Comfort in God's Authority

Well, I caused many a conflict with my family as I was growing up as a youth. And as I look at the conflicts that I created, they all centered around and revolve around the concept of authority. You see, I would always say to my parents, you don't have the right to tell me that. I have my rights to do and say and act how I want to. I'm an adult. Now, granted, this is still in high school. Still very rebellious, and many of you are relating to either receiving this treatment or giving it. There's something about us that says, no, these are my rights. You don't have the authority to infringe upon what I get to do, what I get to say, how I want to live. We're all afraid of authority. We're absolutely afraid of absolute authority. Because as the saying goes, absolute authority is absolutely corrupting. It's corruptible. We're afraid of absolute authority, one, because we know there's a long history of people who have had absolute authority and were absolute tyrants. You know, we can think throughout history of Hitler and Mussolini and Stalin and others before them, who, when they had absolute authority, they really dominated and took away people's rights that shouldn't have been taken away. So we also think of absolute authority. We think, I don't want my rights to be infringed. You know, we're in Virginia where your state motto practically says death to all tyrants. You all should know, based upon your state motto, what it would mean for a tyrant to come and take away your rights if you're a student of your history. Well, I think the number one reason we really are afraid of our rights being taken away, or the reason we should be afraid of absolute authority is if we look inside of ourselves, we should see how corruptible we are, how corrupting we can be when we're given authority. And we should recognize that all men are absolutely corruptible. That anyone getting absolute authority will be corrupted and lead in a corrupt way. And so we usually are afraid of absolute authority. We've been trained with history and by studying ourselves and everyone else that we're supposed to be afraid of absolute authority. We're supposed to fear it. We're supposed to coward away from it or fight against it. Well, this morning, friends, we are going to talk about an authority that we can find comfort in and not coward before. We're going to talk about an authority that we can find friendship in and not be afraid of. Because we're going to look at authority that's incorruptible. We're going to look at authority that is 100% pure love and goodness. It is the absolute authority of God, who is good and is good to us. Our text this morning where we're going to look at how we can find comfort in God's authority is Mark 2, verses 1-12. Let us read our passage together. 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 they could not get in near him because of the crowd. They removed when they could and when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him. And then we 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 are sitting there questioning in their hearts, why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? And immediately, Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they were questioning within themselves, said to them, Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven or to say, rise, take up your bed and walk so 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 he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them and all before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, We never saw anything like this. Will you pray with me? Almighty God, we come before You to request that You move in our hearts by Your Spirit as Your Word is proclaimed. that you would show us and help us to understand our sinfulness, then we will be moved and amazed and absolutely startled by the power of your forgiveness. Help us, Lord, to be focused only on that which is most important this morning and not distracted by secondary issues. Help us, Lord, to be focused upon your gospel and your power to forgive us as sinners. It's how we can live in your light. forgiving one another because of the great forgiveness you've given to us. In your name we pray. Amen. Now, to best understand this story, we need to look at chapter 1. Very, very simple context here. Mark begins his account by talking about John the Baptist, who is really the last Old Testament prophet. He's handing over the ministry. He's handing over all the promises, what we're looking forward to, are really represented by John the Baptist. He's the last Old Testament prophet. And he baptizes Jesus, showing here's the King. Here's the anointing. Everything we've been hoping for, it's right here. then Jesus shows that He's ready for this ministry. He proves that He is the new Adam by staying steadfast in the temptation of Satan. And this really gets us down to verse 14, which is the key verse to help us understand chapter 2. Now, after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel. Now, the rest of Mark is really fleshing out what this message is. The rest of Mark is saying the time is fulfilled. All the prophecies are being fulfilled now. The Kingdom has come because the King is walking among His people. It's no longer a promise. It's a fulfillment. Repent. Turn from your old sinful ways and believe in the Gospel. Now, we're going to see the beauty of the gospel in our passage this morning. But as we look at the next few little stories there, if your Bibles broke up into the stories, you see a very generic description of Jesus' ministry. The most explicit description of his ministry you get is that he's healing. He's helping people. And he's really gaining a lot of popularity. Chapter 1 is really all about Jesus getting more and more popular as a healer, as someone who's helping some other people. And that's just what everybody likes. Everyone likes something about Jesus. There's one particular teaching that may take out of context. They like the fact that He was out teaching good morals. Well, here, all of Israel is really being amazed by Jesus because He's healing. He's doing good work that everyone can look at and acknowledge and say, good for you. We're a little confused that you can do these things, but we're happy that you're healing. That's the most explicit it gets. Well, his popularity really takes a turn in our story this morning. As we look at chapter two, Jesus has come home. We're not sure if this is actually his physical home. It could just be that he's come home to his home neighborhood and he's in a house. He's gathered together a number of people who are probably quite fascinated by the stories they've heard. They want to see what this wonder worker can do. If you think about the house, it would definitely be smaller than this stage and the choir loft combined. Maybe a little bigger than the stage. Homes are very small, but they don't have the same personal space issues we Americans have. They're cramped in. They're packed in there. They've packed in the door. There's no room. In the house. Because everybody's going to come and see this wonder worker, Jesus Christ. Well, then these four men have a friend who's a paralytic. They've heard the stories. They've heard that this man can heal. And they see this as the one opportunity they have to have their paralytic friend healed. They try to get in the door. They can't get in. Too many people. They're desperate. They see the one opportunity to have this man running and skipping and holding his children and throwing balls with his kids. This is the one opportunity he has to be healed and go back to a normal life. So they get desperate. And it gets a little awkward here. They get on the roof and they start tearing apart the roof. Now picture this. Jesus is in there. He's pontificating eloquently. Everybody's gotten there early to make sure they get their seats, and all of a sudden, Jesus, let's say He's just in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount. He's right in the middle of, I know you've heard it said section, right? It's a picture of that. And all of a sudden, you're sitting there. Jesus is either praying or He's teaching, and little pieces of gravel and mud and straw are falling on your head in the middle of the teaching. Jesus has to stop because it's such an awkward, abrupt entrance. And then all of a sudden, they start lowering this paralytic down. Where these guys said, I've got my special seat to watch the show. No, this paralytic is getting lowered down. They're probably angry at him. They're probably mocking and yelling. And because he's a paralytic, they think he's cursed. That's the Hebrew mindset. Possibly spitting on him as he's getting lowered down. But these four friends, this paralytic, they're willing to do this because they know this is the one chance they've got. So they go through all this. The paralytic's laying there. Everybody's waiting to see what Jesus is going to do. And actually, some peculiar words come out of his mouth. Son, your sins are forgiven. Now, that should have been sweet. But that's not what the paralytic was expecting. Think about it. They've gone through all this trouble to get what? They want healing. But Jesus says, your sins are forgiven. Think about the paralytic. How does he respond to those words? There's a real point of tension in the story here because what you expect to happen doesn't happen. The paralytic is probably disappointed that he hears those words. The friends are probably trying to think of how they can get down from this roof and run away as quickly as possible because they're embarrassed. What they wanted didn't happen. Well, then there's another tension that begins because of these very powerful words from Jesus. There's another group in the crowd. They're called the scribes, and they're probably there Check up on Jesus. Not to be amazed by Him. They're there with their little checklist to say, no, you can't say that. You can say that. No, you can't say that. You can say that. And when the words come out, your sins are forgiven, their blasphemy radars just go crazy. Their heresy radars. They're going bonkers because they know, and they're correct about this, only God can forgive. These scribes are saying, Jesus, your parents, Sir Joseph and Mary, you were born in that nowhere city, Nazareth. You were born in a barn, and you're going to claim to be God? They know that He's not supposed to be able to say this as just a mere man. And Jesus, and this is where it gets even more interesting, these guys are saying this in their hearts, in their minds. Jesus being God, born of a virgin in a barn. He knows what they're thinking. And he addresses them. He says, as they're sitting there, they're questioning him. Verse 8, and immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit they were questioned within themselves, said to them, why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, your sins are forgiven or to rise, take up your bed and walk? Now, that's a bit of a trick question, isn't it? Which one is actually easier to say and which one is easier to do? There's an issue here of which one can be demonstrated and which one can actually be accomplished. Because obviously, the more significant declaration is your sins are forgiven. These scribes would have been fine if he said, get up and walk, and the guy walked out. So the harder saying theologically, spiritually, is definitely your sins are forgiven because only God can say that. But what he's doing is he's flipping it here, and he's asking which one is actually the most difficult to demonstrate. Well, obviously, you can't demonstrate that someone's sins are forgiven. But you can demonstrate your power to heal. And so Jesus says, if you don't believe that I have the power to forgive sins, let me demonstrate to you that I have the power to forgive sins. I will demonstrate it by saying, get up and walk. And the man gets up. And he walks out and everyone's amazed. The point of the story isn't the healing. The point of the story isn't be a friend. The point of the story isn't to bring your friends to church in awkward, weird ways. The point of the story is that Jesus has the authority to forgive sins. And He's able to declare such a powerful message. Your sins are forgiven because He knows that just a few years later, He's going to make the possibility of your sin being forgiven open to anyone who believes in Him. He knows that this paralytic, his main problem isn't the fact that he can't walk. His main problem is that he has a heart that is sinful and rebellious against God. He has a heart that offends God. He has sinful desires and sinful behaviors that are offensive to God. And God will judge him for those things. And he needs forgiveness for those. And Jesus recognizes that He is the One who's going to step in between He and God. And He's going to take upon the punishment for his sins. And He's going to give that man His righteousness. His perfect goodness. Jesus Christ knew that He was going to go and get nailed on a cross. He was going to be nailed to a cross and die. in the place of everyone who believes in Him. And He was going to rise again and give everyone who has faith in Him hope for eternal life. And stand at the right hand of the Father so that we know we have a good and merciful advocate with the Father. So we can get bogged down with the details here. It's important to see that it's not about the healing. It's about Jesus' authority to forgive. Now the question is, Do we trust His authority? Are we willing to submit to His authority to forgive? As we think about those questions, let's think about there's three things that we learn about Jesus here that will help us trust Him and His authority. The first thing we see is that Jesus had the authority to forgive sins. This is the main point. And the counter, the way that affects us is that we can find comfort in His absolute authority. Now, I first wanted to address, maybe there's some people who aren't believers in Christ, or you're questioning if you really have a genuine faith in Christ, or you want to think about what it means to be a Christian. As I've evangelized in various scenarios and with different people, the typical response I get isn't denying Jesus Christ in some philosophical way. The typical response that denies the gospel says, I don't need a Savior. I don't need forgiveness. I'm a good person. I'm better than these people. I don't hurt anybody. I'm not a murderer. I'm not an adulterer. I don't go out and actually try to hurt people. I'm a good person. Well, you may be better than some other people with your actions, but I would challenge you in terms of how you're thinking about you're a good person. Usually you think you're not hurting people by not committing murder. But think about the words you use to hurt people. Think about the lies you've said. Think about the hurtful things you've said to others. Those things have hurt people. And those things are offensive to God. Even more so, you may claim, well, I've never committed a murder. I've never committed adultery. Think about the hate that's in your heart. Think about the lust that's in your heart. That is offensive to God. That is what you need forgiveness for. Even though you've never acted on that hate. Even though you've never acted on that lust. Even though you've never acted on the envy or the coveting. The very fact that those sins are lurking deep in your heart means you need forgiveness. Because those are offensive to God. You see, if we really inspected ourselves well, we would see that we have huge wounds. where our sin has been lurking. We have wounds on our soul. We have foul-smelling injuries in our inner being because we are sinners. And those sins have a stitch before God that He can't stand, that is offensive to Him, and that He must judge. But in order to free you from that judgment, in order to forgive you before that judgment, He sent down His Son. like a physician, to kneel over your foul-smelling wounds, to kneel over the depths of your sin in your heart, to forgive you of your sins, to be the healer, to be the one who applies the only ointment that can ever truly forgive you. You see, we act nice. We talk nice. But we know what's lurking in our hearts. We know we just have band-aid treatments for these foul-smelling wounds. We know we're only trying to control the disgusting smell of our sin that lies in our hearts. There's only One who can actually heal those wounds. Friends, if you haven't believed in Jesus Christ, I hope you take an inventory of your life and you see that even though you're a nice person, According to your definition, you still have these desires and these sins lurking inside of you that they don't need your band-aid treatment of acting nice. They need a true healer, a true forgiver, someone who can stand in your place and die for those sins and apply the Holy Spirit to begin healing them. So we think about Jesus' authority to forgive sins. You have to recognize He's the only one who can do it, because He's the only one who's actually died for us as the perfect human, as the one true God who has the power to do so. But here's the trick. You can acknowledge these things factually. Submitting to His authority is a whole other issue. Submitting to Him as the one true authority to do these things. Submitting to Him as the one true forgiver of your soul and your sin. Submitting to Him as the Lord and Savior. That's what it looks like to repent and believe in the Gospel. To actually put yourself under Him. To hear Him as the authority over when you are forgiven. So we think about our sins. I pray we'll take inventory. I pray we'll not just think I'm a good person, but we'll truly consider what lies beneath. And we'll recognize that we need a substitute for our death. We need a true forgiveness from God. The second thing we see, we learn about Jesus, is that He has the authority to use sickness for His glory. He has the authority to use our infirmities and our weakness for His glory. Now look at how this miracle is being used in the story. It's not a miracle for miracle's sake. It's a miracle to demonstrate the authority of Jesus Christ to forgive sins. It's an authenticating demonstration of the gospel. And these happen throughout the New Testament. They happen throughout the Gospels, and they happen at the beginning of the Church in Acts. Now a really good question you should be asking is, are these normative for today? Should we still be expecting miracles to demonstrate the gospel? And I'm going to have a very firm answer. No. I don't think they're normative. Do I think they're impossible? No. But I don't think they're as normative as they were important for the beginning work of authenticating who Jesus was and who the apostles were. This is why. We look throughout and the miracles cease even by the end of Acts. They all have a very important, significant role in terms of how the gospel is being introduced over and over again to new people in new areas. But most importantly, just this one particular instance, think about doubting Thomas. He needed a demonstration to believe that Jesus was the Christ. He didn't believe he had really risen again and he was really God, the forgiver. And so Jesus let him stick his fingers in the wounds. And Thomas, recognizing what a powerful demonstration that was, said, you are my Lord and my God. And Jesus' response isn't, well, I hope everyone else gets a demonstration like you so they can believe. No. He said, blessed are you for you've recognized the demonstration that you believe, but blessed are those who hear your testimony and believe. He said the Gospel isn't authenticated by miracles of this sort anymore. The Gospel has gone out as proclamation in word. And the Holy Spirit uses those words to convict our hearts, to convert us to Christ. So the primary demonstration of God's mercy is through the proclamation of His Word in our conversations throughout the day, in the preaching and proclamation of His Gospel. So I say miracles aren't normative for today as a demonstration of His mercy, but I don't think miracles have ceased. Let me give you two instances as to why I don't think this. There are two different families that have two different daughters at our church now in Louisville. One had a hip problem. One had a back problem. And both were diagnosed by doctors by saying they'll never walk correctly. They'll never be able to walk right because of these two different issues, two different families, two different times. And our church started praying this specific prayer. Heal them in such a way that the doctors don't understand what happened. And after years, One year passes. We get updates. We pray. Two years passes. We get updates. We pray. Three years pass. Updates. We pray. And the final updates are that they're both healed completely. They're both fine. They're both going to live completely normal lives. Walk. Run. Play. Whatever they want to do. Now, were those miracles such that the doctors looked and said, this is a miracle of God. I believe in the Gospel. No. Was it a miracle that encouraged the church in the power of prayer? Yes. So there's a difference in how I think God uses miracles normatively today compared to Jesus. Now, I do think that God has given a clear way for us to demonstrate the gospel, not by miracles today. And it's you. The church is the body of Christ. It is your local assembly living in harmony together, loving one another, and forgiving one another, showing grace to one another. That is what the world and your community needs to look into and see. And that's how they'll see the power of the gospel. You see, you're supposed to be different, not because you wear weird clothes, or you walk differently, or you talk differently. No, it's because you have a love for one another that's unique and odd to what this world knows. You see, you've received the most amazing love. You've received the most amazing forgiveness. And the way the world can see that demonstrated is by you loving one another. By you forgiving one another. By you being quick to mercy, not quick to wrath. That's what the church, the world gets to see. The local church being a microcosm of the kingdom of God, of God's great love. You're harmony together. If you want to see miracles, start forgiving one another. And the miracle will be those that you thought were so hardened they would never come to Christ, when they start seeing your body loving and forgiving, they start hearing testimonies of your care for another, that's when they'll be amazed. It's also being harmonious with your gifts. I believe the Holy Spirit has gifted this church very uniquely with a lot of different parts. And here's the temptation. It's for you to think, wow, how blessed I am with this gift. No one else has the gift. I'm pretty special. That's perverting the gift. That's making something that's supposed to be a virtue in the church a vice. If you have been blessed with a gift of love, if you've been blessed with a gift of hospitality, if you've been blessed with a gift of evangelism, of esophagism, whatever it is, it's not meant for you to hoard and think less of others because they don't have that gift. It's to use. To give away. You have been blessed to be a blessing, not blessed so you can think much of yourself and little of others. There's no humility in that. That's what makes the rest of the world think less of us. That's what makes the world look at the church and say they're really no different than the rest of us. If you want to be different, Be moved by the love of God and the forgiveness of Christ to be harmonious with one another. This is a body of Christ that can be an example to all the world. The other way Jesus can be glorified in our sickness. Another way we can demonstrate the power of the gospel is by being steadfast in suffering. By actually looking at suffering and sickness, not as the way it's not supposed to be, but as an opportunity to participate in Jesus' suffering. We can actually, as Christians, find joy in our suffering. Find joy in being steadfast in infirmities. By loving those who we are related to, either by marriage or children. Many people in the church, I know, have difficult situations that you are having to remain steadfast in to love one another. You have to remain steadfast in your failing bodies. That's a way that you can bring Jesus glory by not complaining, by not grumbling about your circumstances. But by always looking at these circumstances in light of the cross and saying, Lord, You have suffered for me. May I participate in Your suffering and may I bring You glory in the midst of this suffering. And the greatest suffering is death. We're all facing it. We're all going to look at death. And the question is, are we going to look at death and are we going to cower from it because it's a pretty powerful authority over all of us? We're going to look at death. Say, where is your sting? Where is your victory? If you look at death with complete faith in the authority of Jesus Christ, that He has overcome death, then we can enter boldly into those unknown gates, knowing that He has made everything right with God. Knowing that He is our Advocate standing on the other side that will assure us a grand entry into the great feast with God. and with all those saints who have gone before us. We all will have suffering if we haven't had it yet. The key is to prepare yourself to see that suffering as a way to participate in Christ's suffering and bring Him glory. The final thing we learn about Jesus is that He knows everything we think, everything we desire, everything we do. This one actually, initially, is pretty uncomfortable if we're honest with ourselves. This one is discomforting to me. Because if Jesus, as already seen in this text, He can read the hearts of the scribes, I'm assuming He, and I know, He can read our thoughts. He knows our desires. He knows those things that we think we've locked into the vault that's in the vault that's in the vault that's in the vault that's in the vault. He knows that. And we as Christians are like those I was addressing earlier. We know we've got these big gaping wounds and we think we've hidden them with our Band-Aids. We think we've hidden them away from everybody else. We think we've hidden them away from God. But Christ sees it and He knows it. And at one level, I am ashamed that He knows what I think and I desire every second of every minute. But it's also comforting because I know that His forgiveness extends into the deepest, darkest realms of my heart. I know that the authority He has is absolute authority. And that's why, while it's uncomfortable to know that God knows all my thoughts, It's also been a great joy that His authority is the kind of absolute that I find comfort in. Because there's nothing out of His reach. There's no sin that's beyond His forgiveness. Now, what we have to do, church, is to recognize those sins and counsel ourselves with the Gospel. We have to allow Christ's authority to come into that area and not only forgive it, but heal it. And that means all the sins that we have, all the different desires we have that we know are corrupt, we have to think about them in light of the Gospel. We have to think about them in light of the death, burial, and resurrection. We have to think about them in light of the perfect peace that God has promised us in Jesus Christ. That means when we're overwhelmed with guilt, when we're overwhelmed with shame, we don't hide it away into the deep vault. No, we lift it up to the Savior. And a lot of times, this isn't something you can just do alone. This is what you need each other for. This is what, when it takes other brothers and sisters to come alongside you and point out evidences of grace, point out your sin, and apply the ointment of the gospel, and trust the Holy Spirit will make it effective. Friends, we leave here this morning. Healing is important and significant to Christ. Our physical healing. What we ultimately look forward to is that perfect body we're going to receive on the other side of death, or when Christ returns. The most important thing that Christ emphasizes in this text, the most important thing for us, is that we recognize that every sin, every sin that we've ever committed, every sinful desire we've ever had and ever will have, Christ has authority to forgive. What we must do is submit to that authority. and find great comfort in His absolute authority. Let's pray. Almighty God, we come before You. We praise You, Lord, that You are good. You are holy. You are just. You are righteous. You are trustworthy. And while we have a desire to avoid true authority, Lord, let us be a people who submit ourselves to You, to not be hard-hearted like the Pharisee, but to be humble like this paralytic. Help us, Lord, to recognize Your absolute sovereignty to love us. Your absolute sovereignty to guide and direct us. Your absolute sovereignty, most of all, to forgive us our sins. Help us, Lord, to understand ourselves better in light of You and the Gospel. That we are sinners who are offensive to You. And that truth, the more we grasp it, I pray, Lord, the sweeter the Gospel gets. We thank You, Lord, that You have saved us. I pray that we will look at our sufferings differently in light of the great forgiveness You've given us, the great purpose You've given us. And I pray that this church body would be one that demonstrates the Gospel with their great love for one another. In the name of Christ. Amen.