Well, good morning, everyone.
It is just a wonderful thing whenever we can have an opportunity to preach at a different
church, a fellow church that has brothers and sisters in Christ, and it is a wonderful
reminder that Jesus is establishing His church all across the U.S. and the world.
And so, as we dive into Mark 2 today, I invite you to open up your Bibles.
It should be on the screen behind me, but we'll be kind of following the text pretty closely
today.
So if you have your Bibles, I invite you guys all to follow along.
And it's a passage that we tend to overlook sometimes, a passage that is a truth that
as Christians we sort of take for granted sometimes.
And so, it's my hope today that we can slow down and enjoy and smell the roses, so to
speak, as we sort of go into this passage that has a wonderful truth of Jesus' identity.
Let me pray first.
Dear Lord, I need your help this morning to proclaim your truth.
You have spoken.
We trust that you have spoken.
And it's contained in this wonderful word that you have given to us.
So we pray that you give me the ability to articulate my words and to articulate the message and
hone in on the message that you have for us today.
We ask and trust that you have been preparing the hearts of your people up until this point
and that we trust your timing of this passage.
We pray that it would affect your people deep into their soul.
In Jesus' name, amen.
So let us read from Mark chapter 2 verses 1 through 12.
Follow along with me.
It says,
And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.
And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door.
And he was preaching the word to them.
And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.
And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him.
And when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.
And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,
Son, your sins are forgiven.
Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts,
Why does this man speak like that?
He's blaspheming.
Who can forgive sins but God alone?
And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves,
said to them, Why do you question these things in your heart?
Which is easier to say to the paralytic?
Your sins are forgiven?
Or to say, Rise, take up your bed and walk.
But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,
he said to the paralytic,
I say to you, Rise, pick up your bed and go home.
And immediately, he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all.
So they were all amazed and glorified God, saying,
We never saw anything like this.
Now, I don't think I can start this sermon without first telling you that my beautiful wife gave birth to our first baby two weeks ago.
And she's absolutely beautiful.
Yeah, that deserves an amen.
God literally knit together a human being inside my wife.
So the last couple days have been stressful.
The last couple weeks have been stressful.
And especially because I've also had a few other life changes.
I recently just switched careers.
I used to be a geologist.
Now I work at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission in their drug and recovery program.
And so this is the first time that I've actually had to commute to work in probably a few years.
I don't think, since my wife and I have been married since 2020,
I don't think I've ever regularly commuted to work.
So there's been a lot of adjustment that's had to kind of go on.
But as you can expect with all these life changes,
you could also expect some tensions to arise in our household from time to time.
Take this hypothetical scenario, okay?
Say this week I come home.
It's been a long day.
I'm a little on edge because I know that as soon as I get home,
I'm going to have to start preparing a sermon for this upcoming Sunday.
And I can see as soon as I walk in that the baby's crying.
My wife Olivia is stressed.
And the first thing that she says to me,
Nick, can you please go down and grab the laundry?
And I'm thinking to myself, I just got home.
I deserve a second, right?
But being the loving, you know, the husband and father that I am,
I do it without any question.
And then shortly after dinner,
she asked me if I had remembered to call the insurance company
about an upcoming appointment to make sure that we had coverage.
And at that point, I just kind of snap because,
one, I think that perhaps she thinks that I've just been goofing off all day.
And two, because I didn't actually do it.
And so I snap and I finally say,
no, I haven't gotten around to it.
I have all this other stuff to do.
Stop bothering me about it.
And then instantly, I...
This is a hypothetical scenario, okay?
Instantly, I see her face sort of deflate,
her demeanor deflate.
I know that I'm in the wrong,
and I know that if I don't say something and go to her,
we're going to be at odds with one another for the next few hours.
But for some reason, I just can't do it.
It's this feeling inside me that I just can't do it.
I can't get myself to do it.
Perhaps I still blame her for maybe aggravating me,
that that's her fault.
That's her fault.
But also, perhaps there's a chance that I go to her
and she could just shove it right back in my face.
She doesn't accept my apology.
There's a part about asking forgiveness
that actually puts your heart on the chopping block.
It's vulnerable.
It takes humility.
So now I'm irritated that I can't even go to her.
So now I'm irritated at my own irritation.
And now I don't even have any time to focus on my sermon
that I so wanted to do so in the first place.
So something tells me that I'm not the only one
that's experienced this in this room.
And it doesn't have to be a spouse.
It could be a coworker.
It could be a family member.
But Christian, it is good news for us this morning
that God has not left us to drown, right?
And so a passage like Mark 2 can actually empower us
for obedience in situations like this.
And so this morning we're going to learn
a very important truth about this man, Jesus.
And that is that Jesus has divine authority
to forgive sins as shown by his divine authority
to heal the paralytic.
Jesus has divine authority to forgive sins
as shown by his divine authority to heal the paralytic.
So to see this this morning,
we're going to sort of just walk through the story
once again, slowly.
And as we do so,
I'm going to be adding a few things to the story
to colorize it, sort of bring it to life.
And we're not just going to do this just for fun.
Hopefully it is fun, right?
And hopefully it sort of gets your imagination going.
But the reason we're doing this
is because we want to see the climax of the story.
Because when we can do that,
we can hone in on the main point of the passage.
And that's actually a hard thing to do from time to time.
In fact, this last week,
a client of mine was telling me that he read a story on this,
a book on this story,
on this Mark 2 passage called The Stretcher.
And he said it was focusing on the four men
who carried the man to Jesus.
And it was talking about how,
when we're on the stretcher of life,
we need to find four friends.
Well, that might be a good truth,
but is that the truth of the passage?
That's what we want to hone in today.
So we're going to walk through the story
to get a better idea of what the main emphasis is.
So let's go ahead and do that.
Let's start with verse 1.
It says that he returned to Capernaum,
which means that this isn't the first time
that he's been there.
Last time he was there,
it was actually in chapter 1.
He preached in a synagogue with authority
and demonstrated authority over unclean spirits.
Chapter 1, verse 28 says that his fame spread
throughout all Galilee.
And so upon his return now,
everyone has heard of him
and now they want a glimpse of him, right?
They want to hear him speak.
There's this expectation now
in the very onset of the story
that Jesus is going to perform for them.
So in verse 2,
it's not surprising that we read
that many gathered together
so that there was no more room.
It says that they were packed in there
like sardines, basically.
It's hard to breathe.
There's not a single word being said, though,
because they're all trying to hear Jesus.
And the people outside the door
can't even see him.
Perhaps they're leaning in
just trying to grasp every other word or so.
That's how desperately they want to hear
what Jesus is preaching.
And Jesus is doing that.
He's preaching the word with them.
People are gathered to hear it.
It's a teaching with authority,
as it says back in chapter 1.
Now, if I was directing a movie
of this scene right now,
at this point,
I'd probably take a step back.
I'd cut to a different scene,
one that's a little more quiet.
There's a man, okay,
who hasn't arrived on the scene yet.
He, too, has heard that Jesus is in town,
but there is a fundamental problem.
He's paralyzed from the waist down.
He's sitting by the window.
He's waiting for these other men
to come and get him.
Perhaps it was an injury from birth,
or perhaps it was an injury
from a work-related injury
that he injured his spine,
and now he can't work anymore.
Maybe he had people caring for him.
Maybe he was being cared
for another family member.
Maybe he was ostracized by the community.
We don't really know.
It doesn't really show us that many details.
About this man.
But he seems to at least have
a few friends and family
because there are some men
who come and grab him, right?
And he, too, has heard
that Jesus has the authority
to cast out unclean spirits.
And one report from just a couple days ago
says that he actually healed a man
with leprosy.
So perhaps in his mind,
he's thinking,
this is my chance.
This is my chance to get within
just armed distance of this man.
Hopefully I can be healed.
But naturally, he's late to the party, right?
I mean, he needs to be carried.
Everyone else has gotten there first.
He's just showing up a few minutes after.
And as he gets there,
he can tell that he's not going to be able
to push through, right?
The crowds, like we saw,
are packed in there.
There's no way a man on a stretcher
and four others
are going to kind of weave their way
in between that group.
And at that point,
you can almost see his tears
start to run down his face.
He's beginning to feel
a little more desperate.
Perhaps this isn't going to work out
the way that he wanted.
So you see in this replay,
you see him raising his hand
to the roof,
to the people carrying him
in the stretcher.
Take me to the roof.
I'm trying to imagine
what the four carrying him
would have been thinking.
They're probably looking around.
How long are we going
to entertain this?
I don't know what going
to the roof is really going to do.
But they don't find it
within themselves
to sort of break his heart.
So they oblige.
They carry him up
to the flat top roof
up the stairs.
At this time,
there would likely have been
some stairs going up
the outside of the house
to the top of the roof.
So the people inside
at this point,
they hear some footsteps
above them.
But Jesus is continuing
to teach.
Soon enough,
people are starting
to look upwards.
What's all the commotion
above?
There's a sound
of some muffled voices
and then all of a sudden,
wham!
Wham!
I mean,
I have to imagine
they get through the roof
somehow, right?
They begin pounding
at the roof.
Now, roofs during that time
were likely made of reeds
that were covered
with a mud plaster.
So it probably wasn't
hard to get through,
but probably wasn't easy either.
So mud and dust,
as you can kind of imagine it,
are falling on the people
inside.
Everyone's looking now,
but what is going on?
At this point,
Jesus has stopped teaching.
Everyone's just waiting.
And I'm not really
an expert in ancient
Israel roof break-ins,
but it's going to take
at least five to ten minutes,
right?
Finally,
sunlight breaks through.
You hear the count of three
in Hebrew.
Echad,
shenayim,
shalosh,
they let down the man
and lower him
to the ground.
And as the man
reaches the ground,
it's a small town.
Everyone probably knows
who this man is
at this point.
People are muttering,
is Jesus going to
heal this man?
Everyone is waiting
with anticipation.
I sort of picture it
like some of those movies
where the nerd
kind of goes in
for the kiss.
He's just kind of,
his lips are puckered,
his eyes are closed,
he's waiting for
the girl to kiss him.
I kind of think,
when I think of this story,
I imagine the paralyzed man,
he's on the stretcher,
he's waiting for the feeling
to return to his feet.
Everyone knows
he's got a big grin
on his face.
And then in verse 5,
Jesus says this.
He says,
esteem their faith.
He says,
your sins are forgiven.
Now,
imagine the man
kind of opens one eye,
he's like,
what?
No.
You misunderstand.
I'm here to be healed,
right?
For the modern reader,
this is actually surprising
as well.
Everyone is expecting
a miraculous healing,
and instead,
Jesus pronounces,
his sins are forgiven.
I mean,
it's obvious
why the man is there,
right?
And so what we have here
is sort of a false summit
of the story.
The issue of the man's paralysis
is still not resolved.
So,
pausing for a second,
I just want to say,
is it not good,
church,
that when we come to God
with our greatest felt need,
that he gives us
what we truly need,
right?
It can be a hard reality
at times,
but I personally,
I'm thankful that God knows
what I need more than I do,
and doesn't always give me
what I think I want,
because that would be bad
for me,
right?
But returning to the text,
now we have another problem
on our hands,
and that is that Jesus
has just pronounced
that this man's sin
has been forgiven.
And that's a big deal.
Jesus is claiming
to be God here,
and blasphemy,
blasphemy was punishable
by death,
so he better make sure
that he's telling
the truth here,
right?
And up to this point,
the Jewish leaders
may have been open
to Jesus' teaching,
and perhaps even curious
about his ability
to heal others,
but now,
now he's gone
way too far.
I think,
one thing that would have
upset these people
at this is that
he's claiming
to be God,
right?
And that's a big deal.
So let me give you
an example.
Let's just say that
Zach is up here,
and I just punch him
square in the face,
right?
Now,
would it make any sense
for me to go to my mom,
my mom,
and ask for forgiveness?
No.
Zach's the one
that I've offended.
He's the only one
who's going to offer
forgiveness towards me.
And so in the same way,
for Jesus to announce
your sins are forgiven,
he's proclaiming
that he is the one
who is offended.
Only God
can pronounce
forgiveness
of sins.
Now,
the scribes,
if you know
who the scribes were,
they were individuals
who were responsible
for copying
the Bible
over and over again.
They were very
detail-oriented.
They knew
the scriptures
pretty well.
And they knew it
front and back.
They probably even
taught it as well.
Now,
there's a part of me
that understands
their question,
right?
Not too long ago,
Israel was in exile
because of their idolatry.
And now here's this man
coming to proclaim
that he's God.
He's kind of leading
the people.
People are starting
to follow him,
right?
So now the scribes
are saying,
well,
we don't want this exile
to happen again.
We need to preserve
the scriptures.
So I understand.
It would be a good question
to ask,
is this guy really
who he proclaims to be?
Because if he's not,
we shouldn't follow him.
They're afraid
that Israel's going
to fall back
into idolatry.
But Jesus responds
in a very interesting way.
First he says to them,
why do you question
these things
in your hearts?
Like we said,
to question Jesus' authority
seems like a pretty
legit question.
But Jesus makes it seem
as if they shouldn't
even be surprised
at all at this point
that he can forgive sins.
The second question
is rhetorical.
He says,
which is easier
to say to the paralytic?
Your sins are forgiven
or to say,
rise,
take up your bed?
Now,
it's a rhetorical question
so it's almost assumed
that the original audience
was going to know
the answer to this.
For us,
it's not,
I don't think
it's quite as obvious.
So let's just take a second
to work through
the possibilities
of what he's actually
meaning here.
There's three main options.
One is that perhaps
it is more difficult
to say your sins
are forgiven
than to say
get up and walk.
He goes on to say,
though,
to prove to you
that I have the authority
to forgive sins,
I'm going to show you
that I have the authority
to heal
this man's paralysis.
So this first option,
that to say
your sins are forgiven
is more difficult,
doesn't actually fit
with the outcome
of the story.
because if forgiving sins
was more difficult,
then a demonstration
of something less difficult
probably wouldn't
prove anything, right?
It's like if I kick
a 30-yard field goal
and then say
that proves it,
I can kick
a 60-yard field goal.
Say no,
that doesn't prove anything.
You just did
what was easier.
The easier does not
prove what is more difficult.
That doesn't seem
to be what he's meaning there.
Second option
is that perhaps
it's easier to say
your sins are forgiven
than to say
get up and walk.
Now this option
is definitely plausible.
I would think of it
as sort of
flippantly saying
I love you to someone.
It's quite easy to say
but it's not quite
easily verifiable.
Something like that
takes some time
to verify
over the course of time.
It's kind of like
if I were to say
check your pocket,
there's $100.
That's easy for me to say
but it's very easy
to verify.
It's difficult
in the sense that
you could just check
your pocket right now
and see if there's $100.
If there's not,
I'm a liar.
If there is,
I was telling the truth.
So the same seems
to go for the situation here.
At the same time though,
to say your sins
are forgiven
without actually
being able to verify it
would be a very risky
thing to do.
So the text shows us
that they immediately
accused him of blasphemy,
proclaiming to be God
when he really wasn't.
This was punishable
by death
as we just said.
Don't dare say
these words.
So that option
is plausible.
I think the third option
is the best option.
Third option
and final option
is that it is
equally difficult
to say your sins
are forgiven
than to say,
as it is to say,
get up and walk.
And this seems
the most closely
fit the details
of this story.
And Jesus
is calling
to their attention
the fact that
they are upset
that he displays
divine authority
to forgive
the man's sins,
but yet they are
open to him
showing his divine
authority
to heal the man.
Jesus is asking
them this rhetorical
question,
which is easier
because both
are possible
only by God's power.
I was happy
that we read
Psalm 103
this morning
because that
gives us a glimpse
into this situation
where it says,
bless the Lord,
O my soul,
and forget not
all his benefits.
Who forgives
your iniquity
and who heals
all your diseases?
Who has the authority
to do both?
God alone.
So at this point
in the story,
it can go
one of two ways.
Either the man
gets up
and Jesus
demonstrates
that he has
the power
to heal
and to forgive sins,
or the man
doesn't get up
and Jesus
looks like a fool
and possibly
gets stoned
for claiming
to be God.
This is the
climax of the story,
the point
in which the story
could go either way.
So what does
the text say?
It says,
and he rose
and immediately
picked up his bed
and went out
before them all
so that they were
all amazed
and glorified God
saying,
we never saw
anything like this.
both the healing
of the incurable
medical conditions
and the forgiveness
of sins
are rooted
in the authority
of God
alone.
And so when Jesus
displays his authority
to heal this man's
paralysis,
he's demonstrating
that he has
the authority
to forgive
this man's sins.
Jesus is proclaiming
that he is God
and he proves it
by healing
the man.
Dozens of people
see this authority
on display
and the scribes
really have nothing
in response
to say.
So once again,
what do we learn
from this passage?
It is that Jesus
has divine authority
to forgive sins
as shown by his
divine authority
to heal
the paralytic.
So I want to focus
the rest of this time
now on what do we
actually do
with this passage?
Like I said
in the beginning,
sometimes this is
the passage we
just quickly
pass over.
It's a truth
that Christians
should know.
Yes, Jesus has
the authority
to forgive sins.
Well first,
I want to speak
to the non-believer
that could be here
this morning.
Because I don't think
I can preach
this passage
on the forgiveness
of sins
than to invite
the non-believer
to accept
this truth.
And when I say
non-believer,
I mean those
who are not
submitting their lives
under the authority
of Christ.
And I feel
that I need to
clarify this
unfortunately
in this American
church
because it's
unfortunately
common
that people
believe that God
exists,
that Jesus
is God,
but then they
don't submit
their lives
to his rule
and kingship.
So in other words,
they believe
that God exists,
but then they're
still living a life
of rebellion.
And so this only
offers a false
assurance that we
must be very weary
and cautious
of.
Because the Bible
doesn't have a
category for the
individual who has
one foot in the
world and one foot
in the gospel.
So either you are
a Christian
walking in step
in repentance
and in step
with the gospel,
or you are not.
And just to clarify,
that puts you
outside the grace
of God.
You don't have
forgiveness of sins.
And this is important
because as we find
out very early
in the book of
Genesis,
that the wages
of sin is death.
And any sin,
no matter how
small,
is worthy of
eternal punishment
before an infinitely
holy God.
And so in order
for God to
uphold his
justice,
he must carry
out sin's
sentence,
lest his own
character be
undermined.
But in his
loving kindness,
he made a way
for his creation
to be restored
in right relationship
to him.
We see in the
Old Testament
that the Old
Testament sacrifices,
the animal
sacrifices were
insufficient to
properly atone
for and give
any lasting
forgiveness of
sins.
And therefore,
those Old Testament
sacrifices always
looked forward
to a greater
and a better
sacrifice,
the Messiah,
Jesus Christ.
The book of
Hebrews says,
without the shedding
of blood,
there is no
forgiveness of
sins.
And so as this
passage shows,
he has the
authority to
forgive sins
because he is
God,
he is the one
offended,
and he is also
the sacrifice,
which we find
out later,
the unblemished
lamb who can
defeat death
once and for
all because
death has no
hold on him.
And so our
only hope,
therefore,
is to be united
to him,
to seek safety
underneath his
wing and that
death may pass
over us.
In Romans 2,
Paul warns
those who
confess Jesus
is Lord with
their mouths,
but they don't
repent.
They feel
convicted,
they even
confess their
sins,
even the
most heinous
criminals,
after they've
been convicted
in a court
of law,
you might
even see
them crying.
Most often
than not,
they're crying
because they
now have to
pay the
penalty for
their crimes,
right?
They're not
living in
repentant faith.
So we want
to be careful
that we're not
doing that as
well.
So,
Paul says
in Romans 2,
he says,
or do you
presume on
the riches
of his
kindness and
forbearance
and patience,
not knowing
that God's
kindness is
meant to
lead you
to repentance,
but because
of your
hard and
infinite heart,
you are
storing up
wrath for
yourselves on
the day of
wrath when
God's righteous
judgment will
be revealed.
And so here's
where a lot of
people go wrong.
They believe
God exists.
They know
that they are
a sinner.
They confess
that they have
done what is
wrong, but they
do not submit
themselves underneath
the authority
of God.
They're still
living in
open rebellion.
Now,
obviously,
perfection is
not required.
The gospel
assumes this.
But a growing
hatred of sin,
a continual
turning away
from sin
and turning
towards God
because they
delight in
obeying him
and seeing
his glory
and not
their own
being realized.
My former
boss once
told me that
he asked for
God's forgiveness
before he
sins.
That is
conviction
and confession
without repentance
because repentance,
like we just
said,
is turning away
from sin,
not turning
towards it.
And so
when in Mark
1.15,
Jesus says that
he begins his
ministry saying,
the time
is fulfilled
and the
kingdom of
God is
at hand,
repent and
believe in
the gospel.
So my
invitation for
the non-Christian
is will you
respond to the
truth of this
passage today
and place your
faith in the
one and only
person who
actually has
any ability
to forgive
sins.
Because only
by him can
you have any
hope of
reaching
eternal life.
at this
point I
turn to the
application for
the believer,
the one who
is prone to
forgetting this
truth.
For most of
us here,
Jesus'
authority to
forgive sins
seems like a
no-brainer to
us.
And as
Christians,
we have
repented of
our sins
and put our
faith in
Christ,
but functionally,
I think this
is a gospel
truth that we
all need
reminder of
on a daily
basis.
And trust
me,
I'm giving
a sermon
needing this
truth myself.
So as I
was reflecting
on the main
truth of this
passage,
I considered
a few ways
to actually
that we can
struggle to
believe this
truth.
The first
is this.
One way
that we can
show ourselves
not to trust
in the truth
of this
passage is
when we
don't actually
make a regular
habit of
repenting of
all of our
sin.
I have found
that I
prefer to
categorize
my sins
in those
of sort
of like a
tiered
system.
Some are
very grievous,
some are not
very grievous,
you don't need
to repent all
the time,
and that is
a dangerous
place to be.
Something like
maybe stealing
something,
that's under the
category of
always repent,
but then
simply getting
angry at my
wife,
that's maybe a
sometimes repentance
thing.
and like I
said,
it's a
dangerous
place to
be because
one,
I can't
be at
odds,
it's hard
for me to
be at
odds with
her,
for one,
but if I
don't go
to God,
the one
who is the
one offended
first and
foremost,
the one who
has commanded
me to love
my wife and
to live with
her in an
understanding
way,
if I'm
disobeying
him,
I've first
and foremost
disobeyed the
one and
true God.
Why should it
be then that I
can bear at
being at odds
with him and
not bear
with being at
odds with
my wife?
My sin is
first and
foremost a
rebellion against
his rule and
reign.
So we
undermine the
seriousness of
our sin when
we do not
live in the
goodness of
this truth,
that Jesus
has the
authority to
forgive sins.
And then
two,
the second
way that I
thought that
we can
sometimes
struggle to
believe this
truth,
is when we
try to pay
the fine for
an offense that
has already
been forgiven.
There's been a
number of times
over the last
few weeks as
I've led
worship at
Crossway
Milwaukee,
that immediately
after the
service is
done, I
turned to
all the
members and
I started
apologizing for
all the
mistakes that
I made,
and just for
them putting
up with me,
my horrible
performance.
And so
there's a
part of me
that does
this because
I want them
to see that
I am punishing
myself above
and beyond.
I'm doing
jail time for
my mistakes.
I want them
to know that
I see this
as serious.
What does
that do?
When we
have that
same mentality
towards our,
when we
approach God
with our sin.
Well, it
says that
while we need
to be
remorseful,
right?
Don't hear me
wrong.
But when
we cross
over to
unbelief,
it's when
we refuse
to let
Jesus pay
the fine.
So we
feel the
need to
punish
ourselves
beyond the
punishment
that's already
been paid.
And so
when we
approach God
this way,
we are not
declaring to
Him that
we believe
and trust
that His
death was
sufficient for
paying for
our sins.
And we're
suggesting that
perhaps there's
some debt
left to pay
that He
hasn't already
paid.
And so in
those moments
when we
don't believe
that Jesus
has the
authority to
forgive sins,
but Christian,
I assure you,
what a
rejoiceful thing
when we can
come to the
Lord Jesus
with our
greatest and
darkest,
deepest sins.
And He can
look at us in
the eye and
say,
go free.
Let sin
rule you
no longer.
Your sins
are forgiven.
There is no
fine left
to pay.
And then as
we proceed
throughout the
week to
wage war on
the flesh and
we stumble
once again,
we go to
the Lord and
He says,
go free
once again.
That too
I have
paid for.
Your sins
are forgiven.
Let sin
rule you
no more.
Christian,
God is
patient with
us.
Right?
He's gracious
to us.
It's actually
God's mercy
that He
reveals our
sin to us
slowly over
the course
of time
because if
He were to
show us
all of our
sin all at
once,
it would
crush us.
So He
peels it
slowly like
an onion
over the
course of
time.
One,
that we
would not
be crushed,
but two,
that we
might not
think that
there is
a single
day that
we can
go without
God's
ongoing
grace to
us.
We
depend on
Him fully
as we
continue to
be sanctified
by His
Word.
So then
what would
it actually
look like
for this
passage to
be helpful
for us
this week?
Let's
return to
the original
scenario that
I put forth
at the
beginning.
Remember,
I've just
responded
in simple
anger to
Olivia.
First thing
we observe
is that
there's a
rift between
me and
Olivia,
but there's
also a
rift between
me and
God vertically.
I've
disobeyed
Him in
a way that
I'm called
to love
my wife,
but Jesus
has the
authority to
forgive sins.
He has
paid my
fine.
He has
paid my
debt.
So
immediately,
what do I
do?
I run
to God
and I
say,
I've
sinned
against
you.
I've
sinned
against
Olivia.
You
have
called
me to
love
others,
but what
have I
done?
I've
shown her
unrighteous
that you
are rich
in
mercy.
I know
that the
blood of
Christ has
paid my
fine.
Please
forgive me
and help
me live
in obedience.
And so
at that
point,
the claim
of Mark
2 calls
back to
me,
dear child,
your sins
are forgiven.
That too
I have
paid for.
Let sin
reign no
longer.
Go and
sin no
more.
And so
when I am
made right
with God,
His promise
of forgiveness
empowers me
to live
in obedience.
My pride
has been
broken,
and now
I can
go to
Olivia
and display
the gospel
at work
with me.
Is that
not what
we want
as spouses
or as
co-workers
to show
the power
of the
gospel
at work
with us?
We all
know how
difficult
it is
to go
to someone
in forgiveness.
And when
someone does,
as a
Christian,
that is
evidence
that God,
the power
of the
gospel
is at
work
within them.
That's
how we
display
the truth
of the
gospel.
And I
tell my
clients this
all the
time.
We should
be discouraged
if it takes
some time
for this
to actually
take root
in ourselves.
It could be,
at first,
it could be a
day until I
realize my
sin and the
truth of the
gospel.
But over the
course of
time,
as we begin
to practice
the message
of this
passage,
as Romans
says,
be transformed
by the
renewal of
your mind,
that process
takes place
over the
course of
time.
And so
the goal
is that
the amount
of time
that it
takes me
to sin
against,
for instance,
Olivia,
and for me
to go to
her and
ask for
forgiveness,
that time
should be
decreasing
over the
course of
my Christian
walk.
Why?
Because God
is transforming
my mind.
I'm seeking
and actively
turning away
from my sin
and trying
to love
her and
show her
that the
power of
the gospel
is at
work within
me.
So don't
be discouraged
if it
takes a
day or
hours at
some point.
It may be
like that
for a
while,
but pretty
soon,
over the
course of
time,
as God
is working
in you,
which I
trust that
he will
be,
pretty
soon,
it can
almost be
instantaneous
that you're
remembering the
truths of
the gospel
and that it
would empower
you to
then,
go and
make things
right on
a horizontal
plane with
our earthly
relationships.
And then
perhaps it's
the other way
around.
Perhaps it's
Olivia that
has sinned
against me
or putting
myself in
Olivia's
shoes.
I've sinned
against her.
Perhaps she
has sinned
against me
and comes
to me asking
for forgiveness
and just as
Jesus forgives
me, so now
I can display
the gospel
at work
in me
and extend
to her
the offer
of complete
forgiveness.
And there
we have
her sin
against me
as an
opportunity
for me
to minister
the gospel
to her,
to minister
the gospel
to my
coworkers,
to my
family members.
God's
love.
It is
evidence of
the work
of God
in our
hearts when
we're able
to do
this.
Christian,
we are
fully
deserving
of God's
wrath.
And we
were a
people who
were dead
in our
sins.
But now,
what are
we?
We're a
people who
received the
forgiveness
of sin.
And so,
as I
close,
I want to
close with
Romans 6,
5-7,
which says
this,
and this
is for
believers only
when it
says,
for if we
have been
united with
him in a
death like
his,
we shall
certainly be
united with
him in a
resurrection
like his.
We know
that our
old selves
were crucified
with him
in order
that the
body of
sin might
be brought
to nothing.
So that we
are no longer
enslaved to
sin.
No,
for the
one who
has died
has been
set free
from sin.
It's my
prayer,
as we go
into this
week,
that this
would come
alive for
us.
As we
go into
our workplace,
into our
homes,
and our
interactions
with our
spouses,
and our
kids,
that the
truth that
Jesus has
the authority
to forgive
sins would
come alive
in our
hearts.
Let's
bow our
heads in
prayer.
Dear Lord,
you are
an awesome
God who
has provided
one way,
one way
alone for
eternal life,
and that is
through your
Son,
Jesus Christ,
who has
taken on
flesh,
who has
lived a
life unstained
from sin,
so that you
may extend
and restore
the relationship
that has been
broken by our
own depravity,
Lord.
We pray that
those who are
in this room
who have not
yet confessed
and given
their life
over to you,
that their
hearts would
be softened
and they
would reflect
on this
passage and
know that
it is not
by anything
of this
world,
not of
worldly
desires or
striving that
they can
come to
have forgiveness
for their
sins,
but only by
entrusting
themselves under
the authority
of you
alone.
We pray that
those who are
Christians,
that this
would become
more and more
realized in
their life,
in their hearts,
in the
upcoming weeks
and months
and years,
that you
would put
on their
hearts in
times of
great struggle,
in times that
they have
sinned against
someone or
times in
which they
have been
sinned against,
that this
truth would
come to
bear on
their minds,
that they
would know
that you
have first
and foremost
restored us
by forgiveness
and therefore
we are free
to then go
and ask for
forgiveness
and give
forgiveness to
those around
us.
Lord,
this is a
passage that
we cannot
forget.
This is a
passage that
we cannot
glance over.
This is a
passage that
we need each
and every
day of our
lives.
Please come
and be in
our hearts
this week.
In Jesus'
name,
Amen.