Rev Gideon Lee
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic
1 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “ Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “ Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘ Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”— He said to the paralytic, 11 “ I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
As we just read this portion of scripture, it says Jesus has just entered the city. He has entered this city before. He is coming again so he is no stranger to this place.
He entered this house which is unusual. He usually moved around doing ministry. Usually He go to the places where the people are gathered, the synagogues or the marketplace. So it's unusual He went to a home instead.
But news of Him arriving went out and people came from every corner. There was just no room and the place was filled. Jesus did one very important thing. He preached the word of God.
There was this bedridden man brought by his friends to see Jesus. He could not get in and so often many would just give up. But they went the extra mile and was creative about it. They went to the roof, which was flat at those times and they made a hole wide enough to lower the man.
Lo and behold a man was lowered down right in front of Jesus. Jesus saw this man and was amazed at the faith of his friends. And the bible says Jesus forgave the sins of this man.
There is a trend that is happening today in church. During my father's time, the church had no aircon and the pews were hard. Yet, Sunday after Sunday, the church was packed. Today many people may not come to church if there is no technology comforts. Good sound system. Comfortable chairs.
That would be a real tragedy. I am not against technology, in fact we are renovating our church soon.
My question today is what do we do when Jesus shows up?
When Jesus show up please don't keep that a secret.
We need to tell people that in TOP God is present. We see so many empty seats when we are wanting to enlarge our sanctuary. We need to tell people Jesus is present and has power in this church.
When in cell and the leader ask if there are any testimonies, all goes quiet. Why? We need to tell people what Jesus has done. And how do we know Jesus is present in this place? The bible says where two or three is gathered in this place, He will be there. Then why others don't know Jesus is here? We need to tell people.
How many of you have a favourite Char Koay Teow stall? We can be very kiam siap. We don't want to tell others so that we don't have to wait and the price won't go up. How many of you have a favourite stall and not tell me. Sometimes that's what we do with the gospel.
You may say pastor, I am not good at sharing the gospel. But you can share your testimonies. Don't keep Him a secret. Make sure our church is packed. How I wish the car park is packed, the lift lobby packed and when I enter the sanctuary it's fully packed. I want us to remember our theme. The called out ones. Remember how I said to bring one person to church?
You want our church to grow, then don't keep Jesus a secret. The paralytic man would not have met Jesus if his friends had not brought him.
His friends, four of them took this man to Jesus and they went the extra mile. They could have said the house is full and can't go in. But they dug a hole at the expense of the house owner. They went the extra mile. These are real friends.
Have you been a friend to others? If someone never took the time to invite us to church we would never have known Jesus. I pray we will not keep Jesus a secret. He is not just for us but for everyone. We were all hungry and only Jesus can satisfy us. Our job is to tell another person where to find bread. So will you bring someone next week?
Oh, but that is the pastor's job. Is it? If like that I will be in multi-level marketing. The pastor's job is to equip the saints for the work of the kingdom. Tell that to your neighbour.
Sometimes you may say it's a lot of trouble to being someone. Have to provide transport. Have to maybe buy them lunch after service. But we need to challenge ourselves. Nurture and disciple the person. Lets be spiritual parents.
When God is in the house He speaks.
Jesus did not do a performance. He preached. He preached the word of God. God speaks through His words. The problem is are we listening. Some of us God is speaking to us and it changes our lives.
Look at Moses. God spoke to him though the burning bush. And it changed him. Saul was like that. On the way to Damascus, God spoke to him. Was he the same after that?
God speaks to us when He is present. What is He saying to you today? He is calling sinners, He is asking us to give more, or serve more. Or that we need to be at prayer meeting. Or that we need to give up on a wrong relationship. We don't like to change even if it actually makes us better. He speaks to you and I. What is he saying? Our problem is on hearing. We are so busy with something. Have you heard from God lately. I want to be within the range of God's voice. If we don't hear God, we are in a very dangerous place.
How many of you remember at the CWC, I lost my son. We were all having lunch and suddenly he disappeared. We were frantically looking for Josiah and could not find him. Finally I found him and we told them they cannot leave our presence without telling us. Even if its just to the toilet. And I told them if they leave they still have to be within hearing range.
Many of us like to be outside of God's range. What is God saying to you this morning? You personally.
Last but not least.
When Jesus is present He saves.
Coming back to the story. These four guys lowered his friends but the bible says Your sins are forgiven. Strange. He didn't say he is healed. This man came needing physical healing but Jesus is more interested in his spiritual healing. The Pharisees were all grumbling and says nobody can forgive sin unless God. Jesus perceived what they were saying and Jesus says the son of man has the power to forgive sin. There is salvation where Jesus is. Bring your friends to church, Jesus saves.
People's life are changed. Once their soul is saved, all his other needs can be met. That's why when we do big party we want their sins forgiven. How many of us are willing to do that. When Jesus is in the house, don't keep it a secret.
How many of us has a stall where the seller knows exactly what we want? We should be like that to others where they know we have Jesus. Don't keep Jesus a secret.
Second, what is God saying to you? I'm pretty sure he is speaking to us but are you listening? He is too much of a friend to let you stay where you are.
When Jesus is present He saves. When salvation comes, the healing, the providence, the blessings will all fall in line.
So I ask you how many of you will bring someone to church? You may say I have no friends. You have 2,000 friends on Facebook but none of them are real. (laughs)
May we not keep Jesus a secret from our friends.
Last but not least, when Jesus is in the house, the people leave satisfied. The man came in paralysed but he left praising God.
When in cell and the leader ask if there are any testimonies, all goes quiet. Why? We need to tell people what Jesus has done. And how do we know Jesus is present in this place? The bible says where two or three is gathered in this place, He will be there. Then why others don't know Jesus is here? We need to tell people.
How many of you have a favourite Char Koay Teow stall? We can be very kiam siap. We don't want to tell others so that we don't have to wait and the price won't go up. How many of you have a favourite stall and not tell me. Sometimes that's what we do with the gospel.
You may say pastor, I am not good at sharing the gospel. But you can share your testimonies. Don't keep Him a secret. Make sure our church is packed. How I wish the car park is packed, the lift lobby packed and when I enter the sanctuary it's fully packed. I want us to remember our theme. The called out ones. Remember how I said to bring one person to church?
You want our church to grow, then don't keep Jesus a secret. The paralytic man would not have met Jesus if his friends had not brought him.
His friends, four of them took this man to Jesus and they went the extra mile. They could have said the house is full and can't go in. But they dug a hole at the expense of the house owner. They went the extra mile. These are real friends.
Have you been a friend to others? If someone never took the time to invite us to church we would never have known Jesus. I pray we will not keep Jesus a secret. He is not just for us but for everyone. We were all hungry and only Jesus can satisfy us. Our job is to tell another person where to find bread. So will you bring someone next week?
Oh, but that is the pastor's job. Is it? If like that I will be in multi-level marketing. The pastor's job is to equip the saints for the work of the kingdom. Tell that to your neighbour.
Sometimes you may say it's a lot of trouble to being someone. Have to provide transport. Have to maybe buy them lunch after service. But we need to challenge ourselves. Nurture and disciple the person. Lets be spiritual parents.
When God is in the house He speaks.
Jesus did not do a performance. He preached. He preached the word of God. God speaks through His words. The problem is are we listening. Some of us God is speaking to us and it changes our lives.
Look at Moses. God spoke to him though the burning bush. And it changed him. Saul was like that. On the way to Damascus, God spoke to him. Was he the same after that?
God speaks to us when He is present. What is He saying to you today? He is calling sinners, He is asking us to give more, or serve more. Or that we need to be at prayer meeting. Or that we need to give up on a wrong relationship. We don't like to change even if it actually makes us better. He speaks to you and I. What is he saying? Our problem is on hearing. We are so busy with something. Have you heard from God lately. I want to be within the range of God's voice. If we don't hear God, we are in a very dangerous place.
How many of you remember at the CWC, I lost my son. We were all having lunch and suddenly he disappeared. We were frantically looking for Josiah and could not find him. Finally I found him and we told them they cannot leave our presence without telling us. Even if its just to the toilet. And I told them if they leave they still have to be within hearing range.
Many of us like to be outside of God's range. What is God saying to you this morning? You personally.
Last but not least.
When Jesus is present He saves.
Coming back to the story. These four guys lowered his friends but the bible says Your sins are forgiven. Strange. He didn't say he is healed. This man came needing physical healing but Jesus is more interested in his spiritual healing. The Pharisees were all grumbling and says nobody can forgive sin unless God. Jesus perceived what they were saying and Jesus says the son of man has the power to forgive sin. There is salvation where Jesus is. Bring your friends to church, Jesus saves.
People's life are changed. Once their soul is saved, all his other needs can be met. That's why when we do big party we want their sins forgiven. How many of us are willing to do that. When Jesus is in the house, don't keep it a secret.
How many of us has a stall where the seller knows exactly what we want? We should be like that to others where they know we have Jesus. Don't keep Jesus a secret.
Second, what is God saying to you? I'm pretty sure he is speaking to us but are you listening? He is too much of a friend to let you stay where you are.
When Jesus is present He saves. When salvation comes, the healing, the providence, the blessings will all fall in line.
So I ask you how many of you will bring someone to church? You may say I have no friends. You have 2,000 friends on Facebook but none of them are real. (laughs)
May we not keep Jesus a secret from our friends.
Last but not least, when Jesus is in the house, the people leave satisfied. The man came in paralysed but he left praising God.
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