Mark 2: 2. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. 5. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. 11. I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.

This is a long post, originally written in 2017. I so desire to preach this truth to a willing assembly. I had also run this a week or two ago. I understand if you would rather not read again.

This story is told in three Gospels. In the mouth of two or three witnesses… we find the truth.

Mark 2:1-12 Luke 5:17-26. Matthew 9:1-8

Mark 2:1-12

“And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. (Luke-the power of the Lord was present to heal them.)
And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there was certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit (knew their thoughts) that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins,(he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.”

This is a Faith building Story. There are several points I would like to make.

A. Not a Sabbath, Not in a Church (Jesus taught, on boats, hillsides, private homes, on the streets).

Wherever He was, the Word was shared.

We must carry the Gospel wherever we go. We don’t need to know a lot of scriptures, (although it doesn’t hurt). Women at well, Legion, all who meet Him, long to tell of His Grace and Mercy.

It is important to know the Author. Know in whom you believe and why. This comes from time in the Word and in Prayer and Meditation.

Spending time with the Lord.

B. It was noised about:

The news of the presence of the Lord gets talked about… Churches grow if the Lord is revealed.

C. Straightway many were gathered:

Standing room only…. or no room at all. Our Churches should be full and would be full. IF we allow the Lord’s Presence.

Moment of meditation. A place for God to reveal Himself.

This is a place where we could hear a Word of Wisdom or Knowledge, Prophecy…

1 Corinthians 12:27-28

27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, (all the easiest gifts to walk-in). after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
If God spoke through a Donkey, He could surely speak through the newest of Christians.

Miracles, gifts of healings,… these call for a deeper walk with the Lord… Taking His yoke upon us, walking with Him.

D. He preached the Word:

The problem with the Church, we never hear the Full Council of God. Lectionary’s, are great, they keep track of the Church Calendar.

So we preach and teach, what happened when and what, year in and year out. Birth, Death, Resurrection, Pentecost….

Then we get into Doctrines: Justification, Sanctification, Baptism, etc…

We end up missing the real message. When John the Baptists faith wavered, he sent his followers to Jesus. Are you the one?

Luke 7:22
Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

When we tell people what we have seen and heard, it doesn’t build up or renew faith… We haven’t experienced those things. So when we tell people about the Lord. It’s so what?

We need to hear the Full Council of God.

Acts 17:18
he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

Galatians 3:5-6

“He therefore thatministereth to you the Spirit,and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by thehearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

2 Corinthians 3:5-6

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”

E. There was noo way to get close.

They made a way. Made a hole in the roof.

F. JESUS SAW THEIR FAITH:

He saw their faith, because, they made a way to reach Him, when there was no way.
We come to Church, maybe even a Bible Study, we accept being fed, with no apparent desire to learn to feed ourselves.
We never learn to chew our food, we don’t have the meat of the Word in our Spiritual diet.
We do not study to shew ourselves approved unto God, workmen, rightly dividing the word of Truth.
It really isn’t hard to get close to God, to study His Word, to enter into the Holy of Holies. To abide in Him.

When we do, we believe and act on His Word.

John 14:12
“He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.“

The Lord is God, He desires that all men be saved, He wants us to prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers.

We need to read the Word Daily… No big deal, not for hours, a Proverb or a Psalm a day. If you have time a chapter of the New Testament.

We need to know the Word, so we can judge the truth of what we are taught.

MANY DON’T BELIEVE GOD SAVES, HEALS SETS FREE…

Why?

They haven’t learned to feed themselves… They only know what they have been taught.

It is impossible to expect a Pastor or teacher to teach the Full Council of God. We aren’t under his teaching full time.

He can only hope to entice us to Seek the Lord ourselves.

We must feed ourselves. Pastors lead to the food source, we must feed ourselves.

G. They reasoned in their hearts:

The Religious, the UNBELIEVING BELIEVERS: Those who know the Lord, who when they hear or see something they have not seen or believed before, anything they haven’t been taught, will search the scriptures to prove it wrong. Rather see if it is true.

We need to be open to Revelation Knowledge. Luther was, the Wesley’s were. We need to FOLLOW JESUS… not them.

Deuteronomy 29:29
“The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

The Word never changes, the Spirit leads and teaches us to new understanding. Growth in the Lord.

H. Jesus perceived in His Spirit: He knew their thoughts.

The Gift of a WORD OF KNOWLEDGE. He saw Phillip, under the fig tree, the Disciples out in the storm, before walking on water to meet them.

The Gifts of the Spirit, in 1 Corinthians 13 are ours for the building of His Church. They are the STRAW TO MAKE THE BRICKS…. We see their use throughout the Bible.

We need to be taught to recognize them. Paul told us to seek the best gifts. Which one is that?

The One we need right now.

I. He wanted them to know HE IS GOD.

Enoch knew GOD IS AND HE IS A REWARDER OF THEM WHO DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM.

THERE IS NO EXPIRATION DATE ON THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT.

J.Immediatelyhe was healed. All were amazed and glorified God.

I pray our hearts and minds are open to receive the Revelation Knowledge the Holy Spirit longs to share.

Seek His Face. Amen

Thanks for visiting,
Know You Are Loved

We all have the relationship we want with God. My desire is a more intimate one.
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