"Through the Roof" - Pastor Doug Batchelor

good morning friends once again want to welcome anybody who might be visiting us here at Granite Bay today we're very thankful that you're here our message today is titled through the roof and it's based upon a story that made such a big impression on the Apostles that you find the story recorded in the three synoptic Gospels of Matthew Mark and Luke the story can be found and will be principally studying this experience from mark chapter 2 verses 1 to 12 but you'll also find it in Luke 5:17 and Matthew 9 verses 1 through 8 it's called the story of the paralytic now I'd like to read it to you first and then back up we're gonna look at 12 verses and that should be a relief for you who sat through our several weeks of King David going through two or three books of the Bible when we got twelve verses say but watch what I can do with twelve verses go to with me to mark chapter two we're gonna read verses 1 through 12 and again he entered Capernaum and after some days it was heard that he was in the house immediately many gathered together so there was no longer room to receive him not even near the door and he preached the word to them then they came to him bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men and when they could not come near to him because of the crowd they uncovered the roof where he was so when they had broken through they let down on the bed him who was paralyzed and when Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic son your sins are forgiven you and some of the scribes were sitting in there and they reasoned in their hearts why does this man speak blasphemies like this who can forgive sin but God alone but immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they reasoned with us within themselves he said to them why do you reason about these things in your hearts which is easier to say to the paralytic your sins are forgiven or to say arise take up your bed and walk but that you might know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins he said to the paralytic I say to you arise take up your bed and go to your house and immediately he arose took up the bed and went out in the presence of them all so that they were all amazed and glorified God saying we never saw anything like this there's a wonderful story that is just full of I think rich lessons for us to consider you know during that war some of the most important individuals are the stretcher bearers they carried the wounded soldiers that are on the battlefield on these leaders here's actually a picture of some Canadian soldiers during World War one and there I grabbed that picture because it's similar to our Bible story or you've got five involved four men carrying one and they really brave a lot of obstacles they go on sometimes not just after a battle but in the midst of a battle battle sometimes take four days and these combat medics go out there under fire and they have to sometimes give quick medical treatment just sort of this hospital field medical treatment to people they put them on the leaders and they have to carry them off the battlefield sometimes I've got a Red Cross on their back or on their arm and in in some battles they said that it just made them a target because it would demoralize the troops when they started shooting their medics they knew that there was no one to help them when they were injured and then they would have the courage to you know take them off the field to the field hospital and go back and get more and they are some of the unsung heroes of the wars are these stretcher bearers well in the story we're looking at today some of the unsung heroes are the stretcher bearers these people who brought their friend to Jesus and we read about that they came to him carrying somebody and we'll get to that in a minute but I'd like to examine just some of the first few verses and look at the the words more carefully look again at mark chapter 2 verse 1 and 2 and again he entered Capernaum after some days now the reason it says again is because the crowds had been so intense that he had actually go out into the wilderness the reason he's in Capernaum is because up the hill on a town called Nazareth his own friends and church members tried to throw him off a cliff he said well I'm not gonna get very far here because a prophet is not without honor except in his own hometown so he found his message was widely received in the Galilee area where Capernaum was a seaport town and it tells us what house he went into you look in the previous chapter chapter one it says he went and he stayed in the house of the Simon Peter and Andrew and James and John they either had adjoining houses maybe plenty of room and they hadn't used to have a courtyard in the middle in the middle and some maybe a large central room for when they cooked in the winter and people gathered there and they were listening to Jesus teach and preach the word so he entered this house and it was heard word got out again he's back in town and immediately many gathered together so there was no longer room to receive him no not even near the door another reason so many were gathered together is because you read just before this he had healed a leper you also read about this leper in Luke chapter 5 it says a man who was full of leprosy he came to Jesus and he said Lord if you will you can make me clean and Jesus said I will he reached out he touched him and all of his leprosy was healed even though he had an advanced case and Jesus said now don't tell anybody about this how do you think that worked the leper saw he's just being humble and he went and proclaimed everywhere that Jesus had saved him from leprosy and so the notoriety of cry of Christ and his healing had really spread but even more than this it was the word so when people came because he had healed the leopard what did Jesus do how did exploit the opportunity of having many gathered together he preached the word so you notice that the crowd comes when they find out he's in the house many of you heard the expression ladies and gentlemen we've received word that Elvis is in the building I got one chance to meet Elvis Presley with my mother a long time ago it was his first concert in New York City and she brought me to a press conference because she wrote songs for him and so she was invited there and then we saw him later at the concert and I remember before he came out they always made a big deal of saying he is in the building and then when the concert was over they said Elvis has left the building you've heard that expression before it does mean well when Jesus was in the house everybody was really excited and what didn't you like to know that you can invite your friends to a house where Jesus is in the house what is the church it's called the household of God sometimes we call this the house of God what were they doing in this house they gathered together to study the word why did the crowds come because Jesus was in the house you know don't we all wish that we had a church where we're not embarrassed to invite people because Jesus is in the house and if we only knew Jesus was in the house everybody would want to be there now the Bible says that they longed for his presence the crowds would mob him they would just want to touch him to listen to him your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and if Jesus is in the house people are going to want to be with you Christians should be attractive is that what the Bible says so let your light shine that people might see and be glorifying God the Lord wants us to be attractive people and that doesn't just mean you should obviously take care of your personal grooming what that means is that you ought to have a disposition so that people want to be with you because you're positive because you get that joy because you're a happy and it attracts people and that some people say I'm a Christian and and they're so bitter and they're so unhappy and they're so negative and you think you know you've heard the expression you'll catch a lot more bees with honey than vinegar and if we are attractive if people say Jesus is in the house that's one of the most important soul-winning things you could do many were gathered together and so they came now what did he do when he had the crowd the next section you can see in verse 2 I'm just going to the second part of the of chapter 2 says he preached the word to them now I've got a you've heard the expression what came first the chicken to the egg what came first Jesus preaching because there was a crowd of the crowd coming because Jesus preached that Jesus preached the word because there was a crowd or was there a crowd because Jesus preached the word I think they came because he preached the word you know years ago when I first moved back to Sacramento with Karen and we started pastoring the Sacramento Central Church I'll tell you it was a little intimidating because I was coming immediately from pastoring a church that sat a hundred people now you're moving into a church that you know seats 1,100 people you're moving from a church is way out in the country where you got you know what the same person that plays the piano is also the Deaconess and the Sabbath school teacher and it's like you know these little churches one person does has 12 positions and you move into this you know big city church we have all these professionals it's a little intimidating and at the time I came attendance was way down I mean we sometimes had 120 people there I remember one of the Deacons said Doug were glad you're coming he said we can throw grenades in the church right now and not hurt anybody Sabbath morning so I talked to a friend who is a pastor one of the associates and I said well what do we do he said in a city this size he gave me some good advice he said in a city this size there's so many people that are looking for a place where they preached the word he said you know I've been here and lots of pastors have come and gone and they got all these fancy programs and seminars and initiatives and things they do he said but if people just know they can bring their friends to a place where the Word of God is going to be preached they'll come and they'll bring their friends and I thought that's the best advice I've heard I'm just gonna make it my mission of course I always believe this anyway but I said I'm gonna make it my mission preach the word preach the word preach the word because what changes people it's not gonna be the programs and the machinery and the decorations though they all have their place it's not gonna make much money you have it's gonna be the word is what changes people's lives so the people came because he preached the word and he preached the word because the people came whenever I see a crowd I want to preach I mean if I see a crowd at a baseball game I'm wishing I could go down on the pitcher's mound and get a microphone and preach I'm one of these people I'm not exaggerating that when the flight attendant comes on to give the announcements I want to say what she's done could I say a word please or whatever is the crowd I wanted because I see lost people everywhere and they need to hear the word he preached the word to them that's what changes lives john 5:39 jesus said search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life these are they that testify of me the word is all about Christ Paul said in first Corinthians 2 for I am determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified in everything we say in do we need to be lifting up Christ just got done with our series on David but I tried to show you Jesus and the story of David Jesus is everywhere in the book Galatians 6:14 Paul says but God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world everything is about Christ and the cross and the book desire of Ages the author says in every page whether history our precept or prophecy the Old Testament Scriptures are irradiated with a glory of the Son of God so when Jesus was preaching a word he wasn't just sharing the New Testament because it wasn't written yet he was taking the Old Testament and showing the gospel even in the scriptures that they had then because I'm of the belief there's a promise in the Bible I'll read to you in just a moment I'm of the belief that there is something that happens when people hear the word that is supernatural there's power in the words of the Bible and when everything else fails I just help someone read the Bible read the word when Jesus preached the word things happen miracles happen people were say people were transformed there's a promise I told you where I was gonna read Isaiah 55 verse 10 and 11 for as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven and they don't return there but they wanted the earth and they make it bring forth and bud that it might give seed to the sower and bread to the eater so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth it will not return to me void doesn't return empty but it will accomplish that which I please and it will prosper in the thing for which I sent it you know it's incredible what rain does there are deserts in the world that sometimes don't get rain for years I watch these you know nature films I'll show this desert hasn't rained half an inch here in seven years but then also in a thunderstorm comes through and the ground is saturated and this place that's been a parched barren desert without any instruction from the the press the vegetation knows it's got its cue just from the water the ground comes alive with green it happens in Africa every year there's deserts that they get this rain that comes through and all of a sudden what was just a dry river everything's turned to green all around it the water automatically seems to bring out seeds that you can't see and when the word is preached there are seeds in people's hearts they don't even know are there that start springing to life the word will always accomplish something when it's preached faithfully and act so he's there preaching the word and then the story goes on it says then they came to him bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men so there was this man and he is paralyzed his his condition they sickness whatever it was his his racked his body and the disease is advanced and he's all gnarled up if you read in the book desire of Ages it says that his paralysis was connected with a life of sin that had taken its toll and so that he was dying and he was even at the point of decay and he had heard about Jesus healing the leper he had heard about the miracles that had taken place in Capernaum and he thought if I could just get to Jesus I bet he'd heal me but he's crippled so he prevailed on his friends that loved him enough and they said we think you're right we're gonna bring you and so they brought him when they heard Jesus was back in the house they said we're gonna bring our friend whatever his name was and because it's a long way you have to carry him and a grown man can weigh 150 hundred and sixty pounds two men that's you know 80 pounds apiece that starts to get to be a load after a while so they divided it up among four men it's still a pretty good load you got to be committed to carry that very far but the problem is you can't go very fast like that so by the time they get to the house the crowd is already amassed but he had friends that were gonna bring him to Jesus you know I read that there's quite a few people it may be thirty percent of the people Jesus healed either their case or they were brought to Jesus by someone else there's a lot of people that will never be saved unless they are brought to Jesus by someone else when died my father came to Jesus said can you come to my house and heal my daughter she's too sick to move others would bring people to Jesus but that reminds us that there's a lot of lost people out there that are never gonna find Jesus unless someone else brings them and sometimes it takes more than one person to bring them it's the influence of several people that are working upon them that begins to touch their hearts and bring them and it's work it takes time and it takes effort to bring people to Jesus a few years ago I was in Australia and I was in the what they call the Kimberley region and that sounds like a beautiful word but it's really a big desolate place there were gold lines out there at this time this is way back out and you've heard of the outback once you get to the outback you go further this is way way out in Australia and I went there a few years ago and I spoke with a Aborigine group there in a community and had a wonderful experience but I remember hearing the story about Russian Jack Russian Jack was a gold miner he and his partner were prospecting way out in the Kimberley it's out in the desert Outbacks of Australia and they ran out of food and they decided well if we could get a kangaroo and one of them spotted a kangaroo but before he could take his shot he was trying to chase it down he fell and he broke his leg it's a bad thing when you break your leg way out there in the wilderness well among their provisions they had a wheel barrel and Russian Jack whose real name if you're interested was Ivan Frederick's he lived from 1864 to 1904 they called him Russian Jack he loaded up his friend with a broken leg in a wheelbarrow and he pushed him a hundred miles to get him to the next the closest place where he could get any kind of medical attention you got to have be a pretty good friend to push your buddy in a wheel barrel a hundred miles this is not on pavement this was on really rough breaded rocky road matter of fact when he finally came into the town exhausted with his friend and the wheelbarrow crowd gathered around and they said how far did you go he said a hundred and sixty kilometers hundred but a hundred miles and his friend commented he said and he didn't miss a single rock along the way he's there bouncing around but the point was he got him to help and so as they're bringing their friend they're carrying him along it's kind of an interesting story you know they bring him to Jesus and he had four plus one which is five five sort of a number in the Bible that represents the Word of God you got the Pentateuch in the Old Testament the five books of Moses and you know the New Testament has a history of Jesus it's in five books Matthew Mark Luke John and acts are really the history of Christ and the Apostles and you remember when the rich man was in Abraham's bosom he said I have five brothers in my father's house so you hit that number five often it's compared to the Word of God I want to take that too far but I thought I'd share it with you but the only way that they could get there was to be brought now there's a problem that arrives they get there they've got they're late because they came far they had to go slow but they persisted they could have given up and said I was too late you know by the time we get there the doctor is gonna have that little sign that says closed don't you love it when you get to line in a market and it's really busy and right when you get there they say we're closing this aisle and you look around all the other aisles all the other lines in the cashiers instruments go on for miles and if at all we're gonna get there it'll be too late but they persisted to get their friend to Jesus you know they got to the house and there was no room the crowd is all around the door they're straining to hear every word and the crowd has gathered all around the windows and the necks are craning and heads are in the the window and I don't know how they could even breathe the stifling air in the house or but a lot of people you have the disciples are in the house and their families are in the house you know Peter had a family he had a wife he had a mother-in-law Peter had a family says Andrew was there and James and John you know maybe you live next door and then you've got the Twelve Apostles and then you've got it says there were scribes and fair sieze and lawyers you read Matthew and you read mark and it says they're all three and they're all gathered in there so the house is full windows are full you know I I've done a couple meetings that were really neat I remember we did a meeting in India yeah with amazing facts we went and we did a large series thing devil you Debbie was there for that one and we had whole you know 30,000 people that were there but then we went to dedicate a church that Maranatha built we were doing the joint project of Angela's and building churches and we're going to dedicate the church and church was full of people and we brought our crew and people were all gathered around the windows and they were gathered around the door and you just you couldn't get in anywhere and it was kind of exciting but when we got inside there was no air conditioning it was a hot and while I was preaching I saw some of our crew were sitting over by the window and the Sun was at an angle it was shining in the room was already hot and some of them were sitting in the Sun there are people sitting on the floor there are a few people sitting in seats and I saw this one person fanning themself and I thought they were gonna faint because I knew how hot they were and you couldn't breathe and so I shortened my sermon I preached on this subject and afterward she told me she said Doug I liked you before but I really like you now because I thought you were gonna go an hour but it was fun seeing a house like that where just everybody's gathered to hear the word and of course it was for a church dedication as well but they couldn't get in they got there they got a stretcher I mean you couldn't get one person if you tried to fight your way up to the door they push you back and say hey we got here first get back what do you think you are but now they're trying to come five of them forget about it as it's a New York forget about it I couldn't get through the door they couldn't get through the window there was no back door and they had exhausted every horizontal option now when that happens and you exhaust all of your horizontal options then you need to just give up because the crowds in the way right what was the problem that prevented them from bringing their friend to Jesus one of the most important points I want to share today what was it that prevented them from bringing their friend to Jesus was Jesus the problem was that the paralysis that was the problem they couldn't get near Christ because of the crowd the people what kind of crowd it's the crowd around Jesus are you telling me the crowd around Jesus can keep people from coming to Jesus yes what is the greatest obstacle to Christianity in the world today is that atheists atheists not a problem they have nothing to offer atheist fight for you to believe in nothing I mean what kind of argument is that you have nothing have nothing to offer even Gandhi says I don't know why atheists get so mad about people preaching about God that they don't believe exist why would you fight to prove something doesn't exist now atheists aren't the problem with Christianity the world mocks Christianity because of the crowd around Christ I can think of several stories in the Bible of people that wanted to get to Jesus but the crowd got in the way you remember the story of the woman she was afflicted with a disease where she had been bleeding for 12 years and she wanted to talk to Jesus about the problem she was praying for healing but she couldn't get near because of the crowd and as Christ was going by the best she could do was lunge out and get a hold of the hem of His garment between the forest of legs that were surrounding Jesus she reached out she saw what she recognized to be as him she took hold of it she got through the crowd and she was healed Bartimaeus wanted to be healed he heard Jesus was coming by and he cried out son of David have mercy on me son of David have mercy on me this blind man and the crowd told him to be quiet the crowd around Jesus told him not to pray this is a religious crowd they're saying don't pray so loud what did he do he prayed louder he wasn't gonna let the crowd stop him bible tells us about a short man that was a publican that wanted to see Jesus problem was what was the problem that he was short no the crowd was too tall if the crowd were all pygmies he could have seen Jesus but the crowd got in the way and so he had to get above the crowd Zacchaeus decided to think vertically and he got above the crowd and you see this dynamic through the Bible now here's the really important point I want you to get sometimes it's even the crowd around Jesus that keeps people from Jesus it's people who take the name of Christ that sometimes advertise against Christ how many times have you heard people say I wanted mine Jesus but it's the hypocrites lord I like you but save me from your followers how many times have you known somebody that says I don't go to church anymore because of what someone did to me there was a group they started to gossip about me or they said something terrible or if you only knew what the pastor the Deacons the Deaconess the elder what they did to me they took away my position or just whatever it is I mean I've heard all kinds of stories and some of them are terrible and they're true some are not true some are exaggerated some are imaginary it doesn't matter I want to tell you now if you were the devil and you thought you could use people in the church to get a person to scourge with a church so they want to come anymore would you do it if you want to be a good devil if you were gonna be the devil you'd want to be a good one right you don't know how to answer that do you but if you were gonna be a good devil you would try to use profess Christians who were being inconsistent or being unkind to keep people away from the house where Jesus is because it is so important that we come together to worship Him being part of the body of Christ being part of the community of Christ is crucial I can prove to you if you let me take a detour right now that it is essential that you are part of an active church family in your salvation the idea that you just gonna wander around say but I'm spiritual I don't belong in any church but I believe in Jesus you're gonna become eccentric and unbalanced if you're not part of our church family but there's people in the church and they got problems and they're hypocrites best place for you to learn love is to be around people that need love right it's not hard to love everybody that's lovable it takes if you want a muscle you lift something heavy if you want to learn to love hang around people I can guarantee you there'll be some of them that will challenge your love muscles some of you are married to a person like that right that's why you're in that marriage so you can learn to love so I'm warning you if it hasn't happened yet it will happen the devil will get somebody in the church to try to hurt you so that they become an obstacle and a lot of times people cannot see Jesus because they're so preoccupied with a crowd around Jesus somebody hurt them somebody did something someone's been a hypocrite you can fill in the blank there's a thousand ways you could fill in the blank about somebody in the church did something to hurt you and they can't get this man to Jesus because of the crowd around Jesus amen I want to make sure that sank in significantly because I want you to plan ahead now and say alright Lord I'm bracing myself some day the devil is going to use somebody in the church to eclipse Jesus from my view and I'm not gonna let it happen make up your mind you're not gonna let it happen because he does it all the time even Jesus had a Judas in his church isn't that right so if Christ could not keep the hypocrites out of his church that how do you think we can isn't that right okay did I make that point so his friends they look down to the paralyzed man and they said we tried we're heading home is that what they said no they persisted they didn't give up instead of looking horizontally at all the problems I can't get through the door can't get through the back door can't get through the window one of them said well let's look up and they looked up to the roof and they said you know there's a back ladder we can get up on the roof now just so you understand how the houses were constructed bike that I don't want you to think that these four people were so inconsiderate they climbed up on Peters roof like firemen with an axe and started to hack their way through the roof the houses were all built back then so that they had an area in the middle with a deliberate hole sometimes it was slightly elevated so the smoke would get out right through the middle of the house they had the cooking pit in the middle of the house it created a convection the heat rising up through brought in the cool air from the windows and from the door and then it would go out through the roof sometimes they weren't cooking but it was there and all you had to do is remove the covering and you could it was made to remove aid tiles or they had sometimes palm fronds or whatever it was so they went up on the roof it also says in the Bible they were to build the law of Moses said you're build a railing around your roof so that people don't fall off because they all used to go up on the repeaters on the roof praying before lunch you remember that in Acts chapter 10 I mean do you always climb it on top of your roof before lunch no that's what they did back then it was made to go up there because it was cooler and problem was he could smell the food coming up from the kitchen he got hungry and he had a vision anyway he's got low blood sugar so they went up on the roof they moved aside the tiling they had some ropes or something or the corners of his sleeping bag were long enough where they began to lower him down I you can just see this I want to see the video of this in heaven I'm going to ask the angel to play about Jesus is in this room all the scholars and the scribes hustles there he's preaching the word they hear this ruckus up on the roof they can already hear people out the windows on the doors and pretty soon light begins to stream through because they've moved aside the palms and the tiles and the light is coming through and the dust is falling down in the sunlight and they're gonna what in the world and some people are thinking how rude they're disrupting the service but was Jesus upset now he was happy he was pleased when he saw their faith he was pleased and all of a sudden in the middle of his sermon cry stops and they begin to lower this individual right down in front of Jesus probably his friends said to him you know he said Oh guys I appreciate your trying you tried I know it means a lot can't get through you may as well take me home and they said to him no we brought you this far we're not quitting yet we carried you here you're walking home we're not carrying you home we can just get you the last few feet you'll be healed something else I want you to notice is his friends recognize an important truth there buddy the paralytic was not gonna get help by being with the crowd outside he was only going to get the help by being with Christ we are not saved by second-hand Christianity where you say I am with a Christian group I must be a Christian I heard someone say that's like thinking that if you park your car in a drive-thru it becomes a hamburger the idea that you suddenly become a hamburger because you go to a hamburger store and it does a Christians not a Christian because they go to a church you're not a Christian because you had a Christian father you're not a Christian because you have a Christian mother people think they're Christians they say well my grandfather was a pastor I talked to him before about my religion just happened this week he's talking to someone during lunch about the Lord they're not a practicing Christian you know my father he reads the Bible every day it's like he was gonna get some kind of credit for that you do not get credit by being around the people who are around Jesus you must have a personal encounter with Christ they knew they needed to get their friend right into the presence of Jesus and they did they moved the roof they lowered him down they plopped him down right in front of Jesus right in the middle of the room right there Jesus has made their City and are kneeling on the floor standing there but there he's right in front of Jesus and Jesus is happy so instead of looking around they started looking up and you could say they had a breakthrough that's what it says they looked up and they broke through the roof maybe you need a breakthrough in your life and you've been looking horizontally and you can't find any answers how many times have you tried to solve a problem and you work on it for days and weeks and hours and you forget to pray they call I didn't pray about it did I it's all the time we're always looking horizontally we got to look up and the Lord has answers for us I did a little study I just typed in look up and I was surprised how many times that appears in the Bible Luke 21:28 when these things begin to happen speaking of the signs of the end Jesus said look up mark 8 when he put his hands on his eyes this man was blind and he made him look up maybe he was blind because he was looking around and he said you got to start looking now mark 16 for but when they looked up they saw the stone had been rolled away they walked to the tomb they were looking down finally when they looked up they discovered the resurrection all through the Bible I could go a whole sermon now just look up the answer was there if we would look up how many times God has a thousand ways to answer our prayers when we can't see one and what's his in verse 5 when Jesus saw their faith do you notice it doesn't say when Jesus saw his face when Jesus saw their faith whose faith is he seen it's the faith of the friends that bring their buddy to Jesus now I don't believe that I'm saved by your faith directly we all are saved by our faith in Christ whenever Jesus healed someone he said your faith has made them whole but others can be healed by your faith as well people can be saved by your faith you pray for people that are lost you pray for people you're studying the Bible with and your faith will make a difference in their salvation you see what I'm saying they must eventually have their own personal faith but people can in part be saved by your faith and your prayers and they didn't just pray they did something the Lord I think their faith was seen in works they thought I believe Jesus can heal our friend we're gonna work because we believe that this is a really important point I just pause and thought everybody would go hallelujah you'd have an epiphany but nobody did you have faith that the loss can be saved do you have faith I lost me say they had faith the loss could be saved so they could have said two different we believe Jesus can heal you goodbye we're going to hear and preach they said we believe Jesus can heal you we're gonna bring you to Jesus they then did something about it and they actively got involved there are people who will be saved because of your acted involved because you're practicing your faith that will not be saved if you do not practically do something they had faith but they showed their faith they carried their friend they tried the door they tried the window they tried the roof and finally they got what they were after when Jesus saw their faith you know I type in the word persistence God honors faith and persistence faith and persistence are cousins Jeremiah 29 you'll seek me and you'll find me when you search for me with all of your heart the Lord says to seek and to ask and to knock and those words in Greek are continue knocking continue seeking continue asking it's persistence whatever your hand finds to do do it with all of your might this is a kind of faith that the Lord is calling for you know this week a lot of people are giving graduation speeches and the most famous graduation speech the one that's most often quoted was one of the shortest anyone know what it was I thought I heard someone say Winston Churchill he'd give a speech I'll read his whole speech for you you'll never hear when this shorted him never never never never give up never give in never give in never never never never and anything great or small larger petty never give in except to convictions of Honor good sense then he sat down I remember was shocked how short his speech was but they never forgot it he had one simple point it noticed point was persistence persistence to have faith you know you wonder what would have happened to England during World War two if Churchill hadn't had that kind of persistence like John Paul Jones when they asked him to surrender he said surrender we haven't started fighting yet yet christian jesus said he saw their faith he was pleased by their faith i need to move along so here's this man he's leaned in front of Jesus what do you think his big desire is if you saw that man all shriveled up and dying and Robby didn't smell very good and he's sick maybe he had a fever you think wow he's really ill but when Jesus saw him he said there's a person who is struggling with guilt he saw the sin problem most everyone else saw the sickness problem Jesus decided to deal with the real problem the biggest problem first if you got a person who is terribly sick and dying because of sin and you only heal their body and you don't forgive their sin what have you done for him you've just prolonged their misery a little bit so everyone's shocked jesus said son your sins were forgiven now that shocked the group for two reasons one reason they were shocked as they expected Jesus to heal him he was placed in the presence of Christ that looked obvious his problem was he's sick he's paralyzed he can't even bring himself someone else brought him but Jesus looked beyond that and he saw what the real need and the man was more than anything he knew he was sick because of his life of sin he wanted to know that he was forgiven because if you're healthy and lost your whole life would you prefer that to living a life of sickness and being saved most of us pray that we can be healed so that we can enjoy our sin a lot of people pray for wholeness since they can go back and have a good health to give to the devil but what good is it if the Lord heals your body if you aren't healed in your soul any physical healing without salvation is only temporary Jesus resurrected Lazarus so he could grow old and die son your sins are forgiven everyone else thought it was a medical problem jesus knew it was a spiritual problem he addressed the biggest problem first what good would it have been done to heal the paralysis you know I'd like to quote something from that book desire of Ages have referenced twice already in this message page 268 now in words that fell like music on the sufferers a year the Savior said son be of good cheer your sins are forgiven the burden of dispel rolls from the sick man's soul the peace of forgiveness rests upon his spirit and shines out on his countenance his physical pain is gone and his whole being has transformed the helpless paralytic is healed he hasn't felt any healing the thing that healed him was the forgiveness of sin the guilty sinner is pardoned and simple faith he accepts the word of Jesus as boon of new life he urges no further requests but he lays there on his cot in blissful silence too happy for words the light of heaven are radiates his countenance and the people look with awe on the scene when Jesus said your sins are forgiven a peace just went over him he layed there hasn't moved a muscle he still looks like he's paralyzed but a peace a radius went across him that they could see something happened he was changed they could see he was changed and hadn't even been healed yet when you're saved from your sin people will notice something's different now when Christ said that it really angered some of the religious leaders because the Bible is pretty clear that God and God only can forgive sin only Jehovah is your Savior there is no other Savior there's a lot of scriptures in the Bible that say we come to God for forgiveness even David in Psalm 51 he said against thee and the only have I sinned and done this wickedness in your sight and so when Jesus said I am forgiving your sin some of them muttered within themselves who is this it speaks blasphemy God and God only can forget sin well they're right only God can forgive sin don't miss that point only God can forgive sin where's Jesus God the Bible says in the beginning God created who created all things Christ everything that was made was made by him he is the word and only Jehovah can forgive sin on Jesus is Jehovah Jesus is God and by the way does Jesus have less power to forgive sin today did he like use it all up between today and two thousand years ago or does he have just as much power to forgive sin today as he had back then he's that means that he can forgive us our sin can he heal us from our paralysis it's that simple he speaks the words the man believes a piece comes over him he was saved by faith what Christ said now Christ knows what the critics are thinking and they're saying God only can forgive sins and then they're true about that you know I don't believe a sermon is really complete unless the pastor talks about the big issues of Christianity you know what those issues are sin and salvation how many times have you been to church where nothing is said about sin and salvation the most important points of the gospel are we've got a problem and Jesus is the answer we should always make that clear to people whatever it is everyone struggles with sin Christ is the answer to the problem and he said but you doubt that I can do this so Jesus perceived I'm in verse 8 mark 2 verse 8 immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they reasoned thus within himself how did he know in his mind that's what they were thinking they didn't say it they just thought it how did he know because another definition of God is that God and God only knows the thoughts of men's hearts does Jesus know what you're thinking right now some of you don't even know what you're thinking cuz you're daydreaming Jesus knows what you're thinking Jesus knows the thoughts of your hearts the person next to you might guess what you're thinking and be right some of the time the devil can tempt you and try to look at your expression and see but he doesn't really know your heart only God by the way that's in 2nd Kings chapter 8 verse 39 in Solomon's prayer God and God only knows the thoughts of men's hearts Jesus knew what was in man the Bible said he knows your hearts he reads your mind some people think we shouldn't pray out loud because then the devil will hear our prayers Rea should pray out loud nothing wrong with that but Jesus hears when you pray in your heart and only he can hear that when he knew what they were thinking he then answered the question in their hearts anyway you know I remember when Jesus was at the thief at the feast and Simon's house and Simon said if Jesus was a prophet he'd know who and what manner of woman this is that's touching him because she's a sinner and Jesus knew what Simon was thinking and he answered what he was thinking jesus knows what you're thinking right now and he said to them let me ask you a question which is easier to say that a paralytic your sins are forgiven or to say arise take up your bed and walk well let me ask you which is easier physical healing or spiritual healing can doctors help accelerate the natural forces of the body and heal but can they heal sin are there medicines that can help with healing how many of you wish there is a medicine you could take I would say cleansing from all sin take this pill I'd take it think of all the money we'd make they sell medicine that claims everything else I've not seen that pill yet I got an idea just now while I was preaching we could make a fortune on this build a new church does get a pill salvation from sin take one every day which is harder obviously forgiveness of sin but back then they thought this man is so far gone that it'd be easier to forgive his sins than to heal him and Jesus said look I want you to know that I have the ability to forgive sin my main reason for being here the son of man has come to heal everyone from their sicknesses no he did that but that wasn't the main reason he had come to seek and to save the Lost the reason Jesus came was to save us from our sins any physical healing and the miracles he did back then aside from relieving the suffering the miracles were to demonstrate his power that he could forgive sin why did the Lord give the Apostles power to do miracles because they were preaching a new message and it was to validate their message of forgiveness through Jesus the miracles are all there so we'll know that God is God but he wants you to know he's God to prove he can forgive your sin why do we bring people to a prophecy seminar and show them the Bible is a supernatural book so we can say Wow the Bible can foretell the future I wonder if he can tell us about lotto numbers I wonder if the Bible can tell us about the horse race of the stock market is that why the prophecies here why does God prove his supernatural power in prophecy so you can know that he has power to forgive sin the bottom line in all the power that we see through the gospel is so you could know that he can forgive sin because that's the only thing that will take you from this life to the next life is having your sins forgiven and then he goes on he says but that you might know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins does he still have that power he said to the paralytic he turns he says to the man that's laying there I say to you see before he said I forgive you sin now he's adding I say to you arise take up your bed and go to your house immediately he arose he took up his bed and he went out in the presence of them all this was not done like a private healing under a tree that was very dubious and you couldn't prove it this is in the Gospels of Matthew Mark and Luke because they were all there that day they saw the crowd salt the religious leaders saw it everybody in the town knew this man came a paralytic and he left totally healed and forgiven that you might know that he has power take up your bed and go to your house there he were carrying him on a cot of some sort you could roll up a mat immediately he rose he took up the bed he obeyed Jesus and he went out in the presence of them all so they were all amazed now there's an amazing fact they were amazed and they glorified God saying we have never seen anything like this before you know what I think is one of the most wonderful points in this story is that when the man came to Jesus he was carried by others on a bed that carried him when he left Jesus he still had the bed but nobody carried him in the bed didn't carry him he came through the roof and he left through the door I have a friend he a hunter up in the hills and he says Doug you got to be careful about letting those bears get in your house because bears are notorious if they break into a cabin for some reason they never want to go out the same door they came in said they will come in through your door but they will leave through a window just something about bears I don't know very strange they'll tear everything apart but they won't walk out the way they came in I don't know they always try and find a way of escape just in case they're cornered but this man he came through the roof through his friends through faith but he left through the door came in vertically left horizontally we get vertical help so we can live horizontally we come to Jesus vertically he forgives our sins we come carried by the bed and the bed in the Bible it represents weakness it represents death it represents the carnal nature represents sickness the bed carried him when he came to Christ but when he left he carried the bed you have two natures you've got the spirit and you got the flesh before a person comes to Christ they are carried by the flesh they go where it goes they're helpless but after we come with Christ do we still have our carnal side we still have it but it doesn't carry us because Paul says sin will not have dominion over you and so after this man spent time with Jesus he was set free he took up his bed he's healed he goes forth where his friends happy who was rejoicing the most his man and then his friends this is a wonderful story friends of salvation and what God does how through the blood of Christ we can be saved from our sins and set free the Bible tells us that we might be paralyzed by sin you might be thinking there's just no way out but through faith when Jesus said son your sins are forgiven those words are for us a daughter your sins are forgiven and when we receive that by he sets us free and then he tells us to arise and the first place we go we go back to our house to be a witness in our own home arise and go to your house and everybody glorifying God I just loved this story big as it just talks about persistence it talks about the power of the word it talks about the transformation that God can make in our lives through faith and through his promises and I'm hoping that it will all be live in our lives today it'll come to life amen why don't we stand together we're gonna sing as our closing song there is a fountain now there's six verses in this song and then I've asked in the interest of time that our singers lead you I think three verses and they'll have those three verses on the screen for you three three six there is a fountain thank you [Music] man taystee [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] I love this story because everybody's in the story somewhere you've got the people that are in the church that are bringing others to Christ and then you've got the people who are paralyzed by sin and sickness that are brought to Christ and in the end everybody's glorifying God in the story because well when we accept that salvation we experience that freedom so I don't know where you place yourself for one thing as members we need to bring people to the house where the word is preached amen we want this to be a house where Jesus is but then maybe some of us are still paralyzed by sin and by the enemy you can come to Christ and you can say Lord save me and he can set you free and save you you believe that friends Father in heaven we're just so thankful for the simple message of the gospel one where there's a problem of sin and where Jesus is the answer of salvation and Lauren that's what it's all about we are your servants and you've called us to bring the sick and the suffering into your presence where they can be transformed by the power of the word I pray that we can all be hearing first and foremost son daughter your sins are forgiven you because of the sacrifice of Jesus we will believe that our sins can be forgiven and that'll bring peace to our hearts and then beyond that Lord we don't want to just lay there forgiving in the house then you tell us to get up and to go and Lauren I pray that we will all get up and go for you and be your witnesses and that been that once carried us we can carry it that we don't have to be victims anymore of sin but we can live lives where we by purpose are following you bless each person so that we can practice that in our lives thank you Lord for this message today and I pray it will come to life and be real in our hearts in Jesus name Amen please be seated one final announcement

Channel: Aaron

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Id: mc7lEmyIlrg

Length: 59min 46sec (3586 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 23 2018