It's been a while for me, much more comfortable sitting in the back in a chair. But by the providence of God, today we will hear from His Word in Matthew 9, we'll begin verse 1. As we begin, let us go to the Lord in prayer. God in heaven, we come before your throne today in the only way we can, through the merit of Christ, your Son, our Lord and Savior, our Redeemer, our High Priest, our Mediator. We thank you for what you have given us already today in this worship, as we have heard such wonderful truth from your word. We thank you how you have blessed us beyond what we would deserve. Apart from Christ, Lord, we know that through him that we can come. For they are being removed, access to the Holy of Holies. Today we come for your throne and worship and praise. You are worthy of worship and praise, O God. Be with us today. Be with our hearing. Be with your word preached. And may your people be blessed. In Christ's name, amen. If you would, I'd just like to start by saying that I consider it a privilege and it's an honor to be your pastor. I don't take this responsibility of preaching the gospel as no big deal. It's important. To be called by a holy God to stand in front of His consecrated people and have the responsibility to rightly divide His Word is the most humbling of opportunities. May the Lord bless our time and bless the reading of His Word. Prepare your hearts now. Matthew 9. We'll read eight verses. Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to his own city. And they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, take courage, son, your sins are forgiven. And some of the scribes said to themselves, this fellow blasphemes. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, why are you thinking evil in your hearts? Which is easier to say. your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up and walk. But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Then he said to the paralytic, get up, pick up your bag and go home. And he got up and went home. But when the crowd saw this, they were awestruck and glorified God who had given such authority to men. This is our passage for today. As we prepare to hear this preach today, I would like to say that we've started our study of Matthew well over a year ago. If you've been there for most of that, you should be already somewhat caught up to this example of this wonderful, wonderful miracle. generally known as the paralytic heel. If you haven't been in this study, I would encourage you to take advantage of this time on Sunday morning to grow in your knowledge and understanding of God's word. It has been a blessing to a good many in the room today, and if you're missing out, then you're missing out on a blessing. Next, I'm just going to take a moment to remind us about the way our author Matthew writes. I've done this often in our study. We've mentioned it several times throughout our study, but we must remember Matthew is not writing in a chronological order. He has organized his writing using blocks of teaching from Jesus at various times in his ministry to establish whatever points he's going to make and organizing these as a testimony of who Jesus is and what his purpose was, is, and will be. These narratives of particular groupings of sayings and actions are attributed to the ministry of Jesus and are combined and devised in such a way. There's a cadence or a rhythm, it seems, to his writing and how he organizes this information. This information is based on factual information that is substantiated by witnesses. He uses multiple examples in each of his main points. To my surprise, I discovered that Matthew uses M-N-E-M-O-N-I-C. Teachings. Mnemonic. Have a look at that. He uses mnemonic teaching, which is a teaching that a person can use to help improve their ability to remember. And also, using mathematical arrangements of his material, his writing is for the practical needs of the church. Matthew portrays the vocation of a teacher in the mnemonic and mathematical arrangements of his material. Among other things, the most obvious to me and the most phenomenic is his use of the groups of threes. A fact that I find interesting in the first verse that floods into my mind is, by the mouth of two or more witnesses, every word shall be established. We have Matthew, Mark, and Luke testifying about Jesus in these examples of this miracle. Matthew used three examples 27 times. As a testimony to support his case of who Jesus is, this is Nahonic teaching. For instance, he used in these groups, I have all 27 listed. We might be here for a minute. Y'all please bear with me. Three divisions in the genealogy, three angel messages to Joseph in dreams, three temptations, a triple description of the mission in Matthew four, a triple illustration in Matthew five, the threefold definition of Matthew in Matthew six, 1, 5, and 6, three miracles of healing, three further miracles, three other miracles of healing, the triple rhythm of Matthew 11, the threefold attack of the Pharisees, three parables of sowing, three instances of verily I say to you, three classes of eunuchs, the threefold rhythm in Matthew 20, three parables, three questions put to Jesus, three warnings, three herbs versus three virtues, men dealing in human justice and mercy and faithfulness, three clarifications of prophets and wise men and scribes, the three men of the parables, three prayers in Gethsemane, three vows of Peter, three questions of Pilate, three mockeries of the crucified, three women specially mentioned at the cross, the threefold rhythm in Matthew 28. It's all in there. He also used groups of five, Seven and ten. I'm not going to go into those. There are multiple examples. Three times of groups of five. Four times of groups of seven. Two times of groups of ten. Ten Old Testament citations and then ten miracles. Also, a half a century ago, it's recognized that its compiler, Matthew, has followed the plan of aggregating his teaching material from all sources into five great discourses. corresponding to the oration codes of the Pentateuch. Each introduced, like the Mosaic codes, by a narrative section, each closing with a transition formula as the reader passes from discourse to narrative. Now, for all of our misfits, especially those who have missed the Bible study, you can blame them for this. Y'all know I love to build context, and this section, this part here, is gonna take some time, but we're gonna build some context here. I know those sermons on Matthew 9, we're gonna talk about the start of Genesis, and I'm kidding. It'll be from the beginning, though. For all our benefit, I'd like to give some context. And so far, it brings us up to the message for today, Matthew 9. And one of the resources used in preparation for today's sermon, I discovered this outline of the previous chapters, and I've included some subtitles for it according to how it's ordered in my Bible, along with a few comments of my own context. Hey, infancy narrative, chapters one and two. The infancy narrative is composed of the genealogy of Jesus. The genealogy very factually shows Jesus in the bloodline, which is prophesied about in the Old Testament books of Isaiah. Matthew quoted a prophecy from Isaiah chapter seven, verse 14. Behold, the virgin shall be with a child and shall bear a son and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us. And then from the visit of the Magi, Matthew quoted from the prophecy of Micah, but as for you, Bethlehem, Ephrathi, too little to be among the clans of Judah. From you, one will come forth for me to be a ruler in Israel. His times of coming forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. There's only one who could ever fulfill this prophecy. It was God's Son who came down from heaven to the tabernacle. As John says, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Also used by Matthew, verse 18, to establish Jesus as the Son of God and the Son of Man as well, the only and one true Messiah. From Jeremiah 31, his flight to Egypt and the slaughter of the babies by Herod is a fulfillment of prophecy, and this is what the Lord said. It's in your Bible, Matthew. A voice is heard in Ramah, lamenting and bitterly weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children because they are no more. Her killing all the babies under two. Seeking to kill Jesus. B, manifestation of Christ in Israel. Chapters three and four, John the Baptist, after 400 years, years of no prophecy, a drought of no spiritual interaction, no voice from God, no miracles, no healings, no favor, nothing from above. And then came John the Baptist, the herald, dressed in camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist. John the Baptist preached in Matthew 3, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, for this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, the voice of one calling out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight. From Isaiah 40. I can't help but recall these verses from Isaiah 53, when we studied. Verse four, who has believed our message? And to whom must the arm of the Lord be revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. 400 years, a drought, dry ground, John the Baptist proclaiming Jesus. We have Jesus' own baptism in the river and the Holy Spirit remaining on him in Matthew 3, 17. And behold, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. And Jesus had just said prior in 15, permitted at this time from this way that's fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus was tempted three times and Jesus rebuked three times, finally commanding Satan in Matthew 4, again, go, Satan. For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Jesus using the word of God to rebuke Satan from Deuteronomy. We also see Jesus' ministry beginning in chapter four, Matthew, again, using Old Testament prophecy from Isaiah, nine, the land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali by the way of the sea on the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who were sitting in darkness saw a bright, great light, and those who were sitting in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light dawned. Who would that be? From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say in Matthew 4, 17, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Here we can understand Jesus proclaiming God's kingship, his rule and sovereignty being recognized in the hearts and the operative lives of his people and also affecting their complete salvation and constitution as the church and finally, or ultimately, a redeemed universe. That statement was from Hendrickson's commentary. C, teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. This is one of my favorite parts of the study. It changed my life forever. You must know these three attitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, how this begins in verse three. It comes in Matthew chapter five. The Bible study, who can ever forget the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount? Now let this be the heart that is in you. A key card answers the test. coming to faith in Christ through salvation, regeneration, a new heart, to a new will and obedience to God and strength to persevere in persecution with hope that is secured by the righteousness of Christ with blessings and a promise of a reward that endures forever. Beginning in verse three, Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who feel hopeless and lost in need of a savior. Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Those who earnestly and sincerely grieve over their own sin that morning. Mourning over your own sin and even the sin of others. For we were dead in our trespasses and sin. Blessed are the gentle, or meek, for they will inherit the earth And now, understanding me rightly, I think of our brother David Vane's sermon a while back. It's those who will come to obedience, those who are made obedient, practicing patience and contentment. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. This comes from a contented heart, a renewed heart, a redeemed heart, having a desire for holiness and godliness, I could dearly ask for more. Psalm 42. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Knowing forgiveness, giving forgiveness, was true love. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Inward correctness, right motives, and an understanding of truth and righteousness. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will become sons of God. Initiating reconciliation with others when others have wronged them. Quick to repent when they have wronged others. Peacemaking takes a commitment to move towards it. A maker of peace. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Suffering for the values of the kingdom and the kings. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Rejoice and be glad and look to him. He is our greatest reward. Chapter 5 continues with using a new heart we've been given and looking at our daily walk through new lenses and being strengthened for true discipleship. 5, 13, and 14. You are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world, a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. Jesus encourages us to be a witness and to be a testament to others. He says, verse six, your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. 17, do not think that I've come to abolish the law in the province. I've come to abolish them. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. He hath come to uphold the law perfectly with spotless lamb, the only sacrifice that would do. He is the just and the justifier. He fulfilled all righteousness. The righteousness of Christ is the key to enter the kingdom of heaven. If we don't have it, we won't see heaven. Matthew 6, Jesus gives us instruction on having the right heart and giving to the poor. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. They're cups, thin on the outside, but dirty on the inside. They're motives for the praise of men, not God. Matthew 6, 9, Jesus teaches us the significance of prayer with the example known as the model prayer, our Father who is in heaven. Adoration and praise for our Father in our relationship with him first, and second, our relationship with others, mirroring the priority and order of relationship with God and one another as given in the tablets. This order makes me think about Jesus sums up the commandments even. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and soul, and strengthen, love your neighbor as yourself. This mirroring tablet. The next teaching. prayer of fasting and obedience to God, not with the desire to please men, but to please God and to use our energy and resources to please him. Matthew 6, 21. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Chapter 6 also gives us relief from stress and anxiety and rightly prioritizes our thinking about our provisions and who our sustenance comes from. 6.31-33. Do not worry, then, saying, what will we eat, what will we drink, what will we wear for clothing? For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Seeking his kingdom first takes me right back to the attitudes. Blessed are those who do the first righteousness. Moving into Matthew 7, we learn of the law of Hammurabi. And yet again, Jesus corrects false teaching and teaches us rightly with a clear perspective of how we should judge others. And it wasn't an eye for an eye. Here, mercy and forgiveness with right motives, and a clear conscience is given, which should guide our discernment in dealing with others. 7 verse 5, hypocrite. First take the law out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye, and then the golden rule in 12, and everything, therefore, treat the people the same way you'd want them to treat you, for this is the law and the prophets, not your neighbor. 715, issues a warning about false prophets and false doctrine. We see good doctrine bears good fruit. It reminded me of Jeremiah 2 and 13, for my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, a fountain of living waters. Doctrines of grace. To hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. Doctrine of works. Scripture interprets scripture. In the very next thing, in the Sermon on the Mount of the two foundations in 34. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts only on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. This is sound doctrine. Through faith alone, grace alone, and Christ alone, we are to listen to God's word preached and rightly build our faith on the truth. 726, everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. Here is unsound doctrine and doctrine mixed with Christ as something or anything like your works. It changes, it is unstable to build your faith, mixed with error, and ultimately turns into a violation of the first commandment. You obey to God for yourself, it is untruth, that's a lie. I wonder where that comes from. Acts D, miracles performed, it's the last one. There's many more after this, but we're at the chapter nine. One, two, three, four, five, six. There's about six more. We'll get to that one right here. Miracles performed, chapters eight and nine. The Sermon on the Mount is over, and Jesus' ministry and purpose is right before our eyes. Not only has our author Matthew very methodically and very factually established Christ as the Son of David and the Son of Man, the one true Messiah that has come to redeem and provide for his people, to save what was lost, which brings me to mine, Luke 19, and Jesus said to Zechariah, the chief tax collector. Today salvation has come to this house because he too is the son of Abraham. Verse 10, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. Matthew shows Jesus' deity through multiple examples of miracles and healings. Three sets, three miracles. We see Jesus' focus on the faith of those being healed and those interacting with him. His power, sovereignty, omnipotence, and authority over all things in creation, including the supernatural, is on full display for all to see. There will be crowds wherever he would go, some seeking healing and having faith and hope in Christ, and some curious and some skeptical. And in these crowds were even some of his own disciples, and some wanted to be disciples. Two examples there in A, 18 to 27. Both failed the test because they wanted to be disciples with a wrong understanding of discipleship. The scribe desired the notoriety and hadn't weighed the cost in 20. And Jesus said to him, the foxes have holes in the birth of the sky, and the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. The other man wanted to come on his own terms and his own timing. His submission and obedience was not his priority. Other responsibilities took precedence over Jesus' creation over the Creator. The dead over the living God? No. Jesus said to him, follow me and let the dead bury their own dead. Does Jesus take a back seat in our lives? The Lord of everlasting life is right before him. Are we tested as disciples? Will our faith in him give us the strength and the courage we need to persevere through the storms? Or will we cry out, save us, Lord, when the water breaks over the bow? Matthew 8, 26. He said to them, why are you afraid? You men are both afraid. He got up and rebuked the danger of sin and became perfectly calm. Jesus has power and authority over all creation in heavens and on earth. If he has the power over diseases and infirmities, if he can command the wind and the rain and the moon and the stars, if he has the power and authority over legions of demons and they even obey his command, shouldn't we? Shouldn't we show our allegiance to our Lord, our King, if the Lord says go as he commanded the evil ones in 32, and they obey, shouldn't we as his children? Would we go if he commanded? Lord, give us the faith we need. When you say go, to go. Or if you say do, to do. Live the facts, we have seen His glory and His majesty, His power and authority, His omnipotence and sovereignty. May our faith be built on solid doctrine, the truth in God's holy word, which is in our Lord and Savior, who is the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father but through Him. Six more categories after chapter nine. We'll pick them up at a later time. Chapter nine, the paralytic healed. Our focus passage today. There's a lot of building up to be learned. I wanted to overview, I wanted the context. Here we are now. Getting into a boat. He had been asked to leave the region of the Gallarinis. Jesus crossed over the sea. My understanding is the sea is eight miles wide, 12 miles long, according to the book of maps in the Bible. The journey would have been somewhat across the lake. The two cities were across from one another, Capernaum and the city that he had left. The Sea of Galilee, the same sea where the swine drowned. probably even in the same boat with the same people, the same sea, where had been the terrible storm, and the disciples feared for their lives, crying out to the Lord, and saying, their faith tested and obviously weak, had they not considered they were in the boat with the one who has all power and authority. Their fears of the storm had been quieted. They'd just witnessed another miracle with the casting out of the legion. Another display of power and authority. Not only have they witnessed the power and authority over the elements, now they can have the power and authority over the supernatural. Jesus is God and man. He gets into a boat and crossed over the sea. I thought to myself, he had a walk. No, he was in the boat because they needed to be in the boat with him. What a great opportunity to lay back down and go back to sleep. He came to his own city. From the end of verse one, according to Matthew four there, verse 12 to 14, we're told there in Matthew four, now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, he withdrew into Galilee and leaving Nazareth, he came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea in the region of Zebulon and Naphtali. We heard that one earlier. This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. Verse two, and they brought to him a paralytic. Who brought him? Is it friends? Is it family? What kind of friends? Family. Were they friends of that true concern for his care, his well-being? People who had a heart for him, who had love for him, people who truly desired to see him made whole physically? They must have heard from others that Jesus was back in town. They must have heard that the one who could do miracles was about his work. They must have had faith that Jesus could heal this man or they wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to get him to the house where Jesus was. They heard about Jesus. They heard about Jesus and believed that he had the power to heal. They had to have heard about Jesus. How else would they know? And how do you know? Mark said it took four men to carry him. One of them says bed, one says top, a top stretcher, I suppose. It must have been awkward and difficult, and the man had to have had some size It took four men to carry him in his bed. Mark also says that Jesus was speaking the word to them. Maybe one of them heard this and went after the paralytic. Matthew leaves out some of the more vivid details to focus on the main point, which is what he likes about. Anyway, Matthew says that they brought him to Jesus, but leaves out how. We can learn from the other gospels that the man had to make a hole in the roof to lower the man down. It's supposed to make quite a scene. All of these miracles, I keep thinking of these scenes. Supposed to make quite a scene, have been rather loud and obvious. The obstacle didn't deter the man, and they persevered through these unusual circumstances. It's a lesson in itself. Would we, would we persevere? Would we persevere to come to Jesus? Can we even trust others? be with us along the way? Will we let difficulty stop us or thwart our efforts? We know God's calling is effectual. Mark said they dug an opening through the roof. I picture it with him using their own hands or maybe they had some tools. Either way, the effort and the determination was present and they wouldn't be stopped from the mission. Stuff must have been falling all over those inside. What a scene as the hole opens up and the light shines in and the dust has filled the room. Would we get up and leave when the crippled man was lowered down into the midst of the room? I wonder how, I wonder how they knew where to dig. I wonder how they knew where Jesus would be in the house. Can we imagine the energy and anticipation of what Jesus would do in the middle of this chaos? I picture a frantic bliss in the room by the crowd and the paralyzed man, but not Jesus. I believe he stood firm in his place. I don't believe he was one bit afraid or one bit anxious. He had no concern for his own well-being or even his own safety. I picture his demeanor as in total control and even calm in the midst of the chaos. Matthew says, seeing their faith. Can't see faith, can you? After all, scripture says in Hebrews 11.1, now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Can Jesus see the invisible? We know God knows the thoughts in our minds and he knows the motives of our hearts. We don't even know our own hearts according to scripture. Think about it again. but we can't see the evidence of faith. Now, this is something that is observable, and I believe Jesus knew what was obvious in the efforts of the men to get their friend to the place where he could be healed. Would they have put in this kind of effort if they really did believe that Jesus was who he said he was, who could do the things that he had been doing? I would speculate that they had heard Jesus. And they most likely had been blessed, maybe, even to be in his presence at some point in time. Did he? So everyone there, they must have been expecting. or expecting Jesus to heal this person. What about the man? Did he expect to be healed? I thought a little about what it would be, what would be in this man's mind, and he was broken physically, but not mentally. No longer able to provide for himself or even care for himself. about as destitute as a human can be? Apart from being dead, and there were times you probably wished he was dead. Is this a picture of a dead man? Not quite, but he is unable to help himself physically, and the miracles of raising a dead man comes a little later, but not yet. Maybe Jesus is just testing his power. No. We know better than that. Jesus saw all of their faith. Even the crippled man was alive enough to believe. And now when Jesus healed him in the presence of the crowd, so they would believe as well. Maybe. Here though is Jesus personally interacting with the cripple. Maybe many there had already seen him perform miracles. They expected him to heal the man, but Jesus did something they hadn't expected and something they hadn't seen. And Jesus says, take courage, son, your sins are forgiven. That's at the end of verse two, here's the lesson. You're called a son by God. You have a heavenly home in the heavens. You have a promise that he will be with you always. And you hear, take courage, don't be afraid. At that moment, the man didn't hear you're healed from your paralysis. In that moment, would hearing just take courage? Would that be enough? At that very moment, the man didn't hear you're healed. Take courage. Wouldn't that be what you wanted to hear? But to hear your sins are forgiven? Your sins are forgiven? His heart must have left. How would you feel, brothers and sisters? If you believe in Jesus, your sins have been forgiven. You want me to say that again? Listen again. Your sins have been forgiven. Does your heart leap? I wrote this. I can forgive your sins. Did you know that? I can't forgive your sins against the Holy God, and no man can forgive your sins against him. There's no man that can stand between you and God. Only Jesus, truly man, and truly God can do that. It is his intercession. There is no vicar that can sit in the place of Jesus and can absolve you of your sin against God. It's not his blood that atoned for your sin. No other man has redeemed you with a perfect sacrifice. No other man has imputed his righteousness to you. No other man bore the punishment that you deserve. No man is sinless or spotless. There's no one that came before Jesus that could die for your sins. There is no one now that can do it and there won't be anyone in the future either. Jesus was and is and will be. He is the Alpha and Omega. He knows the end from the beginning. He is the great I am. He is the living word. He is the fountain of life. He is the bright morning star. He is true bread and true drink. He is the gatekeeper. He is the good shepherd. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through Jesus. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is our mediator. He is our high priest. He is our redeemer. He is your savior. If he says your sins are forgiven, and he's the one that paid for them with his own blood, and he's the one that had that crown of thorns mashed into his head, that crown of sin called your life that you wore before he saved you, if he's the one that took those stripes from the whip, if he's the one that took those nails, And he's the one that was spit on and had his hair pulled out and his face slapped and cursed and humiliated on the cross. And he's the one that bled and suffocated and died on the cross. If he says, I took your punishment and I'll pay your penalty. If he says, I took your filthy rags of a body and now I give you my robe of righteousness. And he's the one that said, it is finished. You tell him, do you want to hang on to your sin? Not me. By the way, there's no other man that can do that either. Listen. Repent and believe in Jesus today. 2 Corinthians 6, 2, he says, at the acceptable time, I'll listen to you, and on the day of salvation, I'll help you. Behold, now is the acceptable time of salvation. Behold, now is the acceptable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Going back to Matthew, verse three. Some of the scribes said to themselves, this fellow blasphemes. 517, Luke. One day he was teaching and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judah and from Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was present for him to perform healing. And they said to themselves, and I asked, why not out loud? And to me, this is a typical reaction. This is the main difference in the one who knows from where his authority comes and the one who is not sure of his authority. One who is the dilettante, a dabbler, an amateur, and the one who is truth itself. Verse four, and Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, why are you thinking evil thoughts in your heart? Yes, God knows thoughts and hearts, and remember the power of the Lord was within. My question is, How do hearts think? I thought minds thought. You see, minds, I thought minds thought. For Jesus to put it in this way, it seems to me to mean that their thoughts had been, their thoughts had seared their consciences, even hardened their hearts. And the knowledge that goes into our thinking, listen here, the knowledge that goes into our thinking is what forms our opinions and actions. It becomes part of our conscience, which is from a different place than us, than just our brain. It becomes what we believe, and eventually, who we are. So let's be careful what enters through the borders of our eyes, ears, and even our senses. God, your heart is brothers and sisters. Their mothers were foul. They obviously weren't believing. They didn't even believe their own eyes. Their reactions to the statement, your sins are forgiven, were probably obvious, and it is blasphemy if it comes from anyone else but God. They knew that much, and here Jesus confronts their sin and calls it evil. Then verse five, Jesus asked them, which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or to say get up and walk? Would it be easier to say your sins are forgiven because anyone, how can anyone other than God say you'd be able to disprove that outcome? Now seeing a paralytic walk, this has an observable outcome. Really no mere man could command this type of outcome. The doctors couldn't. The man himself couldn't. The priest couldn't. No one had the power and authority to heal this man other than Jesus. Verse six, but so that you might know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Then he said to the paralytic, get up, pick up your bed and go home. Jesus claims deity. More blasphemy, right? Only if the cripple doesn't get up, Jesus says, so that you may know. Could they know, or would they know? To the first part, yes, they could. Intellectually, they would have the capacity. The second part, would they? Probably not, because this involves their will. And Jesus had already said they had evil in their hearts. The only way for that to change is if it weren't God's will. Do we know if they did? I'll let you decide. That'd be the work of the Spirit of the Word. In accordance with God's will, it's not our jobs. The statement that the Son of Man has authority on earth would have been an obvious claim that He was the Son of David and the predicted Messiah to come, who would also be the seed prophesied about in Genesis 3, throughout the law and the prophets. Emmanuel, God with us. And he said to the paralytic, get up, get to bed, and go home. This broken man, as good as dead, who couldn't provide anything for himself, received the grace of God. His hopes have been in Jesus to heal him. And no one expected Jesus to heal him bodily and spiritually. He now has new life. He will walk differently. He won't walk like a dead man. He's been regenerated wholly and completely and you can ask him yourself About his hope and his faith in heaven one day if Jesus And he got up and went home Here, I visualize that this once crippled man was immediately stood up, following his words to the man. He leapt to his feet, just like his heart had leapt. He leapt to his feet with joy inexpressible, receiving a smile from ear to ear. I see a grateful heart, a heart that loves his Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals, with power to rejuvenate and the desire to make us whole again. Verse eight, but when the crowd saw this, they were awestruck and glorified God who had given such authority to men. The scribes and the Pharisees got it wrong. The paralytic got it right. The crowd's awestruck, that's too much. Okay, some maybe say they were partly right. They glorified God. They missed the reason for the glorifying. They reasoned that God had given this authority to men. This is bad doctrine, bad thinking, wrong hearted. And I say they even misplaced their praise as well, which makes it partly wrong. Men have nothing to do where this authority belongs. It only belongs to Jesus and him alone. And the Lord himself says in Matthew 28, 18 through 22. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, in love and with you always, even to the end of the age. Jesus himself in John fourteen, I will not leave his orphans. I will come to you. You have a little while and the world will see me no more. But you will see me because I live. You can live also. In that day, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. If Jesus has made himself known to you today, it is by his word and the Holy Spirit. Do not harden your heart just as they did in their sin in the wilderness. If he has made himself known to you, would you turn and walk away still in your sin or will you repent and believe in him as the only begotten son, the son of God and the son of man is with us even now, although we may not see him physically, we can see him with the eyes of our hearts. Come to Jesus, believing in what he did on Calvary that day. to atone for your sin, and be saved from the wrath that will fall on all those who will not claim Him as Lord of their life. Confess with your mouth and with your life, come and be baptized, following our Lord's example, and remember, today is the day of salvation. We are not promised tomorrow. Repent and believe, and be healed, and walk in newness of life. It's the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Gracious God in heaven, thank you for the way. Thank you for the truth. Thank you for the life of our Lord and Savior. Thank you for our life that we have, that we can come together to worship you and praise you, O Lord, you are worthy of worship and praise. As we go today, I pray that you will be with us. Your word says that you are. Thank you for each and everyone that is here today and those that may be listening by their means. I pray for the salvation of sinners. I pray that they will cry out to be saved. I pray that you would help them, save them. If there be one here today that does not know you as Lord and Savior, that today would be the day. for us let us rejoice and be glad in it is the day we have to worship you and praise you you are worthy of God be with us as we move forward into the table now partake of this wonderful means of grace that you have provided