Well, we've got a new president.
I'm not sure if you watched the swearing in, the inauguration ceremony this past Friday.
I did.
And essentially what happened was the people of the United States were authorizing Donald J. Trump
to make a variety of very important decisions for our nation.
So he was sworn in as our 45th president
and be given the authority to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States
against all threats, both foreign and domestic.
And one of the rights of the presidents we were reminded of at the end of President Obama's term
was the right for the president to grant clemency to federal prisoners.
And that clemency comes in one of two forms.
There is the pardon in which the president pardons a federal criminal of his crimes.
And then there's the commuting of a sentence in which the president reduces the penalty of a federal prisoner.
But what you need to understand is that whether a federal prisoner is pardoned or his sentence commuted,
it doesn't necessarily mean his offense has been expunged from his record.
That's a whole different legal proceeding.
This morning what I want just to point out is that the office of the President of the United States
has the authority, the right, to forgive criminals, federal criminals,
of crimes committed against the United States of America.
I've been wondering all week if there's people coming in here who feel imprisoned by the fear of their past sins.
And this morning we're going to see that Jesus Christ has the authority,
the right, to forgive crimes against God.
And not only forgive them, but to wipe clean our records.
And what you're going to see is that this right to forgive sin is the right of the Son of Man.
Jesus' favorite self-designation.
Last week we saw Jesus on the Sea of Galilee.
And we saw Him in the country of the Gadarenes.
And He exercised His authority.
He is the storm pacifier.
And He is the demon defeater.
And one of the things I wanted you to see last Sunday was that this same Jesus
who exercised authority over the storm and over demons,
that same Jesus is our Jesus.
He's with us today.
He is Emmanuel, God with us.
He promised at the end of Matthew 28 to,
Lo, I am with you always.
As the all-authoritative Son of Man.
And so this morning we're going to follow this passage.
These three episodes are going to be taken all together.
He's the storm pacifier.
He is the demon defeater.
And this morning we're going to see He's the all-authoritative sin forgiver.
So would you open up your Bibles to Matthew 9.
And I'm going to read verses 1-8.
And I pray that God would show you that Jesus is unique in His authority to forgive sins.
And getting into a boat, He crossed over and came to His own city.
And behold, some people brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.
And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic,
Take heart, My son.
Your sins are forgiven.
And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves,
This man is blasphemy.
But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said,
Why do you think evil in your hearts?
For which is easier to say,
Your sins are forgiven, or to say,
Rise and walk.
But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.
He then said to the paralytic,
Rise, pick up your bed, and go home.
And he rose, and he went home.
When the crowd saw it, they were afraid.
And they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
So this morning, what we're going to do is we're going to walk through this passage.
I'm going to point out some things.
And then I want to help you see why this passage is in your Bible.
And then, we're going to help you bring the truth of this passage to bear on your life today in 2017.
So let's get back into the story.
We'll walk through it, and then bring it to bear.
So let's look at this situation in Capernaum in verse 1 of chapter 9.
Jesus got in the boat, and he crossed over and came to his own city.
So he was just in the country of the Gadarenes, Gentile country, right?
And he left there.
He was begged to leave by the residents of the country of the Gadarenes.
Remember, Jesus is with us, right?
But they did not want him with them.
And so he got in his boat, came back to Capernaum.
That's his own city.
And so what you need to know is that Jesus, the storm pacifier, the demon defeater,
has now crossed back to the Sea of Galilee and is back in his hometown, Capernaum.
And what you need to know about Capernaum, though it's not named, that's his present hometown.
So if Jesus had a mailing address, it would have been something like 7 Seaside Drive, Capernaum, Galilee.
And that's where he was living.
And there are a couple parallel accounts of this in Mark 2 and Luke 5.
And those accounts provide a little bit more vivid color to actually what happened.
Matthew has a tendency to keep things really lean to make his point,
where the other gospel writers, they're a little bit more expansive.
And so we're going to be looking to Mark 2 to provide a little color here as to actually what took place.
One of the things you need to know is, hey, Jesus moved.
He moved from Nazareth to Capernaum.
He knows what it's like to move.
But that's on the side.
So in verse 2 of chapter 9, we read this.
And behold, remember, and behold.
That's one of Matthew's favorite ways of saying to grab your attention, something's happening here.
And behold, some people brought to him, Jesus, a paralytic, lying on a bed.
Now, we're not told.
Matthew doesn't go into details about who's carrying him.
You know, where are they coming?
Where is Jesus?
And so in Mark 2 and Luke chapter 5, we learn that this is probably Jesus' own residence in Capernaum.
And so they're bringing, they hear he's in town, he's at home, and they bring this paralytic to him.
A paralytic is someone who couldn't walk.
And if they couldn't walk, they're dependent on other people.
Their life is being made difficult because of that, to say the least.
We're not told how many people are carrying him.
From Mark 2 and Luke 5, we learn that there are four people, four friends of this paralytic carrying him to see Jesus.
And what we learn from Mark 2 and Luke 5 is that when these four carrying this paralytic show up to Jesus' house, they can't get in.
The place is packed.
Jesus is preaching.
He's got a crowd there.
And so if you open up the door and try to get in, it would have been like a fraternity house party.
The place was packed.
You probably would, some BO smell would have come out.
There's so many people in there.
And so these guys bring in the paralytic, go up, they open the door, this place is packed.
What are we going to do?
We can't get him in.
And so what they end up doing is they bring him up the side stair to the roof of the house.
And there wasn't much precipitation in this part of the world.
And so the houses were made out of kind of mud and straw.
And so what these four guys do who are carrying this paralyzed guy, they get the great idea.
Let's tear open a hole in the roof and we'll lower our friend down right in front of Jesus.
We learn this from Mark 2 and Luke 5.
Now if you're in the room, could you imagine all of a sudden debris falling from the ceiling?
A hole opening up?
And this kind of body descending down in front of Jesus?
Could you imagine that?
So Jesus sees them coming in.
In one sense, you've got to admire the creativity of this.
Jesus sees them and he sees their faith.
And the next thing we see at the second half of verse 2 is a really surprising pronouncement.
Jesus says to the paralytic, he sees their faith.
He says, take heart, my son.
Now, if you were one of the guys bringing the paralytic, let's say the paralytic weighs 120 pounds.
And so you're carrying 30 pounds across Capernaum, right?
I'm going to bring my friend to the healer guy.
And I bring him up to the door.
The place is packed.
We're like, what are we going to do?
Let's bring him up on the roof.
We'll make a hole.
We bring him up on the roof.
We make the hole.
We lower him down.
And we get him right in front of Jesus, the healer.
We know this guy is going to do something.
And we're like, okay, he's in position.
Do your thing, Jesus.
And so we hear Jesus say, take heart, my son.
And we're looking at each other, me and my three buddies.
And we're like, oh, yeah, here it comes.
And he says what?
Your sins are forgiven.
Amen.
If I were there, I would have been something like, what did he say?
What did he say?
Hold on.
Okay.
Let's shake him.
Maybe he doesn't realize that he's paralyzed.
Let's shake him to make sure he knows what the problem is.
And Jesus knew what the problem was.
I would have been a little disappointed myself.
It would be one of those things where you're expecting a really nice Christmas present.
And you get something else.
You're kind of like, aw.
What we don't realize is that Jesus is actually addressing this paralytic's greatest problem.
I mean, that's why Jesus came.
What we see happening in this house is Jesus, the Son of Man, on mission.
So we would all have been surprised if we were in there, whether on the roof or down below.
And it turns out there are some people in there that weren't just surprised.
They were offended.
Look at verse 3.
And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves.
Scribes and Pharisees were kind of running in the same pack.
Scribes would have been kind of the Old Testament experts.
If you had a question of how to live your life in a righteous way, you go to one of the scribes and they'll tell you what to do.
They were the religious professionals.
And so we had some religious professionals in the room who take issue with what Jesus just said.
In fact, they say this man is blasphemy.
This man being Jesus.
He just said blasphemy.
Now, here's what blasphemy is.
Blasphemy is when you attribute to a man something that only God himself can do.
And so what we read in Mark 2 and Luke 5 is that these men who said this man is blasphemy, they go on to say only God can forgive sins.
Only God can forgive sins.
The reason why Matthew doesn't include it is because he's writing to a Jewish audience.
They already know.
This is a serious charge.
Only God can forgive sins.
It's interesting.
The scribes bring up the sin issue.
Because sin is something that the scribes recognize that we all deal with.
We're all sinners.
Sin is a crime against divinity.
Crime against God.
We either disobey something he requires or we do something he forbids.
And what we know is that only God can forgive sin because our sin is against God.
And so what these scribes are saying is that this Galilean is claiming something that only God can do.
He's claiming to forgive sins.
Only God can do that.
And then Jesus responds.
In chapter 9 verse 4 we read, but Jesus knowing their thoughts, literally seeing their thoughts is what the original language writes.
He says, why do you think evil in your hearts?
Mark 2, Luke 5 both bring out Jesus is probably knowing what they're thinking.
He's got an insight that belongs to God.
And he says to them, why do you think evil in your hearts?
What's the evil?
The evil is this.
The evil is thinking that Jesus is blaspheming.
When in fact, he has full authority to pronounce forgiveness for this paralytic sins.
That's the evil.
Attributing to him something that's not true.
Saying that this claim is false.
And then he says something very interesting.
In verses 4 and 5.
He says, why do you think evil in your hearts?
And then he asks this which is easier question.
Notice he says, which is easier to say?
He's not saying which is easier to do.
He's asking which is easier to say.
Which is easier to say?
Your sins are forgiven or rise up and walk?
Which is easier to say?
If you were there, what would you have said?
I would have said, well it's easier to say your sins are forgiven.
Do you know why?
There's no need for visible verification of that.
If you say that, how do you know someone's actually forgiven or not?
It's easier to say that.
But we all know that only God can forgive sins, right?
It's harder to say get up and walk because immediately there is going to be proof in the pudding.
Either the person is going to get up and walk and show that this guy has authority to heal a paralytic or he's shown to be a fraud.
And so Jesus says, hey, what is easier to say?
Your sins are forgiven or get up and walk?
The obvious answer is it's easier to say your sins are forgiven.
In verse 6, he drops the boom.
What Jesus is about to say is that it reveals he's been in control of this thing the whole time.
This is a messianic setup.
This is, he is on mission.
He's looking to get something done.
He says to these people, these scribes,
verse 6, but that you may know.
It's a purpose statement.
So that you know.
So that you know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins.
So that you know that what I just did actually resulted in his immediate and complete forgiveness.
Just so that you know that, that I have the authority for that.
Just so that you know.
He does what?
He turns to the paralytic and tells the paralytic,
get up and walk.
Go home.
Do you see what Jesus is doing?
Jesus is using the visible healing miracle to verify the invisible forgiveness miracle.
He's saying the harder thing to say is going to prove the easier thing to say that only God can do.
So, he says this to the paralytic.
And now we're all in suspense.
Because if the paralytic doesn't get up and walk away,
it reveals Jesus doesn't have authority to heal this guy of his paralysis.
And it points further to the fact that he's a sham.
That he doesn't have the authority to forgive sins.
Which really means that he is blaspheming.
Which should result then in dragging him out of the house, picking up stones, and killing him.
But if he does stand up and walk,
not only does that show that he has authority over the paralysis,
it starts to evidence, verify that his other claim to forgive sins is legit.
Which points to the fact that he's not blaspheming.
That he is the Son of Man.
He's God in the flesh.
And he can.
Forgive sins.
So what is the immediate result in verse 7?
And he rose and he went home.
The physical healing evidences the spiritual healing.
Jesus has authority to not only heal paralysis,
he has authority to forgive sins.
An authority only God possesses.
It shows him to be the Son of Man.
He's not blaspheming.
He's speaking authoritatively for God.
Because he is God.
God in the flesh.
Just think about it this way.
This paralytic who was carried into this house,
was carried in unable to walk,
and he leaves walking, right?
Miracle.
And this paralytic who was descended down before Jesus,
is called out by Jesus to rise up.
His sins had been forgiven.
It verifies who Jesus is claiming to be.
The Son of Man.
The crowds, they were afraid.
It's the Greek word phobia.
It's this kind of dread involved with this.
I mean, if you were there,
what you're seeing is an act of God forgiving this man.
Not just healing him.
They were astonished.
Dreadfully astonished.
And then they start glorifying God.
They start praising him for God to give such authority to men.
And not just any men.
This man.
And not just any man.
God with us man.
The Son of Man.
So why is this passage here?
Well, the demon defeater,
the storm pacifier,
he is also the sin forgiver.
And so what Matthew is helping us see here
is that Jesus has all authority to forgive sins.
And not just sins in Capernaum in the house.
In the first century.
He has authority to forgive sins today.
Here in this room.
And not just some of them.
All of them.
What I want you to see now is that
Jesus has the right to forgive all of your sins
because of who he is
and what he has done.
Let me just draw your gaze to that.
Who he is.
Jesus is the Son of Man.
Son of Man.
Billy started to explain this to us a couple weeks ago
that Son of Man is a title.
It's an authoritative title.
And it's Jesus' favorite title to refer to himself.
In the book of Matthew alone,
he references himself with Son of Man 30 times.
Titles communicate role.
I carry some titles.
I'm a husband.
I'm a father.
Jenny and I were at a dinner party this past Friday
and I was called the reverend.
Typically don't go by that.
I'm also assistant coach.
We're on my kids' teams.
Titles communicate roles.
You've got your own titles.
Packer fan?
The title that Jesus has right here
is this Son of Man.
It's a messianic title.
It's a title that belongs to the Christ.
Remember that the Gospel of Matthew
was written to a primarily Jewish audience.
And so in this house,
when Jesus starts talking about
the Son of Man,
I'm the Son of Man.
They're going to start thinking about something.
They're going to start thinking about
Daniel chapter 7,
verses 13 through 14.
Daniel is given a vision.
Let me just read it to you, okay?
I saw in the night visions,
and behold,
with the clouds of heaven,
there came one like a Son of Man.
Bing!
That's it.
Now listen to how this Son of Man is described.
And He came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before Him.
And to Him,
the Son of Man
was given dominion
and glory
and a kingdom
that all peoples,
nations,
and languages
should serve Him.
His dominion
is an everlasting dominion
which shall not pass away,
and His kingdom
one that shall not be destroyed.
It is indestructible.
Do you know who He's talking about?
Does this ring a bell?
Does this sound familiar?
Jesus is the Son of Man.
And so when Jesus says
that you may know
the Son of Man
has authority to forgive sins,
these scribes are thinking,
beep, beep, beep, beep,
Daniel 7, 13, 14,
beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
The Son of Man
is a title
that carries
kingdom authority.
This is the coming King.
So when the Jews
in the room
would hear Son of Man
and they're familiar
with the Old Testament,
they'd be thinking
that this guy
is saying something
about establishing
the Messianic kingdom.
And as the Son of Man,
He's not blaspheming.
Now, the spin
of the Gospels is this.
The surprising twist
is that the Son of Man
would establish His kingdom
not by military might,
nor by political maneuvering,
nor by financial clout,
but the Son of Man
would establish His kingdom
through a humble,
servant-hearted act
of self-sacrifice
on a cross.
Jesus is the Son of Man,
the all-authoritative King
who's got a heart
of a servant.
He's the Son of Man
and He is on a mission.
Jesus has the authority
to forgive sins
because of who He is.
He's the Son of Man.
Earlier in the book of Matthew,
we learn that Jesus is Emmanuel.
Matthew 1.
Joseph is freaking out
because his fiancée
is pregnant.
An angel of the Lord
comes to him
and basically says,
don't freak out, Joseph.
The child in your lady,
she was conceived
by the Holy Spirit.
And by the way,
you should name Him
Jesus.
Jesus,
in chapter 1,
verse 21,
gives the reason,
for He shall save His people
from their sins.
Do you know,
do you know what
the name Jesus means?
The name Jesus
is a Greek form
of a Hebrew name,
Joshua.
Yeshua.
And Yeshua
literally means
God saves.
He will save His people
from His sins.
It's in His name.
When He was born,
His name was His mission.
God saves.
God saves sinners,
His people,
from their sins.
And so here in Matthew 9,
we see Jesus
exercising His authority
over paralysis
to prove His authority
over sin.
He came to rescue
His people
from their sins.
He's on mission.
And just to make
something clear here,
this forgiveness business
in Matthew 9,
this,
take heart, my son,
your sins are forgiven,
this isn't kind of
a fringe benefit.
This isn't some kind
of incidental thing.
It's not an appetizer
to get out of the way
for the main course
of healing.
The main reason
why Jesus came
was to forgive sinners
of their sins.
His teaching,
preaching,
and healing
serve His mission
to save sinners.
So at the heart
of His kingdom's mission
is a rescue mission
to save sinners
from their sins.
He's got the authority,
He's got the ability,
and He's got the desire
to rescue sinners.
His authority
is that He's the Son of Man,
God in the flesh.
That's why He came.
He's the authority
to forgive sins
because of who He is.
He's God on a mission.
And that is a mission
that is being carried forth
even to today.
He's alive,
and He's at work.
It's who He is.
Now,
what has He done?
He has the authority
to forgive sins
because of who He is.
He's the Son of Man, right?
But,
on what basis
does He exercise
that authority?
If He has the authority
to say,
your sins are forgiven,
on what basis
does the sin,
is that sin forgiven?
How can it be forgiven?
Well,
in Matthew 1,
remember we learn
that in the name Jesus,
God saves.
Matthew 9,
we see Jesus in this house
forgiving the paralytic
of His sins.
And then in Matthew 20,
verse 28,
just before the triumphal entry,
Jesus says,
the Son of Man
came not to be served,
but to serve.
The Son of Man,
Daniel 7,
13-14,
came not to be served,
but to serve.
Serve.
In what way?
To give His life
as a ransom for many.
How is Jesus going to save?
By giving His life
as a ransom for many.
A ransom is a kind of a payment
to rescue someone
from captivity.
And what Jesus is saying is,
my life is going to be
a ransom payment
to rescue sinners
from their sins.
Now fast forward
to Matthew 27.
Jesus,
Emmanuel,
the Son of Man,
God saves,
in person,
cries out,
Eli, Eli,
Lame Sebek Tani,
my God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?
Three o'clock,
that first Good Friday afternoon,
darkness is all over the land.
And what is happening there
is Jesus
is bearing the wrath
of the Father
for all of the sins
of people
who would one day
believe in Him.
He's on mission.
The Son of Man
gave His life
as a ransom
for many.
And so He says,
my Father,
my God,
why have you forsaken me?
And then moments later,
He says one last thing.
He says,
it is finished.
John 19, 30.
Payment done.
Ransom paid.
And then He gives up His Spirit.
He gives His life
for you and for me.
If there is any question
about the effectiveness
of His death
on behalf of sinners
to forgive their sins,
three days later,
Jesus is raised from the dead.
And it's like this stamp
that says,
payment for sin
sin accepted.
So what we see,
what I'm trying to show you here
is that Jesus has the authority
to forgive sins
because He is the Son of Man
and that authority
is the authority
to apply the power
of the finished work
of the cross
to a sinner
so that they're
completely forgiven.
sin.
Acts 4.12 says,
and there is salvation
in no one else.
There's no other name
under heaven
given among men
by which we must be saved.
There's no other person.
No,
no other option.
None.
He is the only one
that can save us
from our sins.
He's the only one
that can forgive us
of our sins.
Jesus exercises
His authority
as the Son of Man
to apply the forgiving power
of the cross
to pardon sinners
and wipe clean
our slate.
this passage
points to
the authority
of Jesus
to forgive sins
and His authority
is grounded
in who He is
and what He's done.
What's interesting
is that
this paralytic
is forgiven
of His sin
for what Jesus
is about to do
and for us
living on this side
of the cross
we're forgiven
for our sins
based on what Jesus
has done.
We're forgiven
So what?
So Jesus is the Son of Man.
So He gave His life
as a ransom for many.
He's on mission.
So what?
Well, let me ask you this.
Do you have regrets
over past sins?
Are you ever lying
in bed at night
and it's those moments
where past thoughts,
past sins,
past hurts,
they find their way
into your mind
and you just sit there
dwelling on it?
Maybe you're watching
a TV show,
you hear a song
and it stirs something up
and it reminds you
of something that you did
in the past
that hurt a lot of people.
Do you have regrets?
regrets?
One of the things
that unites us
is our regrets.
We all have regrets
for past sins
but this morning
I want to ask you
do you have the right
kind of regret?
Do you regret
that your sins
are first and foremost
a crime
against the living God?
There's no question
that when we sin
it's usually against
other people
and we can hurt
other people
and that's sad.
That's hurtful.
But sin is always
an offense
against God.
He is the one
you have offended.
Do you remember
King David
in 2 Samuel 11?
He committed adultery
with Bathsheba
and then he murdered
her husband Uriah
to cover it up.
And he didn't
repent of that.
It wasn't until
2 Samuel 12
when the prophet Nathan
says you're the man
that David
feels
his regret
towards God.
He recognizes
that this
adultery
and this murder
were sins
against God
and so he
penned Psalm 51
as a result.
And in Psalm 51
4 David writes
against you
and you alone
have I sinned.
Did he sin
against Bathsheba?
Oh yeah.
Sin against Uriah?
For sure.
But what he's saying
is first and foremost
I've sinned
against the living God.
Does your regret
over your past sin
does it move
Godward?
Do you recognize
that you've sinned
against him?
When you start
when you start
to realize
that your sins
are against God
you're going to
start realizing
your need
for God
to forgive you.
If you don't realize
your sins
are against God
you're not going to
see a need
for forgiveness.
When God
helps you
to realize
that your crimes
are not just
against others
but against him
the Bible
calls that
a gracious
kind
work of God.
It's a work
of his spirit
convicting you
of your wrongs
against him.
Showing your need
for a savior.
Maybe you walked
into this building
and you're realizing
now for the first time
that the wrongs
you've done
they're not against
just people
they're against
God himself.
that's God's
kindness to you.
He's showing you
your need
for the only one
that can forgive you
of your sins.
And that's Jesus.
That's why he came.
He's the son of man.
He's the authority
to forgive all of your sins
because of who he is
and what he's done.
That's the gospel.
When we proclaim
the gospel
the good news
it's the good news
to sinners.
And it's the good news
that Jesus
is who he is
and he did
what he did
and he makes it
available to all.
So this morning
do you need
to be saved
from your sins?
Do you need
forgiveness?
Maybe you're coming
in here like that
paralytic
who is more aware
of his physical needs
than his spiritual needs.
needs.
This morning
maybe you need
to hear Jesus
say to you
take heart my child
your sins are forgiven.
the way to access that
is you just confess it.
You confess to Jesus
who is alive
who is raised from the dead.
You confess to him
your sins
need forgiving
and that he alone
provides forgiveness.
He has authority
to do that.
So you go to him
and you say
I confess Lord Jesus
I have sinned
against God
and I can only
be forgiven
through the blood
of Jesus
I'm trusting
that you are
going to forgive me
now as I come
to you.
If
when you come
to Jesus
in light of who he is
and what he's done
and you seek
forgiveness from him
for your sins
you can be assured
that he's forgiven
it all.
He paid it all.
He promised
to not just
pardon your crime
against God
but to wipe
clean your slate.
To clear your record
of wrongs
done against God.
Only God can do that.
Jesus has the authority
to do that
because he's God.
In Colossians 2
verses 13 and 14
we read this.
And you
who were dead
in your trespasses
and the uncircumcision
of your flesh
God made a lie
together with him
having forgiven us
all our trespasses
having forgiven us
all our trespasses
by canceling
the record of debt
that stood against us
with its legal demands
this he set aside
nailing to the cross.
If you come to Jesus
and ask him forgiveness
take heart
child
your sins
all of them
are forgiven.
I'm just going to
press into one
more thing here.
If you're a follower
of Jesus
and you have some
deep-seated regrets
over past sins
so much so
that you fear
that you're afraid
you're afraid
you ask a question
like this
well I'm
I'm pretty confident
God forgives
these sins
but this sin
this
secret sin
this
sin
at the very
back of the closet
if you're asking
that question
I want you to ask
this question
with it
did Jesus
ransom payment
on the cross
cover that too?
Have you murdered
someone?
I'm not joking
Maybe you've
aborted a baby
Maybe you were
part of aborting
a baby
Maybe you actually
took
an adult's life
Does the ransom
payment of Jesus
cover that?
Yes
Adultery?
Yes
God forgave
David
both his adultery
and his murder
Racism?
Yes
Homosexuality?
Yes
Pornography?
Yes
Drug addiction?
Yes
Stealing from
your family?
Yes
Stealing from
others?
Yes
Jesus pays
it all
Drunkenness?
Jesus pays
that too
Self-righteousness?
Jesus pays
for that on the cross
Pride?
Jesus paid
for that
Gossip?
He paid
for that too
Being harsh
with your kids?
He pays
for that
Anger?
He pays
for that
Every
sin
poured
out
on
Christ
in
full
on the cross
All of it
He paid
it all
Even
the stubborn
ones
that you
wonder about
He paid
for those
too
His
finished work
on the cross
has been
applied to
that
His grace
is amazing
If that's
you
listen
to Jesus
Take
heart
my child
Your sins
are forgiven
When we were
singing earlier
I jotted
these words
down
Rely
thee
on
His
precious
blood
Don't
fear
your
banishment
from
God
There
is
therefore
now
no
condemnation
for those
who are
in
Christ
Jesus
As a
church
His
mission
is our
mission
The
primary
reason
why
Jesus
came
was to
save
sinners
from
their
sins
Do you
know
how many
people
if you do
a half
mile
radius
sweep
of this
building
right now
do you
know
how many
people
are dead
in their
sins
We have
got the
message
that when
spoken
and believed
provides
full forgiveness
because it's
based
on the
authority
of the
Son of
Man
who
He
is
and what
He's
done
This
message
is called
the
gospel
and we're
going to
proclaim
the gospel
in this
city
in a
variety
of
ways
and when
people
respond
in faith
we're
going to
do our
best
to make
them
into
disciples
of
Jesus
those
who
follow
Him
and all
that
He
commands
that's
our
mission
His
mission
is
our
mission
which
means
this
your
neighborhood
that's
your
mission
field
your
apartment
complex
God's
put you
there
let them
know of
the forgiveness
God offers
in Christ
we've got
a new
president
we're
praying
for him
he's been
given
authority
to make
decisions
for the
good of
our
country
he can
forgive
federal
criminals
but he
can't
save
you
from
your
sins
against
God
no
man
can
only
the
son
of
man
can
Jesus
can
forgive
to the
uttermost
the crimes
that you
have
committed
against
him
he
has
authority
to
forgive
sins
he's
paid
for
it
all
let's
pray
God
we do
ask
that
today
would
be
the
day
of
salvation
for
people
who
come
into
this
building
and
they
did
not
know
that
they
were
sinning
against
you
and
that
you
provided
for
them
full
forgiveness
in the
finished
work
of
Jesus
God
would
you
do
a
work
now
that
only
you
can
do
for
the
glory
of
your
name
the
building
of
your
church
and
the
spreading
of
your
fame
among
the
nations
it's
in
your
name
we
pray
amen