The Lord's Power Over Sin by West End Church of Christ

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The Lord's Power Over Sin There are many religions in the world. There is only one religion that is true -- the religion of Jesus Christ. The religions of the world pale into nothing in comparison to Christianity. It is not that Christianity has more to offer the world socially, politically, or economically -- it is simply that only through the religion of Jesus Christ can sins be forgiven. Today on this broadcast, I want to discuss with you a statement found in Matthew 9. If you have a Bible, open it up to that passage (Matthew chapter 9) and be ready to study with me. But first, The West End Church of Christ presents these fifteen minute lessons every Sunday. We have only one reason for doing it -- we want to preach the truth of God's word without being restricted by human doctrines, creeds, and wisdom. That is why we repeatedly ask anyone who listens to communicate with us if you do not agree with what we teach on this program. This is not done out of a spirit of dare, or challenge, but in sincerity and in the interest of being absolutely right about the most important issue of this life and of eternity. We also want to invite you to attend our services. Bible study begins at 9 a.m. Sunday morning. We have classes for all ages in which the Bible is discussed and made relevant to living in this world today. At 10 each Sunday morning we assemble to worship -- we honor God in the reading and teaching of His word, several prayers, gospel songs, giving of our means, and partaking of the sacred memorial feast of the Lord's Supper. Sunday evening we assemble for worship at 6 p.m and mid-week Bible study is each Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Matthew 9 begins, "And getting into a boat, He crossed over, and came to His own city. And behold, they were bringing to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed; and Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, 'Take courage, My son, your sins are forgiven'." (Verses 1- 2). There could be no more comforting words than "your sins are forgiven." What a wonderful Savior Jesus Christ is for the world! Jesus, the Master and Messiah, demonstrated His power over sin, the world's greatest blight. Nothing has plagued mankind like sin -- and nothing mankind can do will remove it. Modern science may find cures for dreaded life-threatening diseases such as cancer, but it will never find the cure for sin. Only God has such power. In the previous chapters of Matthew the miracles Jesus worked were designed to prove that He is indeed the Messiah of God. Matthew presents the work of Christ to demonstrate truly that He was deity in the flesh. But the crowning proof is His ability to speak sins into nothing -- to dismiss them with but His word. The reality that sin can be forgiven is truly the heart of the gospel of Christ. There are many virtues to the religion of Christ, there are numerous blessings to be enjoyed, but there is one prevailing theme that sets Christianity apart from anything else -- the promise that human beings may be fully forgiven of their sins. Jesus did many might works while on earth. He calmed a stormy sea, He raised people back to life from death, and cured incurable diseases with a simple statement. Personally, it seems to me that His greatest miracle was the forgiveness of sins which He alone could dispense. Here in this case there are some very interesting facts associated with this great manifestation of His deity. The miracle (and indeed it is a miracle) is set in verse 1 of Matthew chapter 9. Jesus was returning to His own city and one might think first of Nazareth where He grew up as a boy. But Matthew 4:13-15 informs us that He had moved to Capernaum. The record there reads, "And leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali." Reading Luke's account of this gives some indication that He was forced to move. Luke tells us that after He preached in the local synagogue in Nazareth, and was not well received by the local authorities, "they rose up and cast Him out of the city..." (Luke 4:29). The three gospel records of Christ are a composite of His life. We get the full picture by reading all of them regarding any given event in Christ's life. Luke 5 gives some information not found in either Matthew or Mark. Luke tells us that when He teaching, "some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. And not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles whith his stretcher, right in the center, in front of Jesus" (Luke 5:18-19). In those days houses were generally constructed as a two story structure where the second floor had a very large room for social gatherings. The roof was a flat roof which consisted of tiles. Most dwellings had an outside stair which led to the roof. The house where Jesus was teaching was crowded so much that there was no way for the four men to take their friend to Jesus. So, what some appropriately call "inventive faith," they ascended to the roof, removed tiles and lowered their paralyzed friend right in front of Jesus. Now listen to the words that Jesus spoke. "Friend, your sins are forgiven you" (Luke 5:20). That seems to be the first thing said. Matthew's account reads, "Take courage, My son, your sins are forgiven." Mark and Luke tell us that there were four men carrying this poor stricken individual. Luke tells us that Jesus "seeing their faith" then pronounced the man forgiven of all sins. This is really interesting and instructive. Faith must be seen in order to attract the Savior. A dead faith is inactive, perhaps talkative, but nothing more. James 2 clearly shows that only faith that is active and working is recognized by the Lord as of any value at all. Let's think about these four men and their paralyzed friend. Obviously they believed Jesus had the power to cure the man. The man may have been incapable of rendering audible speech. But somehow, he and the four men had come to the decision to get to Jesus at all costs. The four men evidently had a deep concern for the paralytic. The man himself was afflicted with "palsy." That was a paralyzing disease which causes the loss of body motor functions. Sometimes the loss of sensory abilities are experienced. Such a disease could result from a severe injury to the back, possibly a birth defect, muscular dystrophy, polio, or other diseases. The man may have been born with it, but whatever the case may have been, he was completely dependent on others for all of his body functions. He was, in modern medical terms, a quadriplegic. Here is another interesting fact. In the times of Jesus, and I suppose still, there was a common view that sickness and disease were directly related to sinful conduct. That is not true, but that is how most Jews felt about sickness and disability. Remember the case of the blind man in John 9? Even the disciples of Christ asked, "Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? (John 9:2). Jesus never linked sin to disease, although we must also acknowledge that sin brought sickness and death into the world. It is not inherited, nor does it cause disease in a person. Look back to what may be the very first book every written to be part of the Bible, Job. Job's miseries were multiplied and his friends reminded him that sin was the real culprit in his life. So, during the time of Christ, a disease put a certain stigma on a person -- he had done something very sinful to be so afflicted, many erroneously thought. I believe this tells us something about the man and his friends. He was unafraid to expose himself to the scorn of others who may have looked upon him as despicable, sinful, and odious. Nonetheless, he and his friends had faith that rose above what popular opinion may have been. Would to God that all of us today had faith to rise above what others think or say. We would be much better off. There is no way to ever know whether the man uttered a word or not. He didn't really need to. Jesus initiated the conversation by speaking away the man's sins. But Jesus began it in a very unique manner. He started by saying, "Son, be of good courage..." There are two words in the original language which could be translated "take courage." One is the word THARSEO which is a subjective courage, or an inner courage. The other is TOLMAO, a synonym but with a slightly different meaning. It is an objective way of saying, "have courage." The first, which Jesus used, is like saying, "There is really nothing you need to fear." The second is like saying, "Grit your teeth and take it -- have courage, see it through." The first assures one that nothing is there to be afraid of; the second assumes there is a cause of fear and encourages one to take it with strength. Jesus simply said, "You have nothing to be afraid of -- your sins are gone, I have forgiven them." My dear friend -- think! Just think! There are many things to fear. One who comes before God Almighty with sins unforgiven should shake with dread and fear. The individual who will not make corrections has a very real reason to fear -- but the individual, laden with sins, who confesses them, and seeks pardon, has nothing at all to fear. The Lord forgives people who have a contrite heart and a broken spirit -- He has never forgiven anyone who refuses to recognize their sin, who maintains an impenitent heart. This man, shaken with grief, erroneously thinking that his physical condition was the result of sin somehow in his life, could understand fully what comfort Christ was offering. My question today is: Can we? Will we? Have we? You see the same Lord has the power of forgiveness -- He still is the only one who can say, "Your sins are forgiven." Today He does not speak audibly, but through the word of God He makes known the terms of forgiveness. Remember those Jews on the day of Pentecost who cried out in anguish, experiencing the burden of their personal guilt, "What must we do?" Remember Peter's inspired answer? "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:37-38). That is the one and the only assurance that we can be of good courage -- we have obeyed Christ and His word and had sins washed away into the sea of forgotten things. And even after one becomes a child of God, sin is still a problem. The apostle John says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9). My appeal to you is simple. Come to Christ in obedience while time is on your side and be of good courage for the remainder of whatever future He has for you. If we can explain any of these things more fully to you, or if you have a question about any of these things that have been said -- please contact us. Our mailing address is West End Church of Christ, 1609 Parkside Drive, Bowling Green, Ky. 42101. If you would like our free monthly paper, or any kind of Bible study materials, we will try to help you. Well, thank you again -- we appreciate the opportunity to come to you each Sunday on this radio station and hope you'll be back here again next Sunday -- 8 a.m. Goodbye and God bless you. Radio Sermon No. 32