First Forgiveness, Then Healing

First Forgiveness, Then Healing

(No. 2417)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, JUNE 16, 1895.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 2,
1887.

"When He saw their faith, He said to him, Man, your sins are forgiven
you." Luke 5:20.

I HAVE read to you the narrative of the healing of the man taken with
the palsy and many of you remember that, last Sabbath evening, I
preached upon the Pharisees and the doctors of the Law who were
"sitting by" [Sermon #1991, Volume 33–"Sitting By"] I tried to
represent the position of many in our congregations who are just
"sitting by." I preached to the outsiders of the congregation on the
divers reasons which led to this, "sitting by." I must confess that I
did not reckon on so large a blessing as I have already seen as the
result of that sermon. When I came here on Monday afternoon, that being
Whit-Monday, when everybody is supposed to take a holiday, I was
surprised, on my arrival at about three o'clock, by a friend running up
to me and saying, "We are glad you have come, Sir, for there is already
a room full." There is quite a nice number of friends who have come
forward from the congregation and who, one after another have said, "We
cannot be sitting by any longer. We feel that we cannot remain among
the sitters-by, but that we must come in and partake of the Gospel
feast and join ourselves with the disciples of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ."

This blessed result of my sermon has set the bells of my heart ringing
all the week and I have felt deeply thankful to God for it. I said to
myself that as I had taken one arrow, which had sped so well, out of
that quiver, I would take another! Having spoken to those who are
"sitting by," I think I will now speak to those who are not sitting by,
but who, indeed, are the principal persons in the congregation, namely,
those who are sick and sorry and who need the Savior. For this palsied
man who was let down by ropes through the ceiling was the most
remarkable person in that congregation! We may readily forget those
Pharisees and learned legal gentlemen, but we can never forget this man
to whom, as soon as ever they "let him down through the tiling with his
couch into the midst before Jesus," the Savior said, "Man, your sins
are forgiven you." I trust that, at this time, there are some present
in this audience who are not sitting by, but who are already praying,
"God be merciful to me!" Some whose prayers are rising to Heaven in
accents like these, "Lord, help me!" "Lord, save, or I perish!"

You are the principal persons in the congregation, both to the preacher
and to the preacher's Master! He cares more about you and about what
shall take place in you, than about any of the Pharisees or doctors of
the Law who may be sitting by. God is glorified in scattering His
miracles of mercy where there is the greatest need of them. Our Lord
Jesus, when the poor man was let down by his four friends through the
ceiling, said to him at once, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."
Matthew puts our Savior's words thus, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins
are forgiven you," while Mark's record is, "Son, your sins are forgiven
you." Well, Jesus may have uttered all of these words and all the
different versions of the story may be correct, for it is not every
man's ear that catches the whole of every sentence that is spoken, and
we may be glad that there are three Evangelists who have recorded what
the Savior said. There is no real difference in the sense–and the
difference in the words may only show that Jesus said all three
sentences.

I am going, on this occasion, to talk a little about this man, first,
before his forgiveness. Next, a little more about his forgiveness,
itself. And then a little about what followed after his forgiveness.

I. First, then, let us think of this man BEFORE HIS FORGIVENESS.

We are not told much about him. If I indulge in imagination a little,
you will take it for what it is worth. This man, it seems to me, first,
had faith which went out towards the Lord Jesus. Evidently, as I read
the narrative, he had been suddenly paralyzed. This affliction usually
comes up all of a sudden–men who have been about their business as
actively as usual have been, in a moment, struck down with paralysis.
This man appears to have been completely paralyzed, so as to have been
unable to move and, as he lay in that helpless state, he heard that
Jesus of Nazareth had come to the city– and he believed that Jesus of
Nazareth was able to heal even him. It does not strike me that his
friends would have brought him to Christ unless he requested it. The
most rational explanation of the whole proceeding seems to me to be
this–he believed in Jesus as able to heal him and he continued to cry
out earnestly–and to pray that he might, somehow or other, be taken
into Christ's Presence. He could not stir hand or foot, but he had
friends–and he begged those friends to take him to Jesus.

Well now, there never was a soul, yet, that had faith in Christ but
what Christ revealed Himself more fully in the way of love to that
soul! If you know that you can not save yourself. If you believe that
Christ can save you and if your one anxiety is to be laid at His feet
that He may look upon you, and save you, He will assuredly accept you.
"Him that comes to Me," He says, "I will in no wise cast out." Whether
he comes running, or walking, or creeping, or borne of four, so long as
he comes, Christ will accept him! And if his faith is but as a grain of
mustard seed, our Lord Jesus will not let it die! If there is but a
smoldering faith, He will not quench the smoking flax. Do you believe
this? If you do, let it cheer you and comfort you. There is already
something that is well with your soul! It was better to be paralyzed
and to have faith in Christ than to be walking upright like the
Pharisees and lawyers who had no faith in Him! The apparent
wretchedness of your condition is not the real wretchedness of it–it
may even turn out to be the blessedness and the hopefulness of it! If
you believe in Jesus, I care not how far you have fallen, or how great
is your inability–if you believe in Jesus, you are brought into
contact with Omnipotence and that Omnipotence will heal you!

This man, I believe, further thought that Christ could heal him, but he
began to feel his great sinfulness. I am certain that he did because
Jesus never forgives where there is no repentance. There was never yet
the flat, "Your sins are forgiven you," until, first, there was a
consciousness of sin and a confession of sin. "If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness." This man, lying there paralyzed, wept at the
thought of his past life, his omissions and his commissions, his
falling short and his transgressions! His heart was heavy within him.
He seemed to say to his friends, "Get me, somehow, to the great
Prophet! Get me within sight of this wonderful Savior! Oh, get me
within a touch of Him, that I may be restored, that I may have this
great load which presses me down so sorely, taken off my heart! Worse
to me, even, than the paralysis is this awful sense of sin. Take me,
oh, take me into the Presence of this Messiah, this Son of David, that
He may have mercy upon me!" That I conceive to have been his condition
before the Word of Pardon was spoken to him.

Next, being hopeful, himself, he inspired those about him with hope. Of
course they would not have taken him to Christ if they had not had some
sort of belief that, possibly, he might be healed. It is wonderful what
sick people can do even when they can do nothing–how, when they seem
to be utterly powerless–they find a strength in feebleness. Their very
helplessness seems to be a plea where there is anything of generosity
left in the heart of those who are near them. So this man pleaded, "I
believe Jesus will heal me. I believe He will have mercy upon me–get
me to Him, do get me to

Him!"

They resolved to do it if they could and he was willing to be carried
to Christ. Four stout stalwart men said, "Yes, we will get you to Him,
somehow, though it is a difficult task, for the house is small, the
room is crowded and there is sure to be a press about the door." "But,"
said the poor man, "oh, try to do it, for it is my only hope. If I
could but get where Jesus could see me, He would look on me and save
me. Oh, get me to Him, get me to Him!" The palsied man would make no
dispute about how it was to be done, so they carried him to the door of
the house. And then they said to the people crowding around, "Make way
for this poor palsied man," and he would say, "I pray you, friends and
neighbors, make way." But they would not. Perhaps they, too, had their
friends who needed to be healed, or they, themselves, had an anxiety to
hear the great Teacher, so they pushed and pressed to get as near Him
as they could. You see, those quibbling Pharisees and doctors of the
Law had got in, first, and they blocked up the road. They are always in
a poor sinner's way! What must be done? The poor man's bearers would
have abandoned the task, I think, but he said, "No, do not give up
trying to get me in! It is my only hope. Oh, get me to Him! Get me near
Him!"

So, next, the man was willing to be lowered into the Presence of
Christ. There was no other way but to go up those stairs outside the
house and to take him to the roof. And he, not fearing as many would
have done, said, "Yes, break it up and let me down." These four men,
belonging to a fishing town, were adept in the use of ropes and they
soon had their tackle ready and broke a way through the roof. As I told
you in the reading [See "Exposition" at end of sermon–Ed.] I always
feel pleased at the idea of the dust and the debris of the roof coming
down upon the heads of the Pharisees and doctors of the Law! It always
delights me to think that those gentlemen would have dust on their
heads, for once, and since they were there, they were bound to have a
little of it. Of course, when these gentlemen come to a place of
worship, one feels bound to be respectful to them, but if they come at
an untimely hour when there is any rough work going on, one does not
feel any particular regret! If, when souls are being saved, these
gentlemen should have their corns trodden upon, we do not even ask
their pardon or make any apology! Such a work as Christ had to do could
not stand still for the sake of reverence to the learned doctors of the
Law! so the roof was broken up and this man, though paralyzed, was not
afraid to be let down. It is probable that there were no outcries from
him when they began to let him down. I think, if it had been my case, I
might have been afraid that one rope would go a little faster than the
other. But no, the man keeps still in his mingled paralysis and courage
till down drops the pallet just before the Savior!

There he lies upon his mattress, on the floor of the house, just before
the Savior's eyes, exactly where he wanted to be. Here I address myself
to some who would give all that they have if they could but be brought
under the eyes of Jesus. The one thought of such a sufferer is, "Oh,
that I could be near Him! Oh, that I could be near Him! Oh, that He
would look on me, cure my helplessness and pardon my sin!" What a
wonderful picture this scene would make! The crowd is obliged to make
way or else they will have to bear the man and his bed on their
heads–so he is dropped down into their midst– and there he lies. The
great Preacher has been preaching, but He stops. This is an
interruption which is, indeed, no interruption to Him! His discourse is
but broken off for a minute, to be illustrated with engravings, that
men may see, in later years, that what they have heard is but the
letter-press and that the miracle which is now to be worked shall be
the engraving which shall convey the Teacher's wonderful meaning to all
eyes! So the poor palsied man lies there before the Savior.

Is that where you desire to lie, dear Friend? In your deadly sorrow,
sin and weakness, do you wish to lie at the Savior's feet? That is
where I want you to lie and if you will to lie there, that is where you
do lie. The Lord Jesus is in the midst of us, tonight, and you can at
once cast yourself down before Him. Do so! Tell Him about your
paralysis. Tell Him how sick you are, how sinful you are. No, you need
not speak so that I can hear you–His ears will hear the whisper of
your soul. Your heartbeats will be vocal to His heart and He will note
all you say or feel in your inmost soul. Just lie before Jesus and as
you lie there, what are you to do? This man did not speak a word, but,
as I believe, he lay there repenting that ever he should have lived as
he had done, mourning that he should have wasted his life and misspent
his time. I think, too, that he lay there believing, looking at that
wondrous Man and believing that all power was in Him, and that He had
only to speak the word and the sinner would be, at once, forgiven! So
he lay there, in the Presence of Jesus, hoping and expecting
forgiveness and healing.

II. Now, in the second place, we are to consider THE FORGIVENESS
ITSELF.

This poor paralyzed man had not lain there long before the blessed
Master broke the silence and said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven
you." I think that the four men up on the roof, looking down to see
what would happen to their friend, would hardly understand what that
sentence meant! They had brought him to Jesus because he was paralyzed,
but he had wanted to come, first of all, because he was a sinner! He
desired to have his paralysis cured, but secretly, in his soul, there
was another matter which they might not have understood if he had tried
to explain it to them. It was his sin that was his heaviest burden! And
the Savior, the great Reader of Thoughts, knew all about that sin, so
He did not, first, say to him, "Rise up and walk," but He began by
saying, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."

Observe that the pardon of sin came in a single sentence. He spoke and
it was done. Jesus said "Man, your sins are forgiven you," and they
were forgiven him! Christ's voice had such almighty power about it that
He needed not to utter many words. There was no long lesson for the
poor man to repeat. There was no intricate problem for him to work out
in his mind. The Master said all that was required in that one
sentence, "Your sins are forgiven you." The burden of a sinner does not
need two ticks of the clock for it to be removed–swifter than the
lightning's flash is that verdict of absolution which comes from the
eternal lips when the sinner lies hoping, believing, repenting at the
feet of Jesus! It was a single sentence which declared that the man was
forgiven!

Next, remember, that it was a sentence from One who was authorized to
absolve. He was sent by the Father on purpose to forgive sin–and do
not imagine that He has now lost His authorization to forgive–for, "He
has God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to
give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Jesus is appointed
as High Priest on purpose that He may stand on God's behalf and declare
the remission of sin. What Jesus said was spoken with Divine Authority.
It is vain for a priest to say to a sinner, "I absolve you." What can
he do in such a case? He, or any other man who does not call himself a
priest, may speak in his Master's name, and say to the penitent, "If
you do sincerely repent, if you truly believe, I know you are absolved
and I comfort you with the assurance of this absolution." So far, so
good–but the Master, alone, can really give the absolution–it must
come from Him who has power upon earth to forgive sins!

Now, my Hearer, have you never been forgiven? Are you in your pew and
yet lying at that dear Master's feet–and do you desire above all
things that He should say to you, "Your sins are forgiven you"? And do
you believe that He can say it? And will you accept it from Him as
being by Divine Authority? If so, I think He says it to you, for in His
own Word He declares that they who believe in Him are forgiven. He says
to each one of those who are penitent and believe in His Grace, "Your
sins are forgiven you." Take the absolution and go your way! Do as
Martin Luther did, in the days of his dark distress, when a brother
monk said to him, "Do you not believe in the Creed, and do you not say,
'I believe in the forgiveness of sins'? Now believe in the forgiveness
of sins for yourself." Trust Christ's Word and you will be believing
what is absolutely true! Trust it, take the comfort of it, and go your
way! It is thus that Jesus Christ, by the preaching of the Gospel, and
by the revealed Word of God, says authoritatively to each penitent,
"Man, your sins are forgiven you."

Further, observe that this sentence, although it was but one, and was
so short, yet was wonderfully comprehensive– "Man, your sins are
forgiven you." Not one sin alone, nor many sins, but all your sins are
forgiven you. When you go into particulars, you are apt to leave
something out, therefore the declaration is made all-inclusive, there
are no particulars given. "Your sins are forgiven you." Sins against
the holy God? Sins against a righteous Law? Sins against the Gospel?
Sins against the light of nature? Sins of this and sins of that kind?
No, there is no enumeration. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanses us from all sin." "Man, your sins are forgiven you." Murder,
adultery, theft, fornication, blasphemy? Yes, in a word, "all manner of
sin and of blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men." "Man, your sins are
forgiven you." What a far-reaching pardon it is! "Your sins are
forgiven you." At one sudden sweep of the Divine wave of mercy, they
are all washed away! There is no such thing as a half-pardon of sin. I
heard someone talking, the other day, about original sin being
forgiven, but the other sins left. But sin is a whole–it goes or it
stays altogether–it cannot be broken up into pieces! It is all there
or it is not there at all–and it is not there if you believe in Jesus!
This blessed and comprehensive sentence sets free from every jot and
taint and stain of guilt–"Man, your sins are forgiven you."

Observe, also, that this sentence contained no conditions–and the
blessed Gospel, speaking to every repenting and believing sinner, gives
him absolute forgiveness. Behold, the tally is destroyed, the record of
your debt is nailed to the Cross! And as for your sins, they are like
the Egyptians when the Red Sea swallowed them up–the depths have
covered them–there is not one of them left, however great or many they
may have been. If you are now a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, He
says to you now by His Word, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." I pray
the blessed Master, by His Holy Spirit, to make His Word come home to
many here with power. Oh, that those dear lips, which are as lilies
dropping sweet-smelling myrrh, did themselves speak to you! Oh, that
those wounds of His which are mouths that preach pardon to sinners,
might speak to you and say, "Your sins are forgiven you"! There is no
mouth that speaks pardon like that gash in His side out of which His
very heart speaks as He says, "I have loved you, and given Myself to
death for you. Your sins I have borne on the tree and put them away
once and for all. Man, your sins are forgiven you." Oh, that Jesus
Himself might thus speak effectually to many of you!

But note that this sentence sufficed the receiver. When the Savior
afterwards raised this palsied man to health and strength, He did not
do it to let the man know that his sins were forgiven. The man knew
that, already, and did not need any more evidence of it. But Jesus did
it for another reason. To the scribes and Pharisees He said, "That you
may know that the Son of Man has power upon earth to forgive sins, (He
said unto the sick of the palsy), I say unto you, Arise, and take up
your couch, and go into your house." Those unbelieving men had not
evidence enough that Christ could forgive, but he to whom Christ spoke
needed no further proof than the power of that voice in his own
conscience! And if He shall speak to you, my Hearer, you will not need
any books about the evidences of Scripture, the proofs of Inspiration
and so on, to you–this indisputable miracle of pardoned sin shall
stand forever as a holy memorial of God's mighty Grace! It shall be
unto you for a sign, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off,
that God has pardoned you and spoken peace to your soul–and this God
shall be your God forever and ever! To every soul that is in a similar
case as that of the poor palsied man lying repenting and believing at
the feet of Jesus, His Word gives the comfortable assurance, "Believe,
and your sins, which are many, are all forgiven you." Believe it and go
your way in peace!

III. Now I close by noticing, thirdly, what followed AFTER THIS MAN'S
FORGIVENESS.

He was absolutely, irreversibly, eternally forgiven, for, "the gifts
and calling of God are without repentance." He never plays fast and
loose with men. He never issues a pardon from His Throne and afterwards
executes the pardoned sinner! His pardon covers all that may come
afterwards as well as all that has gone before. But what happened to
this man?

I believe that, first, there was an inward peace that stole over his
soul. If you could have looked into the face of that palsied man, while
still palsied and lying there in that hammock, you would have seen a
wonderful transformation! Did you ever see a face transfigured? If you
are a soul-winner, you have often seen it. All human faces are not
beautiful–some are absolutely repulsive! The countenances of some who
have lived long in sin are dreadful to look upon. Yet I have noticed
faces that at first I could scarcely endure, when the persons have been
gently led to the Savior, and they have perceived the love of God to
them and have at last believed, and felt within their soul the kiss of
peace, why, they have looked positively beautiful!

I should have liked to have had them photographed, only it was too
sacred a thing. Speak of physiognomies–the Grace of God is such an
eternal beautifier that the face from which you would have turned away
in disgust and said, "There can be no good thing behind that
countenance"–is absolutely changed by the Lord's mighty working! I say
not that a single feature may be altered–the person may be the same in
feature, but, oh, what a marvelous difference there is in the
expression of the whole contour of the countenance when Free Grace and
dying love have cast their magic spell over the spirit and the Holy
Spirit has made the dead to live, and the person has been born again in
Christ Jesus! Well, that change took place in this man's mind, I am
sure it did, when Jesus said to him, "Your sins are forgiven you." He
was in no hurry to be raised from his palsied state! He does not appear
to have said a word and those scribes and Pharisees looked on with
their malevolent countenances, but they did not frighten him–he lay
quite still and was in no hurry, even, for the Master's next blessing.
It would come in due time, he knew it would, and he was of good cheer,
for had not Jesus said to him, "Be of good cheer, your sins be forgiven
you"?

But next followed the man's immediate cure. The Master said to him,
"Arise, and take up your couch, and go into your house." Our blessed
Master was accustomed to preach the Gospel in a way which I have heard
some friends greatly question. They tell us that we ought not to bid
men to believe and repent because they cannot. There are two parties on
opposite sides of this question–one says, "If you tell a man to
believe and repent, that proves that he can," which I do not believe.
And others say, "If they cannot repent, you ought not to exhort them to
do so," which I also do not believe! Though I know them to be as
helpless as that poor palsied man, unable to lift hand or foot, yet in
the Master's name we say, as the Master was known to say, "Rise, take
up your bed, and walk." "Oh," says one, "I could not say that to an
un-regenerate man." Do not do it, Brother, if you cannot do it. Go home
and go to bed–what is the use of you for such work? The man who can
speak miracles is the one who is needed and the man who can speak as
his Master has bid him speak!

Surely, the faith does not lie in believing that the man can, himself,
do what he is told to do! The faith lies in believing that Christ can
do it and, therefore, speaking in Christ's name, we say to the sinner
just as the Lord Jesus did to the man with the withered hand, "Stretch
forth your hand," and he does so. Look at Ezekiel speaking to the dry
bones in the valley. Ezekiel, do you believe that these dry bones can
live? "Not I," he says, "I know that they are dead." The Lord says to
him, "Ezekiel, prophesy to these dry bones!" How can he do it? It would
be inconsistent with what he just said! "I have nothing to do with
that," he says, "I was sent by the Lord to do it and I do it in the
name of God." That which may seem perfectly inconsistent with your
reason is quite consistent when faith brings in the supernatural
element with which God moves those to whom He gives the commission to
preach the Gospel in His name!

The Savior said to this man, "Arise, take up your couch, and go into
your house." Now observe his precise obedience. "Immediately he rose up
before them all." The tendency of a paralyzed person is to be paralyzed
in will. There are some persons, no doubt, who have ailments that can
easily be cured if they believe they can be cured because there is not
much the matter with them, after all. But this man was completely
paralyzed, yet he so fully believed in Christ that up he rose and stood
before the Master! Then Jesus said, "Take up your couch." I think I see
him undo those four ropes and quickly shoulder his mattress. "Walk,"
says the Master, and he walks! "Go into your house," says the Master.
He might have stopped and said, "No, Lord, let me stay and hear the
sermon out," but no, not a word did he say about it, but off he went to
his own house!

Oh, that all were as obedient to Christ as this man was, that, having
the simplicity of faith, they would render the fullest obedience! But
thus it often is that the very chief of sinners, when pardon is given
to them, have given to them, at the same time, a tender conscience, a
willing mind, a yielding spirit. "Whatever He says to you, do it," said
the virgin mother to the servants at Cana of Galilee–and that is good
advice for you! If Christ has healed you, obey Him! Obey Him at once,
obey Him exactly, obey Him in everything, be it little, or be it great!
If some say it is nonessential, remember that what is not essential to
salvation may be essential to obedience! Do it if Jesus commanded it!
Do it whether it appears to you to be essential or not! That is not a
question for you to ask–that is a heartless, loveless question. He has
healed you, do what He bids you, as He bids you, when He bids you–and
raise no question about it. Take up your bed and go into your house, if
so He bids you. Or, if He puts it to you, "He that believes and is
baptized shall be saved," believe and be baptized. Be obedient unto Him
who deserves to be obeyed!

Now, lastly, this man, it is said, "immediately rose up before them,
and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house
glorifying God." I think I hear what he said. "Glory!" he cried, "Glory
be to God!" He felt so glad, so happy, that he took up his bed before
them all and, as he walked along, he glorified God. And would you not
have done the same if you had been paralyzed and had been restored as
he had been? And will you not do so? If you have been sin-bound and
Christ has set you free, surely you will take the earliest opportunity
of telling others what Jesus has done for you and seek to glorify His
name! I did not wonder when a Brother lately said to me, "I have been
spending all the morning in the workshop telling the men that I have
found the Savior." And one, last Sunday, turned to his wife in this
Tabernacle and said, "I am saved!" She said to him, "Don't disturb the
worship," but I almost wish he had done so! What a mercy it is to be
saved! Salvation puts a new sun in our sky and a new joy in our hearts!
Believe on Jesus and this salvation is yours! God grant that it may be,
for His dear Son's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: LUKE512-26.

Verse 12. And it came to pass, when He was in a certain city, behold a
man full of leprosy. As far gone with leprosy as he could
be–thoroughly tainted and eaten up with that loathsome disease.

12. Who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought Him, saying, Lord,
if You will, You can make me clean. He felt that the difficulty lay in
the will of Christ, not in His power. No other teacher would have
looked at such a man! Everybody shrank from him, for he scattered
defilement wherever he moved. A leper was a being from whom all kept
clear, so this one was afraid that the great Teacher was not willing to
cure him. "If You will," he said, "You can–I know that You can make me
clean."

13. And He put forth His hand, and touched him. This was a wonderful
instance of condescending love on the part of the Lord Jesus and
touching the leper did not defile Him. On the contrary, Christ removed
the defilement from the leper–"He touched him,"

13. Saying, I will: be you clean. It was the will of Christ that worked
the miracle, that secret movement of the heart of Christ, that silent
Omnipotent going forth of Divine Energy that accomplished the leper's
cure!

13. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. Christ can heal sin
in the same way that He cured this leper. If He touches the worst man
in this place, He can make sin to depart from him the moment He touches
him. It does not require years in order to perfect the work of
salvation–it can be done in a moment! Such is the wonder-working power
of Christ–"immediately the leprosy departed from him."

14. And He charged him to tell no man: but go, and show yourself to the
priest, and offer for your cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for
a testimony unto them. Our blessed Master did not court fame. He did
not wish to make Himself notorious–the crowds that flocked around Him
were inconvenient to Him, so He did not wish to have them increased.
There was danger in such crowding and Jesus was wise in His generation,
so He charged the healed leper to tell no man, but to show himself to
the priest and to present the offering required under the Law.

15. But so much the more there went fame abroad of Him. Fame is like
fire. If you heap anything on it to prevent it from spreading, it often
acts as fuel to the flame! So, the very effort to hide the light of
Christ's power made it spread all the more widely.

15. And great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by Him
of their infirmities. I wish that all congregations would come together
from the same motives–to hear and to be healed by Christ! What is your
disease, my Hearer? What ails your soul? What is the mischief in your
spirit? What is the malady in your heart? Jesus can heal you! Oh, that
you would at once seek to be healed by Him!

16. And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness and prayed. Just when
there were such grand opportunities of doing good, just when everybody
sought Him, does He go away from them into the wilderness to pray? Yes,
because He felt what we ought to feel but often do not, that He needed
fresh power, that as the servant of God He must wait upon God for fresh
power for His great life-work. "He withdrew Himself into the wilderness
and prayed." No doubt it was the constant habit of Christ to pray, but
there were certain special times when He retired into lonely places and
His prayer was peculiarly fervent and prolonged.

17. And it came to pass on a certain day, as He was teaching, that
there were Pharisees and doctors of the Law sitting by, which were come
out of every town of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem: and the power
of the Lord was present to heal them. The word, "them," scarcely gives
the right sense of the original. It should be, "the power of the Lord
was present to heal." Jesus did not heal the Pharisees and doctors of
the Law, but He healed many of the congregation. Now, how do you
account for this power present to heal? Why, by that wilderness
prayer–"He withdrew Himself into the wilderness, and prayed," and
afterward, in a very high and remarkable manner, "the power of the Lord
was present to heal." And when the power to heal was present, the
patient to be healed was very soon present, too!

18. 19. And behold, men brought on a bed a man which was taken with a
palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before
Him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in
because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop and let him down
through the tiling, with his couch, into the midst before Jesus. There
appears to have been, according to Mark, some breaking up of the
material that formed the roof of the house where Christ was. It was not
altogether such an easy matter as some have imagined, to let this poor
palsied man down into the Presence of Jesus. And if some of the dust
from the roof fell down upon the Pharisees and doctors of the Law who
were sitting by, it would only be what they were accustomed to throw
into other people's eyes!

20. And when He saw their faith, He said unto him, Man, your sins are
forgiven you. Christ has eyes with which He can see faith. You and I
cannot see it, but He can–"When He saw their faith, He said unto him,
Man, your sins are forgiven you." This was going to the very root of
his disease. Jesus knew what really ailed the man–he was palsied in
spirit as well as in body–and Christ removed the root of his disease
by forgiving his sin.

21. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason. The gentlemen I
alluded to, just now, began to reason. It was just like them–instead
of beginning to praise God, they "began to reason"–

22. Saying, Who is this, which speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive
sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He,
answering, said unto them, What reason you in your hearts? See, Jesus
can perceive thoughts! I have heard of "thought-reading"–here is a
true specimen of it–"Jesus perceived their thoughts and said unto
them, What reason you in your hearts?"

23. Which is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven you; or to say,
Rise up and walk? Anyone can say, "Your sins are forgiven you," or,
"Rise up and walk." But to forgive sins, or to give the power to rise
up and walk, equally needs God! If God is present and can make the
palsied man arise and walk, He is also able to forgive his sins.

24-26. But that you may know that the Son of Man has power upon earth
to forgive sins, (He said unto the sick of the palsy), I say unto you,
Arise, and take up you couch, and go into your house. And immediately
he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed
to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they
glorified God, and were filled with fear. With awe, and reverence. They
felt that God had come very near to them and they, perhaps, said, like
Jacob of old, when he was afraid, "How dreadful is this place! This is
none other than the House of God, and this is the gate of Heaven." They
were filled with fear–

26. Saying, We have seen strange things today. Oh, that we might see
such "strange things" in this house, tonight, and whenever we meet to
worship God!