The Extent of His Ministry Luke 5:12-26

Well, good morning You did it Time wise you adjusted for the for the

Change well, but I guess in the old days prior to cell phones you literally had to make a concerted effort to you know get your watches clocks change so you get up on this spring day and But now you kind of cheat because your phones do it for you.

So But that's okay, we'll take that there's some of the modern conveniences that we'll we'll enjoy

Yesterday was a the first biblical counseling class and thank you pastor for for leading that off and taking the time and Commitment energy and effort to study for that and to bring it forward and and it's going to be coming up again

March 25th at 11 o 'clock You know, it lasts what hour an hour and a half

I don't know what you have programmed for it but Thereabouts So the next one is

March 25th. If you weren't able to come out yesterday, so please consider that and Dexter was gracious enough to Furnish the books for that.

So thank you Dexter for your for your giving there Women's Bible study is next

Saturday. Okay, and if you need to know more about that ask Barb first Kings chapter 16 right

Men's Bible study next Saturday at 330 in the afternoon, so men take note and prayer meeting tonight at 6

And I think that might be all the announcement announcements that we have. So Let's go to the

Lord in prayer Our dear Heavenly Father. We thank you this morning for your goodness and your grace father

We thank you that you sustained Victor this week Through a very difficult physical

Challenge there Lord that you have seen him through that father and you continue to watch over him God.

Thank you for that Thank you for him. Thank you father that you watch over each one of us father that we are in your care

That as believers we can trust if we trust in you and put our faith in you God You are there every moment of every day and we thank you that we can

Have you father for that we thank you that we can gather together corporately as believers father to to Lift our voices to hear your word opened and preached and and Lord we may we grow in our faith and our understanding of who you are

Lord and how holy you are and how It may be our desire to trust in you to look to you for all things

That in this trying times in the world around his father as many things seem to be crumbling around us father

May we help us to to know that you have victory father that in the end

You win you have victory father. So may in the meantime, may we be faithful May we be do what you have called us to do and encouraging one another

Lord so God may we honor you today May you be glorified and all that we do may the

Holy Spirit guide and direct us we pray in Jesus name. Amen Why don't we stand together?

We're gonna first hymn is gonna be there is power in the blood. There's power in the blood

Morning everyone The scripture reading today will be from Isaiah 53 verses 4 through 12

Isaiah chapter 53 verses 4 through 12 verse 4

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows Yet we esteemed him stricken smitten by God and afflicted

But he was wounded for our transgressions He was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes

We are healed all We like sheep have gone astray We have turned everyone to his own way and the

Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all Or he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet.

He opened not his mouth He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before it shears is silent

So he opened not his mouth He was taken from prison and from judgment and who will declare his generation

For he was cut off from the land the living for the transgressions of my people

He was stricken and they made his grave with the wicked but with the rich of his death

Because he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth Yet it pleased the

Lord to bruise him He has put him to grief When you make his soul an offering for sin

He shall see his seed He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the

Lord shall prosper in his hand He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge

My righteous servant shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquities

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong Because he poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with our transgressors

And he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

This is the word of the Lord Have faith in God he provides for his own he cannot fail though all kingdoms shall perish

He rules he reigns upon his throne. Let's stand together and sing have faith in God Please turn with me to Luke chapter 5 verses 12 through 26

Luke chapter 5 verses 12 through 26

And it happened when he was in a certain city That behold a man who was full of leprosy saw

Jesus and he fell on his face and implored him saying Lord If you are willing you can make me clean

Then he put out his hand and touched him saying I am willing be cleansed

Immediately the leprosy left him and he charged him to tell no one

But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing as a testimony to them

Just as Moses commanded however, the report went around concerning him all the more and great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by their infirmities

So he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed Now it happened on a certain day as he was teaching that there were

Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by who had come out of every town of Galilee Judea and Jerusalem and The power of the

Lord was present to heal them then behold men brought on a bed of Bed a man who was paralyzed

Whom they sought to bring in and lay before him and When they could not find out how they might bring him in because of the crowd

They went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus when he saw their faith, he said to him man, your sins are forgiven you and The scribes and the

Pharisees begin to reason saying who is this who speaks blasphemies?

Who can forgive sins but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts he answered and said to them

Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier to say your sins are forgiven you or to say rise up and walk

But then you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins He said to the man who was paralyzed.

I say to you arise take up your bed and go to your house Immediately he rose up before them took up what he had been lying on and departed to his own house glorifying

God and They were all amazed and they glorified God and were filled with fear saying we have seen strange things today

This is the word of the Lord Let us pray Father we are thankful that we have

Jesus who heals For more than just the healing purpose but healing that points to Forgiveness of sins healing that points to Purification Father we pray that we would

Experience his compassionate care this morning that your spirit would work through all of our hearts to help us see and love

Jesus better Help us to know that we belong to you because of Jesus death on the cross and resurrection in Jesus name

Now today we see miracles two miracles of healing And what's really important is that these two miracles are not just portrayed as just miracles themselves

Right in in our modern day whenever there is a quote -unquote miracle

Ministry or ministries related to healing. It's just a healing for themselves if there is one

It's it's all about just the miracle and whoever's performing it

However Today's text shows us that these miracles are actually signs signs

Just like signposts Point to something that's greater than themselves right the difference between signs and miracles is that signs actually point to a greater reality than the miracles and Today's text shows us that these healing signs were not a money -making scheme nor a popularity contest

Jesus healings Pointed to in fact the significance of his ministry and his person who he is

Jesus miracles were never to show off But to serve as signposts to the ultimate spiritual truth about himself.

That's what we're about to find out today He's more than just the healer

Now in the Old Testament as We've gone through many Old Testament passages together

The physical phenomena taught them the spiritual truth here in the

New Testament We see the unveiling of the spiritual truths Through Jesus use of the physical phenomena of healing miracles

So these healing miracles are not just the fact that wow, Jesus can heal we've seen that already

But rather we have to think about what do these healing miracles actually show us

Spiritually, what do they mean? What do they reveal to us? in the spiritual realm

The first miracle is a purifying miracle It's more than just the ritualistic purification

But what we have in mind is there is a moral component There is an intertwining of it now in the

Old Testament of ritualistic on Impurity was mainly because this person made himself unclean either

Intentionally or unintentionally and in this case, this would be unintentional. It's a disease No one chooses to just become unclean through a disease

But what it taught in the Old Testament was that I Cannot approach God because he's so holy because of my impurities of the caused by this disease so that I have to be separated from God and what that pointed to in the

Old Testament was that spiritual truth that if the mere physical disease separates me from worshiping

God and Separates me from God's holy people how much more so the impurity inside me and We see the unveiling of that There is a both

Level at play here. Not just the physical impurity, but also moral impurity

Can Jesus does Jesus have these? authority to cleanse both and Then the second miracle here

Actually explicitly ties to the forgiveness of sins. This is the spiritual realm, right?

it is more than just a paralytic walking again, but rather that Jesus claims that he can forgive sins and The latter miracle will actually trigger the religious elites in audience

What kind of person can claim to have authority to forgive sins? So the main point the main question this text asks us this morning is morning is what is the extent of Jesus ministry?

What is the extent of Jesus ministry? first Jesus extends his compassionate hand to purify any who humbly seek to be cleansed

Jesus extends his compassionate hand to purify any who humbly seek to be cleansed

Now as Jesus is ministering around Galilee He is visited by a social outcast and it happened when he was in a certain day a

Certain city that behold a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus and he fell on his face and implored

Him saying Lord if you are willing you can make me clean now

It is important note that the word for leprosy is actually more Expansive than Hansen's disease that what we consider as leprosy because when you read over Leviticus 13 through 14 the

The variety of skin diseases and symptoms shown there are more than what you would normally see

Enhances disease where your skin is literally rotting and falling off so we can see that leprosy in ancient days included symptoms of lesions swelling nerve damage

Psoriasis lupus scabs on the head and so on it was very comprehensive and each of them made a person unclean before God and unclean to worship among God's holy people and Now what was the significance of this?

Now as I've mentioned in the Old Testament God used the physical phenomena to teach them the spiritual truth and In order to be a part of God's holy people one had to be ritualistically pure This taught them what kind of pure and holy

God that they all worshiped together Therefore if anyone had a skin disease

Like leprosy he was naturally ostracized he was separated from the people

He was a social and relational outcast He had to physically remove himself from his community

And Again, the question is if impurity of the outside the skin disqualified someone regardless of their status

From approaching God and his people how pure must a person be from inside to approach

God Now In this text the man was full of leprosy and he was approaching

Jesus with a dire need to be healed There is a contrast here the man is full of leprosy and Jesus in the previous chapter is described as full of the spirit

You couldn't get a bigger dichotomy an Outcast with a desire to be purified

Such desperation is physically portrayed as he fell on his face and implored

Lord if you're willing You can make me clean Before the purest holiest living being an impure filthy man begs to be cleansed

How does Jesus respond to that Then he put out his hand and touched him saying

I am willing be cleansed What's emphasized here is not the capacity of the healing miracle but Jesus willingness

To perform the healing miracle. It's not that Jesus can do it.

There's no question about that It's that Jesus Wanted to do it

The fact that Jesus touched this man in even is astounding Jesus remember did not need to touch anyone to perform a healing miracle

We've seen this before in the last chapter. He's able to heal just by speaking

The act of Jesus reaching out to touch this leprous man

Reveals Jesus heart toward the humble and lowly His heart

Jesus heart is filled With a deep longing to his to see his creation made whole again

When you and I see something disgusting The hairs on our arms stand up and we naturally flinch back

Sometimes we it's just a reflex Whether it's a spider whether it's a dead animal

It's a natural reflex Far from our mind is the desire to touch it

Reach out our hands to pet it but when

Jesus saw an utterly broken and impure man who is helpless

But who sought him out He could not resist but to tenderly touch him

And what was the result Immediately the leprosy left him

It was visibly and evidently effective at that very moment

Another Surprising fact here is that unlike every other person if they try to touch a leprous man

They themselves would be made unclean and would have to go through a week -long purification process

However Jesus touches an unclean man. He remains unaffected

But moreover the leper becomes completely clean instead and the echoing questions here are

What is the extent to Jesus ministry? Who is this man that he can perform such a sign and verse 14 shows

Jesus responds to the healing and he charged him to tell no one but go and show yourself to the priests and Make an offering for your cleansing as a testimony to them just as Moses commanded

The reason why Jesus may want to silence the healed leper Is because he does not desire this healing miracle to boost his popularity

That was not the point of healing This was not the sample preview of a movie so that people would come to the premiere

And in fact we see this in the next two verses when the whole the word gets around Inevitably, of course when you see a leprous man fully healed, how can you keep that silent?

Jesus removes himself from the crowd. He goes into the wilderness Jesus purpose purpose for the miracle was not to popularize his ministry

But to signify what he has come to do He has come to purify any who seek to be cleansed

He has come to take away the uncleanliness of man and Make them pure again

That's the extent of his ministry It's more than just a doctor's without borders kind of ministry

Jesus is more than just setting up a medical office here in Galilee He's showing us.

What kind of ministry he is Leading It's that of Compassionately healing any who desire to be clean

Indiscriminately Healing tenderly any who want to be made pure again and Jesus order to go to the priest is following the law

Leviticus 14 a cleansed leper had to make a sacrifice of two birds and that blood would be used in the purification ritual and it would be a week -long ritual and On the eighth day the priest would testify the priest would confirm.

Yes. Indeed. You have been made clean and This healing would have been a testimony of Jesus from Jesus to the religious leaders

There is someone of this magnitude who can purify Come and see

Check him out In fact the testimony was so effective we see that all sorts of sick people will gather around him in the next two verses and As a result of that Jesus secludes himself to pray so he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed when

Jesus popularity rose He did not enjoy the spotlight

But rather prior taught prioritized what was truly important in his ministry His relationship with the

Father time spent with God was more important than increasing his influence and Imagine if many of our pastors including me

Believe that and practice that We'd have much higher quality teaching and preaching

If we prioritize the time spent with our Heavenly Father Now Jesus tender touch of purification

Applies to us this morning When you look at yourself and All the sins that you've committed

All the moral filth that's adding up So dirty that you can't even look at yourself in the mirror

But the moment you approach Jesus He cannot resist but to make you clean

It's not that he finds you ah, you're just fine. It's just some little dirt in his perfect holiness even the filth that we see is

Detrimentally disgusting to him he even sees filth that we don't see that we blindly skip over Rather Jesus desire to see his people made clean made pure Drives his heart to reach out to the most rejected

That's his heart It's not that we're pretty good

It's not that we're we're better than the leper it's that his heart to see his people pure Overwhelmingly drives his next action

Which is to cleanse them completely And how would we know if this is true in our case?

Well, I don't think you know my case. Oh, I don't think you know how impure I am impure.

I've been all week. I Don't know if you've seen my private life Now if you don't think

Jesus reaching out to a pus covered discolored scabby leper is

Enough isn't is not enough of evidence I'll give you a more

I'll give you more concrete concrete evidence In order to make you pure Jesus Suffered the most excruciating death on your behalf

There was no other way to make you pure Make you acceptable to God To wash you clean white as snow there was no other way but to Willingly die on the cross for all of our impurities our sins

It's When he faced the wrath of God and he cried out my

God my God, why have you forsaken me? and after that he

Knew it was finished That's the extent in which he went to to make you pure Would any of your sins this past week?

Change Jesus heart of compassion from reaching out to you once more second

What is the extent of Jesus authority? God confirms

Jesus authority to forgive sins God confirms Jesus authority to forgive sins

After such a shocking miracle Now we get some new categories of audience here

Now it happened on a certain day as he was teaching that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by who had come out of every town of Galilee Judea in Jerusalem Up until now.

We mainly saw the common folks right fishermen their family

People were sick now

We see the esteemed Theologians and religious religious elites from all over not just Galilee, but Judea Jerusalem the capital and the

Pharisees were Non -priestly, so there were not Levites. They were not

Descendants of Aaron's they were non -priestly religious leaders who sought to keep the nation of Israel committed to mosaic faith and They heavily relied on the ancestors traditions to apply the law and this is because their context changed so they had to rely on traditions more so so they would come up with more and more traditions and they would religiously zealously get people to obey that and And It's important to know that the

Pharisees were actually not the majority they were in the minority Yet because their zeal was so strong.

They were heavily influential The teachers of the law were basically lawyers religious lawyers who support supported the

Pharisees application of these extra -biblical traditions they were the supporters and They were they both really were extremely strict religious rulers

Who held a lot of influence in the region? Now as these religious elites are watching

Jesus was healing and Here Luke tells us the source of Jesus healing and this is important and the power of the

Lord was present to heal them Jesus is healing Through the power of God and and this will be important later on because This concept that God heals only through those whom he has approved of Will be at crucial point

John 9 has a very Similar context when a blind man is healed and then other religious leaders are trying to find out

Who healed you what kind of man is this and then they start accusing Jesus of being a sinner and a liar

But the blind man's question is can God do that through a liar and a sinner?

And that stumps them and they get really mad, but that's that's the important part here.

It's that Jesus is not healing Through Satan's power, but Jesus is healing through God's power

He has the full stamp of approval from God himself That's what these healing ministries all about God approves approves of Jesus ministry

Jesus miracles verify his Authentic ministry for God right

Jesus miracles are the divine blue check marks and starting with verse 18

Luke shows a source of a new conflict a group of men tried to get a paralytic man lying on the bed to be healed by Jesus and Their goal is clear.

They need to get their friend to lie before Jesus. Just get him before Jesus if they can just accomplish that They trust that Jesus will do the rest

In fact verse 19 shows that no amount of difficulty will stop these group of friends and When they could not find how they might bring him in because of the crowd

They went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst of midst before Jesus In ancient

Israel a house was usually two stories And there was actually a public set of stairs leading up to the roof anyone in the public could actually use that the roof was flat right and wooden beams laid across the top and It was layered with various materials with like it reads, you know sticks and clay or Tiles in fact clay or tiles are the same word in Greek.

So some translations might have clay So that would make sense to easily remove

The rooftop right For that friend and because of this structure

Most people would not have noticed what's going up up top Right, they're just surrounding they're crowding all that house in which

Jesus is healing from and There's a public access to the roof anyway, so these

Friends just carry their friend unknowing right without getting caught just up there and there's they start digging right

In fact the only person who would have noticed would be the one inside right underneath and that's

Jesus and Jesus frankly did not say a word about it. He didn't stop them and Because of the structure of the house, right?

They're just digging unnoticed and the significance of this text is

Is the extent to which these friends were willing to go to see their paralytic friend healed and After each removal of clay or tiles they may have panted

But under their breath they might have said before Jesus before Jesus before Jesus and Before Jesus hears their request

He responds in verse 20 and when he saw their faith, he said man your sins are forgiven you this is the first time faith is mentioned in the gospel according to Luke and this is the belief of the paralytic man's friends that God will work wonders through Jesus That Jesus would complete the meat completely meet the needs of their friend lying on his bed that's the faith and Unexpectedly rather than healing

Jesus forgives the man's sins Your sins are forgiven you The passive verb here is what we call the divine passive When a verb is used passively without a subject that is explicitly said and the context allows for God to be the subject obviously

Who can forgive sins except God himself? We can infer that God is the subject of the passive verb

So in another sense Jesus is telling this paralytic man that God has just forgiven his sins

Here Jesus connects the physical miracle of healing that we will see to the spiritual reality that it represents

His miracles are not done for the healing sake only but they are signposts pointing to the greater spiritual truth

That when Jesus heals he's reversing the course of sin

When Jesus came for his ministry he came to undo the footprints of sin

He's that kind of man He's that kind of God Now Jesus statement, however leads to a massive theological dissonance in the minds of the religious elites

They're like a theological clattering of symbols in their minds Who is this who speaks blasphemies?

Who can forgive sins but God alone? Now first blasphemy is a serious charge because it is a one of the

Ten Commandments and It's a defilement of God's name and Remember as we always we've studied

Exodus and the Psalms God's name is more than just the name the Lord, right? It's more than just Yahweh.

It's it's what the name represents God's name means who

God is in all totality So to blaspheme against God's name is to Misrepresent who

God is Right, it's a slander of God's character and action and You can see why this would be a blasphemy if God did not actually forgive this paralytic man's sins

To say that his sins are forgiven would be a slander of what God has done It's accusing

God. It's it's attributing God of doing something which he hasn't Right, it's a it's a false accusation almost and no wonder why the religious leaders all

Could not understand this it's it's it's a cognitive dissonance In their mind

Jesus is just a man Powerful man, he's healing but it's just a man

How could this Jesus guy claim that this man's sins are forgiven when he's just a man?

How can a human a mere human claim to do something that is clear on clearly only under God's jurisdiction?

Now perceiving their thoughts There's the irony there they don't even have to speak it and Jesus knows what they're saying

Really gets us to question. Who is this Jesus? So Jesus responds why are you reasoning in your hearts

Which is easier to say your sins are forgiven you or to say rise up and walk Now first Jesus ability to perceive inner thought shows that he must be someone more than just a man he's not he can't be just an ordinary teacher here and verses 23 to 24 show

Jesus intention to back up his divine claim Which is easier to say your sins are forgiven you or to say rise up and walk the logic behind this question is this

Let me prove to you my authority to forgive sins, which is spiritual and invisible, right?

You wouldn't know if someone sins are forgiven Let me prove to you that his sins are forgiven that I have the authority to do that by visibly healing this paralytic man

I Will give you a physical verifiable sign of the invisible spiritual reality if he heals

Then I have the authority to forgive sins If he doesn't Well, there's a bigger problem, isn't there?

Now what is the purpose of this miracle but that you may know that the Son of Man has the power on earth to forgive sins

Here for the first time Jesus refers himself Refers to himself as the Son of Man and this is one of his favorite titles that he calls himself this is an allusion to Daniel the book of Daniel 7 13 through 14 an eschatological vision of the vision of the last days

Right. There will be a human figure. That's what the Son of Man means a son of man means he's no angel and He's no beast

He's someone who looks like a man So in in the end days, there's a human figure whom the ancient of days

God himself will give expansive and divine authorities This was a mysterious figure in the

Old Testament. How can a man be given this kind of authority, right? For example a man on the last days.

He's riding on the clouds Who else what kind of man can do that?

and Another one is that He is given everlasting dominion over every nation

What kind of man can receive that Right, there is this divine hinting here in Daniel 7, but those are only two verses that we don't know

We don't know who this son of man is. How is this fulfilled? We don't know but Jesus here calls himself the

Son of Man a Divine God -like figure introduced in Daniel 7 all of a sudden is

Jesus title And now it kind of makes sense

Well, there is someone who is a man in the Old Testament who is given divine authorities that no other man has

Well, if Jesus is the Son of Man Perhaps he has the authority and here

Jesus reveals himself as that figure his word not mine and Because he is the

Son of Man. He has the authority to forgive sins and With this newly revealed identity and the promise of a healing miracle

Jesus will prove his divine authority to forgive sins If the paralytic man begins to walk

Jesus The audience will have to face the fact That Jesus is obviously working through God.

God is working through Jesus If God is working through Jesus Then everything

Jesus has said about his authority must be true or else

That same lingering question from John now why John 9 why would God work through a liar and a blasphemer?

Hence Jesus gives three commands to the paralytic man. I say to you all rise

Take up your bed and go to your house Verse 25 immediately he arose up before them took up what he had been lying on and departed to his own house

Glorifying God word for word verb for verb every cell of this paralytic man

Obeys the Son of Man's command More so the man goes home praising

God for the healing From this text we will know at least one person has believed

Jesus claimed to have the authority to forgive sins And it's the paralytic man himself

He knows that it is God working through Jesus He knows that Jesus does have the authority to forgive

Verse 26 shows us the response from the rest of the crowd and They were all amazed and they glorified

God and were filled with fear saying we have seen strange things today Although a marvelous sign

The tension of Jesus extensive authority is not resolved from this text as Jesus performs more miracles the looming question of what is the extent of Jesus authority?

will become clearer The blur of Jesus portrait of his identity and authority will resolve as Luke narrates on and by the end of it all

It will be impossible to Claim that Jesus Never claimed to be divine and Similar to the crowd we are faced with the same question.

Who is this Jesus? Who claims that he has the authority to forgive sins

If we go by the modern man's understanding of Jesus Just as a historical figure just as a religious leader just as a great moral teacher

Such a claim that he could forgive sins would be preposterous at best and Extremely wicked at worst in fact in a monotheistic nation like Israel It was extremely evil to claim to have authority

That was only God's prerogative To say that you can do only what

God can do would actually make yourself making yourself into God its self idolatry and After this account viewing

Jesus just as a mere moral teacher is not a feasible option if You want to read the text honestly?

Maybe prior to that. He's he must have been a great prophet Maybe prior to that. He's a great miracle worker

Maybe prior to that. He's a wonderful teacher sure But after this account

From what he's claimed He cannot just be a good moral teacher the only option that remains for us is either

Jesus can forgive sin by God's authority or he is the biggest fraud in human history and The readers have to make the decision.

Are you gonna continue reading? We're gonna close the book because he's a fraud Now for those of you who already believe that Jesus does have the authority to forgive

I want to remind you Jesus what that means for us

Jesus authority to forgive sins Means he does not hang your sins over you

There's no sin. He dangles over your head. So you feel guilty enough.

So you feel ashamed enough There's no sin.

He brings up out of the closet two years later Just to remind you just to put you back into your place where you belong

That's not how he uses his authority at all He in fact does not even wait for you to get your life together

He does not wait for you to make it up through good worse Yeah, I'll write it off.

I'll forgive you this time, but you owe me How Jesus forgives how he

Exercises his authority must be read with the account ripe prior

He forgives with the utmost death of his heart with the deepest compassion

He forgives immediately just as these two men were healed immediately and He forgives willingly

The desire to see you healed forgiven Overflows from his heart and That's how he forgives

That's who he is his absolute authority to forgive sins is paired with his deepest desire to see you forgiven and And when you rebel against God for the umpteenth time may be of the same sin and You convince yourself you even you convince yourself.

You can't even justify yourself anymore That man,

I wouldn't even forgive myself Well, you can always look to Christ Who is not made in your image, thank

God and you can confess your sins to him and He is faithful and righteous to forgive you of all of your sins and Cleanse you of all unrighteousness

Jesus ability Jesus authority Jesus willingness to forgive your sins is not dependent on the wickedness of your sins

But the tenderness of his heart It's the faithfulness of his character

It's the immutability of his nature he forgives because that's who he is and He willingly cleanses you because that's what he does

Let us pray father. We're thankful that we do have

Jesus the Son of God the Son of Man God incarnate

Who is not disgusted by us, but his heart draws him closer to us than ever

Especially when we sin because he lives to forgive That's what he does and that's who he is

That's his nature and father. There is nothing we can do to change who he is

Because he is God and we're not Father we pray that you would help us to go to Christ Willingly humbly and immediately

Whenever we do sin knowing that Jesus Tender merciful touch is never far away

But it's immediate In Jesus name Thank You pastor

And what makes it all possible is the power is the blood of Jesus and so let's all stand together

We're gonna sing the blood will never lose its power and some of you know this some of us not But we're gonna work our way through it if we were the