Willing and Able
Notes
Transcript
Doxology:
This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart that I might not sin against God. Amen!
Scripture Reference: Mark 1:40 - 2:12
40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”
41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.
43 And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once,
44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
45 However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.
1 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.
2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them.
3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.
4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts?
9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’?
10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic,
11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
Prayer....
Context
Context
I want you to know this morning what a wonderful God we serve. He is better to us than we deserve. When we are not faithful, He is still faithful. When we are at our weakest, He is at His strongest. When we create hardships for ourselves, because of the poor decisions we make, God still loves us regardless. He stands there with open arms, simply waiting on us to wake up and see the truth of what we have done. And when we do......He welcomes us home and is merciful in the process. What a loving God we serve!
I want to speak to you today on the topic of “Willing and Able”. No matter what, God is willing and able to restore us, redeem us, and save us.
Content
Content
The Sin That Binds Us
The Sin That Binds Us
The Leper (Mark 1:40-45)
It affected the entire body. It usually began with fatigue and pain in the joints. Scaly spots would develop on the skin, as the disease progressed, it body would become covered by puss-filled nodules.
The appearance of the face would be altered as the disease ate away at the cartilage and nodules would grow on the vocal chords so that the leper spoke with a raspy voice.
The body was in a state of living decomposition, thus a terrible stench surrounded the leper constantly.
Leprosy attacked the nervous system, compromising the body’s ability to feel pain. It acted as an anesthetic, numbing the body.
A common problem during their day was that mice would come to eat of the flesh of the leper, but because they could not feel pain, they would not know what was happening until entire limbs had been removed.
One doctor in a third world country would often send a cat home with his leprous patients after he had performed surgery on them.
It usually ran its course in about 9 years, to which the sufferer would usually die a horrible death.
One of the worst aspects of leprosy was the social isolation it brought. The Levitical Law was very clear as to how the leprous individual was to remained quarantined from society until pronounced clean by a priest.
By the time of Jesus, the religious leaders had added multiple layers on top of the Law of Moses concerning lepers. If they even stuck their head in a room, that room was considered unclean. It was also against the Law to greet a leper.
When it was determined that an individual had leprosy, they were banished from the village, no longer allowed to have communion with other people. They had to leave their family, friends, and everything they knew behind.
It was unlawful for a leper to approach within 50 feet of another individual. On a windy day, this was increased to 200 feet. This means they could no longer hug or touch their family. They could only see them from a distance.
The leper had to tear their garments a certain way so that all who saw them knew they had leprosy. They were to dress as a mourner going to a funeral, their own funeral.
If anyone began to approach them, they had to yell out “Unclean! Unclean!” so that all around would know that they were plagued.
The families would usually start out strong in visitation, coming to see their diagnosed loved ones, but most of the time it became to hard to bear. Seeing the slow, painful transformation into death was gruesome, so many of the times, the families would eventually have a funeral service for their loved one and never go back, even though they were still alive.
According to Scripture, leprosy was far more than a disease. It represented sin.
Leprosy is deeper than the skin.
3 The priest shall examine the sore on the skin of the body; and if the hair on the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous sore. Then the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean.
The outward appearance of sin is merely a window into one’s heart.
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.
19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
Leprosy starts out small and then it spreads
7 But if the scab should at all spread over the skin, after he has been seen by the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest again.
Think of David in 2 Sam 11. His initial sin of laziness, not wanting to go to war with his men that day, turned into sins of adultery, an unwanted pregnancy, lies, and murder.
A little drink turns into alcoholism. A little too much flirting turns into an unwanted pregnancy. A little sin here and a little sin there turns into a whole world of pain and suffering.
Leprosy defiles everything it touches
44 he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean; his sore is on his head.
45 “Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’
46 He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.
Sin has a way of poisoning a person's entire life. It will poison your family and your relationships. It will devastate and ruin everything it touches in your life.
Just ask Achan if a little gold, silver, and a garment were worth his life and the lives of his entire family (Joshua 7). Ask David if a few stolen moments with another man’s wife were worth the devastation and calamities that came into his family as a result.
Leprosy Isolates
46 He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.
Sin drives a wedge between you and everything good in life. It drives a wedge between you and God.
Leprosy Destines things for the fire
52 He shall therefore burn that garment in which is the plague, whether warp or woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of leather, for it is an active leprosy; the garment shall be burned in the fire.
Everything the leper touched had to be burned. Sin prepares a soul for the eternal torments of Hell fire just as a touch of leprosy did.
The Paralytic (Mark 2:1-12)
Remember that Jesus was in Capernaum before but left to go into Galilee Mark 1.39
39 And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.
After healing the leper, Jesus’s fame grew so rapidly that He was forced out of the city and ended back up in Capernaum.
45 However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.
1 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.
This means that this paralyzed man missed the boat the first time around. Jesus healed many people when He was in Capernaum the first time, but this man didn’t make it. It could very well be because of his condition and the difficulty of him being moved around. Notice that it says in vs. 3:
3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men.
He had to be carried everywhere he went. He couldn’t move about any other way. He was absolutely desperate for a healing. He is so desperate for a healing, that when he couldn’t get into the house because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and began digging through the layers until they were able to break through.
Notice also, like the leper, this man’s condition was a result of sin. It says in vs. 5:
5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”
We are not given the circumstances, but we are given the reason for this man’s condition: sin.
The sin in this man’s life caused him to be very limited. He was able see many things he wanted to do, even willing to do, but was unable to do because of the limitations that his sin had placed him.
This is sin. As we go life, we see many things we want for ourselves and our families, but the sin in our lives prohibit us from getting it. We want a closer relationship but sin stands in the way. We want better management of our resources but sin stands in the way. Sin limits us so bad when we allow it to continue in our lives. It serves as a constant reminder to us of how we are defeated by it and will never be any more than what we are as long as that sin continues in our lives.
We all have sin in our lives. We all deal with this ugliness to some degree or another, but what I want you to get loud and clear today is that Jesus is willing and able to forgive you of your sin, cleanse you, and set you on a path to victory.
He Is Willing and Able To Save
He Is Willing and Able To Save
40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”
41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
He is Willing!
Doesn’t that just light up your spirit? Jesus is willing to save me. Regardless of what I have done, regardless of the hole that I have dug myself into, regardless of my laziness and lack of effort, regardless of how I have treated others, regardless of how I have treated Him, He is willing to save me, forgive me, cleanse me, and set me on a new path towards victory. Amen!
What a blessing this is to have a God that loves me that much. He loves me despite my failures. He loves me despite my shortcomings. His love is greater than my sin. Thank you Jesus! His love goes beyond any one event. It goes beyond any one conversation. It goes beyond any period of time in my life. It goes beyond my weakest, most vulnerable state. His love is everlasting. Praise God!
He is Able!
10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic,
11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
When Jesus said to this man, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”, which is what each of us longs to hear from Jesus, there were some critics in the crowd. These critics did not believe that Jesus had the right or the power to do this. They challenged Jesus on whether He could forgive sins or not.
This man had done everything in his power to get to Jesus, and when he was finally there, some people spoke up and said that Jesus did not have the right, or the power, to do what needed to be done to set this man free.
As you approach God in your life, there are going to be some critics along the way. Jesus says, “Come unto Me” but the critics say, “For what? He can’t save you. He has no power to redeem, or to restore anyone. He is just a man, like the rest of us.”
It may even be your own conscience that is the critic. “Can He really save me? Can He really help me? Does He really have the power to do what everyone says He can do?”
There will always be critics in your life, encouraging you to go a different direction. They will cause you to second-guess the power and ability of God to work in and through your life for good. They will cause you to doubt God’s presence in your life. They will tempt you to pull back and try things a different way. The question is this:
How Desperate Are You?
How Desperate Are You?
The Paralytic
This man had already missed Jesus during His previous journey through Capernaum, but not this time. He was desperate to get to Jesus, he was willing to do whatever it took to get him in front of this miracle worker.
He enlisted four men to help him get there.
He can’t get through the door because of all the people, so he decided to come through the roof instead.
The roofs were relatively flat. They would lay down timbers across the opening of the walls, much like we do with ceiling joists. They would then use materials like smaller timbers, twigs, or even hay/straw to pack into the gaps between the timbers. They would then lay clay tiles on top of that to create a somewhat flat surface. Finally, they would cover the clay tiles with a mud-like substance that would harden to seal off the area.
This man had to dig through several layers of material to get to Jesus. How much are you willing to dig to get to Jesus? Are you willing to enlist some close friends to help you on this journey? Are you willing to let others see your faults and failures. Everyone in the house hears what Jesus said to this man. They all heard about his sin. Are you willing to be perfectly honest about who you are and what you have done, so that you can get to Jesus. Are you going to let pride stand in your way, or are you willing to set aside everything that hinders you from coming to know Christ?
The Leper
The leper risked everything in order to come to Jesus. Because of their strict laws concerning leprosy, this man was not supposed to be anywhere near another human being. He knew better. He knew the rules. If caught, this could mean instant death, but what did he have to lose? He was a dead man walking anyway.
He set aside everything, came to the feet of Jesus, bowed down beneath His feet, and begged Him to save Him.
How Desperate are you? Are you willing to let others see you shed a tear? Are you willing to let others see your vulnerability? Are you willing to let others see you at your weakest? Are you willing to let others see just how far you have fallen into sin? This leprous man decided that it didn’t matter what anyone else saw, heard, or thought, He was coming to Jesus.
Commitment
Commitment
My encouragement to you today is to act act as these men did. Set aside your pride and get desperate enough to come to Jesus. Each of these men found a way to get there, even though it meant that others could see their sin, their brokenness, their problems, their failures, and everything else.
They didn’t care. They had reached a moment in their lives, to where they were willing to do whatever it took to get to Jesus, regardless of the cost. Their reward: Healing, restoration, and salvation.
41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
This man had not felt another person’s touch in a long time. Jesus out of compassion, reached out and touched Him. He was willing to go where no other man could go and do what no other man could do. Jesus healed this man.
11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
Once this man came into contact with Jesus, his life was forever changed. The thing that carried him in, he now rose and carried out. The thing that once controlled him, he now controlled. He was brought in lying on the bed, but he carried it back out.
Jesus is not only willing to save you, He is more than able to do so, if you are willing to come. How desperate are you to get to Jesus?
