Sermon Tone Analysis

In U.S. Navel Institute Proceedings, the magazine of the Naval Institute, Frank Koch illustrates the importance of obeying the Laws of the Lighthouse.

Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days.

I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell.

The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities.

Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing reported, “Light, bearing on the starboard bow.”

“Is it steady or moving astern?” the captain called out.

The lookout replied, “Steady, Captain,” which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.

The captain then called to the signalman, “Signal that ship: ‘We are on a collision course, advise you change course twenty degrees.’“

Back came the signal, “Advisable for you to change course twenty degrees.”

The captain said, “Send: “I’m a captain, change course twenty degrees.’“

“I’m a seaman second-class,” came the reply.

“You had better change course twenty degrees.”

By that time the captain was furious.

He spat out, “Send: ‘I’m a battleship.

Change course twenty degrees.’”

Back came the flashing light, “I’m a lighthouse.”

We changed course.

In the Eye of the Storm by Max Lucado, Word Publishing, 1991, p. 153

The one with the most power has the ultimate authority

We see this in business, just because someone is older doesn't always mean that they have the authority, who ever has the most positional power holds the authority

For moms with teenage boy’s, the mother has the positional authority

The battleship had a lot of power, but not nearly as much power as the rocks that would shipwreck the boat if the lighthouse were not sending out the warning signal

Jesus had a lot to say about His authority over sin and death and there were always people who were questioning His authority

I think this is primarily because Jesus didn’t bulldoze people

Jesus kind of worked like poison Ivy… Poison Ivy is smaller, and not all that noticeable, but you go stomping through the woods, and the woods bite back.

Jesus didn’t look all that powerful on the outside, but the true authority that dwelt within him was infinitely greater than any of His opponents

Read whole text from Bible

Matthew 9:1-1

Explain Relentless series

Possibly give the background to the beginning of the book of Matthew… Because today were going to be studying him a little

Jesus Has Authority To Forgive Sin

9 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed.

And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

9 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed.

And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

So what is going on here?

Paralytic man/friends break a hole in someones roof/

Matt 9:1-

They surely have heard of Jesus fame and abilities

It was not just the faith of the paralytic man, but the faith of them all

What they did was collectively trusted Jesus for the healing of their friend and they surely where shocked when His first pronouncement was that the boys sins were forgiven, Do you think he was disappointed at all?

Jesus sees his condition, and knows that the deepest need that this kid has is eternal, not temporal

The deepest need that we have isn’t a better marriage, or a healed body, or better finances, the deepest need that we have as human beings is the forgiveness of sins for the salvation of our souls

Jesus is speaking with unbelievable authority over something that is only God’s to do

The pharisees notice and are really angry

The obvious answer is…your sins are forgiven!

Jesus here is showing everyone around that He isn't just fool of talk, He’s not a dog that’s all bark, Jesus here is showing the immensity of His divine power

And the people respond to His authority with worship

The one who was probably changed the most was this paralytic man

He had lived his life thinking his problem was only physical

Now He gets up and walks as he encounters the authority that Jesus has over sin and sickness

The sad part is that these scribes were the ones who were supposed to be on the lookout for Jesus, they missed Him completely

Which leads us to ask the question… Are we encountering the gracious authority of Jesus that forgives sin and transforms us to deeper obedience, or are we just playing religion, are we playing dress-up acting as if were Christians though some have never encountered God’s grace and think Christianity is all about being the best person we can be?

This paralytic kid didn’t do anything to deserve God’s grace, he just knew where to go when you needed healing, and he wound up with the healing of his soul as well as his body.

I fear for us when I hear talk of moral and behavioral conformity without any mention of God’s toward us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Scribes had conformed, the Pharisees had conformed, but they didn’t have a real relationship with Jesus and those gospel-less good deeds were counted as filthy rags, but not for the Christian, their sins are forgiven, and the good-works that they now walk in were predestined from the foundation of the world!

Jesus forgives and it is immediate and final, there is nothing that you need to do extra to be loved by God once you are forgiven.

If you struggle to understand the totality of your forgiveness, lets take a look at what was accomplished on the cross for us...

6-

2 cor

Rich in what?

Rich in righteousness, rich with favor

Explain Authority

You’ve got the smile of God Christian, Let that cheer your soul!

So not only does Jesus have authority to forgive sins, He also loves sinners!

Jesus Loves Sinners

Now were introduced to the writer of this Gospel

Matthew was hated because he was a tax collector

Jesus

Then Matthew in His joy leaves everything to go follow Jesus

He makes a dinner party, and this is just a basket of deplorables

Those who knew that they had nothing to offer God were drawn to His compassion, there was something about Jesus that those of low estate found comforting, transformative, surely they have felt unlovable their entire lives, and Jesus loves the unlovable people, and His love and His kindness softens people’s hearts, it makes the heart more malleable and God transforms those with soft hearts

Is this true of us?

Are sinners drawn toward us?

If not, why not?

Don’t take this as approving of sin, take this as being a light in a dark world that pushes back against the darkness

The pharisees reacted with a kind of false light, saying they weren't going to be like those sinners, but those sinners were the very people that Jesus came to save! Look at the next verse!

I love how Jesus flips everything upside down, the Pharisees swore that they were the healthy ones, and they were obviously further from God than these low life sinners!

They were blind to Jesus and had an extremely dangerous spiritual sickness.

12-

9:12 those who are well … those who are sick.

The Pharisees considered themselves “healthy” before God because of their observance of the law, and thus they were blind to their spiritual sickness.

Jesus’ point is that only those who realize their need come to him to receive the help they need.

I love that Don Carson Says this...

For a pious Jew to eat with them was therefore unthinkable.

Jesus’ response in vs 12–13 offers the opposite perspective: a healer must ‘get his hands dirty’, and a mission of salvation cannot be achieved by staying in respectable company.

His quotation from Ho. 6:6 (used again in 12:7) indicates that God’s priority is costly love rather than careful ritual.

Jesus called matthew to be an apostle, which was amazing because it was clear evidence that God loves to raise us up by His grace...”But this publican, who followed an occupation little esteemed and involved in many abuses, was selected for additional reasons, that he might be an example of Christ’s undeserved goodness, and might show in his person that the calling of all of us depends, not on the merits of our own righteousness, but on his pure kindness.

Matthew, therefore, was not only a witness and preacher, but was also a proof and illustration of the grace exhibited in Christ.”

John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 399.

Now when Jesus had saved Matthew, Matthew didn't just stay in the sin that he had so clearly been walking in.

Jesus asked Matthew to leave everything and have his whole life changed… When the great physician lays His hand to the work of restoration, there is no choice but to be changed, and leave that whole way of life behind.

We must not cherish our sin, and still try to follow Jesus, we must put to death those things of the past just like Matthew did.

Notice that we never see Matthew return to this old way of life, surely there were times when it was tempting to go and follow in the old ways of desiring wealth, but He was sealed for the day of redemption, and the proof was in the fruit of His life.

Jesus calls all Christians away from foolish living and toward a devoted life that delights in Him.

He came to quicken the dead, to justify the guilty and condemned, to wash those who were polluted and full of uncleanness, to rescue the lost from hell, to clothe with his glory those who were covered with shame, to renew to a blessed immortality those who were debased by disgusting vices.

If we consider that this was his office and the end of his coming,—if we remember that this was the reason why he took upon him our flesh, why he shed his blood, why he offered the sacrifice of his death, why he descended even to hell, we will never think it strange that he should gather to salvation those who have been the worst of men, and who have been covered with a mass of crimes.

But we must also attend to the expression, to repentance: which is intended to inform us that pardon is granted to us, not to cherish our sins, but to recall us to the earnestness of a devout and holy life.

So Jesus hates sin, has authority over it, to do away with the wretched condemnation of our sin, and also loves those who are so easily entangled in sin… But there is one sin that cant be forgiven, and we must talk about that here.

Now

Only One Sin Can’t Be Forgiven

This is terrifying if you take it out of the rest of scripture, but any one specific type or species of sin cannot be what this verse is talking about.