BRINGING OTHERS TO JESUS Luke 5:17-26
Proposition: “Bringing others to Jesus is the most important ministry we can do as Christ’s disciples."
Objective: My purpose is to challenge God’s people concerning the importance of bringing others to Jesus today.
INTRODUCTION:
Illus: During one winter in Birmingham, a young man drove to a hospital to pick up his wife and new baby. He stopped in front and left the motor running and heater going with a three year old asleep on back seat. When he came out of the hospital, the care was gone. The word was on TV and radio that a 3 year old had been kidnapped. The police looked for the child & the car & thief as well. They found the car abandoned on a side street, but no child. People in the city were anxious as hours passed by. There was a young Vietnam veteran who lost a part of both legs who was an avid CBer and had specially equipped van. He started looking for the child as he thought the child might be near the abandoned car. Maybe the thief did not take the child but left him there. So he drove up streets and alleys shining his light in dark places. He passed an old house and saw a swing piled with newspapers. He thought he saw movement which led him to stop and get out. He hobbled through snow and up the icy walk while calling out the child’s name. Then the papers stirred with a frightened and sobbing voice cried out, “Daddy, Daddy, is that you Daddy?” The answer was, “No, son, this is not your Daddy, but I came here to take you to your Daddy.” That is why we are here—to bring others to Jesus.
There was a man there who was sick of the palsy, a man that was given by Biblical writers to any number of degenerative diseases resulting in paralysis. Whatever his illness was, the man could not walk or get around under his own power, he was completely bedridden, and suffered greatly. This man had four friends who were very good friends indeed. They believed that if they could just get him to Jesus, he would be healed of his lameness. Jesus had already performed many miracles of healing, so the four friends carried this poor crippled man’s bed to the house where Jesus was.
When they got to the house, they found they could not begin to get through the crowds. They didn’t give up, though; they had faith that Jesus could heal their friend if they could just get him to Jesus. In desperation, they came up with an innovative plan, one that was bold and daring --- they took him up to the roof of the house, cut through the roof, and lowered his bed down to where Jesus sat teaching the crowd.
If each one won won one & each won one had won one,
What hosts would be won If everyone won had won one.
I. A MANIFESTATION OF FULLNESS (vvs. 17-18) “The power of the Lord was present…Men brought a man who was paralyzed”— Many people were spectators who just came to watch; others wanted to hear the Word of God; and some were there to listen and criticize. Power is associated with healing in Luke and here is a great example. The four men believed that they could find help for their friend. The 4 men show their faith and determination as Jesus manifests the fullness of His power.
1. Definite situation (v. 17a) “Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching”-- The fame of the Teacher had brought to Galilee religious leaders from all parts of the land. They were listening critically to His teaching. The religious leaders spent much time defining and discussing the huge body of religious tradition that had been accumulating for more than 400 years since the Jews’ return from exile. They were so concerned with these man-made traditions, in fact, that they often lost sight of Scripture. Here these leaders felt threatened because Jesus challenged their sincerity and because the people were flocking to him. The healing and forgiving of a paralyzed man was further evidence of Jesus’ authority and power to make others ceremonially clean. Luke noted that a number of religious officials were present at the occasion, including some from Jerusalem who perhaps were the most influential.
2. Divine Savior (v. 17b) “The power of the Lord was present to heal them”— Jesus faced a crisis decision. Would He keep the healing powers to Himself in the face of unbelieving leaders with political powers? Or would He heal and let these leaders react as they would? His opponents certainly made a power play. They brought in the troops from every corner of the country to wait, watch and react. There was power in the air. The room was charged with divine power.
3. Difficult state (v. 18) “a man who was paralyzed”— The case was difficult & healing would be all the more convincing. These four men sought to bring their paralytic friend to Jesus, but were unable to carry him through the crowd. These four men sought to bring their paralytic friend to Jesus, but were unable to carry him through the crowd. You & I can make a difference in the life of others & make a difference in the Kingdom of God—1 person at a time.
II. A MANIFESTATION OF FAITH (vvs. 19-20b) “When He saw their faith”--Here we have a vivid story. Jesus was in a house teaching. The roof of the houses in those days were flat beaten earth or rubble underneath & was paved with brick, stone or any other type of hard substance, surrounded by a railing. The home owners spent a lot of time on the roofs especially during the evenings in warm weather. A stairway led to the roof from the outside & in some cases from the inside of the house. The roof had only the slightest tilt sufficient to make the rain water run off. It was composed of beams laid from wall to wall & quite short distance apart. The space between the beams was filled with close packed twigs & compacted together with mortar. It was easy to take out the packing between two beams. In fact coffins were sometimes taken in & out of a house via the roof.
1. Definite solution (v. 19) “They let Him down,,, through the tiling”—Luke describes the house as a Roman dwelling with a tile roof, such as would have been found in the cities familiar to his readers.
Illus: The clock in the back of a big church was well-known for its inability to keep time right. Sometimes it would go too fast & other times it would go too slow. People were always fiddling with the hands of the clock, pushing them ahead or pulling them back. Then the preacher placed a sign over the clock which read, "Don’t blame the hands, the trouble lies deeper."
2. Detection of sincerity (v. 20a) “When He saw their faith”— Jesus took notice of the faith that would go to such lengths to bring a needy case to His attention. When He saw their faith, that is, the faith of the four plus the invalid, He said to the paralyzed man, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” This unprecedented statement aroused the scribes and the Pharisees. They knew that no one but God could forgive sins. Unwilling to admit that Jesus was God, they raised the cry of blasphemy.
Illus: Charles Alexander said: “The devil will let you go to church, teach a SS class, sing in the choir, be on the program, serve on committees, if you will stop short of only one thing—bringing a soul to Christ.”
3. Declaration in sharing (v. 20b) “He said to him”—It is important to listen to what He says to the people. What He says needs to be listened to very carefully. Jesus’ mother said at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
Illus: Tom White, Director of Voice of the Martyrs, writes: “On one of my trips to Pakistan, I was privileged to sit on the floor with about 30 Pakistani pastors and lay evangelists. I brought encouragement from American Christians and from Christians in hostile nations who walk the same path as theirs. Outside, after the meeting, an elderly gentleman approached me and offered his hand. The yard was dusty. It was hot.
“I remember the dust and flies on his dark blue jacket. As we talked, he would take a handkerchief and wipe the sweat off his forehead. Quietly, almost apologetically, he shared, ‘Every morning I get on a bus in our city. As the bus begins to move, I walk down the aisle and hand out Gospel tracts. These have the simple message of Jesus our Savior, who He is, why He came. People sitting on the bus have nothing to do. Many read them. Sometimes the Muslim men beat me. Usually by then I have finished my outreach, and I am near the back door. They do me the great favor of throwing me out the door. I might bleed, but I have a handkerchief. So I find another bus and began again.’ I prayed with him and was encouraged that he didn’t want a silent ride through life…The persecuted church lives in countries that have a tiny percentage of Christians and have a government or society that opposes evangelization. These courageous ones who risk their faith do not have to evangelize. They choose to evangelize.
III. A MANIFESTATION OF FORGIVENESS (vvs. 20c-26) “Your sins are forgiven you”—The scribes and Pharisees accused Jesus of blasphemy. He claimed to be able to do something only God can do—forgive sins. They would have been right if Jesus were just another person. Any person who claimed to be God would be guilty of blasphemy—unless that person was the Messiah, Son of God. Jesus was not guilty of blasphemy precisely because He acted with divine authority to declare sins forgiven.
1. A remission (v. 20c) “Your sins are forgiven you”—Only God can release from the guilt or penalty of one’s sin. Our Lord began with the man’s spiritual need, which was greater than his physical need. It was implicitly believed that if a person was suffering he had sinned. And therefore the sufferer very often had an even morbid sense of sin. This is why Jesus began by telling the man that his sins were forgiven. Without that the man would never believe that he could be cured. This shows how in debate the scribes and Pharisees were completely stopped.
Illus: The panorama of non-forgiveness is illustrated by the following parable. Once a young girl on a backpacking trip wandered into quicksand. She slowly sank deeper and deeper. The more she struggled the faster she sunk—
• Confucius walked by and says, “It is better to stay away from such places” and delivering that wonderful advice walks on.
• Buddha comes by and says, “Let that be a lesson to you so in the next life you may be upgraded” and Buddha walks on and you are now deeper.
• But Then Jesus comes and says, “Friend I’ll remedy your problem. Your sins are forgiven and He hauls you out of the cesspool of sinking sin and sets your feet on a solid rock. I’ll take your quicksand predicament on myself and set you free.” Christianity is unique among the world religions in that it alone offers forgiveness, provided and granted by its human Founder. The forgiveness question’s only correct answer is Jesus Christ.
2. A reaction (v. 21) “Who can forgive sins but God only”—Jesus’ critics were shocked at his assuming a right that belongs to God alone—the right to forgive sins. The Lord did not say that since He was the Son of God with authority, they were wrong in their assumption. Instead, He proposed a test of that authority. Their approach was a syllogism: (a brief form for stating an argument from the general to the particular that consists of two statements and a conclusion that must be true if these statements are true):
Major premise: Only God can forgive sins.
Minor premise: For man to claim to forgive sins is to blaspheme. Conclusion: Therefore, this man is blaspheming God.
What Jesus did next had the force of changing their syllogism: Major premise: Only God can forgive sins.
Minor premise: This man evidently forgives sins.
Conclusion: Therefore, He must be God—or at least God’s power must be working through Him.
3. A response (vvs. 22-23) “Why are you reasoning in your heart”—It would be easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven you,” because if they were not, there would be no outward evidence. If Jesus had commanded healing and the man had not been healed, everybody would have known that the Healer was fraudulent.
4. A result (vvs. 24-25) “Arise, take up your bed and go to your house…Immediately he rose up”—Jesus made His power to cure a test of His power to forgive. By accomplishing what His critics acknowledged as the more difficult, He showed that He could do what they thought to be easier. The bed or couch is a bedroll, not a piece of furniture. The cure was complete, and the Lord’s critics were silenced. The miracle demonstrated that Jesus could remove the paralysis of both spirit and body.
5. A realization (v. 26) “We have seen strange things today.”—The onlookers realized how humanly hopeless for condition of the paralyzed man was, so that His instantaneous cure by Jesus causes great amazement. They could not but acknowledge that this was a work of God & that Jesus in some way or other stood in a special relation to God.
CONCLUSION: Could these have been the 4 helpers: Mr. COMMITMENT, Mr. COMPASSION, Mr. COOPERATION and Mr. CONSOLATION?
1. These men dared to do the difficult--did not quit.
2. They dared to do the unorthodox--not wait outside.
3. They dared to do the costly (pay for the roof). When you do something for Christ, it will COST.
Do you believe that only Jesus provides forgiveness for the sin that separates one from God? Are you willing to do whatever is necessary to bring others to Jesus for forgiveness and healing?
Illus: Back in 1921, a missionary couple named David and Svea Flood went with their two-year-old son from Sweden to the heart of Africa-to what was then called the Belgian Congo. They met up with another young Scandinavian couple, the Ericksons, and the four of them sought God for direction. In those days of much tenderness and devotion and sacrifice, they felt led of the Lord to set out from the main mission station and take the gospel to a remote area.
This was a huge step of faith. At the village of N’dolera they were rebuffed by the chief, who would not let them enter his town for fear of alienating the local gods. The two couples opted to go half a mile up the slope and build their own mud huts. They prayed for a spiritual breakthrough, but there was none. The only contact with the villagers was a young boy, who was allowed to sell them chickens and eggs twice a week. Svea Flood, a tiny woman only four feet, eight inches tall-decided that if this was the only African she could talk to, she would try to lead the boy to Jesus. And in fact, she succeeded. But there were no other encouragements. Mean-while, malaria continued to strike one member of the little band after another. In time the Ericksons decided they had had enough suffering and left to return to the central mission station. David and Svea Flood remained near N’dolera to go on alone. Then, of all things, Svea found herself pregnant in the middle of the primitive wilderness. When the time came for her to give birth, the village chief softened enough to allow a midwife to help her. A little girl was born, whom they named Aina. The delivery, however, was exhausting, and Svea Flood was already weak from bouts of malaria. The birth process was a heavy blow to her stamina. She lasted only another seventeen days.
Inside David Flood, something snapped in that moment. He dug a crude grave, buried his twenty-seven-year-old wife, and then took his children back down the mountain to the mission station. Giving his newborn daughter to the Ericksons, he snarled, "I’m going back to Sweden. I’ve lost my wife, and I obviously can’t take care of this baby. God has ruined my life." With that, he headed for the port, rejecting not only his calling, but God himself.
Within eight months both the Ericksons were stricken with a mysterious malady and died within days of each other. The baby was then turned over to some American missionaries, who adjusted her Swedish name to "Aggie" and eventually brought her back to the United States at age three. This family loved the little girl and were afraid that if they tried to return to Africa, some legal obstacle might separate her from them. So they decided to stay in their home country and switch from missionary work to pastoral ministry. And that is how Aggie grew up in South Dakota. As a young woman, she attended North Central Bible College in Minneapolis. There she met and married a young man named Dewey Hurst. Years passed. The Hursts enjoyed a fruitful Ministry. Aggie gave birth first to a daughter, then a son. In time her husband became president of a Christian college in the Seattle area, and Aggie was intrigued to find so much Scandinavian heritage there. One day a Swedish religious magazine appeared in her mailbox. She had no idea who had sent it, and of course she couldn’t read the words. But as she turned the pages, all of a sudden a photo stopped her cold.
There in a primitive setting was a grave with a white cross-and on the cross were the words SVEA FLOOD. Aggie jumped in her car and went straight for a college faculty member who, she knew, could translate the article. "What does this say?" she demanded. The instructor summarized the story: It was about missionaries who had come to N’dolera long ago ... the birth of a white baby ... the death of the young mother ... the one little African boy who had been led to Christ ... and how, after the whites had all left, the boy had grown up and finally persuaded the chief to let him build a school in the village. The article said that gradually he won all his students to Christ... the children led their parents to Christ... even the chief had become a Christian. Today there were six hundred Christian believers in that one village.... All because of the sacrifice of David and Svea Flood. For the Hursts’ twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, the college presented them with the gift of a vacation to Sweden. There Aggie sought to find her real father. An old man now, David Flood had remarried, fathered four more children, and generally dissipated his life with alcohol.
He had recently suffered a stroke. Still bitter, he had one rule in his family: "Never mention the name of God-because God took everything from me. After an emotional reunion with her half brothers and half sister, Aggie brought up the subject of seeing her father. The others hesitated. "You can talk to him," they replied, "even though he’s very ill now. But you need to know that whenever he hears the name of God, he flies into a rage. Aggie was not to be deterred. She walked into the squalid apartment, with liquor bottles everywhere, and approached the seventy-three-year-old man lying in a rumpled bed. "Papa" she said tentatively. He turned and began to cry. "Aina," he said. "I never meant to give you away."
"It’s all right, Papa," she replied, taking him gently in her arms. "God took care of me. The man instantly stiffened. The tears stopped. "God forgot all of us. Our lives have been like this because of him." He turned his face back to the wall. Aggie stroked his face and then continued, undaunted. "Papa, I’ve got a little story to tell you, and it’s a true one. You didn’t go to Africa in vain. Mama didn’t die in vain. The little boy you won to the Lord grew up to win that whole village to Jesus Christ. The one seed you planted just kept growing and growing. Today there are six hundred African people serving the Lord because you were faithful to the call of God in your life. ... "Papa, Jesus loves you. He has never hated you. The old man turned back to look into his daughter’s eyes. His body relaxed. He began to talk. And by the end of the afternoon, he had come back to the God he had resented for so many decades. Over the next few days, father and daughter enjoyed warm moments together. Aggie and her husband soon had to return to America, and within a few weeks, David Flood had gone into eternity.
A few years later, the Hursts were attending a high-level evangelism conference in London, England, when a report was given from the nation of Zaire (the former Belgian Congo). The superintendent of the national church, representing some 110,000 baptized believers, spoke eloquently of the gospel’s spread in his nation. Aggie could not help going to ask him afterward if he had ever heard of David and Svea Flood. "Yes, madam," the man replied in French, his words then being translated into English. "It was Svea Flood who led me to Jesus Christ. I was the boy who brought food to your parents before you were born. In fact, to this day your mother’s grave and her memory are honored by all of us." He embraced her in a long, sobbing hug. Then he continued, "You must come to Africa to see, because your mother is the most famous person in our history." In time that is exactly what Aggie Hurst and her husband did. They were welcomed by cheering throngs of villagers. She even met the man who had been hired by her father many years before to carry her back down the mountain in a hammock-cradle. The most dramatic moment, of course, was when the pastor escorted Aggie to see her mother’s white cross for herself. She knelt in the soil to pray and give thanks. Later that day, in the church, the pastor read from John 12:24: "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." He then followed with Psalm 126:5: "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy."
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