1 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:08,960 Good morning church. Today's scripture reading comes 2 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:11,560 from Matthew 9 verses one through 8. 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,160 If you're using a Bibles under the chair that's in that's on 4 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:26,970 page 763. This is Matthew 9 verse one and 5 00:00:26,970 --> 00:00:30,330 getting into the boat and getting into a boat. 6 00:00:30,330 --> 00:00:35,240 He crossed over and came into his own city and behold, some 7 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:39,000 people caught him, caught to him a paralytic lying on a bed. 8 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,960 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, take 9 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,360 heart my son, your sins are forgiven. 10 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,000 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, this man is 11 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,920 blaspheming. But Jesus knowing their thoughts 12 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,640 said, why do you think evil in your hearts? 13 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,720 For which is easier to say your sins are forgiven, or to say 14 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:04,400 rise and walk, but that you know that, but that you may know that 15 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:08,400 the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. 16 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:13,840 He then said to the paralytic, Rise, pick up your bed, and go 17 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:16,480 home. And he rose and went home. 18 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:21,080 When the crowd saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, 19 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:23,440 who had given such authority to men. 20 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:30,920 This is God's word. Good morning Port City Church, 21 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:33,800 how we doing this morning? That's wonderful. 22 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,880 I'm so glad you are good. My name is Will and I am one of 23 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:41,040 the pastors here at Port City and I'm so excited to open God's 24 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,520 word with you all this morning. I don't get to do it often. 25 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,280 I'm excited when I do. Before I start there's two 26 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,560 things I want to point out. One is that Pastor Tanner is not 27 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:51,400 with us this morning. That is a praise, not because 28 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:53,200 he's not here, but because of why he's not here. 29 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:57,440 So they have welcomed into the world their new little baby boy. 30 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,160 So we are excited for them. You can all pray for them as 31 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:02,520 they transition from three children to four. 32 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:04,440 And as someone who has four children, I can tell you that 33 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,120 they need prayer, but they are doing well. 34 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:08,800 So that's something that's exciting. 35 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,600 The second thing is I want to acknowledge my kids. 36 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:12,840 Where are my kids at this morning? 37 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:13,800 Can I get a woop? Woop. 38 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,360 That was disappointing. Guys, this is like like every 39 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:19,400 single Sunday you guys are in service. 40 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:20,480 Your parents tell you to be quiet. 41 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,320 This is your moment, OK? Don't let me down. 42 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:24,880 Especially my kids. You got to carry the room. 43 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:26,400 OK? Can I get a woot? 44 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,160 Woot. That was that was acceptable, 45 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,240 Barely, but it was there. I want you guys to know that I 46 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:34,880 see you. We are excited that you guys are 47 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,480 in here this morning, OK? We love seeing you in here. 48 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,200 We believe that God's word is for all of us, not just the 49 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,640 adults. And you guys are way cooler than 50 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:45,600 the adults. No offense to my adults. 51 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,720 One thing I want to call out is if you guys can write down, I've 52 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,320 got 4 points, OK? If you can write them down and 53 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:55,840 bring them to me at the end of service, I got some candy for 54 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:57,960 you, OK? Does that sound like a deal? 55 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:00,080 Wonderful. We got a deal. 56 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:01,880 Perfect. All right, now with that out of 57 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,880 the way, let's jump in to the sermon this morning. 58 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:09,160 All right, so over the past six weeks, we have been in the book 59 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:12,640 of Matthew walking through chapter 8, and as we've seen 60 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:14,840 Jesus do a number of things, right? 61 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:16,640 So we've seen him cleanse A leper. 62 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:19,640 We've seen him heal the centurion's servant. 63 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,920 We've seen him calm a storm while sleeping on a boat. 64 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:25,960 If you remember Pastor Tanner talking about that, and last 65 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:30,160 week we saw Jesus cast out demons, right? 66 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:32,320 Hopefully you guys remember that. 67 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,240 One thing that has kind of been woven its way throughout the 68 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:41,760 text over the past series is this idea of Jesus's authority, 69 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:44,440 right? So far, if you remember, Matthew 70 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,040 has displayed the authority of Jesus over nature. 71 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,440 You could see that in his healing of sickness, right? 72 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:54,040 In his calming of the storm. That's nature and then over the 73 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,200 demonic, right, as we saw in our story last week, he cast out the 74 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,400 demons and clearly he had authority. 75 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,160 If you remember, Pastor Tanner said he said go and they went 76 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,240 right. If you remember that well, in 77 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:07,440 the passage this week we are going to see that Matthew 78 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:11,120 identifies 1/3 area of Jesus's authority. 79 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:13,720 It's the authority to forgive sins. 80 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:18,079 My sermon this morning is entitled the King of all 81 00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:20,240 authority. Can somebody say all authority? 82 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:23,120 Not just some authority, but all authority? 83 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,320 And I'm glad that we serve a God that doesn't just have a little 84 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,000 bit of authority, right? I'm also glad that we don't 85 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,840 serve multiple gods, each with partial authority, right? 86 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:36,240 We have one God with all authority, Amen. 87 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:39,720 We can trust him. And this morning we are also 88 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,160 going to see that Jesus is that king. 89 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:46,760 He is that God who has all authority, all right. 90 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:52,320 And in fact, in our text today, we will find that Jesus was very 91 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:54,160 clear about who he claimed to be. 92 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:57,360 He didn't give us any wiggle room for interpretation. 93 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,560 OK, I love this quote for from CS Lewis. 94 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,280 He says this. I'm trying here to prevent 95 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:06,440 anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often 96 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,880 say about him. I'm ready to accept Jesus as a 97 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,920 great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. 98 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:15,400 That is the one thing we must not say. 99 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,000 A man who was merely a man and says the sort of things that 100 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,080 Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. 101 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,040 He would either be a lunatic on a level with the man who says he 102 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,760 is a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of hell. 103 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,600 You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the 104 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,160 Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. 105 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,600 You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him 106 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,040 as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and 107 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:49,360 God. But let us not come up with any 108 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,840 patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. 109 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,080 He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. 110 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,760 It's my hope this morning that you will be confronted with who 111 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:06,320 Matthew is claiming Jesus is and who Jesus is claiming himself to 112 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:08,000 be. And you will follow the 113 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,640 countless others who have gone before you and as CS Lewis says, 114 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:13,800 fall at his feet and call him Lord. 115 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:15,760 And God, let's pray this morning as we get started. 116 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:18,640 Father, I just come to you this morning. 117 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,160 Lord, I pray that you would lift up these meager words of mine. 118 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:24,400 God, I pray that you, your spirit, would move. 119 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,920 Father God, I pray that you would make known to us, Lord, 120 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,160 the authority that you carry. God, that you are God. 121 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:33,400 Lord, you are not just another teacher. 122 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:35,920 You weren't just a prophet, Lord, you were God. 123 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,880 You claim to do things that only God can do. 124 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:42,400 Father, I pray that you would remind us this morning, Lord, of 125 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,280 how scandalous this gospel is. Lord, that you would remind us 126 00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:49,520 of the, the just, the, the, that we would be in awe of the fact 127 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:53,760 that you can forgive our sins. God, you met our greatest need. 128 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,920 Lord, I pray, Father, that you would be with me as I preached 129 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,040 this morning, Lord, that you would give me confidence, not in 130 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,240 myself, but in your word. Lord, we love you and your name 131 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:04,240 we pray. Amen. 132 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:08,640 All right, as we jump into our text this morning, let me just 133 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,520 start out by sharing that this story is actually found both in 134 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:14,920 Mark's Gospel and in Luke's gospel. 135 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:17,560 But Matthew's telling of the stories a little bit different, 136 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,000 right? His is not in the details, but 137 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:21,640 in the length. It's a lot shorter. 138 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:24,440 Those of you that like somebody that gets to the point, Matthew 139 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:27,080 gets to the point. He removes a lot of the extra 140 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,880 stuff, and his focus is primarily on the dialogue. 141 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,040 He's much more vague when it comes to the details that are 142 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,280 presented and the other two gospels. 143 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,760 He removes anything that doesn't point to the true focus of what 144 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,680 he's trying to get across here. OK, the center of this passage 145 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:45,600 is not the faith of the man or his friends. 146 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,000 It's not the links that they went through to get to Jesus, 147 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:51,360 and it's not those that opposed Jesus. 148 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,840 The focus of the passage from Matthew is what it teaches us 149 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:57,800 about Jesus. Now, I'm going to supplement a 150 00:07:57,800 --> 00:07:59,800 little bit from those other stories to kind of bring it 151 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:01,720 together. But for the most part, I don't 152 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:04,880 want to lose sight of the purpose of Matthew's telling of 153 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,160 the story, which is Jesus is God. 154 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:10,800 All right, let me set the scene for us this morning. 155 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:16,840 OK, so Jesus is back in his city, Capernaum, and word has 156 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:19,520 begun to spread that he's back. People have begun to talk and, 157 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:22,080 and tell, hey, he's back. He's, you know, he's here and, 158 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,440 and on this particular day, he's sitting in a house and he's 159 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,440 teaching people. People have come from all over 160 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:30,640 to hear him teach. Some of them have come to refute 161 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,039 his teaching. Some have come out of curiosity. 162 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:37,720 Some have come because they follow him, so much so that the 163 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:41,840 house is completely full. And in this text, in Matthew's 164 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,560 text, he refers to this people as some people, right bring a 165 00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:47,920 paralytic to him that's lying on a bed. 166 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,720 Now, in Matthew's account, he leaves out the detail of how 167 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:54,680 they actually bring the paralytic to Jesus. 168 00:08:54,680 --> 00:08:56,600 He only tells us that they brought him. 169 00:08:57,520 --> 00:08:59,800 Now, in the other gospels, we find that they actually had to 170 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:02,680 lower him through the roof of a house, right? 171 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:04,440 Which is an interesting detail to leave out. 172 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:06,120 You think he would bring it in there, but he doesn't. 173 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:09,640 He doesn't want to distract us. Matthew doesn't spend much time 174 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:13,080 on the details in the coming of the friends, likely because 175 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:15,160 they're not the focus. They're not who he wanted to 176 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,360 focus on, right? We're not told exactly how they 177 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:22,680 came in, but only that in their coming, Jesus was able to see 178 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:25,320 their faith. He was able to see it, right? 179 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:30,120 More than likely it was the perseverance that they showed in 180 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,720 bringing their friend to Jesus, namely through a roof, right? 181 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,240 That that showed them or that exemplified that faith. 182 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:43,600 And in Matthew 92, it says this. And behold, some people brought 183 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,200 to him a paralytic lying on a bed. 184 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:51,200 And when Jesus saw their faith, let's stop right there for a 185 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:52,520 minute. The first thing that I want to 186 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:56,120 highlight this morning, kids, this is my #1 is the faith of 187 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:57,760 his friends. Can somebody say the faith of 188 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,640 his friends? Wonderful. 189 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,520 All right, now here, let me just say this again, OK? 190 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:05,520 This is not the main point of the passage. 191 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:08,320 Matthew is not making a statement on faith here. 192 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,800 But I do think that there are a couple of things that we should 193 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:13,720 stop and just mention while we're here. 194 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:17,480 You might remember that this is not the first time Matthew's 195 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:21,280 commented on faith in our series over the past six weeks. 196 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,440 If you'll remember, he praised the faith of the centurion in 197 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,640 Matthew 810. And he said, it says when Jesus 198 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:30,160 heard this, he marvelled and said to those who followed him, 199 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:34,440 truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such 200 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,800 faith. Again, He on the other side, he 201 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:41,320 called out the lack of faith in his own disciples in Matthew 202 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:43,600 826. When they're on the boat, he 203 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:47,800 says, why are you afraid, O you of little faith? 204 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:55,240 And again here Jesus comments in Matthew 9 verse 2, and I'll read 205 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:57,640 it again. It says, and behold, some people 206 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:00,520 brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. 207 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:05,440 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, take 208 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,640 heart my son, your sins are forgiven. 209 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:12,400 Somebody say forgiven. Awesome. 210 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:15,760 This text could have just said that he saw his faith is in the 211 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,160 paralytic, right? He could have just said I saw 212 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,080 his faith and his sins are forgiven. 213 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:25,840 But that's not what he says. He says I saw their faith and 214 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:30,480 his sins are forgiven. Jesus's attention to the faith 215 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:34,160 of the man's friends should demonstrate to us the importance 216 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:36,080 of intercession on behalf of others. 217 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:38,640 I don't have a formula here. I don't think Matthew's 218 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,680 presenting a formula or a promise, and this is not the 219 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:43,920 focus of the story in Matthew, but I think it's something that 220 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,160 shouldn't convict and encourage us as believers. 221 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:50,520 Faith in Jesus here, this can never come by proxy. 222 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:54,480 We can't receive that receive Jesus because of somebody else's 223 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,440 faith, but it rarely comes without friends who also have 224 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:00,800 faith that Jesus can save their friend. 225 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,960 I'm going to say that again. Faith in Jesus can never come by 226 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:07,720 proxy, but it rarely comes without friends who have faith 227 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:09,800 that Jesus can save their friend. 228 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,440 Now, I also want us to take note of the fact that in the text, 229 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:19,280 the man and his friends don't ask for anything, right? 230 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:21,640 If you remember, he just, he just kind of comes in. 231 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,440 There's nothing He doesn't say. Jesus, I need this right? 232 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:26,800 He may have said something, but it doesn't tell us that he did. 233 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:31,280 But based on the circumstances, A paralytic man comes through 234 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:33,840 the roof. Our assumption and likely the 235 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:38,360 assumption of those that were there, Jesus, they would have 236 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:44,320 expected Jesus would, would heal his most visible need, right? 237 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,160 Can you imagine like just his paralysis is pretty obvious, 238 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:49,360 right? If he's laying on a bed, they're 239 00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:51,720 like, this guy needs to be healed of his paralysis. 240 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,160 But that's not what happens. We've got a couple of doctors in 241 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:56,920 the room. Just imagine that somebody comes 242 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,760 in to you and they have a gunshot wound in their arm and 243 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:03,440 they're like, I need some help. And you're like, OK, and they're 244 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:05,800 like, I've got a cold. Like that's not what happens, 245 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:08,480 right? Normally it's the most visible 246 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:12,200 need, but in this situation, what does Jesus do? 247 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:16,880 Jesus's response showed the man that he had a much more 248 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:20,200 foundational problem than others may have realized. 249 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:23,720 Right? There was something else going 250 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:27,840 on. The second point in our passage 251 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:32,960 today #2 is that we have a king. The king who forgives. 252 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:37,400 Somebody say the king who forgives, I'm just making sure 253 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:39,520 y'all are awake and don't have to do the head nod thing that 254 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:41,800 Daniel told us about this morning. 255 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,360 All right, let's continue. In Matthew 9, verse 2 says, and 256 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,880 when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, take 257 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:54,160 heart my son, your sins are forgiven. 258 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:57,840 You see, if Jesus had just healed this man, there would 259 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,320 come a day when he would need healing from something else 260 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:03,600 again, right? Pastor Tanner's talked about 261 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:05,680 this in previous series. We've discussed this. 262 00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:09,920 When Jesus performed a miracle, it only temporarily solved some 263 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:12,160 of the needs of the individual's problems. 264 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,720 When he fed the 5000, they got hungry again, right? 265 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,440 They wanted another meal. When he told the storm to stop, 266 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,320 I don't know about y'all, but I've seen it storm and it floods 267 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:27,200 here, right? It stormed again when he raised 268 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:31,760 Lazarus from the dead. He eventually died again, right? 269 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,160 Our world is broken. And though in these stories we 270 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,680 have pictures of the Kingdom of heaven breaking, in these 271 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:42,880 stories we know that we have a much deeper and more 272 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:47,160 foundational problem that must be solved than merely physical 273 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:49,920 healing. Now hear this. 274 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:53,800 This passage shows us that our visible need is merely a 275 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,200 physical symptom of a spiritual problem. 276 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:03,160 Our need is a visible symptom of a spiritual, a physical symptom 277 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:09,040 of a spiritual problem. And it shows us that we don't 278 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:13,880 just have a king who heals, but thankfully we have a king who 279 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:18,000 can forgive. Now, if Jesus were only a king 280 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:21,200 who could heal, it might make a select few people's lives easier 281 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:25,280 and better for a moment, right? But their greatest problem under 282 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:28,080 the surface death would eventually get them. 283 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:31,680 Everything else is just like plugging holes in a sinking 284 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:33,520 boat, right? If you got a boat with a tons of 285 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:35,280 holes in it, you stick your finger over here, it's still 286 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:37,480 coming in over here. And then you come over here and 287 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:39,320 plug this hole, it's still coming up over here. 288 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:43,240 That boat is going down, right? We can try to deal with the 289 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,040 symptoms of the issue, but ultimately it's going down 290 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:49,160 unless the root cause problem is solved. 291 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,720 That's what Jesus understood. Now, there's nothing in this 292 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,440 text to suggest that this man's sin was directly linked to his 293 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:00,840 sickness or that he was unusually sinful, right? 294 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:03,200 We're all dead in our sin. But there's nothing to suggest 295 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:05,920 that there was something extraordinary going on here. 296 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,840 But we do know that the separation of man from God is 297 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:11,760 the root of all suffering, right? 298 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,400 And Jesus would understand this better than anybody. 299 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:20,000 And instead of providing a temporary fix, he jumps to 300 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,440 solving the man's most foundational need. 301 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,120 Now, if Jesus had just healed the man from paralysis, it would 302 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:29,920 just be another story, right? He's healed a blind man. 303 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:32,360 He's he's healed another man with paralysis. 304 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:34,800 He's cast out demons. This would just be kind of in 305 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:37,960 the line of those stories. But the thing that sets this 306 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:41,560 story apart from the others is not the miracle, it's the 307 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:46,760 forgiveness of sins. And as I've been reading this 308 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:50,160 passage and thinking about this over the past few weeks, I can't 309 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:54,320 help but think that some of us don't really believe that our 310 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:58,520 greatest need is our sinfulness and separation from God. 311 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:04,119 Many of us think that that if we could just stop this suffering, 312 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:06,680 or if we could just catch a break, we would be good. 313 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:08,560 Right? Lord, just get me over this 314 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,599 thing. And someone that doesn't truly 315 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:15,760 understand that their biggest need is forgiveness from sins 316 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,240 could have responded in disappointment at Jesus's 317 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:23,200 initial response. Jesus, I didn't ask for that. 318 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:25,200 I didn't ask you to forgive me of my sins. 319 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:27,079 I asked for healing. I want to walk. 320 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:29,800 I wanted to walk out of here, right. 321 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:33,880 I'll never forget having a conversation with a friend of 322 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:37,080 mine from from high school. We had a conversation a couple 323 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:39,000 years after college and we're just kind of catching up. 324 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,200 And I could tell that he, he wasn't happy. 325 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:44,800 Life was hard. He wasn't where he had expected 326 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:48,640 to be in his career, didn't have a relationship. 327 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,120 And and I just kind of levelled with him and I was like, man, 328 00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:52,520 Are you ready to follow Jesus yet? 329 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:54,400 Like you've been trying things your own way? 330 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,760 Are you ready to trust Jesus and his, his response just 331 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,520 absolutely broke my heart. He said. 332 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:03,960 There are still a few more things that I want to try first. 333 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:09,560 There's still a few more things that I want to try first. 334 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:12,600 Now, that is someone who doesn't understand that their single 335 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:16,120 greatest need is not their change of situation, but it's 336 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:21,280 their need for salvation. You see, most of our culture is 337 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:25,680 not offended by Jesus who heals. They're not offended by a Jesus 338 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:27,520 who gives to the poor. They're not offended by the 339 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:31,280 moral teacher, Jesus, the societal revolutionary Jesus, 340 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:36,280 the spiritual guru Jesus. Many people can create a version 341 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:41,840 of Jesus that fits their preferences, like the famous 342 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:45,040 scene from the Talladega Nights, the ballad of Ricky Bobby when 343 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:48,880 he insists on praying to baby Jesus or little infant Jesus 344 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,920 because he likes the Christmas Jesus the best, right? 345 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:55,600 We all chuckle. I did too. 346 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:58,040 I don't know if I should chuckle, but I did. 347 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:01,880 But in reality, many people do this, don't they? 348 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:05,280 Many people, they like baby Jesus. 349 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:07,360 They don't want to deal with the whole Jesus. 350 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:10,520 They don't want to deal with the grown man Jesus who claimed that 351 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:13,760 he could forgive sins and who claimed that he was God. 352 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:16,280 But guess what? That's Jesus. 353 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,000 We can't just pick the Jesus that we like, the nice teacher 354 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:24,160 Jesus, the societal revolutionary Jesus that I'm 355 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:26,600 spiritual but not religious. Jesus. 356 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:32,840 The real Jesus made specific, unavoidable claims about who He 357 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,720 was, and we have to deal with that Jesus, and not just the one 358 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:41,760 that we would prefer. We don't want a king who can 359 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:44,600 forgive because that means that we are a people who need 360 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:48,600 forgiveness and we don't like to admit that we are in need, do 361 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:50,040 we? I know that I don't. 362 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:56,080 But the single greatest gift that Jesus has to offer us is 363 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,760 the forgiveness of our sins, which is our greatest need. 364 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,160 It would be far greater to spend time on earth as a paralytic and 365 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:07,120 to go into eternity with our sins forgiven and all made right 366 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:10,240 again, than to be healed from paralysis only to suspend 367 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:15,080 eternity in hell. As I continue, another point 368 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:19,000 that I want to point out in this passage is how Jesus tells this 369 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:23,000 man that his sins are forgiven. Jesus doesn't say your sins have 370 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:26,120 been forgiven as if to say that that they were forgiven in the 371 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:28,840 past by someone else, right? And he doesn't say your sins 372 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,880 will be forgiven, as if to say somebody's coming that's going 373 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,560 to forgive your sins. Somebody else is coming, right? 374 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:38,280 What does he say? He says your sins are forgiven 375 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:42,560 as in this instant, as in I am declaring your sins are 376 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,800 forgiven. Jesus is claiming that He is God 377 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:51,000 and that He has the authority to forgive this man's sins. 378 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,520 Jesus is claiming to be God here. 379 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:59,120 Jesus is claiming to be God with us. 380 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:03,480 Think back to Matthew 1 and the promise of the Angel to Joseph. 381 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:08,080 I'm going to read it for us. Matthew 1 verses 21 to 24 says 382 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:11,360 she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for 383 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:14,520 he will save his people from their sins. 384 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:17,280 Amen. All this took place to fulfill 385 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:19,440 what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. 386 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:22,520 Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and 387 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:26,640 they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with 388 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:30,160 us. When Joseph woke from sleep, he 389 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:32,120 did as the Angel of the Lord commanded him. 390 00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:36,800 He took his wife. Matthew is presenting Jesus as 391 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:41,640 God with us in this text, the God who can forgive us from our 392 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,680 sins. But everybody didn't like that, 393 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,360 did they? Let's talk about the response of 394 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:50,320 the scribes. Kids #3 you guys are crushing. 395 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:53,840 It is the response of the scribes. 396 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:59,840 Matthew 9 Three, if we continue on says and behold, some of the 397 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:03,760 scribes said to themselves, this man is blaspheming. 398 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:07,920 Now we can be quick to judge the scribes, right? 399 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:10,680 We can be quick to to cast stones at them. 400 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:14,000 But the reality is that they actually understood what was 401 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,360 going on here. They didn't misunderstand what 402 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:21,600 Jesus was saying. Jesus was claiming to be God and 403 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:24,480 they knew that. The text tells us that. 404 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:26,880 They said to themselves, this man is blaspheming. 405 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:29,520 And honestly, if it were any other man, they would be right. 406 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:35,240 That was what he was claiming. Jesus was claiming to do 407 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:40,360 something that only God can do. They knew that the old, what the 408 00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:43,600 Old Testament taught, only God can forgive sins and there is 409 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:47,280 only one God and God does not like to share His glory with 410 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:52,040 another. Isaiah 4325 says I, I am he who 411 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,840 blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not 412 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:58,640 remember your sins, that I is God, right? 413 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:03,520 Isaiah 4422 says I have blotted out your transgressions like a 414 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:08,240 cloud, and your sins like mist return to me, for I have 415 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:10,120 redeemed you. That's God. 416 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:16,880 Deuteronomy 64 hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is 1. 417 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:25,040 There is one God and Isaiah 4811 for my own sake, my own sake, I 418 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,400 do it. For how should my name be 419 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,240 profaned? My glory I will not give to 420 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:33,400 another. So if this were not Jesus, their 421 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,920 response was correct. They understood what God said. 422 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:40,200 And if Jesus were just healing this man, that would be one 423 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:41,480 thing. They would still try to come and 424 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,440 catch him as they often did in His teaching or things that He 425 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:47,280 said. But here Jesus was claiming 426 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,000 something that was much greater than that. 427 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,640 Jesus was claiming to be the Son of man. 428 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:56,880 Daniel 713 through 14 says. I saw in the night visions, and 429 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:00,000 behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son 430 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,080 of man. And he came to the Ancient of 431 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:04,360 Days and was presented before him. 432 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:07,880 And to Him was given dominion and glory, and the Kingdom that 433 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,240 all peoples and nations and languages should serve him. 434 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:14,840 His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass 435 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:18,560 away, and His Kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. 436 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,080 If it were anyone else who claimed the authority to heal 437 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,560 sins, the scribes would have been completely justified in 438 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,560 their condemnation. Their fault was in not 439 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:33,880 recognizing who Jesus really was, the Son of God who does 440 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,480 have the authority to forgive sins. 441 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:41,160 Now the next thing that we see is that there was a problem. 442 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,120 The problem was that although this man's sins had been 443 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:46,560 forgiven, there was not a verifiable way to see that his 444 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:49,680 sins were forgiven, right? Like imagine if you just started 445 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,640 walking out into the park and you just started walking up to 446 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:53,720 people and said, hey, guess what? 447 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:58,080 Your mortgage is paid off. They would still check their 448 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,440 phone to see their account balance is 0 right before they 449 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:03,640 started making plans with that mortgage payment every month. 450 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:07,360 They're like, let me see, right? And it's not like Jesus could 451 00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:10,040 pull up, you know, this man's like sin balanced and be like, 452 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:12,520 bro, I just paid off your debt. You're good, right? 453 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:15,600 Couldn't pull out the Lamb's book of life and be like, bro, 454 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,280 you're right here, we're good. You know he didn't do that. 455 00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:22,600 So what Jesus does, He knows this and he offers to show them 456 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:25,720 something that's equally impossible for us, but it's 457 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:30,800 equally easy for him to do. He now offers a visible sign of 458 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,800 his authority. The next point, this is the last 459 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:36,120 one, kids, is the King who heals. 460 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:42,120 Matthew 9, four through 7 says this, but Jesus knowing their 461 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:46,040 thoughts said, why do you think evil in your hearts? 462 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:49,680 For which is easier to say your sins are forgiven, or to say 463 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:53,640 rise and walk, but that you may know that the Son of man has 464 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:55,560 authority on earth to forgive sins. 465 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,480 He then said to the paralytic, rise, pick up your bed and go 466 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:02,880 home. And guess what, He rose and he 467 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:07,280 went home. Now it's one thing to claim to 468 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:09,400 be something, right? Anybody can claim to be 469 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:12,000 anything. It's another thing to actually 470 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:16,000 believe that you are the thing that you claim to be, but it's a 471 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:17,880 whole nother thing to back up that claim. 472 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:21,640 Now follow me. Somebody who claims something 473 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,640 but doesn't believe it is what we call a con man, right? 474 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:28,920 But somebody that believes that they are what they claim but 475 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:32,560 can't back it up is what we call crazy right now. 476 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:34,440 I'm never going to forget this story. 477 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:36,160 There was a guy that I went to high school with. 478 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,960 I don't know his name, but he used to always walk around in 479 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,000 like a long black leather coat, right? 480 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,240 And he was obsessed with the Matrix movie franchise. 481 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,000 And those of you that you know know what that is, you can kind 482 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,160 of see he he believed that he was Neo. 483 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,240 He used to tell people he was Neo from the movie. 484 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:57,440 And nobody kind of took him seriously. 485 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:01,720 But one day I saw him in a wheelchair and I asked somebody. 486 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,640 I said, hey, what happened? Like what happened to him and I 487 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:07,000 was told that he believed that if he jumped off the back of the 488 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,800 stadium, he would go into the matrix and he broke his leg, 489 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:12,560 right? We live in a culture that 490 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:16,920 believes a lot in belief. We talk about manifesting this 491 00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:19,280 and we talk about manifesting that. 492 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:22,760 But belief is something that belief in something does not 493 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,120 actually make it true. I'm going to tell you a secret. 494 00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:28,400 Do you know what actually makes something true? 495 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,160 If it's true or not, that is what makes it true. 496 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:39,200 Jesus didn't just claim to be God, He believed that he was 497 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:40,680 God. And he didn't just stop there. 498 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:45,640 He offered a visible sign of that spiritual reality. 499 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:50,480 Now somebody who claims, believes, and backs something up 500 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:53,000 is the real deal. And that's what Jesus did. 501 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:58,160 The text tells us that Jesus's healing of this man was not just 502 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:01,000 for healing sake. It says this, but that you may 503 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,720 know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive 504 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,800 sins. The physical healing was to 505 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:12,840 evidence as a sign of the spiritual healing that had 506 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:18,360 already happened. And in Matthew 98, we see this. 507 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:23,120 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid and they glorified 508 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:26,440 God who had given such authority to men. 509 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:31,320 We're told that the response of the crowd was out of fear and 510 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:36,240 glorifying God as they should. And as we close this morning, my 511 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:38,160 question to you is, how are you going to respond? 512 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:43,800 As a quote from CS Lewis that I opened up with reminds us, Jesus 513 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:45,640 didn't didn't give us much wiggle room. 514 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:51,320 He claimed to be God. He claimed to forgive sins. 515 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,560 You can no longer pick the versions of the parts of Jesus 516 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:57,440 that you want to believe in or you want to worship. 517 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:01,560 Worshiping only part of Jesus is no worship of Jesus at all. 518 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:04,760 You must deal with the whole Jesus, the one who claimed to be 519 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,520 God and the one who claimed to forgive sins. 520 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,840 Either you look on him and tremble and fear and with 521 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:16,200 Thanksgiving glorifying God that he sent Jesus as God with us to 522 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,000 solve our greatest need, or you reject Him. 523 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:24,240 It's my prayer this morning that you would choose to acknowledge 524 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:28,480 Jesus as Lord of your life, that you would recognize that our 525 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:31,960 greatest need is not a change in situation, but that we need 526 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:35,400 salvation. You see, God sent his Son Jesus 527 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:40,200 as Emmanuel, God with us to live the perfect life that we are not 528 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:44,440 capable of living and to take the penalty for our sin that we 529 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,640 deserve so that our greatest debt could be forgiven and the 530 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:53,480 perfect sacrifice of the only one with the authority, Jesus on 531 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,600 the cross. If that's you this morning, or 532 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:58,520 if that's something that you have questions about, please 533 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:00,840 come and talk to myself or one of the other pastors this 534 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:02,800 morning. Anyone who's been up here would 535 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:04,360 love to have that conversation with you. 536 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:07,960 Now, maybe you've already taken that step. 537 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,000 Maybe you already call Jesus Lord. 538 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:15,520 I encourage you this morning to be reminded of the great scandal 539 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:19,800 of the gospel. It can become very normal to us, 540 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:23,080 right? But the scribes were shocked 541 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:28,200 because they understood how big of a deal Jesus claim was. 542 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,440 Let's never forget the miracle that we have experienced in the 543 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:36,040 forgiveness of the great debt that we have owed. 544 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:42,240 Let me close this in prayer. God, we come to you this 545 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,320 morning. God, I thank you that you have 546 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,680 the authority, Lord, to solve my greatest need. 547 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:54,840 God, I thank you that you didn't just remain in heaven, but you 548 00:30:54,840 --> 00:31:00,560 came down in the likeness of man, fully God and fully human. 549 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:05,400 Lord, You live the life I couldn't live perfectly the way 550 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:10,160 that I couldn't do it, Lord. And you took the debt that I 551 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:16,200 owed, Lord, and you gave me the ability to walk in newness of 552 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:20,400 life, to be forgiven of my sins, to become a child of the king. 553 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:25,200 God, I pray that there are those under my voice this morning, 554 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:28,520 God, that don't know that freedom, God, that they have not 555 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:31,600 had their greatest needs solved, Lord, that you would save them. 556 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:33,520 God, would you call them to salvation? 557 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:37,960 God would they today stand face to face with the whole Jesus and 558 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:41,400 surrender to him as Lord. They would stop trying to earn 559 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:42,840 things. God that they would stop trying 560 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,680 to, to, to solve their problems and their situations. 561 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:47,680 Lord, but they would solve their greatest need, which is that 562 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:51,880 they are enemies of God. Lord, but you didn't leave them 563 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:54,160 there. You made a way for them to 564 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:57,280 become family. Lord, and we love you and your 565 00:31:57,280 --> 00:31:58,680 name we pray. Amen.