Mark 2:1-12
2:1 And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
Introduction:
I have to start this sermon this morning by pointing out that when it was “noised that he was in the house” many gathered together, “straitway” or immediately.
The point is this. We can have programs on top of programs, activities on top of activities, but I still believe that what gathers people together is some sense that when they get there, He will be there.
So let me assure you this morning.
The wave walker is in the house.
The Chief Shepherd is on the scene.
Present in the building is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
The earth maker and the earth shaker is here.
The star kindler is on site.
The deaf ear opener,
The blind eye healer,
The one that makes the lame walk and the dumb talk, is here.
If we are going to get a crowd, it is going to be because we let people know one simple fact. Jesus is in the house.
When Jesus is in the house, desperate people show up.
And desperate people do desperate things.
In a world that is increasingly searching for answers we need to let them know the name of the answer, Jesus Christ.
1. Desperate times demand unity:
You see this man being born of four.
In other words, it took all four of them working together to get the job done, to get this man to Jesus.
I think of the firefighters and the police officers that charged into the WTC on September 11th.
How many of them died that day, but I also think of how many that they saved by working together to get people out of the building.
Now I’ve got to think of the church of Jesus Christ.
We must stay unified if we are going to get the job done that Jesus wants us to do.
• We need to look out for each other.
• We need to love each other.
• We need to pray for each other.
• We need to encourage each other.
• We need to strengthen each other.
Gal. 6:2
2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Hebrews 10:25
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
We must pull together at this time.
Unity means setting aside pettiness.
The times are too desperate, the need is too great, for us to focus on petty things.
It is not time for us to be at each others throats.
It is not time for us to be nit picking each other to death.
It is not time to be focused on everything that is negative.
It is time for us to lay aside pettiness and move forward in the kingdom of God.
2. Desperate Times require Desperate Measures
It is not time to play around.
Notice what these men did.
When they couldn’t get to Jesus through the door.
They climbed on top of the roof and began tearing a hole in it.
I mean, imagine the scene.
Jesus is talking to the crowd, and all of the sudden, dirt and dust begins to fall from the ceiling.
Pretty soon, arms begans to reach down and then you see a man on a pallet being let down.
We must seek God like never before.
When we come to church, we must Touch HIM.
Those men could have said it is too difficult today.
We cannot afford to come to church and allow distractions to keep us from touching Him.
I can’t worship because…..
• It is too hot
• It is too cold
• It is too loud
• It is too quiet
• I don’t like the person sitting next too me
• I’m mad because so and so didn’t sit next to me
• I’m mad because somebody sat in my spot
• I had a bad week
• I had a bad year
• I had a bad lifetime
• As the kids say, “Whatever”
What I’m trying to say is those are all excuses, and excuses are like feet.
Everybody has a couple of them, and they all stink.
• We need to worship like never before.
• We need to pray around these altars like never before.
• We need to bring people with us like never before.
Notice what it says, “And when Jesus saw their faith”.
In other words, not when he saw the faith of the sick man, but when he saw the faith of the bearers, he said unto the man sick of the palsy, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.”
We need desperately to understand this.
God isn’t waiting for the faith of Eufaula to increase before he moves.
• He is waiting for the faith of his people to increase.
• He is waiting for the faith of this church to increase.
And then he will move.
Mark 2:6
6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
Notice what it says, they were “sitting there.”
I have never figured out why those that do nothing feel qualified to judge those that do.
Psalms 1:1
Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Isn’t it amazing how the scornful are always “sitting around.”
Theodore Roosevelt:
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
• We are in desperate times.
• We may have to take some risks.
• Both as a body and as individuals.
• We may have to take the chance that somebody is going to reject us.
• We may have to take the chance that we may fail.
• We may have to take the chance of looking foolish.
But we must try to reach this generation.
Conclusion:
Mark 2:8-12
8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
We must decide that they can at least say, “We never saw it on this fashion.”
Credits. This sermon was taken from a sermon written by Andy Gossit
