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God knows our needs.
Introduction: Have you ever asked to yourself, “Does anybody know the pain and hurt I am experiencing?” God sees your heart like nobody else can. God knows the condition that you are in. He knows your needs, and he has an appointed time for your breakthrough. I believe your breakthrough is on your way. God is on your side and if you can believe, God can turn things suddenly around.
I want to take your attention to a one healing that Jesus performed where he met the need of everyone present there.
Mark 2:1-12 1A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” He said to the paralytic, 11“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
I would say this as ‘the complete miracle’ which found its place in three gospels: Matthew 9:1-7, Luke 5:17-26, & Mark 2:1-12. Jesus by now has started his public ministry in power and you see him performing 10 miracles one after the other mentioned in Matthew 9. The last one was the casting out of demons from a man in the region on Gadara. The evil spirit got into the pigs and the whole herd went into the water and died. In our text Jesus has left the region of Gadara as the people asked him to leave because of the loss. You see, they rejected him and there’s no record that He ever returned to that region.
It’s a very dangerous thing to reject Jesus, for you never know when your rejection will be accepted and become final. You never know when you’ve rejected Him for the last time. If He knocks on your heart’s door today, make sure to answer and let Him in! Let him come and be the Lord of your heart. If Jesus is knocking at your door today believers, let him come and clean us from our sins.
Now Jesus is in Capernaum, His ministry headquarters. When people heard about His miracles, great throngs of people started crowding around him, filling the house where He was staying, blocking the doorway, listening to every word that Jesus said. Then it tells us that 4 men got their friend who was paralyzed and lying on a pallet, and brought him to where Jesus was teaching. Mark 2:4-5 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
When I study this passage I can see Jesus discerning the hearts of people and meeting the need of everyone sitting in the house. I want you to first look at the 4 friends who brought the paralytic.
1. Faith of the friends. When Jesus saw the faith of the friends, He healed the paralytic. It was the pure determination, resolve, love, and faith of the friends that was the key to the miracle.
This morning you may be sitting here crying for the people in your family, crying for your loved one, praying for someone who is far way. Listen whatever situation they might be in, if you can reach out to Jesus by faith you will see the miracle working hand of God. Let’s come to God with faith this morning. What was the faith exhibited by these friends.
a. Faith is never discouraged by the difficult. Have you ever tried to carry someone for a long distance? Even if you are only carrying one of 4 corners it is a difficult task. I don’t know how big this guy was, but carrying anyone through the streets of Capernaum would have been a difficult task.
They must have assumed that once they got there that they would just walk right into the presence of Jesus. But when they arrive they discover that the doorway is blocked and the house is so packed that there is no way for them to get their friend to Jesus.
So what did they do? Did they give up? No, not at all. They tried another approach. They carried him up onto the roof. If you thought it was tough carrying someone on the street, you ought to try carrying a person upstairs. Here they are, struggling up the stairs until finally they get up on top of the roof.
Once they reach the rooftop what are they going to do? There are no doors, no windows, no way to get into Jesus. Do they call off the whole idea & say, "It must not be God’s will for us to do it"? No. They set to work and begin to dig a hole in the roof.
You see, faith is never discouraged by the difficult. When you meet one barrier you bounce off and go to the next but you keep on going. The important thing was to get the man to Jesus, and faith would not be opposed by Jesus. I do not know what impossibilities you are facing this morning. I do not know if you have come to a dead end in your life. Do not be discouraged, you have a way when you have faith. What does this mean? Faith never gives up. No matter what the difficultly, faith will keep trying.
b. Faith is willing to do the unorthodox. I like that. The usual way to enter a house is through a door, never through the roof. But that was the only way to get to Jesus, and as unorthodox as it was, that is what they did.
If you need to achieve something from God, do not just copy others faith. You exercise your faith to God and he will honour you. All through the Bible unorthodox faith was honoured by God.
Do you remember the woman with an issue of blood who touched the hem of the Jesus’ garment? It was against the law, a woman with an issue could not touch a man, it was unorthodox. This weak lady had to squeeze in through the crowd, there was no one to help her. But the moment she touched the hem of Jesus’s garment she was made whole. When Jesus saw her faith, he was moved. Remember the faith of the centurion? When Jesus offered to go to his house to heal his servant, the centurion said, “Jesus do not come to my house, you say a word and my servant will be healed.” Today, I want to encourage you to approach God by faith. Your faith in your circumstances will move God. Will God find an extraordinary faith in you?
c. Faith will pay the price. Every time I read this story I sympathize with the homeowner. I can just see him sitting there watching all the debris falling down, wondering to himself, "Who is going to pay for all this?" Suddenly I can imagine the friends tell, “Do not worry, we will repair the house after the meeting.” You see we have a house owner who was willing to sacrifice damage for the sake of God. There were 4 friends who were willing to pay the repairs for saving a man.
Faith will pay the price. Now, none of these people are paying for their personal gain. They are paying the price to help a third person. How many of you are willing to pay the price for the sake of a soul? Many people will not come to Jesus unless they are brought to Jesus. How many of you are brought to City Harvest AG Church Bangalore by your friends? How many of you are willing to sacrifice your homes, your money, your comfort, your cars, your finances for the sake of a soul? Jesus was moved with such a faith.
People of faith are never discouraged by what it costs. They know that if you’re going to do something worthwhile that it will cost something. Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
2. Sinful condition of man. When Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” The context indicates that this man was sick because of personal sins in his life. His sins had not been forgiven and Jesus offered him pardon. This shows the condition of every man, born and living in sin and the Son of Man coming to cleanse our sins.
Usually Jesus deals with the physical need first before the spiritual. He would heal a person in the body before He dealt with the soul’s need. But in this case, He goes straight to the cause of the physical problem, which was his personal sins. Understand, most problems we face aren’t rooted in sin, but sometimes they are because of our sin!
You see, sometimes our problem and problem of others in our family is not the outward behavior or what you see in the outside, they are just the symptoms. The problem is an inward condition of man, sin. For this reason we need total transformation. And that’s only possible by the pardon which Jesus offers to us.
Illustration: A little boy was very naughty. One day he did a very bad thing which upset his mummy and she gave him a punishment. The punishment was that he cannot speak to his mummy for one whole day. He was very upset, he could not play with mummy, he could not ask his favorite food. There was a marker board near the family phone and that night after mummy went to sleep he got to the board and wrote ‘Dear mummy, please forgive me.” Then he went to sleep. Early morning he got up to see what his mummy had replied. It surprised him to see that the board was totally erased. He ran to mummy and told her, “I love you mummy, thank you for forgiving me, I will never repeat that mistake again.” This is what happens when we ask Christ to pardon us. We are completely made clean and whole.
Today, the pardon of God is here and if you can reach out by faith confessing your sins, you can go back whole and delivered this morning.
3. The power of Jesus. This Bible passage gives us a clear understanding on who our God is and what is his power.
a. Jesus forgives sins. He directly went to the paralytic and offered pardon of his sin. Jesus has the power to forgive sins.
Now, when Jesus offered forgiveness of sins to the paralytic man, the teachers of the law started thinking to themselves, “Who is this man acting like God?”
Mark 2:6-7 6Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7“Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone? The teachers of the law were right in their thinking that only God can forgive sins but they did not realize that Jesus was God. Jesus went ahead and performed the miracle and proved that he is God.
Mark 2:11-12 He said to the paralytic, 11“I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.
b. Jesus is God. There is no other God beside Him. You cannot be a Christian simply by believing in God, you must have Jesus and only Jesus as your Lord and God. You cannot worship Jesus and others. There is no middle ground.
c. Jesus can read our minds. When the teachers were thinking as to why Jesus was forgiving sins which only God can do. Jesus could immediately read their minds. Mark 2:8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things.”
Our God is so powerful that he can discern the thoughts of every man. Our every thought and action is open before Jesus. He knows everything.
Do you remember the instance when the teachers of the law brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus? They said the law demanded them to stone her to death. As they were accusing her and trying to trap Jesus, he began to bend down and started to write on the mud with his finger. Do you know what Jesus was doing? Jesus was reading the mind and the life of the people around who were judging this woman. I believe he saw sin and rebellion in them and was writing their names on the dust. Jeremiah 17:13 Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water. Probably when the teachers of the law saw their names in the dust they remembered this scripture. Jesus then got up and said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he started writing on the dust. By the time Jesus got up the second time there was no one to stone her, only the woman.
You see, Jesus can discern every heart and every life. Nothing is hidden before him. Hebrews 4:13 Noting in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him whom we must give account.
Today we all have come here with burdens of life. Some have come here with pain and need that no one else know. Yet some of you have come with burden of sin. Jesus knows whatever burden you have come with. If you have come with pain, cast your cares on the Lord. If you have come with the burden on sin, ask God to cleanse you. Let’s remember that Jesus knows our thoughts, and is watching for our reaction! God is watching whether you will turn away from him or ask for repentance.
c. Jesus transforms lives. Jesus has the power to transform lives.
When Jesus offered forgiveness of sins to the paralytic man, the teachers of the law could not believe him and accept him as God. Jesus then decided to show them something that they cannot argue with, He went ahead and healed the man. Mark 2:11-12 11He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.
Oh! The man was totally healed. He can walk, he can sing, he can talk. He was totally transformed. Jesus has the power to transform any life that believes in him. If you are sitting here looking for a breakthrough, looking for a change, looking for joy, looking for blessing; Jesus can do that for you.
How many of your lives have been transformed by Jesus? From being an alcoholic, drug, and cigarette addict to a Jesus addict, from being a pauper to a blessing, from depression to joy. The greatest of all miracles are sitting all around this place right now, joy filled lives transformed by the power of Christ! The same God can transform your life. Yes, Jesus is a life changer, continue to trust him.
Maybe you are already saved, coming to church but looking for a breakthrough, the same God who transformed you into a believer will transform you into the person God wants you to be. Jesus is a life changer.
Conclusion: Mark 2:12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
When we come to the presence of the Lord with faith and see the power of God and the things that Jesus has to offer us, it automatically leads to praise. As families and as individuals I believe that we in for days of praise because I can see God doing things in your life. When the paralytic took up his mat and walked, it amazed everyone. Your lives are going to turn around and amaze everyone around you. Trust in God greater days are coming ahead of you.
As a church we are going to believe Jesus, go ahead with soul winning and missions. I believe we are heading for greater days of praise. This city is going to be reached. Beloved I am convinced that God knows your needs. He knows what is going on in your hearts, your spirits, and you minds. If you can come to him by faith, Jesus is powerful to change your life and bring you to days of praise ahead.
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