Well, we're looking at the miracle of the healing of the paralysed man and last time, remember we're looking at letter P's to help us through it and last time we did three, I have six and maybe a little slight touch of a seventh but we did three. Last Sunday morning we looked at the picture that is before us and the scene Jesus is preaching in a house in Capernaum, and so popular is he that the room is jam-packed full. It's a single-storey house, so a flat roof, there's a stairway outside the house leading up onto the roof, there are windows, there's a doorway. We're told that people are thronging around the doorway and around the windows as well. And Jesus is preaching and teaching. We're told that Pharisees and scribes are there from all over Israel. They've come from the north, the south, and from Jerusalem headquarters itself. They've come to see what is happening in Capernaum for themselves. That's the picture. Then we looked at the paralysis and four men come carrying their friend because he can't get to Jesus himself. Oh, I forgot to mention, it's really important in the scene, the end of verse 17, Jesus is not only teaching and preaching, but we're told in a wonderful way, he's present with the power of the Lord to heal. He's present with the power of the Lord to heal. Then the paralysis, the men come bringing their friend on the bed. And then we look finally at the persistence, finding their way blocked by the great crowd. They don't just give up and say, oh, well, we'll go home. No, they want to bring their friend to Jesus. And the friend wants to be brought to Jesus because they believe that Jesus can heal him of this paralysis that has so blighted his life. And when the way is blocked, they don't give up. Oh, well, we tried. You know, folks maybe say, well, I've tried being a Christian. I prayed once. Don't give up until you know. that your sins are forgiven. It's the most urgent, the most vital issue you could ever, ever face, not only in time, but for the whole of eternity. And these men don't give up. and they do something quite extraordinary. They go up the stairway onto the flat roof, do some soundings to where the voice of Jesus is, then they tear open the roof and the mess and the debris is falling down inside the room. Their heads appear, they look down, there he is, they lower their friend on the mat. to where Jesus is. See verse 18, they were seeking to bring him and lay him before Jesus, their persistence, but verse 19, finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles in the midst before Jesus. That's their aim, to bring him to Jesus. And they don't give up until they brought him to Jesus, and that's where we concluded last Sunday morning. Now the fourth P, priority. Priority. Verse 20, and when he, Jesus, saw their faith, he said, man, your sins are forgiven you. Just a little thought now on when he saw their faith, when he saw their faith. Here are four men, and here's a paralyzed man. Four men are carrying their friend, and they are determined to bring their friend to Jesus, and the paralyzed man is determined to get to Jesus. We thought last time, we don't know who instigated this. Was it the four friends who said to Jeremiah, Jeremiah, let us take you to the miracle worker. Or was it Jeremiah who called his friends, friends. Come, I can't make it. I know Jesus. He could make me well. Would you carry me there? Would you take me? No, not on your shoulders. No, pick up a corner of the bed each. Come on, come on. Let's go there. He's in Capernaum. They're not put off by the crowd. They cause a disturbance. They're gonna have to pay for the, if they're up before Judge Judy, they're the ones who have to pay. They've done the damage. They've torn away the tiles. They're going to have to make restitution. It's cost them to bring their friend to Jesus. They're all culpable. But notice this, when he saw their faith, true faith, now, true gospel saving faith, not just believism, Not just folks who say, well, I've always believed. I've always been a Christian. After all, I was christened or I've been baptized. I was born in a Christian country. My parents were Christians and I believe in God. That's something that can be easily hidden and people don't see. But I'll tell you this, if you've got the real thing, True gospel faith is dynamic. It moves a person. That's what I mean by dynamic. I don't mean flashy and glitzy. I mean it's visible. It makes a difference. You can tell that the four men and Jeremiah on, I don't know who's called Jeremiah. I'm just using a name to make it more real. Okay, I haven't got some insight here that he really was called Jeremiah. I'm just giving him a name, but Jeremiah and his four friends really believed that Jesus could heal. This is real faith. Now, how do we know? It's proved in their actions. It was dynamic. You saw it with the leper. who dragged his way to Jesus. Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. It was seen with the woman who had the bleed for 12 years. If I can just touch the hem of his garment, it moved her. There's a dynamism. She goes through the crown. She touches the hem of his garment. Then she wants to withdraw, but Jesus won't let her. No, true faith can't be hidden. You can't hide it away. Who touched me? And she comes and tells him the whole story. No, think of the syrophoenician woman. who asks that her child might be healed. Oh, I haven't come to be bothered with you. I've come to the children of Israel, but even the dogs will take the crumbs from beneath the table for such an answer. For sure, I haven't found such faith in Israel for such an answer. Go, your child has been made well. And these five men, the one who's suffering and the ones who are helping, their faith is obvious. And true faith will move you. If you've got the, here's a test for us this morning. I've got a quiet, secret faith. I don't know what you've got, but it's not gospel faith. All right, search ourselves. True faith will show itself. Is our faith real? True faith is clearly displayed in our lives, in the way we conduct ourselves, the decisions we make, and our actions. And at times, true faith may appear to be absurd to others. What are they doing? Digging a hole in the roof of somebody else's house? but it's faith that drove them, they must bring their friend to Jesus. That's a little aside, but really we're on priority here now, priority. So, the four friends have brought their friend to be healed of his paralysis. The man on the mat desires to be healed of his paralysis. So the four heads are looking up, yeah, there he is. Jeremiah, almost called him Hezekiah, he's Jeremiah, right? He's being lowered down, and his friends are thinking, won't be long now, and Jeremiah will be able to walk. And Jeremiah's thinking, this is the one! I'm coming into his very presence, it won't be long now, and I'll be able to walk. And the crowd who had packed the room, What's going on? Oh, it's Jeremiah. We know him well. He asks for alms at the crossroads in the center of Capernaum. Well, he's come to the right place. It won't be long now, and he's going to be able to walk. You see, Jesus had been doing many miracles in Capernaum. Let's not forget why Luke has brought us this set of miracles. He's brought us to Nazareth as Luke, inspired by the Spirit. And Jesus has been rejected in Nazareth. And the synagogue crowd in Nazareth has said, do what we heard you did in Capernaum. And so Luke then gives this set of things that Jesus had been doing in Capernaum. He'd been doing wonderful miracles. He'd healed the leper. Remember, just outside Capernaum. He had healed many of various diseases at the end of the Sabbath. In Capernaum on that day, he'd healed Peter's mother-in-law. He had given the miraculous capture of fish. He'd done many miracles in Capernaum, and now, and now, he is this paralyzed man. What are the crowd there for? They want to see another miracle. They've seen many miracles, they've heard of many miracles, they've been drawn because he is the miracle worker, but Jesus is preaching. And as the mat is lowered and there's the paralyzed man on the mat, Jesus does something wonderful that refocuses the crowd, Jeremiah, the friends, the Pharisees, and you and me 2,000 years later on something absolutely vital. As the mat is lowered down, the crowd saw and the friends saw, and he himself acknowledged they saw a paralyzed man. But Jesus sees something far more terrible. Jesus sees a sinner. Jesus sees a sinner. And Jesus is going to deal as a priority with the real need of this man on that particular day. And for us here this morning, see 2,000 years later, the scene is very similar. It's not a flat top building. Don't try and go on the roof here, you'll slide off. It's a pitch roof, just to warn you. But there's plenty of room inside, so folks can come in, plenty of room here. But as I look around the congregation, you look at me, we look at each other. I mean, how many needs are represented here? When you said your prayers this morning, or when you say them later on today, what have you been asking for? And we're asking for each other, and there are many needs represented here in the church. Maybe you're not yet saved, you come here and you're thinking, well, I have this illness, or there are these circumstances pressing me, this relationship has ended, or I just feel a real emptiness. Well, there are many needs represented here, and what a list we could make. But our deepest need we all have in common. It's the same one that Jeremiah had. He was a paralyzed man. And yet there was a deeper need. He was a sinner before a holy being who dwells in triune splendor, the eternal ineffable one who dwells in depths of burning light, the creator of the heavens and the earth. And to help us understand, he gives us his law and the 10 commandments. And God says, I stand behind this law. This is a reflection of what I am. Love me with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. But sin won't let us. Sin says, no, I love myself with a passion, first of all. Then I'll nod in somebody else's direction, and I'll give God a nod at Christmas and Easter, maybe. Or when I'm in trouble, I might turn to him, sin before a holy being. The Ten Commandments, we've broken them all, if not in deed, certainly in thought and in word. You will have no other gods before me. You will not take God's name in vain. You will not make any images or idols. You will keep his day holy. You will honor your father and your mother. You will not murder, you will not commit adultery, you will not steal, you will not lie, you will not covet other people's possessions. And we broken them all. Romans 3 verse 23, the wages of sin, and it is wages, it's penalty, but bigger than penalty, it's wages because we earn it. And the wages of sin is death. Why don't I know God? Sin, sin. It spiritually cut me off from my central center of bliss. I was made for one reason, one supreme reason, to know God as my reason for being, my raison d'etre. But sin has marred that, so I'm left here, messing around in the gutters, trying to find some meaning, and I maybe have a million pounds, or maybe I have a billion pounds, or maybe I'm the richest man in the world, and I have 200 billion pounds, but I find it doesn't hit the spots, because the spot was made for God. I'm made for this relationship with Him, and sin has cut me off. There's a spiritual death. Sin has brought physical death. As soon as I'm born, I begin to die. And then, see if that were all we could maybe cope, but there is an eternity, oh, eternity. The wages of sin is death. There's that part of me that lives on forever, body laid in the ground. The soul, the real me, the real you goes to be with its maker and it's heaven or hell. Well, heaven is a pure place. If there's sin, I can't go in. Revelation tells us, 21, I think it's verse seven or eight, there's a banner over the gates of heaven. Nothing that defiles shall ever enter in. So how can I get rid of my sin? Cuts me off from God, it brings physical death, it means I can't go home to heaven. I'll try religion, it will not do. I'll try being good, you can never be good enough. See, I've broken the law of God and I can't go home to heaven. The wages of sin is death and all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So the question is, Who do we see on the map? Jesus wants to get to the priorities. He healed so many, and people are expecting another physical miracle, but Jesus goes right for the point now, and he wants to do it for you here this morning. Here's the question, are your sins forgiven? Now, I don't belittle the difficulties you might have, and I could bring my tale of war on my list. but your most pressing urgent list is an eternal problem. There's only one thing on God's list and that is your sin, your sin. Hezekiah, Jeremiah, Jeremiah. If all, say all reverently, but if all that Jesus had done were to heal him of his paralysis, he'd have had maybe another good 20 or 30 years, then he'd have died. But Jesus dealt with the most urgent problem, which wasn't a temporal or a temporary or a limited issue, but an eternal issue. So he looks at the man and he deals with the urgent issue. Your sins are forgiven. Now, my friend, again, I ask you, I ask myself again, Is it clear? Are my sins forgiven? Are your sins forgiven? Because ultimately that's all that matters. There are two types of sinner on planet earth. Unforgiven sinners and forgiven sinners. So yes, Christians are not perfect, not this side of glory. We're counted as righteous in Jesus Christ because we've been washed in that fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins. His blood has washed away my sin. Jesus, thank you. Oh, happy day for me. It's just ticked over 45 years now. I'm into my 46th year. I remember it well. I can't forget it. I can picture the scene. I know the band was playing Amazing Grace. I know they finished the sixth verse. I know the pastor was still saying, anybody else want to be saved? Leave your seats, come forward if you had gone forward. Sat between my cousins and suddenly getting up, pushing past people. Faith is dynamic, you see. It moves. My cousins were astonished, I was amazed. Down the front, taken off then to a room, pray this little prayer, and I prayed the prayer, but my friends, it wasn't the prayer. I'd been saved where I was sitting. Saved where I was sitting. It became clear to me, holy God, sinful me, Jesus Christ the bridge, Jesus, strong, kind, Whoever will come can come. Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. I will give you rest. His word is his guarantee. He's the God who cannot lie. Are your sins forgiven? So the man is being lowered down on his mat. The priority is clear. His sins need to be forgiven. I wonder what the man thought. Now he'd come to be healed, hadn't he? That's why he was going there. Maybe you've come this morning because you feel a particular need. And maybe Jesus Christ is gonna put that to one side for a moment and deal with the real issue. You hear many people's testimonies. Oh, I went through this difficulty. I went to church, I started reading the Bible and suddenly, and then God put his finger on the real need. I wonder what the man, I wonder what his friends felt. He's being lowered down. It won't be long now. Jeremiah will be walking. Your sins are forgiven. What? We've come all this way for that? I thought he was a miracle worker. We've broken up the root. We're going to get a bill. Your sins are forgiven. I don't know what the crowd felt. They were waiting. Oh, this is it. This is what we're waiting for. Here's Jeremiah. And he's a tough case. Whether he was paralyzed just his legs or arms and legs, we're not told, but he can't move. He can't get his own way to Jesus. Well, we're not told what the crowd thought. We're not told what the man thought. I believe because the man was the subject of that word from Jesus, your sins are forgiven. I believe there would have been an immense relief. That's right. Oh, I'm so glad. Oh, happy day. He wouldn't have known the hymn, it hadn't been written. But he knew the Psalms out of the depths. He lifted me out of the pits, out of the miry clay. He set my feet upon a rock. Oh, bless the Lord, oh my soul and all that is within me. What a relief. There's that hymn. Amazing grace, how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed. I've recalled my conversion, do you remember yours? Remember it, stay close. Never further than the cross, never higher than his feet. Jesus, keep me near the church. There are precious, no, it's not the word, is it? Jesus, keep me near the Bible studying every day. That's nice. How does it go, that hymn? Can he help me? I don't know. Jesus, keep me near good friends that... That's not it, what is it? Jesus, keep me in good Christian service, witnessing, test... I have to look it up. I forget, I'm getting old, see, I forget what the words are. Oh, here it is. Cause. Jesus keep me. Well, I don't need to read it, do I? Because I can't. So, He'd have felt relieved. Now, the next P, the Pharisees. Now remember, they've come from all over. Verse 17's interesting. Luke gives this and Mark doesn't. There's Jesus teaching. Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee, up north, and every village of Judea, down south, and from Jerusalem. Now that's headquarters. So the top brass have come from Jerusalem. And they're in the room, and they're on that raised dais where folks would have laid their mats to sleep. But they take the important place there in the room, I'm pretty sure, and they are there. And we're told what they are thinking. They don't say this out loud, as Mark makes pretty clear, but they are thinking these thoughts. Verse 21, and the scribes and Pharisees began to question, saying, Who is this who speaks blasphemies, who can forgive sins but God alone? When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them. Why do you question in your hearts? And he asked a question, and just try and answer this one for yourselves. Which is easier to say? Your sins are forgiven. Or to say, rise up and walk. So the Pharisees, the religious folks, they've got a problem. They don't say it out loud, but their faces tell a story. They look, well, they're annoyed, they're angered, they're perplexed by what Jesus has said. In a sense, they'd almost don't mind the miracles, but this, this. Now notice, first of all, they express a truth. They express a truth. The Pharisees say, or they're thinking, and Jesus knows what they're thinking, who can forgive sins but God alone? So there's a great truth. And as earlier on, I highlighted the 10 commandments. It's the law of God that we break. And when we break somebody's law, then it's up to them as to how they deal with that. If somebody on the way out of the chapel now punches me on the nose, I'm the one who's being offended. Don't do it. But if somebody did, And I'm at the door and Oliver comes along and he says to Lewis who's punched me, Lewis, you're forgiven. I'd be, how dare you? Who can forgive that sin but me? I'm the one he has hit. Who are you to say that he's forgiven? And the Pharisees have got this right. Who can forgive sin but God alone? It's his law that's been broken. When David had sinned so badly as a backslidden believer, adultery, complicit in murder to hide the embarrassment of his adultery, then he comes to God eventually, and maybe a year later when Nathan the prophet confronts him, you are the man. He goes away, he prays, he pleads, seeks the Lord and Psalm 51 is one of the Psalms he writes, against you and you only have I sinned. What about Uriah? What about Bathsheba? What about all the people you've let down so badly? You and you, it's your law that I have broken. So the Pharisees have got it right, only God can forgive sins. So Jesus saying this is very provocative now. There are some who say, well, Jesus never claimed to be God. Listen, he did, but also by implication in his actions and his words. For him to say the Pharisees are right, only God can forgive sins, but they draw the wrong conclusion. They say, blasphemy, blasphemy. And then to come back to what they're thinking. and then to what Jesus says. Now, see the words of Jesus now. He says to the Pharisees, now, Pharisees, which is it easier to say, your sins are forgiven, or to say to the paralyzed man, rise up, take your mat and go home? Which is easier? Obviously, it's easy to say your sins are forgiven. How do we know that they are? The real difficulty will come though if he says, rise, take up your mat and go home. That's a display of real power. We'll be able to see something physical then. Oh, words are easy, but how do we know? Apply that to you and me now. Are you a Christian? Am I a Christian? I claim I'm a Christian. I claim I'm saved. Now my friends, words are easy. Words are easy. What have we got to back up the words? Is there any power being displayed? Now let's finish then on the power verses 24 and 25 here. but that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." What a phrase, he has authority on earth and we're on earth and he has authority to forgive sins. He said to the man on the mat, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home. And immediately he rose up before them, picked up what he had been lying on and went home glorifying God. Well, he would, wouldn't he? And in amazement, amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, we've seen extraordinary things today, oh, that you may know. Jesus has power to forgive sins. Then, 2,000 years ago, and here's the glad news of the gospel, now power now to forgive your sins. So my friend, for you, you might have many needs, but your most urgent need is to be forgiven. And when you're forgiven, what a relief. What is the power? What is the source of the power of Jesus to forgive sins? Well, it's in the sign for Jesus, Jesus. How can he forgive sins? Why is he strong? Because of Calvary. The wages of sin is death. physical, spiritual, and eternal. There really is a hell. God desires that none should go there, none should perish. So he sent his son, he's given the name Jesus, which means salvation. Jesus saves and he came and lived a perfect life because you can't do it. So he keeps the Ten Commandments. God the Father says, this is my son, I'm well pleased with him. Then he goes all the way to Calvary and he allows himself, he could have stopped it. He allows himself to be beaten, scourged, mocked, crown of thorns, nails, and he hangs between heaven and hell. Father forgive them, they know not what they do. and he dies for us. Peter sees it very clearly, 1 Peter 3 and verse 18, Christ, Jesus, died for sin. The just on behalf of the unjust to bring you to God, that's the object of the exercise, not to make you religious, not to make you a church goer and a good member, dib, dib, dob, dob, not to get all your I's dotted and your T's crossed, Can you say Jesus died for me and mean it? There's a wealth of glory in that. With a heart, with a heart, that all the theology with a cold, stony heart. Give me a heart that understands Jesus died for me. That's all that Jeremiah understood. The gospel was there in the Old Testament. And he understands. And here we are in the full blaze of gospel glory. Jesus died for me. There's his power to save. He didn't stay in the grave. He rose again from the dead, proving he is the son of God with power. But what is the proof that I've been forgiven? My friends, words are easy. If you have the true faith, there will be a dynamism. And not again, flashy or bouncy, but a steady move. serving the living God. There's an old CMS chorus. Things are different now. Some things happened to me since I gave my heart to Jesus. Things are different now. Something happened to me since I gave my heart to him. Things I loved before have passed away. Things I love far more have come to stay. 45 years by the grace of God. Things are different now. Something's happened to me since I gave my life to him. Make sure your sins are forgiven. Don't go home without him. We're going to have coffee outside and I've brought my thermos mug with me. Maybe you brought one this morning. If not, you can line up and coffee and tea and squash will be served. And stay in the chaplain and chat here. Prefer to go outside, lovely and sunny. Stay around, the gate will be shut so the children can't get out. We'll be watching that gate. Car park area's cordoned off, but do stay. If you're not yet forgiven, don't go home without him. Let's pray. Father, thank you for a brief time in your Word and these precious words of the gospel. We pray they be given Holy Spirit power and applied to the life of unbelievers to bring them to Christ for the first time. But Father, for we who are perhaps getting old in our faith and growing cool, we'll warm our hearts again, we pray. Keep us near the cross. May our faith be real and may there be a dynamism about it. To your glory we pray. Amen.