Our Greatest Need.

Good Morning! Welcome to our service this morning. I also want to welcome you who are watching that don’t normally attend our church but have plugged in today.

Wel

As we gather for this service I was touched by what a young fellow from our church said to me this week. Not being able to be together sucked. I agree wholeheartedly in that I miss being with you each week. Let us long to be together soon according to the will of God that we may gather as the church and worship our God together.

May this longing to be together be even stronger for our Lord and King as we wait patiently for his return for us. Where we will be forever with Jesus in glory where there will be no more pain, sorrow or loss! Be encouraged for his promise is unfailing.

Let us draw our attention to the love of God for us from :

I want to read for you from :

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Join with me in prayer:

English Standard Version Chapter 3

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Thanks to our God and Father, Creator. Spirit who comforts and gives peace.

Thankful to Jesus who came to save as the plan of the Father for salvation.

We stand condemned already , but we are saved by the mercy of God. Thankyou

We confess that we do struggle with fear, anxiety and worry. Forgive us.

Thank you for mercy in forgiving our sin at the cross. We praise you for the gracious gift of repentance and saving faith.

Please bless us as we gather in our homes. Sanctify us by your word as we worship you. Amen.

Numerous songs including a children’s song followed by sermon.

Three songs

I hope those songs lifted your spirit and blessed you as they did me. Our sermon this morning is titled “Our Greatest Need.”

I often struggle with what I really need. If someone was to ask me what I “need”, my answer may differ from day to day or hour to hour. When I was 20 all I felt I needed was to find a wife and get married. However, God knew that what I really needed was a godly wife. He granted me the precious gift of Nancy and I have been greatly blessed with over 30 years of marital bliss.

What about you? If you were asked what you need, you may answer that you need another green tractor, but what you really need is a beautiful red tractor...

In all seriousness though, knowing that we live in difficult days, we may think that our greatest need is someone to be with us as we are lonely. We may need a loved one who has gotten sick to be healed. We may need an answer on how we are going to pay our bills if we don’t have a job.

The list is endless depending on your situation. While all these things are very important and concerning to us, there is one need that trumps them all. One need that exceeds all our physical needs.

What is our greatest need? Let us look to the Scriptures to see what God has to say.

Read

Luke gives us insight into the life of a few different characters in this passage. Jesus, who is teaching in a house. A paralytic and his friends. And now we are introduced to those who would be Jesus’s greatest opposition throughout his ministry on earth, the Pharisees and teachers of the law.

According to the law, the elders had a responsibility to screen those who taught about God to make sure they were not false teachers. This is a good and faithful duty, however these guys turned what was good discernment into legalism. Teaching what was not the law.

So on this day these Pharisees and scribes came from all over to hear Jesus teach. At the end of (17) Luke gives a small detail with great significance in what was going to occur this day “And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.” Today’s miracle was going to be different than the other healing miracles. It begins in (18) with a paralyzed man on a bed being brought to Jesus by some friends of his.

Obviously, they had heard that Jesus was at this particular house but when they got there, it was packed. They could not find a way into the house so they persisted and climbed some stairs to the roof. This was a common way they built their homes in the day. They removed some mud tiles from the roof and let him down before Jesus.

I can imagine the scene, dust and debris falling on the people, Jesus stopping his teaching as he looked up at the commotion above. I can just imagine the owner of the house trying to get passed the people trying to get outside so he can stop these vagrants from destroying his house.

Who would ever be this persistent to go to all this trouble to see Jesus? Indeed, who would unless you believed that the only hope of healing would be at the hands of Jesus?

This is called faith. Not a blind faith that you just believe whatever someone flippantly says. No, this was a faith that believed that if Jesus could heal fevers, the demon possessed and lepers, he could heal someone who was paralyzed.

Blind faith is believing those charlatan faith healers that “supposedly” heal people of diabetes, sore knees and high blood pressure. They never bring someone on stage in a wheelchair with crippled legs. They are the hard cases that you need to go home and pray for. Not on the stage where people in the audience and on tv could see your hoaxes and deception.

This paralyzed man is let down before Jesus. In this stuffy house, likely quite hot and maybe smelling of BO from being crammed together Jesus sees the faith of these men.

He says to the paralytic “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” Ugh…what?? What he thought was his greatest need at the time was to be able to walk. But Jesus reveals this mans greatest need. To be forgiven of his sin. His debt to God for disobeying the law of God.

Now these words that Jesus spoke caused quite a stir in this house. The scribes and Pharisees thought to themselves “Who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (PAUSE)

Indeed, who can forgive sins but God alone???

Under the Old Covenant, the only way someone was forgiven of sin was to bring their animals or birds to the priest in accordance to the sacrificial law that God established as given to Moses. These animals or birds were then killed and burned on the alter as a sacrifice to God. A substitute for sin was given by the death of another in your place. Blood had to be shed in order for one to be forgiven by God.

So these Pharisees and teachers of the law were correct in their understanding of who could forgive sin…God alone!

Jesus as God reads their minds as to what they are thinking. “Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say ‘Rise and walk’? Well obviously it is much easier to “say” your sins are forgiven because no one can prove that sins were forgiven.

Look at how Jesus answers the question for them in (24). “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” - he said to the man who was paralyzed “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.”

In this remarkable verse, Jesus for the first time refers to himself as the Son of Man. He is fully God and fully man and therefore has authority on earth to forgive man of his sins. His miracle of making a paralyzed man walk proved that he is God. He alone has the authority as God who can wipe the slate clean and forgive sinners. He does what is impossible in healing the paralytic to prove he is God who forgives sins.

This Jesus is the Son of Man that God sent to the world to free sinners from their condemnation (from John 3). This is the mission of Jesus in going to the cross as our sacrifice. All who have faith to believe in Jesus as their Saviour are washed clean by his blood. Out of love, our condemnation of being guilty for disobeying God turns to “not guilty!” Jesus paid the price for us.

This Jesus is the Son of Man that God sent to the world to free sinners from their condemnation. This is the mission of Jesus in going to the cross as our sacrifice. All who have faith to believe in Jesus as their Saviour are washed clean by his blood. Out of love, our condemnation of being guilty for disobeying God turns to “not guilty!” Jesus paid the price for us.

No wonder that this man left that house jubilant and worshipping God. Free from guilt and shame and free from his paralysis.

If you are not a Christian, has the Holy Spirit revealed to you to see your greatest need? Everyone of us are like the crippled man in that bondage to the bed because of sin. Do you want to be free? No priest , no pope can absolve you of sin. No good works done for family or neighbours put you in the good graces of God somehow balancing the scales. Only faith…believing in Jesus alone as your Saviour. I plead with you to humble yourself before the Lord and trust in him alone for forgiveness of your sins debt and receive eternal life.

Luke ends this passage by stating how amazed they all were at seeing all these extraordinary things and they worshipped God.

Now the question is did this amazement and awe lead to a heart change in the Pharisees and scribes? Well come back next week and we will see.

Application:

As we have seen, mans greatest need is spiritual healing, then physical healing. Jesus uses a paralyzed man to perform an object lesson for those that were gathered. Sin cripples us, it leads only to death and judgement in hell. But Jesus as the Great Physician came to earth not to condemn but to save. He alone has the authority to forgive sins debt and restore us sinners to God like we once had in Adam before he disobeyed God and brought death to the human race.

By Jesus healing the paralytic, he showed that once we are forgiven, we are set free. We can now sing and dance before the Lord no longer burdened under the weight of sin. Friend, if you do not know Jesus as your Saviour, do you see your greatest need? That it is not wealth, health, or pantries full of food. Your greatest need is salvation and Jesus offers it freely, without charge. He mercifully says to you “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is the eternal sacrifice for you by trusting in him as your Saviour. I plead with you to turn to Jesus today and be healed from the inside out.

In light of this great truth, how does our greatest need fulfilled in Jesus apply to us as Christians?

Faith is vital to our walk with God. God gives us the gift of faith to believe that Jesus can do mighty works. In times that we live in now, fear can creep in and take our eyes off of Christ. Let us cast away every hindrance, every obstacle to behold Christ.

Since God has had mercy on us to forgive our sin debt, we are now his children. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Let us therefore encourage one another with these truths.

Knowing that our greatest need is Jesus helps us check our priorities right now. Is wealth, toys and fame important now? Or is reconciliation with family, generosity for the poor and marginalized and love of neighbour more important? Since Jesus has loved us first, let us love one another.

Since we know that our greatest need is salvation from sin, let us take this good news to our families and neighbours. We cannot save anyone, only God can forgive sins. Our responsibility as the church is to bear witness to this divine truth of a God who forgives and leave the work to the Spirit to bring about a heart change.

If we were to apply these principles in our lives what could happen?

With increased faith in the all mighty God, our fears of what will happen to us and our families would become would turn to faith in the truth that there is no safer place than in Christ.

With our priorities properly placed in order of importance, we would fervently pray to God for more of Jesus. Resulting in more peace, joy, hope and love as we face the most difficult of times.

The world would see where our confidence lies. Not in ourselves, our government or in scientists. But in King Jesus who rules in full authority over all the world. They would see that we trust in God by faith that he will work through people to bring us through this most difficult time. Instead of panic and fear they would see faith and hope. It would open doors for sharing the gospel.

By more people hearing what their greatest need is, we pray that many would turn from sin and trust in Jesus as their Saviour. Resulting in more glory coming to the God of our salvation. Our culture then changes one by one.

Our churches become places of refuge and hope, cities on a hill, lights in the darkness.

Sinners that used to love sex, drugs, abuse of power now have new affections for love, peace, kindness and patience. God is praised by all in seeing God doing miraculous and extraordinary things in hardened hearts that used to hate God. The church building filled with the people of God worshipping and praising God for the great things he has done.

To summarize, the Lord’s chief mission on earth is to save sinners from the judgement that we all deserve. He came to restore us to God so that we would again have peace and sweet communion with our Heavenly Father. Jesus is the answer to our greatest need which is salvation. Bottom line…we all need Jesus!!

As forgiven sinners, let us be like the healed paralyzed man. Let us live in light of this truth and glorify God in all that we say and do. Let’s pray in faith that he can do far more abundantly that all that we ask or think according to the power of the Spirit that lives in us! Let us believe and worship our God.

PRAYER

Benediction:

[13] May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (ESV)

[13] May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (ESV)

I have a closing song to end our service. God bless.