This is the Scripture-Driven Church broadcast brought to you by Teaching the Word Ministries. The Church of Jesus Christ must be the Scripture-Driven Church, relying on God's inspired and inerrant Word as our sole authority and our infallible critic in every area of life and ministry. And now, here's author, Bible teacher, and Teaching the Word president, Dr. Paul Elliott, to introduce today's program. Would you tear off the roof of a house in order to bring someone to Jesus? In the Bible we find many accounts of men and women who had personal encounters with the Lord Jesus. Last week we began looking at the account of one such man, a man who couldn't even come to Jesus himself. He was a paralytic, and he had to be brought to Jesus by four other men. These men would let nothing stand in their way to get this man to Jesus. They literally tore off the roof of a house in order to bring him into the presence of the Savior. And in this account from Mark chapter 2, we're learning from Jesus himself, the master evangelist, how we should conduct our evangelistic efforts. So if you can, I hope you'll open your Bible to the book of Mark chapter 2 as we conclude this message. And Heavenly Father, we are preaching your word today, just as Jesus preached, because we know that this is your way to reconcile sinners to yourself. I pray that you would use your word to speak to anyone who might be listening today who needs to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior from sin. And I pray that you would also use your word to encourage believers in the work of evangelism. Whatever the need, I pray that your word, by your Spirit, would do your work as you have promised. In Jesus' name, amen. One of the key characteristics of a Scripture-driven church is that it practices Bible-based evangelism, doing evangelism God's way, preaching the Gospel in its fullness, and trusting God for the results. If we're going to be obedient to the Word of God, we need to understand what the Bible says about evangelism. And as we said last time, we have no better place to look than the four Gospels, no better example than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Master Evangelist. So in this series we've begun examining three accounts from the evangelistic ministry of the Lord Jesus himself. The accounts that we're studying are the account of Jesus' dealings with the paralytic in Mark chapter 2, the rich young ruler in Luke chapter 18, and the publican Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19. And today we're continuing the study we began last time in the account of the paralytic in Mark chapter 2. And I want to call our attention again to the passage as we begin today, so please turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 2, and let's hear God's Word. Verses 1 through 12 of Mark, chapter 2. And again Jesus entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that he was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, 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 him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, son, your sins are forgiven you. and some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone? But immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they reasoned thus 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 you, or to say, arise, take up your bed and walk? but that you may 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. Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, we never saw anything like this. And may the Lord, as he has promised, add his blessing to the reading of his word. Well, we saw last time that Jesus had entered a house. An overflow crowd had gathered. He began to preach the word to them, the word about himself. But then his preaching was interrupted in a most unusual way. And we saw also the determination of these four men who brought the paralyzed man to Jesus. Let me read again verse 4. And when they could not come near him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. These men literally tore the roof apart in order to get the paralyzed man to Jesus. And they lowered the paralytic man down to Jesus. And some in the crowd probably had to back away so that there was room to let this man down on his bed all the way to the floor. And I asked you to picture in your mind's eye what it would have been like to be in that house among that crowd hearing Jesus preach and then seeing his preaching interrupted in this most unusual way. And now here is this man lying on his bed in the middle of the crowd, unable to get up, unable to move, and Jesus sees him and moves to him. And as we read last time in verse 5, Jesus saw their faith. Jesus saw their faith. How do you see faith? Well, it's interesting here that Mark, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, He doesn't use the Greek word that means to see with the eyes. He uses a different word. He uses the Greek word which means to know something, to possess information about something. And that's the point here. This is the Son of God who saw their faith. This is the discerner of hearts. This is the Lord, the Creator God, who doesn't simply look on the outward appearance, but looks on the heart of a man. Jesus saw their faith. Now faith means belief. It means trust. And faith always has an object. And biblical faith in particular, the kind of faith that we see exercised here, this faith clearly has the Lord Jesus Christ as its object. These four men have brought this paralyzed man to Jesus and they let nothing stand in their way, not the crowd, not even a building. They have faith in Jesus, that he can do for this man what no one else can do. They bring this man to be healed physically. They come expecting a miracle. But Jesus performs not just one miracle, but two. Not just the miracle that they were expecting, but also a far greater one. Once again, place yourself in this scene. There's a hush of anticipation in all likelihood. We're expecting the miracle. We're expecting Jesus to heal this man. He's done it so many times in recent days, and we expect to see him do it now again. But what does Jesus do? He doesn't heal the man at once. He doesn't immediately relieve his physical problem. Jesus recognizes that there is a much deeper and more serious problem. There is a deeper problem in this man. There's a deeper problem also in some of the others who are present. And Mark tells us that Jesus says to the paralytic, son, your sins are forgiven you. And in Matthew, in his parallel account, he says this, he elaborates further. Jesus said, son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you. And perhaps we're standing there in the crowd wondering, be of good cheer. How can he possibly say such a thing? This man can't even move. He can't even speak. His condition is desperate. And Jesus tells him to be of good cheer because his sins are forgiven? This doesn't make sense. And to the finite human mind, it wouldn't make sense. We would probably be saying, Lord, how can you ignore his real problem? It's all well and good to reassure this man that his sins are forgiven, but can't you see the condition that he's in? Aren't you going to do anything about that? And Jesus will do something about that, but he takes things in their proper order. This man's greatest need is not healing of the body, it is salvation of his soul. And that is the greater miracle that Jesus performs here. Jesus says, son, be of good cheer. He addresses the man as son, and indeed he is a son. The word that is used for son here has to do with lineage. Jesus had told the Pharisees, you are of your father, the devil, that is your lineage. But to this man he says, son, identifying him for all to see. As one of those that John spoke of in his gospel account when he wrote, as many as received him, to them he gave the power, the authority to be called the sons of God, even to them who believed on his name. Jesus is identifying this man as one of his. And the word that is used here is not merely a relational term. It is that, but it is also, in the original language, an affectionate or an intimate form of address. It's a term of endearment. It's a term that indicates a special relationship. And only the Lord Jesus, God in the flesh, the master evangelist, only he could use such a term to address such a man. The Lord knew those who were his. And he tells him, your sins are forgiven, present tense. And in the original, this is a word that signifies a once-for-all action that has been completed in the past, never to be repeated. And it is a passive verb. The subject is the recipient of the action. He couldn't do a thing for himself. This is perfect forgiveness. And the word forgiven here in the original signifies that the man's sins have been put away. They have been sent away. As the scripture says, they have been removed as far as the east is from the west. Now the great 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon thought something about this passage that I tend to agree with. Spurgeon thought that Jesus also declared this man's sins forgiven first because the man may have thought that his physical paralysis was the result of his sin. And this seems to be indicated by the way that Jesus says to him, son be of good cheer. In the original language, it's a strong imperative, son, take heart, take courage, cheer up, your sins are forgiven. And the implication would be, as Jesus said in another case, John chapter 9, when Jesus healed a man who was blind from birth, he said this, it's not because of his sins that this man is in this condition. His physical infirmity has been for the glory of God. But we read in verses 6 and 7 of Mark chapter 2 that some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone? And here the unbelieving scribes speak their own condemnation. They refuse to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. They're always looking for a way to accuse him. They're always looking for a way to trap Jesus. but instead the Lord Jesus Christ springs a trap on them in verse 8. But immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, he said to them, Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? And again we have here the all-knowing Creator God, the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, Jesus has cloaked his glory. He's taken on a body of flesh, but God in the flesh still knows the hearts of men. He knew the believing hearts of the paralytic and those who brought him, and he knew the unbelieving hearts of the scribes. And Jesus says to the unbelieving scribes, verse 9, which is easier, to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven you, or to say, arise, take up your bed and walk? but that you may 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. Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, we never saw anything like this." A double miracle. The God who heals the sick is also the God who saves the soul. The Lord Jesus not only makes the paralyzed man able to take up his bed and walk, not only postpones physical death, but he saves his soul from hell and causes him to walk in newness of life, eternal life. Now in the light of this account of the master evangelist at work in Mark chapter 2, I'd like for us to consider some questions. How does this account of the healing of the paralytic apply to your own heart and life here and now? And how does it apply to the ministry of the church in doing the work of evangelism? And in that regard, I'd like to focus our attention on one thing in particular, and that is the four men who brought this man to Jesus. And I'd like to mention several things. People need for us to bring them to Christ. In the physical sense, this man had no capacity to bring himself to the Savior. He needed to be brought. There was a physical distance between this man and the Lord Jesus Christ that needed to be crossed. These four men brought him to Jesus. In the same way, we need to bring people to Jesus. We need to bring them within the sound of the preaching of the gospel. Faith comes by hearing, Romans tells us, and hearing by the Word of God. People need for us to bring them to Christ. Second, God often works through multiple people to bring someone to Christ, not just one person. One or more people may pray for an individual. Someone else may give that person a Bible. Someone else may witness to that individual personally. Someone else may bring that person to church or to a Bible study. And each of these people may do what they're doing without the other knowing what they're doing. In this particular case with this man, this paralytic, he had to be carried by four men, one at each corner of his bed. Each one had to do his part. And God used them all to bring this man to the Savior. So God often works through multiple people to bring someone to Christ. Third, bringing someone to Christ often involves effort. Sometimes it's inconvenient to take the time to share the gospel with someone. Sometimes it's inconvenient to bring them to church. It's inconvenient to find the time to pray. All of these things involve effort. These four men had to carry the paralyzed man some distance, and I'm sure that they all had other things to do, but they did this. They were determined. They tried to get in the door, but they couldn't. They had to carry this man, bed and all, up onto the roof. And even if there was a stairway on the outside of the house, as there were on many houses of that time, it still wasn't an easy thing to do. But God sanctified and blessed their effort. Bringing someone to Christ involves effort. Fourth, bringing someone to Christ involves determination. Bringing someone to Christ means letting nothing stand in your way. I knew a lady who prayed for her husband's salvation for 24 years, and he was a vile sinner. He was involved in organized crime. But she kept praying and living a godly life before him in their home. in spite of what he did, in spite of his abuse, in spite of his hatred of the gospel. But she was determined to keep on praying for her husband, and she enlisted others to pray. And one day, after 24 years, God performed the great miracle and saved that man from hell. And he became a diligent worker in the church, and he became a witness to the men with whom he had lived a life of sin. And three of his children became missionaries. And he himself became the assistant director of an inner city rescue mission. And he served for many years in that capacity before the Lord took him home. These four men were determined. They let nothing stand in their way. They literally took the roof apart because they knew that this man's only hope was in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we need to have that same kind of determination and sometimes It means doing things that are as unconventional as tearing off the roof. But lastly, in all of our efforts, we need to remember that it is God who does the saving. We don't save anyone. These four men brought the man to Jesus, and it took effort, determination, inconvenience, but that was where their abilities ended. They couldn't heal him physically, far less could they take care of his deeper need of salvation from his sins. But Jesus could do both. So they placed this man at the feet of Jesus, and he did the rest. A minister of an earlier generation commented on this account. He said this, what we need in the church today are stretcher-bearers. men and women with that kind of faith that will go out and bring in the unsaved so that they can hear the gospel. There are many people today who are paralyzed with sin, paralyzed by indifference, or paralyzed by prejudice. A great many people are not going to come into a church where the gospel is preached unless you take a corner of the stretcher and bring them in. That's what these men did. They had the faith to bring this poor man to hear the Lord Jesus deal with him personally, and say, Son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you. May we have that same desire and that same urgency to bring men and women and boys and girls to Christ. May we engage in that same kind of combined effort of praying, witnessing, and working for the salvation of family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers. May we not spare any effort in bringing men to Christ. May we not be so concerned about our own convenience. May we have that same determination to break down obstacles between the lost and the Lord. And when we come to the end of our human efforts, enabled by the Holy Spirit, may we trust in Jesus and in his power alone to save. And as we bring people into the church, may there be a faithful preacher of the one true gospel, proclaiming the message from the Word of God with clarity, with conviction, with urgency, and without apology, without diluting the message, without shortcuts. And may there be a church full of people who are praying, praying for lost souls, praying for those who are working to win them to Christ, praying for the one who preaches the word, and for those who come to Christ. May the church be faithful to and focused upon the other half of God's twofold purpose for his church, and that is the work of building up the saints in sound doctrine. That is the other half of the vital work of Christ's church. For both the newest convert and the most seasoned saint, all need to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And we grow in grace. by feeding upon his infallible Word. And as the church grows, as it grows numerically as the lost come to the Savior, and as it grows spiritually as the saints are built up in the faith, that kind of God-given growth will have an impact that extends beyond the church into the home, into the family, into the working place, into the shopping place, as the Word of God bears the fruit of the Spirit in changed lives. May we desire that kind of impact radiating out from our churches. May even the unbelieving see the effects, and may they say, as these people said in Mark chapter 2, we never saw anything like this. Here once again is Dr. Paul Elliott with some closing comments. If you would like more information about what it means to become a Christian, or what it means to become more mature in Christ, we would be glad to send you a book that will help you. It's called Profiting from the Word. One of my favorite chapters in this little book is called The Scriptures and the Promises of God, and it will show you from the Bible how to understand and appropriate God's promises. We'll be glad to send a copy of this book to you without cost or obligation. Just ask for the book, profiting from the Word. Also, if you don't have a Bible, we would be happy to send you one without cost or obligation. To request your copy of Profiting from the Word, or to request a Bible, or both, you can call us, toll-free in the United States, 24 hours a day at 888-804-9655. Once again, that's 888-804-9655. You can also make your request online by going to our website, teachingtheword.org, and clicking the Contact link. That's the contact link at teachingtheword.org. You can write to us at Box 2533, Westminster, Maryland, 21158 USA. Once again that's Box 2533, Westminster, Maryland, 21158 USA. And once again our toll-free number is 888-804-9655. and please be sure to ask for the book Profiting from the Word, or for a Bible if you need one, or both. On our next program we're going to resume our series in the book of Colossians with a message titled, The Triple Threat to the Church. three dangers that every church and every individual Christian face every day, and how to overcome them. We hope you'll join us for that study, and until next time, may God richly bless your personal study of His inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word. of God.