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Newington Three Angels Church

Eric Walsh

Right Arm of the Gospel

Our scripture reading will be taken from the book of Luke, the fifth chapter.

Luke 5 and verse 31 says, "'And Jesus answering said unto them, "'They that are whole need not a physician, "'but they that are sick.

"'I came not to call the righteous, "'but sinners to repentance.

"'I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Our sermon this Sabbath is entitled, Evangelism and the Right Arm of the Gospel.

Evangelism and the Right Arm of the Gospel.

Father God, we thank you for this, your Holy Sabbath day.

We thank you for all you do for us, Lord, and all your mercies and your blessings.

Ask once again, Lord, that you just make me a nail upon the wall, a rusty, sorry nail, Lord.

Upon that nail, Lord, I ask that you hang a portrait of Jesus Christ.

Father God, we wanna hear a word from the throne room of grace.

As our prayer in Jesus' precious and holy name, amen.

Luke chapter 5 and verse 17 is where we will start.

Luke 5 and verse 17, the Bible says, 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 will come out of every town of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem.

The power of the Lord was present to heal them.

As we enter this story of Jesus, it speaks to the fact that people had come from all over.

In fact, there were spies in the midst of these crowds looking for reason to chastise and punish Christ.

The Bible says that the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

Verse 18, and behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy.

They sought means to bring him in and to lay him before him.

You introduce 1 of the key characters of this story as a man laying on a bed.

He has no ability to move himself, and so someone else has to carry him.

He has gone to the religious leaders before, hoping for a word of encouragement or a miracle from God and has only been given words of rebuke and chastisement.

The fact that the scripture says he was taken with a palsy speaks to the fact that something happened to cause this, some kind of accident that he may have been responsible for.

And as his friends, can you imagine as he's sitting in his house, unable to move, without the modern technology of wheelchairs of today or even the automated electric wheelchairs of today, he was laying there, hoping beyond hope that something would happen.

And can you imagine when he heard about Jesus?

When he heard that there was a man who could open the eyes of the blind, that could open the ears of the deaf, a man who could cast demons out of people and heal the sick.

Hope swelled up in him, but this man had no power to seek Jesus on his own, and he recruited and enlisted the help of 4 of his friends.

Verse 19, the house was so crowded that verse 19 says, 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.

And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

His friends, can you imagine how difficult this would have been?

They would have had to find a way to get on top of the house and carry a man at the same time.

They'd have to assume that they used some sort of ladder or maybe they put something and stepped up on it.

But either way, it took some coordination, it took some time, it took faith and action combined for them to get him on the roof.

Because getting him on the roof was only the beginning, the layers of the house, those roofs were made in layers, they had to peel back layers in order to open up a hole in the house.

And as they do this, you can imagine, as they begin, either through his sheets or some ropes, they begin to let him down into this completely full house where Jesus is teaching.

Can You imagine the shock as the roof of the house opens up and this couch begins to come down.

Jesus says, when he saw their faith, he said, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, who is this which speaks blasphemies?

So they say, listen, wait a minute, Jesus is saying he can forgive the man's sins?

Remember, there were spies sent to trap Jesus.

But Jesus, He's able to read their thoughts.

Not only, you know, you have to wonder how they don't catch on to the divinity of Christ, because not only is He able to make the statement He makes, but He reads their thoughts.

And in verse 22, but when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered and said unto them, what reason ye in your hearts?

Why are you talking behind my back in your mind?

Then Jesus says, whether it is easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say rise up and walk.

In this text, Luke chapter 5 and Verse 23, in this text, the intersection of the health message and the message of salvation are shown to intersect.

You see the purpose, I'll jump right into the thesis here.

The purpose of our health message isn't simply to help people walk again.

It isn't just to restore physical health and give them even longer years of life.

The purpose of our health message is to introduce them to the great physician who can not only give them vigor of life now, but he is able to forgive their sins and offer an opportunity at eternal life.

Our health message is tied to evangelism, tied to the third angel's message.

It is tied because it is critical for men to understand that the choices we make on a daily basis are connected to eternity.

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 thee arise, take up your couch and go into your house.

He said, listen, since you don't believe or you think it's blasphemy for me to forgive sin, I tell you what, let me just speak to the situation." And he turns to the man and says, get up, pick up your couch, and go home.

In other words, he's saying to the scribes, the Pharisees, the spies that are around him.

Not only can I say your sins are forgiven because I am divine, let me show you that when I say his sins are forgiven, I can liberate him physically as well?

Verse 25, and immediately he rose up before them and took up that whereon he lay and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

He was lowered down to the roof, And I would imagine he skipped and jumped as he walked out of that house having full function of his entire body It speaks to the fact that Christ Is not only able to restore and grant health He can forgive sin He can offer eternity Luke 5 and verse 26 says this, And they were all amazed.

They glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things today.

The entire house erupts." Now remember, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the religious leadership, when they saw a man like this, according to the Jewish way of thinking, It was his fault that he was in this predicament.

And clearly this man carried great guilt as we're about to see.

But when the people saw it, they rejoiced as well.

Can you imagine how defeated the enemies of Christ must have felt when this man skipped out of the house, carrying his couch, and the audience that Christ had erupted in glorifying God.

Our health message exists so that people will see the power of God and rejoice and glorify him.

The Zion of Ages, page 267, says this, Like the leper, The paralytic had lost all hope of recovery.

His disease was the result of a life of sin, and his sufferings were embittered by remorse.

He had long before appealed to the Pharisees and doctors, hoping for relief from mental suffering and physical pain.

But they coldly pronounced him incurable and abandoned him to the wrath of God.

Can you imagine when he's coming down through the roof, some of the same people who had abandoned him to the wrath of God see him coming down?

This is why it bothered them so much when Jesus says, your sins be forgiven you because they had told the same man, probably told him he would never be forgiven and there was no hope for his case.

The Pharisees regarded affliction as an evidence of divine displeasure, and they held themselves aloof from the sick and the needy.

Yet often these very ones who exalted themselves as holy were more guilty than the sufferers they condemned.

They thought that for sure the fact that he was afflicted was evidence of divine displeasure.

And let me tell you something, there are Adventists who believe if someone is sick, it's because they are reaping the sin that they sowed.

And let me tell you something, as a physician, there are many people who reach sickness and disability who had nothing to do with it.

People get sick because sin is in the world.

And yes, in this case, this man was responsible for what happened to him, but look at how Jesus treats him.

He doesn't treat him as 1 who should pay some great debt because of his sin.

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Right Arm of the Gospel

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