Sermon in Ishpeming 01.08.2010

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God our Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and always. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, let us bow our hearts in thanks and prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, thou giver of all gifts and blessings, this morning we have received grace to gather into the fellowship of thy congregation, and into the hearing of thy holy and precious and everlasting word. In doing so, dear Father, we wish to thank thee for all gifts and blessings which thou hast so graciously and abundantly given. Most of all, we thank thee that thou hast given us thy dear Son to redeem us from suffering the powers of sin and death unto the way of eternal peace and rest.

We thank thee, dear Father, that through the gift of faith we have been able to receive into our hearts this living hope. And so we ask, dear Father, that thou would even this morning grant us grace that through this grace we may be able to receive that through thy word we might be refreshed and comforted and encouraged in this journey of faith; that our eyes of faith would remain focused on the greatness of that reward which according to thy word is promised unto those who remain faithful unto the end.

We ask, dear Father, for thy service blessing. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

For a text this morning we will read from the fifth chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, verses 17 through 26. The words are in Jesus' name.

And it came to pass on a certain day as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

And behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy. And they sought means to bring him in and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went up on the housetop and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the middle of the house.

And he was placed before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?

But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered, saying unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Rise up and walk?

But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, he said unto the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.

And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things today. Amen.

Today is the 10th Sunday after Pentecost, and the thought in today's text gives us a precious reminder in that it teaches faithfulness in caring for the God-given gifts.

The text that we read is not especially appointed for this Sunday, but in reading the text for this Sunday, somehow the thought came to mind how important it is that we are reminded that God has in his great love and grace given unto each one of us dear brothers and sisters in faith a very precious gift.

He has provided for our well-being in ways that we could not begin to understand or acknowledge. But most of all, he has given us this precious gift of faith by and through which we have received a living hope unto everlasting life.

And so, this particular text came to mind when thinking of these gifts.

The mystery of God's plan of salvation, of which Apostle Paul once said is hidden from those who are lost. But the word of God is a calling word. As Luther has said, he calls through the gospel, and what is that gospel? It is the gospel of the kingdom of God which proclaims to the sinner the forgiveness of his sins.

It is such a simple way that God has provided a way for sinners, for you and I, brothers and sisters, and anyone who would be hearing this word who has been and has not this living hope in his heart unto life everlasting.

Jesus began his public ministry by preaching the kingdom of God. In the previous chapter when he was being sought by people, he was called and those who heard him wished that he would not leave them. But he told them he said, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for therefore am I sent. Preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.

This is the very core of the message from God's kingdom.

And so we heard here in this text that the gospel of God is the gospel of God. And so we heard an event that took place which describes in the beginning of Jesus' public ministry how he was truly, as we find in scripture, entrusted with all power from God the Father.

He once said that all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. In another place it is written that when God gave unto his son that power and authority it was not given with measure.

And it reminds us, brothers and sisters, that it is the full fullness of the love of God and the grace that he offers through his word, the call of grace.

Each one of us dear travel friends have been called to the church and we have been preserved as children of his kingdom because he has loved us and he has provided us with this message of the gospel which has continued to carry us. It has carried us on to this moment.

And if we consider this for a moment, we could say that do we have any reason to doubt or to fear that God would reject us? No, we don't.

The old prophet once said that a mother may forsake her child but God says I will never forsake you.

And we have seen in the world today how there are such mothers who have forsaken their children, the millions who have forsaken them even before they are born.

How sad it is when God's holy and precious word is so ignored and how sad it will be for those who ignore it.

Jesus gives that kind of a warning unto those who reject him, that facing them, unless God would grant them grace to repent, is only everlasting punishment and death.

We cannot ignore what God's word teaches us that there are only two destinations before each and every one who is born into this world. One is eternal peace and rest in the glory of heaven, and the other is eternal punishment and death.

Through the Old Testament prophet Moses, God said, I place before you the way of life and the way of death, the way of blessing and the way of curse. Choose ye the way of life and the way of blessing.

Have we of ourselves been able to choose this? I am sure you, brother and sister, join with me in saying that no, we haven't except by the grace of God.

Jesus has said that you have not chosen me but I have chosen you.

It is a mystery of the power of that gospel that calls sinners, revealing unto them their need for grace and forgiveness.

And so we heard here how Jesus in the beginning of his public ministry was in a home and he was preaching the gospel, and this home was very crowded as one of the other gospel writers also mentions.

And we heard here that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law present. And it says they were come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.

Think of it in this way that it was not a small gathering.

And so Jesus was speaking to them.

However, there were also some who we could say were followers of the Lord Jesus. And they apparently in some way came into contact with this man who was paralyzed laying on some sort of a couch or a bed.

And they perhaps visited with him and invited him to a place if he would allow them to bring him onto the Lord Jesus.

And when they went to that place where the services were being held, they could not get in.

And we are told here that they went up on the housetop and lifted some of the tiling on the way and lowered the man down on his couch before the Lord Jesus.

It would seem hard to imagine such an incident or event. But nevertheless, if we accept what is written in the scriptures to be so, in amen, then by faith we believe that this is how it took place.

And it gives us a picture of how the Lord saw the man and how he saw the paralyzed man. He couldn't walk or do anything on his own. But there were those believers who were able to bring him onto the Lord Jesus.

And when he was set before the Lord Jesus, he heard those life-giving words.

Jesus saw, as we heard here, the faith of those who brought him. They were believing and trusting upon him as their Lord and Savior and knew that Jesus could do for this man what he had done for them.

It is in this way that the apostle Peter, once speaking to multitudes, said that, or rather was it to the lame man, that he had no gold or silver or anything else to give him but what he did have he would freely give, and that was he had the power to preach the gospel of the forgiveness of sins.

And so this is what Jesus did here. He said, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

The simple message, the message dear brothers and sisters that we have often find ourselves needing to hear to bring us that assurance and comfort that we are the children of God and we have that living hope that we don't have here as it is written a continuing city but we seek one to come.

We do acknowledge that our lives here are but a moment, but a wink of an eye compared to eternity.

And so through faith we find how we need to hear that assurance: son and daughter be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven in Jesus' name and holy and precious blood.

Even at this moment, dear travel friend, if you have come feeling weary or tired or sorrowful or in some way doubting and fearing, you may believe sins, doubts, and fears forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood.

That is how I came this morning also feeling corruption and doubting and fears and can I believe together with you my sins forgiven.

There were those scribes and Pharisees who heard these marvelous and precious words of the Lord Jesus and they began to reason as we heard here, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?

That question is not unusual even today. There are those who have such an idea and understanding that there is no one, no one that can forgive sins except God himself.

They do not understand or are they ready to accept the fact that God has given this power and authority as we heard here through the words of our Lord and Savior unto men.

Jesus was able to discern their thoughts and he said, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Rise up and walk?

But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he said to this sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, arise, take up thy couch and go into thine house.

The power of the gospel is the power of the gospel is the power of the gospel. That power that God has entrusted unto his own.

We remember when Jesus was visiting with his disciples before he ascended into heaven and he said unto them, As the Father hath sent me, so send I you.

God had given this power unto his own son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And Jesus in turn, through the power that God gave unto him, gave this power unto his own.

And he told them to go and preach the gospel of the forgiveness of sins.

At another time he said, I give unto you the keys of the kingdom of God. Whosoever sins you forgive, they are forgiven. And whosoever sins you retain, they are retained.

So this power is here on earth where God's children are gathered, as Jesus said, even where two or three are gathered in his name he is there present through the Holy Spirit.

And so then the miracle of the power of the gospel was witnessed by those that were present when this man was able to rise up and walk.

It gives us a picture of how someone who is in the way of unbelief, whether it is in the way of self-righteousness or in the way of total ungodliness.

When we think of self-righteousness, if it is measured according to the mind of man, such a person is a very good person. He does not hurt anyone. He is kind. He is generous. He has all the good attributes of someone desirable as a neighbor.

But yet God has such a one who has his own doctrine and is attempting to earn his own salvation through his own work.

The word of God tells us that when God looked down from heaven, was there anyone that done good? Was there anyone who could do such work that would be acceptable to God and by which they could find favor with God and that they could be justified and that they could earn their own salvation?

The word of God tells us that there is not one. There is not one person who can be justified through his own work.

If that were so, then as apostle Paul has said, then Christ has risen in vain.

It would not have been necessary at all for God to send his son.

But because God knew, as he is an all-knowing God, that it would be impossible for anyone to do that work which would be acceptable and to earn his own salvation, that is the reason he sent his son.

Those familiar words of Jesus when he said that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son and that whosoever believes on him would not perish but have everlasting life.

And Jesus said that he came not to condemn the world but to save.

And so those people present, we are told, they were Pharisees and doctors of the law, were perhaps very, very good people, very righteous people, very godly type people, but yet they were not believers and they would face the same judgment as those who lived in ungodliness, the drunkards and the murderers and the thieves and so on.

For before God there are only two groups: those who believe and those who do not.

And according to scripture there is only one true living faith.

And if one has not received this gift of faith, he is without hope and faces the same judgment as do all those who are living in ungodliness and self-righteousness.

But God has in his great love provided a way to awaken those lest they would be lost forever.

And that is through the call of the gospel.

Jesus used as an example of a small child. He says that unless one becomes as a little child he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

And that means that all the works of self-righteousness, all the good knowledge and so forth, are put aside and as a small child humbly begs for grace and forgiveness.

The good question is of those who once heard this gospel preached by, was it the apostle Peter soon after Jesus ascended into heaven, and when they heard his message they say they asked, What must I do to be saved?

And the answer was given: repent, repent, repent, repent and believe the gospel.

This is what happened in the case of this man who was paralyzed. He received the grace of repentance and he was able to then begin this journey of faith.

He was not able to walk the journey of faith until he had received the grace of repentance and he began that journey toward that eternal homeland.

It says he immediately rose up before them and took up that whereon he lay and departed to his own house glorifying God.

There have been those that we have known who have received this precious gift to repent and believe the gospel.

And when we think of this, remember those words that are written that when one sinner repents there is rejoicing in heaven.

It is such a great and precious matter when one sinner is found through the call of the gospel and receives his sins forgiven there is rejoicing in heaven.

And we heard that they were all amazed and they glorified God and were filled with fear saying, We have seen strange things today.

There are other places in scripture also where when Jesus performed those miracles and when he had spoken those gracious words they were amazed.

They said no one has ever spoken like this.

Their hearts were touched by that living word of God.

And so it is by faith that we today, dear brothers and sisters, also hear that living word here in God's kingdom.

It is the word of truth. It is the word of grace and the word of truth.

For by grace are we able to hear that truth by grace alone as Luther has taught also.

And so we have reason to be thankful, dear travel friends, this morning that we have been carried on to this moment as children of hope and that we have such a bright future before us even though at times it feels so difficult to comprehend through faith that we have such a reward awaiting us.

Jesus has said great is your reward in heaven.

We have received each one of us some sort of special rewards in our everyday lives. And they have come and they have gone.

But think of this that that reward that we have through faith is an eternal reward.

It has a beginning but it will never end.

So be of good comfort dear brothers and sisters this morning as you come to the Lord's table.

Come simply believing sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood and come to eat and to drink that body and that blood which was given and shed for you for the remission of sins.

In Jesus' name Amen.