We are going to be looking at a text this morning that deals with THE GREATEST NEED in a person’s life.
B. The Relevance of the Text.
I wonder if I did a study of you all this morning what I would find as the greatest need here. If I were to go from person to person asking what you thought the greatest need in your life is, what would you tell me? Would it be a house? Is that your greatest need? Having some place to live that is clean and warm and makes you feel at home? Would you say that is your greatest need? What about food? We all have to eat don’t we? So maybe that’s it then our greatest need is food and go ahead and throw in water as well. Maybe its our health, good health is most certainly important, most of you know what it is like to be sick or no someone who is sick. Maybe you would say that your greatest need is good health. Well sure all of these needs that we have considered are important, but they are all of a physical nature. Wouldn’t you say that our greatest needs are spiritual?
You know that is the first question I ask someone when I am trying to witness to them. I ask them what they think their greatest spiritual need is, and to be honest I have gotten quite a few different answers. What if I were to ask you that same question this morning, what do you think the greatest spiritual need you have is? What you say? Is it to be a member of a local church? Is it to be baptized? Is it to be happy? Is it to serve God? Is it to Love Jesus? We could go on and on because of all the things that we see as important, not that all of these things aren’t important but what is truly a person’s greatest need?
In this passage in Matthew chapter nine verses 1 thru 8 we are going to see what a person’s greatest spiritual need is and in this passage we are going to see that FORGIVENESS OF SINS FULFILLS A PERSON’S GREATEST NEED. It is my prayer that as we go through this passage this morning that you all will see that your greatest need is not physical but it is spiritual and that it is to have your sins forgiven. So the question is How Can You Have Your Sins Forgiven? Well this text is going to answer this question for us.
C. The Review of the Text.
If you remember with me back to the last two weeks we have been considering the Authority of Christ and our Response to that Authority. Remember we looked at the fact that Christ has Authority over nature because He is the creator of all things and through this knowledge we can overcome doubt in our lives when we follow Him, then go through trials and through this experience His power in our Lives. Then last week we talked about how we can overcome Satan through Christ’s power over Satan. Then remember we saw how the people asked Jesus to leave and then this week we are going to pick up with what happened after that. Now we aren’t sure if this is in chronological order from what happened last week, we know that Matthew didn’t always stick to keeping things in order as much as he put happenings in topical arrangement to show the authority and Kingship of Christ. Regardless of when this happens we are going to see that Jesus goes to His hometown which is no longer Nazareth but Capernaum. Lets read this morning in Matthew Chapter NINE verses 1 thru 8.
D. The Reading of the Text
Matthew 9:1-8 (KJV)
1 And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. 2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. 3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
“Our Father, I come before you this morning with a petition for your grace to be shown to us that are here today. That you would pour out your spirit on us in this place, that we would be able to meet with you in this place this morning and that what I say this morning you would use to speak to your people for conviction of sin and rebellion against you. Father I pray know that you use your servant in a way that pleases you and gives you glory. Please God help us to serve you in way that would give you Honor and lift up the name of Jesus. Make us aware of our greatest need this morning which is your forgiveness help us to realize that without your forgiveness there is no hope that we are truly hopeless and headed for hell. Help to preach your word with boldness and clarity and accuracy this morning, all of these things I pray in the name of the LORD Jesus Amen!”
T.S. There are three factors to receiving forgiveness that we need to look at this morning. As we look at each one consider which reaction you have experienced in your life.
I. HAVING FORGIVENESS MEANS RECIEVING CHRIST’S PROCLAMATION OF FORGIVENESS!
(Matt 9:1,2)
“And He entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. And Behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.”
A. The First Step to Hearing from Christ is Hearing of Christ
(Matt 9:2a)
And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed:
If we are to hear from Jesus those sweet words “thy sins be forgiven thee” then first we must know who Jesus is. This is why the first step to hearing from Christ is hearing of Christ. It is of the utmost importance that we tell people of the person of Jesus Christ. This is not to say that we can save anyone, we know that power rests fully in Jesus, but just as God has ordained the salvation so has He ordained the means. Romans chapter 10 verse 14 makes it very clear for us to see this truth! It says, beginning in verse 13 of chapter 10 of Romans.
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Then in verse 14 it says How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
The promise is that if we believe in Christ and call upon His name we shall be saved, but then the question is asked, How can we believe in someone we have never heard of and then how can we hear without someone to tell us? The answer is we can’t. These 4 young men who brought their friend, who was paralyzed, to Jesus were playing the role of the preacher in Romans 10:14. They were letting their friend hear of Jesus in a sense, they were bringing him to Jesus. They had to overcome quite a few obstacles to get him to Jesus.
From the gospels of Mark and Luke we get the rest of the story as to how these men brought their friend to Jesus. They tell us that there were four men who wanted to get their friend in to see Jesus, but they couldn’t because there were so many people around Christ in the house. So what did they do? Did they give up and go home? No they climbed up and the roof and took away the tiles and dug through so that they could lower him down, bed and all in front of Jesus. Now get a picture of this in your mind. In that area in those days the houses had flat roofs where people would go out and sit and sometimes sleep when it got hot, a lot of times there would be a set of stairs on the side of the house which seems to be the case here. So when these men realized that they weren’t getting in through the door they went up on the roof and proceeded to remove whatever it was on top until they had enough room to lower their friend down to where he could see Jesus. Now that is determination is it not? They were willing to do just about anything to get their friend in front of Jesus.
Now what can we learn from these guys? Well I think if you look at them you will see the attitude we should have when it comes to telling people about the gospel. How often do we let obstacles stand in the way of our telling people about Jesus and what He could do for them? How often do we say, well I would tell them about Christ but look at all of these other people around here I might be embarrassed and so might they. Our priorities have gotten a little messed up somewhere along the way. For some reason we believe that what people think is more important than telling someone the way to have their greatest need filled. We must get over ourselves realize that we are the ones who are called to tell them the gospel. These 4 men knew that Jesus was the only answer to the need that their friend had, so they were willing to do whatever it took to get him to Jesus. How convicting is that ya’ll? We know that the only answer to people’s problems today whatever they may be is the person of Jesus Christ. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to get them to Jesus? Or are you going to make excuses for your disobedience to a direct command from God? Think back, how thankful are you that someone told you about Christ? Don’t you want to return the favor?
T.S. If you are going to hear from Christ you must first hear of Christ. The second step is you must know that you need forgiveness.
B. If We are To Hear the Proclamation of Forgiveness we Must Understand the Crime to be Forgiven
(Matt 9:2b)
And Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy: Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee
If you are to experience this forgiveness you must first understand from what you are being forgiven. Notice what Jesus says to this man who is lying on the bed in front of Him. Does He say you are healed? No of course not, Jesus knows what this man’s greatest need is. He knows this man’s problem is not the fact he is paralyzed. So many people will tell you that if you have faith like these people did than you can pray for others or yourself and be healed but what we see here is not that Jesus heals this man because of his faith but that He forgives this man because of their faith. The biggest need we have is not to be able to walk or eat or live the biggest need we have to be forgiven and if we are to have this forgiveness we must understand from what we are forgiven!
Jesus says what is forgiven this man? His sins are forgiven not just one or two of them but all of them are forgiven. Now you may say, well this man may have only wanted to be healed, not forgiven. But what you must understand is that the Jewish people thought that the cause of all sicknesses was sin in that person’s life. So this man no doubt was coming not only for forgiveness, but also for healing. Now we know that just because someone has a sickness that does not mean that God is judging them. We learn that from Job. But in a way these Jews were right in their thinking that all sicknesses are the direct result of sin. Ever since Adam sinned this world has been under the curse of sin and the sicknesses, wars, natural disasters, everything like that is the result of the sin of man kind.
So what does that say about what we are to be forgiven of? Well first we are born into sin, David said in psalm 51 that he was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. We are born sinners.
Adam’s sin rests upon our head we are not capable of doing good apart from God. Man is born evil, an enemy of God. We totally depraved in our hearts before we meet Christ. There is no good in us apart from what God gives us. This nature we have causes us to sin and does not allow us to choose good things. Then on top of that we are sinners therefore we continually rebel and sin against God. Sin is defined as missing the mark, and not just any mark the mark that God has set for us to hit. We know that it is impossible for us to ever measure up to where God wants us to be on our own we are incapable.
Jeremiah 13:23 says:
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
Isaiah 64:6 says:
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
We could go on and on about how filthy we are and about how far short we on our own truly fall according to God’s Standard of Righteousness. I think you get the picture though. But why is it that we find forgiveness of these crimes we have committed against God? Why do we need forgiveness of sin so badly? Remember what Jesus said? Son, be of good cheer your sins are forgiven thee. Why should that make this man have courage? To know that his sins are forgiven? Well when you consider the consequences of these crimes we have committed against a Holy God and the Creator of the Universe whose power we have been talking about for the past couple of weeks I think it becomes clear very quickly!
If our sins are not forgiven then we could never have a relationship with God because they have separated us from Him! That is what Isaiah 59:2 says:
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear!
This verse means simply that you cannot talk to God and that He will not hear you if you do. Your prayers are in vain! Not only do your crimes against God separate you from God, your sins put you under the wrath of God and that my dear friends is not a place that you want to be! Listen to what verse 36 of John chapter 3 says!
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that beleiveth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
What a scary place to be this morning ya’ll how many of you here have the wrath of God Abiding on you because of the sins you have committed! This verse does not say that one day you might do something that will get you into trouble with God. IT SAYS THAT YOU ARE IN TROUBLE WITH GOD AND THIS HIS WRATH IS UPON YOU AS WE SPEAK. Let that sink in for just a second. Remember that all have sinned come short of God’s glory and that the results of this is that we are under the wrath of God. Now do you see why the most important need in the life of man is to be forgiven of his sins?
This is why Jesus tells this man to be of good cheer or take courage because of the Forgiveness he had received. What good would it have done for this man to be able to get up and run and walk for the rest of his life and then go to hell when he died? You know that is where folks who have the wrath of God on them are going to spend eternity? So know I ask you again how many of you have the wrath of God upon you at this very minute? If you have never heard Christ’s Proclamation of Forgiveness then guess what you are not forgiven and you are still under the wrath of God. It is very simple to be saved this morning all you have to do is turn over your life to Christ, believe upon Him allow Him to take ownership of your life and you will be saved. Come to Christ to forgiveness that is all it takes.
T.S. Unfortunately not everyone responds to Christ’s authority to Forgive with a believing humble heart. There are some who will not hear the Proclamation of Forgiveness from Jesus, because they are like the Scribes who were there that day.
II. HAVING FORGIVENESS MEANS REFUSING THE REJECTION OF FORGIVENESS
(Matt 9:3-4)
And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, this man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
A. The Accusation of the Scribes
(Matt 9:3)
And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, this man blasphemeth.
If we are to understand this rejection that we must
In order to have forgiveness we must STAY CLEAR OF THE REJECTION OF FORGIVENESS shown by the scribes who were present when Jesus made His Proclamation of Forgiveness. We will understand better this rejection when we look first at their accusation against Jesus and why they accused Him in the first place.
So what is their accusation? Well they are accusing Jesus of Blasphemy. What is blasphemy anyway? Well it is when someone says something that is not showing the proper respect towards God. Or to speak evil of God which is what these men were actually doing when they accused Jesus of Blasphemy. They were accusing Jesus of speaking something that was evil or brought dishonor to God. So why did they think that Jesus telling this man that his sins were forgiven was blasphemy? Well that is because they believed that only God could forgive sins and they would be right in this. So they were calling Jesus a blasphemer because we basically saying He had the same power as God has, Which is exactly what Jesus has been saying from the beginning so they were right in their assumption that Jesus was saying that He is equal with God because He is God! So what does this say about their rejection of this Proclamation of Forgiveness.
It says that they first off didn’t believe Jesus was God. And secondly they did not believe that they needed forgiveness. They thought that they were to be let into heaven on the basis that they were good people. They had a works based salvation in mind. So when Jesus says to this man your sins are forgiven they cant believe it because he has done nothing to deserve forgiveness. So where does this accusation of blasphemy come from? Why do they reject the forgiveness that Jesus so freely gives? They had a wrong view of who Jesus is and a wrong view of who they are.
Is that you this morning do you not believe that Christ has the power to make you free from sins. Do you reject the fact that Jesus has the authority to say that your sins are forgiven? Well rest assured this morning that Christ does in fact have the power to forgive your sins. It does not matter what you have done if you come to Him for forgiveness He will forgive you of your sins.
In the old testament there is an account of an evil king named Manasseh, this king was responsible for killing many people and bringing all sorts of evil to land of Judah, he even got child sacrifice started in the land of Judah, he would actually encourage people to burn their children to these false gods that he worshipped. Well God took him away into exile in Babylon and there Manasseh repented and asked God to forgive him. You know what God did to Manasseh when he asked for forgiveness of his sins? God forgave him! GOD HAS THE POWER TO FORGIVE ANYONE WHO WILL REPENT TOWARDS HIM AND PUT THEIR FAITH IN THE LORD Jesus CHRIST!!!!!
So don’t be like these scribes who underestimated the authority Christ has to forgive sins. Secondly they didn’t think they needed forgiveness. These men were proud of their own works so they didn’t see their need for forgiveness. Don’t do that this morning we have talked and talked about how much you truly need forgiveness.
T. S. So what is it we learn from these scribes accusation against Christ? We learn that they have a wrong view of who Jesus is and of who they are. Lets look at what becomes of their rejection!
B. The Answer to their Accusation
(Matt 9:4)
And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
Jesus answers their accusation that they were too afraid to say to His face, they were just thinking it and Jesus knew what they were thinking. He can look into your mind and into your heart and know what you are thinking. So don’t try to fool Him! So He answers their accusation with a question.
He tells them that they are guilty of the very thing they were accusing Him of. They were accusing Him of speaking evil against God; now He says why are you thinking evil? They were in fact thinking evil because they were accusing God of blasphemy. You don’t have to even voice what you are thinking about Jesus this morning He already knows whether or not you believe that you need Him to forgive you of your sins and whether or not you believe He is able to do this. He doesn’t have to ask you He already know.
I am not foolish I know that not all of you here this morning really believe that Jesus has the ability to forgive your sins or that you have the need to have your sins forgiven. Unlike Christ I don’t cant hear your thoughts or see your hearts, but remember He can so if you think you are going to fool Him you are wrong! Is that you this morning, are you guilty of thinking evil of Christ? If it is then you need to repent and believe on His name for Salvation from your sins. If you are to find Forgiveness then you must stay clear of this rejection of forgiveness that we see in the scribes which involves their accusation otherwise you are going to hear the same answer they did. Why are you thinking evil in your heart? That would be some scary words to hear from God would it not?
T.S. WE see now that the rejection of Christ’s Forgiveness comes from a wrong view of who Jesus is and of who we are, and that if we are to hear Christ Proclaim us Forgiven that we are to stay clear of this rejection. There is also one other factor in this forgiveness that we need to look at however.
III. HAVING FORGIVENESS MEANS CONFIRMATION OF FORGIVENESS
Matt 9:5-8
For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sin, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitudes was it, they marveled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
If you truly have been forgiven then there will be confirmation of this forgiveness. There will be proof that you have met with the Lord most High and that He has forgiven you. When the scribes didn’t believe Jesus had forgiven the man’s sins, He ask them a question. Which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or to say to a paralyzed man get up and walk. Of course forgiving the sins would be harder but only God Himself could do either one. Man is incapable of forgiving sins or healing the body. Only God can do either one of these. So Jesus is basically saying you want proof that I am God, you got proof that I am God. Jesus had already given plenty of proof but they would not accept the simple facts right in front them they instead rejected Christ’s forgiveness.
There is a story of an atheist who was asked what he would say if he were wrong about there not being a God and when he died was faced with God’s Judgment what he would say to God. The Atheist answered and said that he would tell God that He had not given enough proof of His existence, this characterizes the response of the scribes well. Where the 5 men had believed in Christ as the only who could help these scribes rejected Christ as a blasphemer saying that they didn’t need His help.
Just like this atheist and those scribes someone here today may be thinking that they need more proof that Jesus is the Son of God and that He does forgive sins. Well I tell you Jesus proves He forgives sins through changed lives. That is how He proved that this man was forgiven of sins. He healed this man and changed his life in a way that only God could. The Last section we are going to look at this morning is the Confirmation of Forgiveness. If Jesus has forgiven you then your life will be change and there will be no denying the fact that you have been forgiven of your sins and been in presence of the most High God.
A. Forgiveness will be Confirmed Through Obedience
( Matt 9:5-7 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sin, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house.)
The first way this man confirms the forgiveness that Christ has given him is through Obedience. You want confirmation of the forgiveness that Christ has given you this morning then look at your life and see how obedient you are to the person of Christ. Look at what happens here. Jesus says to the man arise take up your bed and go home and guess what this man does? He gets up and goes home just like Jesus told him to. This is something we have dealt with a lot especially at the end of the sermon on the mount. The fact that true salvation is going to result in your obedience to Christ.
Remember Jesus said, if you love me you will keep my commandments. And why do you call me Lord and do not the things I say. If you have truly met with Christ and He is truly your Lord then you are going to obey Him. It would be like trying to go to work for someone and then not listening to a word that they told you to do. It just would not work, so why do you think that it will work with Jesus?
Your forgiveness will be proven through your obedience to the Word of God. and through your service to Christ. James said that faith without works is dead. You are going to practice what you believe and if you believe that Jesus is the Son of The Living God then you are going to practice obedience to Him, it is just that simple. Are you obeying Christ this morning? Or are you ignoring Him this morning not believing that He has the power to command you to do what He wants you to do! Is there confirmation of that forgiveness that you are claiming through the obedience your are practicing?
T.S. Forgiveness is Confirmed not only through obedience but also through Fear!
B. Forgiveness is Confirmed through Fear
(Matt 9:8a)
But when the multitudes was it, they marvelled
When folks see what Christ is done in your life they might become afraid. When it says here that the multitudes marveled when they saw what was going on, the word used here for marveled is the same word from which we get Phobia, and it is a word for fear. They were in fearful awe of what was happening in the life of this paralyzed man.
When Christ Forgives you it might just work a change that is so great in your life that people become afraid of what God has done. They might just scatter to get away from you for fear the same thing might happen to them. When I was saved I had all sorts of friends, my house would be packed just about every night. But as soon as I gave my heart to the Lord and became obedient to what He wanted me to do in my life well you should have seen the fear spread over the crowd. I went from fifteen to twenty visitors a night to maybe one a month and that was my mom and dad. There is just something about that change in the life of a person when Christ gets a hold of them that makes people fearful of God. I think that is what it boils down to is you remind them of what they are living like and they get afraid of what God is going to do to them so they leave.
Has that ever happened to you? When you got saved did people begin to fear to be around you because of the conviction they might come under. What about now is the power of God so evident in your life that people who are lost are afraid to get around you for fear they might come under conviction simply because of the way you live your life? Or do you just blend into the crowd? Is there any difference between you and your next door neighbor or is the only thing different about the two the fact that you are in church right now and He is at home sleeping in. I tell if that is the only difference there is something wrong in your life. When Christ gets a hold of you there is going to be no denying that you have been changed! Now don’t get me wrong we shouldn’t be mean or judgmental or rude or any of that but we should have a lifestyle that has Jesus on it from front to back then people will look at our lives and fear the power of God!
T.S. Our forgiveness is not only confirmed through obedience to Christ and the Fear of the People but also and most important our forgiveness is confirmed through God getting the glory!!!!!
C. Forgiveness is Confirmed Through the Glory of God!
(Matt 9:8b)
and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
Notice what happens also with this crowd not only did they fear the Power of God they gave God the glory for the change that happened in this man’s life. When you are forgiven it will be confirmed by God getting the glory. That is why Jesus saves us in the first place, for the glory of God and that is exactly what happened here. Even if these people themselves didn’t get saved they still gave God the glory.
Anyone can turn over a new leaf and try harder to live a good life but only Christ can forgive your sins and so radically change you that people will look at you and say man that had to be a work of God. When is the last time someone gave glory to God for the way that you live your life or the way that you treated them or someone else? How long has it been since God has gotten glory from you and what you do? A day, a month, a year, never, come on when have you ever given God glory through what you do or say? This is the chief end of all creation, to bring glory to God. This is the true purpose of salvation. When Christ frees you from the bondage of sin, then and only then are you able to give God any glory! It’s time we quit coming to God with the mindset of what is in it for me, and started asking Him what can we do to give you Glory OH Father what do you want us to do! Then and only then will He be able to use us in any way.
You see when God uses you to bring Himself glory there is nothing greater than that! There is no higher calling in all of the universe than to know that God has used you to bring Himself glory and you cant take any of the credit because it is all of Him and not of you!
So how is our forgiveness confirmed then? Through obedience, through fear in those around us and most importantly through bring God the Glory!
Conclusion
What shall we say then is Man’s greatest need? Forgiveness of Sins. And how do we achieve this forgiveness that we need oh so badly? Well we must Hear those wonderful words from Christ, “Son be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven thee.” How do we hear those words? Well we must realize the crimes we have committed against God are payable only by Christ and that Only He can forgive us. We must understand that we have all missed that Mark that God has set and that we all deserve to go to hell. Then we must Come to Jesus in Faith humbly and put our trust in Him as our Lord and savior. WE must refuse this rejection of not believing in His power and authority to forgive us and we must make sure that we understand that we can never pay for our sins on our own. Then when we do get this forgiveness we will see the proof in the way that our life is Changed by Christ through obedience fear and Worship of God.
Oh don’t you want to be forgiven of your sins this morning so that you can give God glory and be taken out from under His wrath and placed in peace in His loving arms and care? Don’t you want that? Don’t be like the Scribes and reject the evidence that is right in front of you, you know that without Jesus you are going to die and go to hell.
Invitation
If that is you this morning if you know that you are lost and destined for Hell, then here in a second when we have our time of invitation I want you come down here and make a public profession of what Christ is done in your life. If God is calling you to make a decision this morning then don’t delay respond on the first verse. I am going to ask you all to stand now and bow your heads and close your eyes. I am going to pray and after I pray we are going to start singing. If God is speaking to you don’t put it off to another day respond right now to what He is doing in your life!!
