Running To Win

--Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer--

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. C.S. Lewis defined a miracle as an interference with nature by a supernatural power. The miracles of Jesus were clear, public, long-lasting and not in dispute. They testified to his being the Son of God and were performed not to amaze, but rather to teach.

From The Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line.

--Guest (Male)--

Pastor Lutzer is showing us portraits of Christ in a series he's calling "Come and See Jesus." Pastor, you're asking us to come and see His miracles. What miracle will be your focus today?

--Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer--

Well, you know, Dave, there are many different miracles that Jesus Christ did. But one of the ones that I want to emphasize today has to do with healing a man. His friends were not able to get him to Jesus because of the crowd, but it's an amazing story of how these four men took him, actually went onto the roof, made a hole, and then let the man down in the presence of Jesus. Don't you love it?

And Jesus not only forgave his sin, but Jesus also healed the man. Yes, as you put it so beautifully in your intro. Jesus was able to heal. The miracles are really beyond dispute and they became a great teaching tool in the life of Jesus.

I trust that many of you are blessed as a result of the ministry of Running to Win. I'm sure that you are. We have a very special offer to make to you today. We have some friends, some generous friends, who have said that they are willing to match whatever is given to this ministry during this period of time. In other words, you can double the value of your gift. Ten dollars becomes twenty, twenty, of course, if you were to give becomes forty, well, you can do the math.

Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com, that's rtwoffer.com or if you wish you can call us at 1888-218-9337. This ministry is dependent upon people just like you. Thanks in advance for helping us. But for now, let us listen.

We're living in a day, of course, when we are awash with miracles. Everybody's experienced miracles. There's a book on miracles, a course on miracles. You can do your own miracle. It doesn't matter much whether you believe in Jesus, whatever it is that you believe, as long as you believe in a higher power. We're told out there that we can access the metaphysical world and do our own miracle.

So I've read about miracles, how a phantom dog appears out of the fog to guide a family. A miracle of a silent hitchhiker leads a doctor to a school bus. A trucker driving along hears something over the radio, but he does not have a CB radio. He's just but the message still comes and he has to go to a family to help it. We live in a time of miracles. In fact, everyone can be touched by a miracle, touched by an angel. It doesn't matter what you believe.

The miracles in the New Testament were very different than that. Jesus did miracles, but first of all, He did verifiable miracles. Almost always His miracles were done in the presence of other people who could check it out to see whether or not it was really happening. He loved to take people whom the whole community knew were paralytics or blind and healed those kinds of people. Those miracles are a little tougher to do than some of the others.

The second thing is that Jesus always was using His miracles as a teaching point. They always illustrated something other than just the physical healing. And that most assuredly is true in our story today. You know that this is a series of messages titled "Come and See Jesus" and today "Come and See His Miracles." Well, we're only going to talk about one miracle.

It's in the ninth chapter of the book of Matthew, but before you turn there, we're actually going to use Mark's account of the miracle in Mark chapter 2. Same story, except that Mark adds some details that Matthew doesn't. Both are accurate. But in this instance, Mark gives us more details. Mark chapter 2.

In that culture, if you left your door open, people could stop by. It was like a welcome mat, stop by. So here Jesus is in Capernaum and He's in the house, in at home, the text says. And it could be that this is Peter's house. If you've ever been to Capernaum as some of us have, you know that the synagogue is there and then also tradition says that Peter's house is close by and it may or may not be authentic, but we can visualize it happening there.

Jesus is in the house, He's in the living room and people gather around Him, many people. And soon the door is so crowded and people are hanging onto His every word even on the other side of the door. They're straining to see whether or not they can hear. And in the midst of this, something happens that really is this story.

And it's a remarkable story because it's the man was a paralytic. That is to say, paralysis, maybe a quadriplegic. One thing is sure, he's not able to bring himself to Jesus. He is too helpless to do that to bring himself to Jesus. And so four men come up with an idea and you'll notice what it is. Verse two. And many were gathered together so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And He was preaching the Word to them. Wouldn't you like it if we had a tape recorder and could have picked up what Jesus preached? That would be marvelous indeed. Though we have some indications by other texts.

Verse 3, "And they came bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. And when they could not get near Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof from above Him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay." Oh, wow.

What I want you to do is to take three snapshots today. If you have your cameras, take three snapshots of this incident which I will describe and I want you to visualize. The first is what the men did. What did the men do? I mean, these were men, I think, first of all, who had a vision because they knew that they wanted to get this man to Jesus and they had to figure out how to get people to Jesus who don't have the strength or the ability to get there on their own. So they said, "It's up to us to know how to get him to Jesus."

Now, I used to, when I was a child, I'd read this passage and I would visualize, you know, somebody running to get a to get a ladder to climb on the roof. Probably not. In those days, the roof was flat and there was a stairway that went up to the roof, because people would do various things up there. I mean, they could not only get some sun, they could bathe, they could do some things on the flat roof of their house.

And so and so the roof was there and probably the stairs were already there. And they thought to themselves, well, we're going to do is, we're going to climb up the stairs and we are going to get this man to Jesus. Now, if somebody opened the roof of your house, you may be very unhappy at the wise idea. But, again, context and history.

In those days, the roofs were made primarily of clay and grass, which of course hardened. And then they would have laths or beams across the roof and those beams went all the way to the walls. So you have like a box structure that was strong and supportive. But the roof itself, as it hung onto these beams, the roof itself was this clay and this grass. So it doesn't take too much imagination to know that it wasn't really that difficult. They began to dig through the roof and then they took this man. And these beams, by the way, were about three feet across. And so you can imagine that they take this cot and somehow they lower it. And by that time they had Jesus Christ's attention. No question.

Jesus was looking up and and he was seeing what was happening and and in some way they they got him right in the presence of Jesus. Talk about vision and creativity and ingenuity in getting somebody where he needs to be, but can't get there on his own.

Something else about them. They obviously were compassionate. What they said is that if people can't get to Jesus on their own, we're going to help them. We don't know whether this was a friend, possibly. Maybe just a complete stranger who was trying to figure out how to get to Jesus. But thank God for their compassion.

David Dykstra died of cancer at the age of 54. David Dykstra is the father-in-law to our daughter. He's Ben's dad, who is now in heaven. That is David is in heaven. The age of 54. When he got cancer and was told he had between 6 and 9 months to live, he spoke to his congregation, a small church, and said, "Now, all of you are going to wonder how you can help me." You know, you always have that question, you know, well, you know, you have cancer. How can we help? He said, "One thing you can do," and this was his story. He loved this story in Mark chapter 2.

He said, "There are going to be times when I can't bring myself to Jesus. There are going to be times when I'm too weak to be brought to him and you're going to have to carry me. And in order to carry me, send me verses of scripture that you are using in your prayer time on my behalf." What a marvelous way to be remembered and to seek help. But David saw something else in this text, which we should not miss.

You'll notice it says in verse 5, "And when Jesus saw their faith." He said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven." And so David said, "When there are times when I can no longer believe for myself, would you believe for me in your faith and in your prayers and in your help?" And he died a death of suffering but a victorious death. And he is now in the presence of our Lord, whom we love, and someday we shall be with Him. But the point is, we need one another.

There are times when we can no longer believe for ourselves. The waters rush over us, the difficulties are so severe. There are times when other people have to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves and they need to be the ones to go to Jesus on our behalf and to believe for us and to trust for us.

This morning here at the church, I met a woman whom I've not met before, but she she told me how much she prays for the church and for our ministry. And I thought, how marvelous that a woman whose name I did not know has the gift of intercession. Because there are times when we don't have the faith. Somebody has to come along and carry us to Jesus.

Do you have a clear picture in your mind of what the men did? Now let's move on to what Jesus said. Okay, this man suddenly is right in his presence. It says in verse 5, Jesus saw their faith and said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven." Does that surprise you that that's what happened?

It certainly surprises me when I read it because I'm thinking, you know, he maybe didn't come for forgiveness. He was coming to be healed. He was he was paralyzed. I mean, after all, he wanted to walk again. And Jesus said, "Your sins are forgiven."

Now, you have to understand that in the Old Testament times, there was a belief that there is a tight relationship between sin and sickness. That's why in the book of Job, you know, when Job had his life totally come unraveled, you know, his three friends. Put friends in quotes. They gathered together and they kept saying, "Job, what sin have you committed? Cough it up, Job. Come on, tell us now." And Job keeps justifying himself and they become angry and and by the time they're finished, they aren't friends anymore. Because because they believed that that if you're sick, there's some sin that you committed.

And so there's a tight relationship. In the Old Testament, it was believed that there was a tight relationship. So you can see here what Jesus is doing. Don't miss the logic. Jesus is saying in effect, "On your own premises, this man cannot be healed unless he is forgiven first. If sin caused his sickness, then he must be forgiven before I can heal him."

Could I say as a parenthesis that in the New Testament you find that there isn't a tight relationship between sin and sickness? There is a relationship, but it's not tight. And could I say that it is really not up to us. It is really mean for you to look at somebody who's going through some physical calamity and to look at them and say, "It is because of your sin. Sin in your life." Could I say this?

I ask that question. But of course I'm going to say it. I'm not looking for your permission. Say whatever you want. Thank God. Thank God. That's right. I always like the front benchers, not the back benchers, but the front benchers.

Some of the most holy people I know have suffered the most. So you be careful. You be careful here. There's not a tight relationship. All sickness is because of sin, but but it's not a one-on-one correspondence.

Now, sitting there and seeing this and hearing these words are the scribes. They're sitting there. Should they be there? Absolutely. They were the gatekeepers of Israel. They should check Jesus out. They had a responsibility to check teachers out to make sure that they were teaching the right thing and so forth. Their problem was they were really reticent to grant Jesus what seems obvious to us.

So the scribes are sitting there and they're saying to themselves, "Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone?" They say, "This is blasphemy because when Jesus said to him, 'Son, your sins are forgiven,' it almost sounds as if as if Jesus was saying, 'I'm forgiving your sins.'"

He's not simply declaring that God in heaven has forgiven sins, but he's saying more than that. He he seems to imply that he has the right to speak and sins are forgiven. And they said, "This is blasphemy." And Leviticus chapter 24 says that if you blaspheme God, you should be stoned. So you can imagine what's going on in their minds here.

Jesus picks up on this and uh verse 8. Immediately, he's perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves. Did he use here his divine knowledge? Or was it an intuition? In the scriptures sometimes you see Jesus exercising both.

But he knows in their hearts that this is what they are saying. So he has a question for them. Another parenthesis. You're getting lots of parentheses today. Jesus is recorded in the New Testament as having asked more than 100 questions. He was always asking questions. One of the best ways to teach somebody is question, question, question, question, question, because you make them think.

So Jesus is asking them, "Why do you question these things in your hearts? Now, here's my question for you. Which is it easier to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and take up your bed and walk?' Which is it easier to say?"

How many of you think that it is easier to say, "Rise, take up your bed and walk?" How many of you say, "It's easier to say your sins be forgiven?" How many of you are not with me at all in this? Time to think, folks. Time to think.

It is let me begin by saying that to forgive sins and to heal a paralytic. Both both of those are impossible. I can't do either. And when you're in the realm of impossibility, it doesn't really matter how big the impossibility is. It's just impossible.

But what Jesus is trying to get them to see is this. "It is easier to say, 'Your sins be forgiven,' because talk is cheap and you can't prove whether the sins have been forgiven or not." When you have somebody who sins are forgiven, if you lead them to the Lord, you don't notice these sins just flow through the window. You say, "Oh, you know, I led somebody to Christ and he had so many sins. You should have seen them all when they left." No.

Anybody can say to you, "Your sins are forgiven," because it is non-verifiable. But to say, "Rise and take up your pallet and walk," for somebody who's been a quadriplegic for the last 10 or 15 years. Now that that you had better produce if you say that, or else you'll be seen to be a fake, which you'd be.

Now, let's follow Jesus' logic a little bit more here. Jesus goes on to say that you might know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. "I say to you, rise, take up your bed and walk." Now, hang onto that.

What Jesus is saying is on the basis of your own logic. Because you are saying that this person cannot be healed unless he is first forgiven. If I heal him, that proves that he has been forgiven. Because unless he is forgiven, he cannot be healed. So, that you might know that the Son of Man has power on earth and authority to forgive sins. He says, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."

And what did this man do? He arose immediately, verse 12, picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God saying, "We never saw anything like this."

--Guest (Male)--

My friend, I don't know where your heart is, but a story like this, a true story, of course, blesses me and even this morning. I told the Lord Jesus Christ that I love Him. We all should love Him because He is the Redeemer of all who believe. And if you've been listening to the ministry of Running to Win for any period of time, you know that we are deeply committed to Christ and to His gospel.

Would you help us? During this month, we have some very special friends who are willing to match any gift that is given. In other words, you can double your gift. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy, because I'm going to be giving you some contact info. But I do want to remind you that the ministry of Running to Win goes around the world. Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or you can pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. Thank you so much for helping us.

--Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer--

It's time once again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life.

--Guest (Male)--

God has placed the desire for motherhood deep in young women who want to begin raising a family. Jennifer is one such woman, and she has a question about God's will in childbearing. Pastor, what do you think God says about infertility and fertility doctors? Are we to go to these fertility doctors and take treatments or not go to them at all and put the matter in God's hands? Thanks for all you do for Moody Church and the community. I really appreciate you, as do many others.

--Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer--

Jennifer, first of all, let me say that my heart goes out to you. You know, every Mother's Day, we have people in our congregation who are really deeply hurt. It's a difficult day for them, because you have women who would like to be mothers, but God has not given them that privilege. And it's as if they have empty arms.

So, that said, let me say also, I don't think it is wrong to go to a fertility doctor. Though I am very concerned about instances in which you have multiple births. And I don't know much about that, so I'm simply going to put that on the shelf and let you deal with that issue. But at the same time, just like I told a couple last week who came to me, they asked the very same question. I said to them, while I don't think it's wrong to go to a fertility doctor, at the same time, consider very carefully whether or not God would want you to adopt a child.

There are so many precious children out there who don't have parents, who would love the warmth of a Christian home. I know it might not be the same entirely, but on the other hand, it may be the very same. I know someone who's adopted children, who loves those children as if they are his own. And their mother loves them.

So, think about it. Give it in God's hands. Pray about it and He'll help you make the right decision.

--Guest (Male)--

Thank you, Jennifer, for opening your heart to us. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer, for opening yours in return. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614.

Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. Four concerned men helped a friend get to Jesus. Next time on Running to Win, lessons on how we, like they, can be a part of someone else's miracle. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by The Moody Church.