The LORD's Day, June 7, 2009

How Desperate Are You To Bring Your Friends To Jesus?

Matthew 9.1-8
Mark 2.1-12

News about Jesus was spreading. People were coming to Him. He was healing people who came.


1. Extreme Times Call for Extreme Measures. Mark 2.1-4

Jesus’ time and our time are similar.

It was/is a time of terrorism.
Roman Domination
Islamic Extremism- reminded of that Friday in the city- checking bags.

It was/is a time of great events connecting the world.
Roman Roads
Communications - we are in touch like never before. Cell phones, computers.

Jesus was there. He had returned. (v. 1)
They didn’t how long He would be there. He would no doubt leave again. He did.

The Spirit has been given- We don’t know how much time we have until eternity.
Whoever calls on the Name of the LORD will be saved. Acts 2.21

These men were going to stop at nothing to get their friend to Jesus. They were undeterred by human obstacles. They would not give up until they got this poor paralytic to Jesus. They knew He was then Only One Who could help him and they believed that if they got him there he would be healed... what they didn’t realize is that...

2. Jesus Deals With First Things First. Mark 2.5
Matthew 9.2 Take heart, son: your sins are forgiven.

The need to be forgiven of our sins.
Son, your sins are forgiven. Guilt, condemnation... destruction. Jesus Christ came to save sinners (I Timothy 1.15)

Only God can forgive sins. Only God.
Jesus is the Son of God.

The greatest need in the paralytic’s life was forgiveness. It is the greatest need in everyone’s life. Forgiveness from the Father , knowing that your name is written down in heaven, knowing that you have eternal life, knowing that the penalty for sins you have committed is canceled is the most wonderful thing in the world... knowing Jesus- there is no greater thing.
Do our prayers reflect that? I believe it is okay to pray for the healing of person who is an unbeliever as long as we are praying with the aim and stated goal of them coming to know Jesus as their Savior. What good is it if they are healed and they die without not knowing Jesus? Jesus was making this point with the paralytic.

We need to be reminded that God is not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance.

How desperate are you to get your friends and loved ones to Jesus? Prayer is a powerful weapon in the battle for souls. We ought always to pray and not give up.

3. Miracles Confirm the Word.

We are to obey it
We are to share it.

As wonderful as healing is and it is a gift from the LORD it is for this life only and one day we will all die, unless Jesus returns before we do.

As we share the Word of God He will confirm it. He is at work. He confirms His Word through miracles, signs and wonders. These are gifts with a purpose of letting people know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. God will work in people’s lives, confirming His Word as we share Christ with them.

This chapter is loaded with the need of salvation. It began with Jesus telling about the His power on earth to forgive sins. He ends the chapter with the spiritual condition of His day. He saw the helplessness of the people. He tell us of their pitiful condition. They were like sheep without a shepherd. He also tells us the solution. It is in praying.

More and more our own country becomes like sheep without a shepherd. Christians no longer dominate the culture as they did when I grew up. Back then TV families prayed to the LORD. Today His Name is used- actually misused on TV, etc.

So often our prayers are limited to our own sphere. We are concerned about ourselves and our immediate families. But how desperate are we to see souls for whom Jesus died come to Him? How often do we pray this prayer? I know I need to pray it more: “LORD of the Harvest I ask You to send forth workers into your Harvest Field ”

It is easy to become discouraged today with the way things are. We can lose heart. We can lose hope. We do not need to. We are given the solution. I think some times the enemy gets us to focus on the culture rather than the greater spiritual battle for people’s souls. Here is where we need to focus our prayers as we see the confusion in people’s lives, “LORD send out workers into Your harvest field. LORD, use my life as a witness and help me to share the Good News with people in such great need.”