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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/john-meekin/forgiveness/
Mark chapter 2, and let's read at verse number 1. And again, he entered into Capernaum after some days, and it was noise 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. And there come unto him bringing one sick of the palsy, or really a paralyzed man, which was born 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 were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, they said, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies?
Who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your heart? 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 thy 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.
And that's our reading. It's possibly the oldest book of the Bible, and in that book, the book of Job, Job asks a question. And in Job chapter 25, the question is something like this. He says, How then can man be justified with God?
And Job, he also says this, How can he be clean that is born of a woman? Did you get that? How then can man be justified, or be right with God? Or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Job understood, I have a problem.
The problem is, just as we've been hearing, I am lost, I am a sinner, I am sinful, and how can I, a sinner, be made right with God? The Savior answered that question right here in Capernaum. He stood that day, as He stands in a house, a house full of sinners, we'll get to that in a moment, He looks at people who were unbelievers, and the Savior says this, He says, But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power, authority on earth, to forgive sins.
And just in case you're wondering tonight, here you are in a gospel meeting, there are people, some of them have sat through a day when the Scriptures have been opened, three Bible readings, and now they're sitting in a gospel meeting, and there's maybe someone here, and on your heart is burning the question, How can I be right with God?
How can my sins be taken away? How can I go out through those doors tonight? Absolutely sure, I will never perish. I will never go to hell. Listen to it, my friend. It was the Savior who stood, and with absolute authority, and with absolute power, the Savior stood this day, and the Savior says, That ye may know.
It's a wonderful thing to know. I came to know it when I was 16, just walking through a door, a bedroom door. I thought to myself, I've got to go to hell. In fact, just a few moments before it, a few moments before it, I threw my arms around my mother, and I said to my mom, I can't get this.
I'd worked at it for six weeks. I tried to believe, and I tried to receive, and I tried to understand it, and I couldn't get it. And I walked out of my bedroom, and I threw my arms around her, and I said, Mom, I can't get it.
I'll just have to go to hell. And she looked at me. She says, You don't have to go to hell. Tried to tell me about the Savior. I went down those six little stairs. I came back up the stairs, and I was walking through that bedroom door, and it came, and it came so clear.
He was wounded for your transgressions. He was bruised for your iniquities. The punishment, so that you can have peace, it was laid upon Him, and with His stripes, you are healed. And I realized, right then, I can know.
I wouldn't have told you that then. No, no, that wasn't my language then. In fact, I'll tell you what I did do. I walked back down the stairs. I passed my father in an old armchair. I walked past my father, and I walked into the kitchen, and I said to my mom, I've got it.
I didn't even have to tell her what I got. The only thing she ever wanted me to have, I got it that night. And the Savior says, listen to it, with all of its pathos, and coming in power, the Savior says, but that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins.
Here we are in Capernaum. It's a wonderful story. How men, four men, bring a paralyzed man and bring him to the Savior. You'll notice with me, as we look at the story, we've got the presence of the Savior.
In fact, Mark says, again, he entered into Capernaum after some days. Mark tells us in his gospel, he had been here before. Two days. That's all Mark records. Two days prior to this, he had been in the city.
Mark opens with the day, and he goes from the day to the evening, back to the morning. Of course, he closes the gospel with an evening, going to the morning, going to the evening again. But here he is in Capernaum.
He's only been there for two days before this. What a wonderful two days those were. In those two days, Christ had cast out demons. In those two days, Christ had healed leprous people. In those two days, Peter's mother-in-law was healed.
It was quite some two days in Capernaum, and now he's back. And can't you see it? Stay with me in the story. Now the word creeps through Capernaum. He's here again. The Savior is back. He's here again.
And people start to flock to the house in Capernaum, because He is here. And very soon, the entrance to the house is filled. Very soon, the rooms in the house are filled. And Christ is there in the house.
And the whole house is filled with people, because He is here. And you say, that's very well, Meakin. But what has that got to do with us in the gospel right here tonight in Wisconsin? You know, I made a mistake two years ago.
Let me tell you, I was preaching here, and I said we were in stout. I understand. I think I've got my bearings tonight. But you might be wondering, what has this got to do with us right here in Wisconsin?
You are telling us of the presence of the Savior in the house in Capernaum. And people flock to Him, because they understand He can meet our need. Do you know why we are preaching here? Christ is here.
Just like Luke's gospel. You remember Luke 18. Jesus entered, and He passed through Jericho. And going into the city of Jericho, a blind man, he calls to the Savior, Jesus, Master, have mercy on me. And as He exited the city, coming out of the city, there's a man called Zacchaeus.
And Zacchaeus understood the Savior is passing by. He is here. Would God, someone in this meeting would understand He is here tonight. Just as He was in Capernaum this day. Just as He was in the house, and people gathered to Him, flocked to Him, so He could meet their need and forgive their sins.
Listen, my friend, we are preaching one tonight. If I miss everything else, we are preaching one in the gospel right here tonight. And He has power to forgive every sin. Every single sin, He can cleanse it.
Give you a place in heaven. Give you a home on high to be with God forever. The presence of the Savior. I noticed not only the presence of the Savior, but the preaching of the Savior. I mean, they bring people.
A paralyzed man will be brought. There will be others there. And they have tremendous needs. And you would think the Savior will start physically to heal these people. He didn't do that. Do you know what the Savior did?
He preached the Word unto them. He started, and He started to preach the Word unto them. And here we are again tonight, preaching the Word of God unto you. You will know that the Savior was the first one to preach this gospel.
This is quite a message. In fact, Matthew 13 says, A sower went forth to sow. That sower was the Lord Jesus. Hebrews chapter 1 says, God has spoken. Hebrews chapter 3 says, The Holy Spirit speaks. But Hebrews chapter 2 says, So great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord.
And it was Christ Himself who went out. And He went to Nazareth. And He comes to Galilee. And He went to Jerusalem. And He's in Capernaum, preaching the Word. Preaching the Word of God. And here we are tonight, preaching the Word unto you.
What an opportunity. When I was a little bit younger, and I'll tell you how old I am. Someone told me recently, 26. I said, sure. That'll work with me. But when I was a little bit younger, there was an old evangelist.
Used to gather a number of us together when we were in our teens. And originally, I'm from Ireland. I'm sure you've picked that up. In between Ireland and England and Scotland and Wales, is a little island called the Isle of Man.
And he used to take us there every summer to give out gospel papers to the 70 ,000 inhabitants. Basically seed sowers. We used to love it. One year we were coming back. We were on the ferry. Four hour trip.
We were on the ferry, and they upgraded us to first class. And as we were sitting there, we noticed someone sitting. He was hiding his face behind a newspaper. He had a hat pulled low over his eyes. And we looked at him.
It was Alex Higgins. Means nothing to you folks. I know that. He was the world snooker or pool billiards champion. 1972 and 1982. And we all sat looking at each other. We knew that someone had to do it.
And eventually towards the end of that journey, one of those young men, he rose from the group of the rest of us. He pulled a few gospel tracts from his pocket. He went over to the man who was still sitting there at the table.
And he said, Mr. Higgins. He said, we've been preaching the gospel. We've been over on that island telling people that they were sinners bound for eternity. We've been telling them they need to be born again.
We've been telling them about the forgiveness of sins. Mr. Higgins, would you take a gospel paper? The man got up, pulled the hat from his head, threw the newspaper away. He said, listen, get out, get out.
In fact, he called a steward. He said, listen, get these people out of first class. He said the stupidest thing I ever heard. He said, get them off the boat. I mean, we're still an hour. Still an hour from port.
Get them off the boat. But you know what? That day he had one opportunity. The man died last year, emaciated with cancer. I saw on one of those online news sites the last picture they had of him. And I looked at a man emaciated with cancer.
And I thought to myself, sir, if you never heard it before, and if you never heard it again, you got one golden opportunity. When a boy stood before you, and he had a gospel paper in his hand, and he said, sir, we're telling you, you can know the forgiveness of sins.
Oh, listen, my friend, this is a real business. You might wonder why we get excited. Apologies if I do. But this is a real business. In fact, the Lord Jesus, He couldn't be here tonight according to 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, He says, we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. Do you know what that means? Christ couldn't be here tonight to preach. He ascended up to glory.
So what he did was, he put McCandless and Macon into his place. And he said, go and tell those people. Tell them in Wisconsin. Tell them of the love of God. Tell them of a real burning hell. But tell them, tell them of forgiveness of sins.
Preach the word unto them. And here you are this evening, that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. Not only the presence of the Savior and the preaching of the Savior, but I notice the power of the Savior.
Now you understand the story. These four men, they bring their paralyzed friend. He's on the bed. And they approach the house. But the house is filled with people. The very door, the entrance into the house is just crammed with people.
No one can get in. No one can get out. One of these men looks to the other. There's a set of stairs on the outside of the house leading up to the flat roof. One looks to the other. And the four of them say, that's the way in.
And they take the poor paralyzed man up the stairs. And they start pulling up the roof tiles. I've often wondered, what did the owner of the house think? Have you ever asked yourself that? I really don't think the owner of the house minded at all.
I think it was Peter who owned the house. And I think Peter was in the house that day. As they watch, Christ watches, as men start to pull up the roof, pull up the roof tiles. And they see clear blue sky.
And they start to let down a poor paralyzed man right to the feet of Christ. Must have been quite a thing. And Christ looks at the man. In view of everyone there in the house, Christ looks at the man.
And he says, the most unexpected thing. He says, son, son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Can you imagine what the man thought? He had come for physical healing. Now he's at the feet of Christ. And Christ speaks to him.
And he says, son, thy sins be forgiven thee. It was Simon Wiesenthal. You've maybe read the story in the book called The Sunflower. It's worth buying the book. Simon Wiesenthal was a Jew consigned to one of the Nazi death camps.
On one occasion, one of those SS soldiers made his way through the Nazi, the death camp. And he got a hold of him. And he said to Wiesenthal, are you a Jew? Wiesenthal said, yes. He said, come with me.
He took him up the back stairwell. Into a hospital. And lying on an operating table was an SS sergeant. He was dying. It was very evident to tell that the man was dying. His body was swathed in bandages.
Blood was oozing through the bandages. And he looked at Wiesenthal. And he says, Jew, I'm dying. I'm going out. Now he says, a number of years ago, we rounded up 300 Jews. And we pushed them into a building.
He said, we boarded up the entrances to the building. And we set fire to the building. And he says, Jew, some of those women and children jumped, jumped to save their lives. And we pushed them into the fire.
Some of them we shot. But he said, listen, I'm dying today. And my conscience is bothering me. I can't get any rest. He said, listen, will you forgive me? Please forgive me for what I did. Wiesenthal tried to move past him.
And he wouldn't let him. He extended his arm. He said, Jew, please forgive me. And Wiesenthal tried to move this way and that way. And the man kept pleading with him. Please forgive me. Forgive me for my sins.
And eventually Wiesenthal made it out, back down the stairs, out to his work detail. And now his conscience was bothering him. You know what his problem was? Could I have forgiven the man? Was it in my power to forgive the man?
And so he started to write to religious leaders. He started with 36, ended up with 51. He wrote to 51 religious leaders. Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, Protestant, wrote to the whole gamut. And he said, listen, who on earth has power to forgive sins?
It's a very interesting book because it includes the responses. Quite a thing. But you might be wondering tonight. Here's a man in Capernaum. He's on his bed. And the Savior looks at the man just as we are looking at you.
And the Savior says to the poor, paralyzed man, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Oh, what a statement. Can I tell you tonight? We don't have power to save. We've been preaching five weeks already over in stout.
And you don't have to preach that long to understand this. There are sinners coming and we don't have power to forgive their sins. But there is one that does. Thank God there is only one in the universe of God.
And he has power. His name is Jesus. At his very birth, Mary was told in Luke's Gospel, Joseph is told in Matthew's Gospel, call his name Jesus. Do you know what it means? Jehovah the Savior, he shall save.
And he looks at a poor, paralyzed man with absolute power. And he says, thy sins be forgiven thee. I noticed right here the perception of the Savior because there were some in that house and they stood murmuring.
And they said to themselves, who does he think he is? Who does this man think he is? Who can forgive sins but God only? And the Savior knew. He understood their thoughts just as he knows your thoughts.
Do you hear that, boys? You folks who are gathered here in this Gospel meeting, he knows your thoughts. He knows everything about you. He understands what you are thinking. But he understands what you are thinking.
Right down there on that little chair tonight, he knows just as he knew in this house. And Jesus perceiving their thoughts, who does this man think he is? He says to them, well, do you think it's easier to say to the paralyzed man, thy sins be forgiven thee?
Or is it easier to say to him, rise, take up your bed and walk? And of course, if he did one, I mean, if he does this to the poor, paralyzed man, if he gives them the physical ability to rise and take up his bed, it proves to them the first had taken place.
And he looks down at the man. I can almost see him smile. I know it's not recorded, but I can almost see him smile. He looks at the poor, paralyzed man. He says, son, rise, take up your bed, walk. And can't you see the man?
His four friends look at him as they see the man get up with power in his limbs. He never had before power that comes from Christ. He gets up with power in his limbs. He starts to roll up the bed. He puts the bed over his shoulder and he starts to walk.
Can't you see him moving into the scribes? Excuse me, excuse me. As he makes his way out of the house. Oh, let me tell you, my friend, there is one, the perception of the Savior. Just as I finished tonight, the person of the Savior, who can forgive sins, but God only.
What they didn't understand that day, right there in the home in Capernaum, was there was one in human form. And he was himself God. It's a wonder to my heart, friend. He came from the excellent glory.
He left the very throne of heaven. He stepped from splendor and the worship of angels. He was virgin born in Bethlehem. He was cradled in the arms of Mary. And the wonder to my heart is this, that the babe of Bethlehem was the God of eternity.
God sent his son into the world. And listen to what the Bible says. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Is it any wonder, Paul says, of whom I am chief. Would you not like to know him tonight?
Would you not like to know your sins are forgiven? Heaven is your home. I'm going to be in glory with the Lord Jesus. Christ is mine. And heaven is mine forever. It was George Wiseman. I read a story just recently on a missionary.
His name was George Wiseman. He was in Africa. He took the gospel to some of those villages in Africa. And the way they did it was this. They came into a village. And there had been a number of trees which were cut down.
And logs were placed around a fire. People from the village gathered around the fire. And those men told them the gospel. They moved into one little village. And the fire was out. There were a number of women gathered.
And one was holding a little baby. And Wiseman looked. And the child was dead. He said to the woman, tell me the story about your child. And she started. And she poured out her heart. Started to tell what happened to the child.
He said, you know, what we are preaching is this. There's a home for little children above the bright blue sky. And he poured into her ears John 3 .16. She looked at him. She started to cry. She said, tell me, white man, tell me, is that story really true?
And he started again and told her of the love of God. And told her how her sins could be forgiven. How that she could be with Christ. With that child forever. Would you not like to know this tonight? Listen to it just as I close.
But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. Shall we pray?