Thoughts on Luke, Luke chapter 5, verses 17 to 26. Curing the Paralytic, part two. Now in part one, I went over the account, the episode. I hinted that there is tremendous significance in this miracle, Christ curing the paralytic. And in this brief discourse, I want to raise some of those significant points. Surely the first significant point must be the very person of Christ himself. The fact that Christ could read the minds and the hearts, the inward words of these Pharisees and these teachers of the law and so on. He could understand, he could know, he could see. He had the knowledge of what they were thinking. They weren't saying it, but he knew what they were thinking in their hearts. The person of Christ, whose all-searching eye, Hebrews 12, Hebrews 4, verses 12 and on and so on. The word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword. This is the judge we have to face. Christ sees through all our pretenses, the person of Christ. What about the power of Christ? We just take it for granted. We read these things, a paralytic, bedridden, utterly helpless is laid before him, and this man cures him, cures him. But not only that, forgives his sins. or at this stage, I'll say, pronounces the forgiveness of his sins, but of course, it's an actual forgiveness. Now, the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, were quite right. Who, this is what they were thinking, who can forgive sins but God only? Spot on, you got it right. Who can forgive sins but God only? My friend, can you join the dots? Can you put two and two together and make the right four? This man forgives sins, this is what he pronounces. Only God can forgive sins. The person of Christ, the power of Christ to forgive sins. The compassion of Christ. He did not turn the man away. He looked upon him in compassion and cured him. But here's the significance. To prove to these Pharisees that he had the power, not only the compassion, but the power, the ability in his person, and the power of God was present, we remember, in the New States. He had this power to forgive sins. He cures the man to prove and demonstrate that he had the power to forgive the man. The miraculous cure was there to demonstrate the miraculous power of forgiveness of sins. And this is a searchlight on the rest of the Gospels. This is what these miracles are about. It's a demonstration, an illustration of the power of Christ and the power of the Gospel. Christ's touch has not lost its ancient power as it goes. And today, now, he still has his power. I'm not talking about healing, although Christ, I'm sure, can heal. But this is not the point. I'm not here as a healing minister. I'm here as a preacher of the gospel. My friend, you need, and I need, forgiveness of sins, to be right with God, to have peace with God, to be saved from our sins forevermore, and to be transformed and made like unto Christ in the eternal new heavens and new earth. And only Christ can do that, but Christ can, he has the compassion, he has the power to make sinners saved. Oh, this is the significance of this episode. It's not a Sunday school story just for children, no, no, no. My friend, you need to be saved. And there is no other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved, we may be saved, and that is Jesus Christ. Will you trust him now?