morning. There is a fountain. Filled with blood. Drawn from Emmanuel's.

[45:53] And that sinners plunged beneath. That flood. Lose all their guilty statements. Wouldn't that be wonderful. To be your son tonight. Let's pray.

[46:04] Eternal Father. We thank you for your word. We thank you for. The message of hope. We thank you for the forgiveness. Of sin. That we can find with you. And only with you.

[46:18] And even our best efforts. To live a life. As sin free. As possible. Will not. Will not let us gain entry to heaven.

[46:33] Only a life. Entrusted to you. In your care. Only a soul. Cleansed. By your blood. We'll have the pleasure.

[46:46] And the comfort. Of being called son. Daughter. Your sins are forgiven. Help us Lord. Cleanse us Father.

[46:59] Love us. Through Jesus Christ. We pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. In the name of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The love of God.

[47:09] The Father. And the fellowship of God. The Holy Spirit. Abide with us all. Now and forevermore. Amen.