22 March 2026 - I am They (Part 2) - Pastor Clarance Shashi

Sermon, if you still remember part one, how many of you remember part one?

But three of you, which is very encouraging for the pastors standing up here.

Three people remember part one.

Yeah, I was supposed to do it last week, but uh last week, as you know, it was uh we were all dealing with the sudden passing of uh Peter, and uh so I felt the Lord lead me in a different direction, but I'm gonna continue part two today.

So uh this is the story that I've been uh teaching out of is found in Mark chapter 2.

Mark 2 · chapter mention

How uh paralytic has a physical, spiritual, and an eternity transforming encounter with Jesus because four of his friends believed that Jesus would make a difference in this guy's life.

So I'm gonna read that portion of scripture found in Mark chapter 2, verse 2 to 12.

Mark 2:2–12

It says, While he was preaching God's word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat.

They couldn't bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head.

Then they lowered the man on his mat right down in front of Jesus.

Seeing their fate, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, My child, your sins are forgiven.

But some of the teachers of the religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, What is he saying?

This is blasphemy.

Only God can forgive sins.

Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked him, Why do you question this in your hearts?

Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man, Your sins are forgiven?

Or is it, oh, stand up, pick up your mat and walk?

So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.

Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, Stand up, pick up your mat and go home.

And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out to the stunt on Lucas.

They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, We've never seen anything like this before.

What a great Jesus encounter! As I mentioned in part one, this Jesus encounter for this man would not have been possible if not for the they in this story.

They that believed for him, they that carried him to the place where Jesus was, as the scripture says, they couldn't bring him to Jesus because of the crowd.

So they dug a hole through the roof above his head, then they lowered the man on his mat right in front of Jesus.

This man receives a miracle because he had some people in his life that loved him enough to play the role of the they in his world.

If they didn't care, if they did not do what they did, if they did not believe in Jesus, they did not believe that Jesus could transform this man's life, if they didn't take the time, if they did not go out of their way, this man would not have received his miracle, his life would not have been transformed, he would not be in heaven today.

And they are not in the story just for the man at that time, but they are in the story also for you and I who are reading it today, who are learning from it today, because they are also there as an example for all of us, to you and I, the role that you and I have as followers of Jesus.

Our most important Christian responsibility is to believe enough, to care and love enough, to want to be the they in someone else's story.

There are people in our worlds that are looking for things that only Jesus can give them.

And our role is to point the way, show the way, lead the way, clear the way, make a way for them to encounter the one who is the way, the fruit, and the life.

This is one of those things that you do not need to wonder about should I share the gospel, should I invite someone to church, should I point my friend to Jesus?

Should I share my testimony?

It's not something that you should be wondering if you're called to do this, if you have a gift, if you're gifted enough to do this.

Is this your ministry?

You already got your marching orders more than 2000 years ago when Jesus said go.

When he said go, it wasn't just to the few that was before him at that point of time.

That go is there for every one of his disciples.

And if you're here and if you put have put your trust in Jesus, you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, and that marching orders is for you and I as well.

Paul writes it like this: he says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 18 onwards.

2 Corinthians 5:18

He says, All of this is a gift from God who brought us back to himself through Christ, and God has given us the task.

Given who the task, the pastor, that evangelist has given us who is he talking to?

He's talking to the church, has given us the task of reconciling people to him.

For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them, and he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.

So we are, he goes on to say, Christ's ambassadors, and God is making his appeal through us.

Come on, look to the person next to you and say, I bet you didn't know you were sitting next to an ambassador.

So let's let's continue.

So Mark chapter 2, verse 1 says, When Jesus returned to Capernum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home.

Mark 2:1

I mentioned in part one how uh this home in Capernum, some believed it was Peter's home.

And uh this home was sort of Jesus' home base when he was not traveling, when he was not doing ministry, he would come back to Capernum.

People saw it as his home.

And it says, soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door, while he was preaching God's word to them.

So people would come to this house.

The moment they knew Jesus was back in the house, they would all come, they would tell their friends, hey, the Messiah, the guy is back, you know, the one who healed that blind man, the one who raised that dead boy, he's back in the house.

Let's go.

And they would all just show up at the house.

And Jesus would be forced to do a Bible study, and now you know why we pastors live in gated, guarded communities.

So it goes on to say it was so full, it was packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door, while he was preaching the word to them.

Then it says, Four men, so while this was going on in the house, four men arrive outside the house and they can't get in.

Because the door is so packed, people don't want to give way.

They said they couldn't bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus because of the crowd.

So I mentioned in part one how the crowd there was this crowd blocking the way, and how this crowd can many times represent the things that block our way from bringing someone to Jesus, from pointing someone to Jesus.

And for many of us, sometimes this can represent the fear of the crowd that blocks us, the fear of rejection by the crowd, the fear of social awkwardness with the crowd, the fear of offending the crowd, the fear of being judged by the crowd.

This miracle happens because these four friends didn't allow the crowd in their way to stop them or discourage them from finding a way.

They were not given a way through, they were not offered a way through, there was no easy path, yet instead of giving up, instead of looking for a way out, they looked for another way in.

There's always another way in.

There's always another way.

So they looked up and they saw this roof.

The houses at that time typically had flat roofs.

You know, they were like boxes.

The roofs were were flat and they didn't just serve as a covering for the house.

It was a place where where people would actually go up to hang out when it was really hot, warm nights, they would go and hang out on the roof.

There would typically be stairs outside the house leading up to the roof.

And the roof was basically made of uh mud, mud clay.

Uh what they would do is they would they would have wooden beams inside the house, and above the beams they would put uh uh uh sticks and leaves and uh and those kind of stuff, and then above that they would put clay, mud, mud clay, and they would use a stone roller to press it in so that it would become hard and flat.

Right?

And in some how on in some houses, they would these clay roofs will also be reinforced with stone slabs or mud tiles.

So if you read the parallel account of this event in Luke chapter 5, verse 19, it says they went up to the roof and took off some tiles.

Luke 5:19

So this is one of those houses that also had those tiles on top of the roof.

So these guys decide, let's not allow the crowd to prevent us from getting our friend to Jesus.

Let's just go up to the roof and find a way in.

Make a way in.

One of them would have suggested that.

Okay, let's let's let's take Apu.

I gave him the name in part one, Apu, because it's an easy name.

It's not a Jewish name, but it's just a Apu Spielberg.

So let's take Apu to the roof, and then the other sarcastic friend looks at him, oh the roof, yeah.

And then we can we can use the door to you know on the roof and go in.

Then Yosef says, There's no door in the roof.

Precisely, how on earth are we going to get him in through the roof?

It's going to be impossible.

Honestly, think about it.

If if any of you were one of those four holding this structure of sorts, would think at that point, oh, this is a great idea.

Let's just carry him up the stairs, and let's just go up the roof and let's let's break the roof and go in.

You crazy?

Because first, thank you, thank you, Stephen.

I said Yosef, not Stephen.

So, anyway, firstly, you have to carry him up the stairs, and that would be such a challenge.

And breaking through someone's house roof to get in, not exactly a great idea.

And you know how hard and thick those roofs are, you know how big the hole will have to make because it's not like we can just make one small hole and and send him, hold him by the legs and send him down the we have to tie him to the stretcher and make a hole big enough so that the whole stretcher can go through the hole.

And you know what is gonna cost us?

We also have to replace this damaged roof after that.

This is Peter's house, Peter's a gangster.

You break his house roof, he's gonna send the disciples after us, and it's not easy.

How are we gonna let him down?

You know, you got a backache.

How are we gonna hold him and lower him down?

I bet you any one of us, if we were in the position of one of those four friends, would have said, listen, we've done our part, we tried, let's just stop here.

I would do anything for love, but I won't do that.

But these guys are built different, they consider the cost, they consider the difficulty, and they decide, let's proceed, because they are driven by their love for their friend and by their faith in Jesus.

Love and faith is a very powerful combination.

Love will always drive you to want to go that extra mile.

The Bible says, For God so loved the world that he gave because of his love.

He came down, he went that extra mile so that he could reach out to us.

And Jesus carried on that journey, he went to the cross, he went through that suffering.

Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2 says, For the joy set before him, love will cause you to want to go the extra mile, faith will cause you to see that extra mile.

Hebrews 12:2

So Jesus sees the joy set before him, no one else could see it.

He saw it and he endured the suffering, he endured the shame, he endured the cross, he looked beyond that moment to the glory that was awaiting him.

These four friends' love caused them to go up that roof because they also had faith in Jesus.

They saw beyond the difficulty, beyond the hardship, beyond the crowd, and they said there is going to be a glory awaiting us for our friend.

And let me tell you, it is worth the cost.

Faith will always cause you to see things that others don't.

Faith sees outcomes before they become.

Others will see hopelessness, but through the eyes of faith, you will see a hope and a future.

Others would have seen an impenetrable situation, but these four friends see a breakthrough.

Faith is the realm outside our comfort zone where you're not trusting in the security of the familiar, but you're trusting in the faithfulness of your God to get you through.

It wasn't easy, but it was going to be worth it.

It was going to cost cost us, but it's going to be worth it.

Getting my friend to an encounter with Jesus is going to be priceless, so it's definitely worth the cost.

Walking the path that God has for you is never going to be easy.

Doing what God wants you to do is not easy.

But I guarantee you, it will be worth it in the end.

There is a joy that is set before you one that you don't see now, but one that will become evident soon.

And I pray that the eyes of faith will be open for your life, for your loved ones around you, for those people around you, for those people that God put in your world.

It is worth it.

So it says they uncovered the roof where he was, and when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

So now let's shift to the scene inside the house.

I want you to picture this scene.

Jesus is teaching the crowd for the kingdom of God is as he's doing this Bible study, he's teaching the crowd, all of a sudden he hears knocking above their heads, he hears cracking above their head.

There's some shouting going on.

And he's trying not to be distracted by the noise because he's teaching a very important Bible study.

I know that feeling because sometimes when I have Zoom meetings at home, I'm in front of the computer downstairs, and I'm in the midst of teaching something, and all of a sudden I hear a crack, something breaking, or some shouting coming from upstairs.

And I'm mid-teaching, and I'm trying very hard to focus on the teaching and not get distracted by the noise that is coming upstairs, coming from upstairs.

Then there's screaming coming from upstairs.

So finally I have no choice.

I just have to mute.

Excuse me, mute, but they're still looking at my face.

So I have to maintain a straight face, cover mouth.

I call all to be quiet.

After unmute.

So Jesus said, The kingdom of God is like.

So Jesus is in that position.

And before you know it, pieces of dirt starts to fall down, sticks start to fall down, hardened mud starts to fall down, dust starts filling the space that Jesus was at.

And I'm sure it would have stirred up some turmoil.

The crowd would have been shouting, and before you know it, maybe a big beam of sunlight breaks through through that hole in the roof.

Everyone's looking up.

What's going on?

And before you know it, that sunlight is blocked by a dark object being lowered down through that hole.

And then they realize, hey, it's a mat, it's a man on a mat being let down through ropes or strings or whatever they had at that point.

Lower down, and and people would have helped him.

And it says, before you know it, he was right in front of Jesus.

Jesus didn't go, You're disrupting my Bible study.

Deal with him, deal with a crying baby, disrupting our Bible study.

I mean, that might happen in church, but it didn't happen in this case.

Others would have seen this as a disruption to what Jesus was doing, but Jesus saw it as divine appointment.

You know, sometimes what we see as what we call a disruption might actually be God's divine appointment.

Always remind myself that the disruptive person, the difficult person, maybe they're not ruining God's agenda, maybe they are God's agenda.

Right?

Sometimes we want things to be so proper and so neat, and then a disruption happens and it's upsetting our comfort zone.

But maybe God sent that disruption.

Amen.

That's why I don't mind Stephen saying things to me while I'm preaching.

Then they lower the mat right down in front of Jesus, and it says, Seeing their faith.

Jesus said to the paralyzed man, My child, your sins are forgiven.

Notice what the text says.

It doesn't say seeing the paralytic's faith, it says seeing their faith, the faith of the friends move the heart of God for their friend.

Your faith can carry someone else when they don't have the strength or faith to believe for themselves.

You know, some of us are standing in faith for our friends, for family members, for loved ones.

Maybe they're not in a good place, they do not even have the capacity to come or to believe or to understand.

But I want you to know today that your faith for them makes a difference to God.

Keep believing, keep carrying them in faith before God, and Jesus will respond.

That breakthrough will come.

God will intervene in their life because of your faith.

Amen.

So let's go back inside the house.

Imagine the sin, the dust is settling, this man has lowered down, and everyone knows this guy is paralyzed.

Everyone sees the problem, and they know Jesus is a healer.

So they are all waiting for Jesus to look at this man and say, Get up and walk.

All everybody's excited, everyone's waiting.

But Jesus says to this man, this first, he says, My child, everyone say, My child, then he says, Your sins are forgiven.

So Jesus looks at this paralyzed man and he says something totally unexpected, not what the crowd was expecting, not what the four friends were expecting, and definitely.

Not what the paralyzed man was expecting.

He does not start with the obvious problem, the problem with his legs and his body.

He doesn't address the problem that the man thought he had.

He addresses the problem that the man didn't know he had.

He doesn't start with the problem that the people thought he had.

That was more important than the obvious problem.

In this one statement, my child, your sins are forgiven.

Jesus addresses two issues that this man had.

First thing is, he calls this man my child, my son.

The first thing he does is he reveals this to this man his identity in the eyes of God.

This man would have had identities or labels that was put on him by others, by the world.

The understanding in those days at the time that is if you were facing any suffering or any form of disease or if you were born with any form of handicap, it was because it was a punishment from God.

It was because there was sin either in your life or in the life of your parents.

You see this mindset in John chapter 9, verse 1, it says Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth, and the disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, whose sin?

John 9:1

So this is the disciples' mindset, the mindset of the people at that time.

Did this man sin or his parents that caused him to be born blind?

So that was the mindset, and of course, Jesus goes on to address that.

So this paralytic would have faced that same kind of judgment.

He's that way because God is angry with him, he is a sinner.

Oh, his parents were sinners, they did something wrong, they must have done something wrong.

That is why their son is like that.

That is why he's in this state.

This is a punishment from God.

He would have had labels that were put on him by others.

In fact, in this story, he's defined not by his name or what his family called him, he's defined by his struggle, he's called the paralytic.

He's not called Apu, at least we called him Apu.

He's called the paralytic.

And you know how many times have we put labels on people or defined people by their struggles?

The drunkard, that addict, that divorcee, that nut job, that adulterer, that sinner.

Jesus saw this man that others labeled and knew by his struggle, the paralytic, and the first thing Jesus does is restore him to his rightful identity in the eyes of God.

The original Greek word here is technon, literally saying, This is my child, my son.

This man had not done a single thing up to that point to earn that title from God.

He's not walked, he didn't perform anything to prove himself, his worthiness, he did not clean up his act, he was still in the midst of his struggle.

Yet Jesus claims him as family.

You are my child, you are my son.

Jesus puts on this man value that he didn't even know he had, value that others did not know he had.

He is a child of God, he is precious to the eyes of God, and that is what you and I need to understand.

Listen, you are not your struggle.

You have made mistakes, but you are not your mistakes.

You may have had a bad past, but you are not your past.

Stop defining your value in the eyes of God based on the labels that you put on yourself, based on the struggles that you have been through, or the past that you have walked through.

God does not see you that way.

When God sees you, he sees you as his beloved son, his beloved daughter.

You are loved, you are valued.

He paid a great price so that he could reconcile you to his family, he removed everything that could stand in the way of you being joined to him.

He paid the price for that, he dealt with it.

There is nothing standing in your way other than the lies that you have believed about yourself, other than the lies that you have believed about God.

You know, some of the worst labels that we carry are not put on us by others, they're put on us by our own self-judgment.

I'm unworthy, I'm a sinner, I'm hopeless, I'm a failure, and you allow those things to become your identity, and worse, you allow that you think that that's how God sees you, just because that's how you have been seeing yourself, and that is a lie.

I'm here to tell you that God wants you to see yourself correctly.

That is the start to your breakthrough, the start to your healing, the start to your transformed life.

You are a child of God, you are worthy, you are forgiven, you are loved, you have a hope and a future, you are God's masterpiece.

He paid a great price so that he could have you.

He loved you so much that he gave his only son so that he could have you.

So Jesus addresses, and first thing he addresses and changes his guy's identity, then he deals with another non-visible or non-obvious issue that this man had.

He says, Your sins are forgiven.

He deals with the issue of sin, he deals with that root problem.

Now we need to get the order right.

It was identity before forgiveness, it was belonging before behaving.

We want people to behave before they belong.

We tell people if you want God to bless you, if you want God to love you, you better change your life, you better give up all these things, you better come to church.

But that's not how Jesus addresses it.

You belong before you behave.

There is acceptance even before there is alignment.

So we need to get the order right.

You are not a child of God because you are forgiven, you are forgiven because you are a child of God.

You are not loved because you are righteous.

God gives you righteousness because he loves you.

Let's read that in Romans 5, verse 8.

Romans 5:8

It says, But God demonstrated his own love for us.

In while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

While we were still sinners, he demonstrated his love for us.

He didn't demonstrate his love for us because we were so perfect, we were so good, because we showed up every Sunday, because we went for Bible study, because we pray every day, because we did the 21-day fast and prayer.

While we were yet sinners, he loved us and he gave his life for us.

What a great, great God we serve.

Amen.

Come on, let's give Jesus a clap offering.

So this man's greatest need wasn't a change of his physical condition, but a change of his identity, the healing of his soul.

And Jesus goes to the root cause.

You know, sometimes we want a quick fix.

God heal me, God bless me, God answer my prayers.

But God wants to deal with the root cause first.

You know, uh just before going to India a couple of weeks ago, I went to the doctor to get uh some checkups.

And uh in the checkup for one other thing, when they did the scan on my stomach, the doctor told me, You got you've got two very big stones in your left kidney.

Say, for now it's there, but it's pretty big.

So if the stones drop, you're gonna be in a lot of pain.

So I said, I'm leaving for India the day after tomorrow.

I got no time to go see another doctor for this.

Yeah, so he said, I'll fix you an appointment when you come back.

Go to the doctor.

So I said, okay.

So I said, what stone is it?

Rubies, diamonds?

So anyway, when I got back from India and I went for the other doctor who specialized in this area, I forgot what it's called.

Nephrologists or whatever.

So anyway, nephro, yeah, easier.

So um he he checks, he looked, goes through my report.

Oh, he said, Oh, I saw you got stones and stuff like that.

So the earlier doctor told me you need to go and see this doctor and they will figure out how to remove it, how to deal with the stones.

This guy looks at my report, he says, Actually, I've got good news for you.

Your stones are not a problem.

I see why, what is your problem?

Your problem is your uric acid is very high.

He says, and because your uric acid is high, it's good news.

He says, because that means your stones are not calcium stones, they are uric acid stones.

They are uric stones.

Calcium stones, he says, is like the stone in the road.

That will cause you a lot of pain as it comes.

I asked Jesu, he's had a few of those.

He says, the uric stones, he says, what I'll do is you need to just manage your uric acid.

I said the root cause is the uric problem.

So he said, you take three urals a day.

Then he says, You uh I'll give you one medicine you take for one month, and he says you need to start drinking a lot of water, at least two liters of water a day.

And he says, You come back after one month and I'll check.

And I'm pretty certain that stones would have dissolved.

So I went to deal with the stones, the obvious problem, but the doctor sees the root cause.

Root cause isn't the stones, it's the uric acid.

So he deals with the uric acid.

And he told me in uh in the next one when I go and check the stones, should have gone if I'm regularly taking my medicine and my urals and drinking enough water.

So you see, sometimes so God always uh looks at the root cause, he's after the root cause.

We want a quick fix.

We go to the doctor, doctor.

I've got this pain here, pain here, pain here, pain.

Give me the painkiller.

Yes, the painkiller may deal with the pain, but it does not solve the problem.

Right?

So Jesus looks at this man, he could have given him the painkiller, get up and walk.

He could have healed the man's legs, but left his soul in sin.

This man would have walked on earth, but he would have walked into eternity lost.

You know, sometimes we think our biggest problem is what happened to us or what's happening to us.

But God knows your biggest problem is what's happening inside of you, inside of us.

Jesus knew that this man's paralysis is bad, but it's temporary.

Sin is eternal.

Paul writes this: He says, Our present troubles are small and won't last very long.

Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever.

So he says, Don't look at the troubles we can see now, rather, we fix our gaze on the things that cannot be seen, for the things that we see now will soon be gone, but the things that we cannot see will last forever.

So Jesus now deals with the things that could not be seen, but had eternal consequences.

This man's identity as a child of God, the sin that kept his soul imprisoned.

Jesus looks past the withered legs, and he deals with this man's bigger problem, which was his withered soul, and he heals his soul.

And another thing you need to understand, this man needed to hear that he was forgiven.

His whole life he would have heard that it was because of his sin that he was in that condition.

And imagine hearing these words for the first time.

My son, your sins are forgiven.

Can you imagine the burden just lifted off him?

That guilt just lifted off him, that condemnation leaving his heart, that which he carried within his heart for so long as Jesus spoke those words over him.

The thing that he felt kept him paralyzed, the thing that he thought would keep God from blessing or healing him had to be dealt with first.

And I believe that Jesus said it out loud not just to free this man from condemnation, not just to free him from guilt and judgment, but also for the crowd listening.

The society around him, that probably about 20 or 30 minutes ago, didn't think that this guy deserved to come to Jesus, didn't bother making a way for him.

Who knows?

Maybe part of the reason was hey, don't bring this guy here.

He's a sinner, he's in this condition because God has judged him.

It's either his parents sinned or he sinned.

He has no business here, he's like this because of karma.

That is why he's in this condition.

God will not help him, don't waste our time.

We're not gonna make space for this man.

You know, there are many people out there in our world who maybe we think are not worthy because of the life that they're living, because of the condition that they're in, who maybe they themselves think God is angry with me, that's why I'm going through this.

Maybe they've been told certain things about God, that God will not accept them, that God is judging them.

And like I said, sometimes we say, Hey, straighten up your life and get to church, straighten up your life and come back to God.

That's the wrong order.

The God of the Bible says, He doesn't say clean up your act and then come to say, He says, Come to me.

In the book of Isaiah, chapter 1, verse 18.

Isaiah 1:18

He says, Come now, let us settle this.

Said the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.

Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.

He's not saying, Listen, go clean your sins up first and then come to me.

He says, Come to me and let me help you, let me clean you up, I can do it.

We can't clean ourselves up, we can never make ourselves right before a holy God, only God can do it for you, and that is why He gives you Jesus, He gives you righteousness as a free gift.

And I want to say to you this morning: if you're struggling with porn addiction, come to Jesus.

If you're battling with personal sins and struggles, come to Jesus.

If you're living a life that you're shameful of, come to Jesus.

He's not shocked by what you're struggling with, he's not angry with you, he's not your executioner, he is your savior.

The woman caught in the act of adultery, she was chucked before Jesus.

The law condemned her, people condemned her, society condemned her, they had stones in their hands ready to bring judgment upon her.

She was a sinner, and again, in this whole scenario, Jesus first and foremost does not deal with the obvious problem which was the adulterous woman before him.

He first deals with the sole issue of every person in that crowd who felt that this woman deserved to be judged and condemned.

Before he dealt with the woman's unrighteousness, he dealt with the self-righteousness of the crowd around her.

And it says in John 8, verse 9, on which it says, then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest, even to the last.

John 8:9

And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

And when Jesus raised himself up, he saw no one but the woman.

He said to her, Woman, where are your where are those accusers of yours?

Has no one condemned you?

And she said, No one, Lord.

And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you.

Now go and sin.

No more.

It's words for her.

Neither do I condemn you.

She was condemned and judged by God.

So he deals with a hard issue for you.

God has not condemned you.

Stop condemning yourself.

Stop allowing that to stand in the way of you coming to God for help.

Then he says, Go and sin no more.

The Bible says it is the goodness of God that leads you to repentance.

The goodness of God.

Bring people to the goodness of God.

And repentance will be the fruit when you know you are loved, when you know you are forgiven, when you know you are accepted, when you know you are a child of God.

You can't help but want to change your life.

Want to live for Him.

Come to Him.

He's our solution.

He's not the headmaster standing with the rotor, he's a loving father with open arms, waiting to embrace his son, his daughter.

Like the story of the prodigal son.

The son came in all kinds of messes, dirty, and the father runs to him and hugs him.

Because he comes to the only one who loves him that much, who is able to help him.

It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance.

So Jesus deals with this man's identity, adopts him into the family.

My child, my son.

Then he deals with the issue that would prevent him from thinking that he was worthy of God's love, God's healing, God's grace.

He declares forgiveness over him.

Then he deals with the obvious issue in verse 11.

Stand up, pick up your mat and go home.

Immediately the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, walked out to the stand on Lucas.

So Jesus dealt with the roots, which was identity, which was sin, so that the fruit which was healing could last not only in this life but into eternity.

Why did he have to do it that way?

Because if you do not know your identity in God's eyes, if you do not know how much God loves you, that you are his beloved son, that you are his beloved daughter, then you won't believe that you're worthy of his grace and his forgiveness.

You won't receive.

It you won't receive his grace, you won't see the transformed life because it's only by his grace that you can live a transformed life.

This man's mat that once carried him, now he carries what used to be his prison is now his testimony of the goodness of God.

And many of us today carry our mats, so to speak.

I love hearing testimonies of people sharing the things, how the things that used to be used to imprison them, it's now their testimony of the goodness, the grace, and the power of God for their life.

And they decline.

And many people find hope in their testimonies.

And as I close today, I want to challenge different groups of people to the church.

Come on, everybody, understand.

I want to charge you today, church.

Don't be the crowd.

Don't be the barrier.

Don't block the way.

Start making a way.

Repent of the fear of men.

And ask God for a heart that beats for the loss.

That beats for your friends, for family members, for those people in your world that do not know Him.

That are on that broad path.

Ask God for that heart for the loss.

Ask God, God, make me a minister of reconciliation.

Give me the boldness, the strength by the power of your Holy Spirit.

Give me opportunities to be your voice, your hands, your heart, to point the way.

Become the they in someone else's story.

The roof breakers.

The ones who are willing to go the distance.

Pay the price so that I can see one more.

One more Lord.

One more headed to the kingdom.

One more come to know you.

And all of us have to be one more in our world.

This is that as an opportunity.

You've got an invites back there.

Bring.

Bring someone.

Everything that we do is so that Christ can be revealed.

I know some of you have been saved about 750 times already.

Been on 45 altar calls, healed of 625 backaches.

You know the truth.

Listen, you're going to heaven.

Jesus loves you.

Stop wrestling with the same little pet struggles over and over again.

Deal with it.

Lay it at the cross.

Walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do what you know needs to be done.

He's given you the power, He's given you the strength.

He doesn't just tell us this is what you must do, He gives us His Holy Spirit.

So you can walk in freedom.

And even if you struggle, if you fall, His mercies on you every morning.

Get up.

If you confess your sins, He's faithful and just to forgive you of all your sins, cleanse you of all unrighteousness.

You know all that.

It's time for you to start being light.

Sometimes the devil keeps you so busy, navel gazing.

You know what's navel gazing?

Just looking at your life, your life, what you have, what you don't have, what you struggle with, that you're just missing the world around you, the people around you that God has sent you to.

Because you're constantly battling with guilt and condemnation.

It's like eat, sleep, repeat.

Put it aside, yeah.

Start focusing on others in your world.

Become a roof breaker.

And to the other group, to those of you who've been praying, caring, and interceding for loved ones.

Maybe you're tired, maybe your arms are aching from carrying that stretcher of prayer for your husband, for your wife, for your son, for your daughter, for your parents to before God.

Listen, don't give up.

Jesus saw their fate, and he healed that man, and he was moved with compassion.

Your fate is making a difference.

Your persistence matters.

Keep digging, keep lifting, keep inviting because breakthrough will come.

Amen.

Come on.

And the final group I wanna pray for today are the ones who walked in here feeling like you're that man on the mat.

Maybe a friend invited you, maybe you were dragged in here.

You feel defined by a label that was either put on you by someone, or maybe you put it on yourself.

I'm an addict, I'm a failure, I'm hopeless, I'm depressed, I'm condemned, and you think that there is no way that God can accept you as you are.

Look at this story.

This man didn't walk to Jesus, he was dropped at Jesus' feet in his mask, and Jesus didn't judge him, he called him Son.

He wants to remove this label that you've got on yourself.

He wants to give you a new name, a new identity, child of God, my beloved son, my beloved daughter whom I love.

Listen, you belong even before you behave, and the Bible says there is no condemnation for those who belong.

You are not condemned, you are not hopeless, you have a hope and a future.

In your in your head.

God won't accept me one day.

Maybe when I clear up my act, maybe when I'm a better person, maybe when I live a better life, maybe when I stop doing this, maybe when I stop doing that, then I will come to church, then I will go before God.

He says, Though your sins are red like scarlet, I will make them white as snow.

Come to him as you are.

Come to him as you are.

If that's your money, just lift your hands to God right now.