Matt. 9:1-8.
EVERY tender heart must mourn at the amount of suffering and disease which surrounds us in the world. Wherever we turn some fresh form of affliction meets the eye. Now, there are two things which we should remember when we see all this misery. First, that all the diseases under which men suffer are the consequences of sin; and secondly, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only one through whom these diseases can be effectually healed. Jesus is the only Saviour and the only Physician.
And He abundantly proved this during His life on earth, It mattered not what the disorder was, nor how bad the case, nor how many physicians had before failed to cure it, Jesus cured it in a moment, by a word or by a touch. For "He healed all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the people." (Matt. 4:23.)
What a change must have been produced in a village or a town by a visit from Jesus! How many hearts were comforted; how many anxieties soothed, by the gracious cures He wrought! What a proof, too, did all this supply of God's gracious love towards, His ruined creatures. For these mercies were as free as they were abundant. They were "without money and without price." These works of Jesus told out the blessed truth that He had come forth from God freely to heal and save the miserable and the lost.
In the portion of Scripture to which the reference is given above, we read that a man afflicted with the palsy was brought to the Lord Jesus. This man and his friends believed that Christ was both able and willing to cure him; and their confidence in Jesus was richly rewarded.
But though they got the blessing they came for, they did not get it in the way they expected.
For Jesus, fixing His eyes on the palsied man, said to him, "Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee." They had come to have the palsy cured, and they were expecting to see the sick man arise and walk. They were thinking of the body, and looking for its cure. They must have been amazed, therefore, when the Lord spoke thus to the sick man, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.”
But was the palsy the worst evil that afflicted that poor man? No, he was a sinner, an unpardoned sinner. And is not unpardoned sin an infinitely more grievous thing than bodily disease?
Surely it is. And this the Lord Jesus knew.
And as He "had power on earth to forgive sins,”
He most graciously put forth that power on behalf of this poor man who trusted in Him.
That was the way in which the Lord Jesus rewarded their confidence in Him. They came to Him for a small benefit, and He gave them the greatest.
And this is always the result of faith in Jesus.
The soul that trusts in Him always get far more than it expects to get; what He looks to is whether there is real confidence, real trust, in Himself. If there is, He will give largely indeed, far beyond all we ask or think. When Jesus is trusted in, an opportunity is given Him of proving the truth of that word, “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord." (JER 7:7.) A man who trusts in Jesus may have very poor, confused, narrow thoughts of Him, may know a very, very, small part of His excellencies; but that man will be blessed, not according to his notions about Jesus, but according to the love and power of Him in whom he trusts.
It is exceedingly important to know and to remember this. It shows us the difference between faith and understanding. I repeat, therefore, that a person with true saving faith in Christ Jesus may really know very little about Him, and very little about what God has made Him to be to those who trust in Him.
Nevertheless, he is blessed, not according to his understanding, but according to his faith. For the man that believes in Jesus is one whom God can bless, and has blessed, according to the greatness and the fullness of His own love.
So it was here. There was faith in Jesus; simple, confident faith. And Jesus honored that faith. He at once treated this palsied man as a vessel into which He could pour blessing just as He pleased. And it pleased Him to say, "Thy sins be forgiven thee.”
And this must have astonished all who heard it.
But it was done. Love and power had done it. His sins were forgiven. The sick man's, limbs still shook and trembled; his disease still held him prisoner; those who stood around saw no change in him; but there was a change. His heart was comforted, his soul set free, for his sins and iniquities were forgiven. He had passed from death unto life. There was from that moment peace within, though yet for awhile his palsy might cleave to him.
Jesus had seen deeper need in him than his kindest friends had seen. Jesus knew that he was a sinner, and that he was therefore in danger of eternal pain; and He proved Himself to be his best friend; for He met his necessities at their Toot.
Thus it is now with all who believe on Jesus. Their troubles and sicknesses may remain, but their sins are forever forgiven. They may be a palsied, or an afflicted, or a harassed people still; but they are a people who have passed from death unto life, and who shall never come into condemnation. (John 5:24.) Amid their sorrows and their pains they have inward and heavenly peace. They still share with other men those sad afflictions to which sin has made men subject, and they have their own peculiar sorrows also; but, through faith in Jesus, they have peace with God, and they rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Rom. 5:1.)
“Happy people; happy, though despised and poor.”
But will believers always continue in their bodies of weakness and evil? Will not their bodies, as well as their souls, be freed from the bondage of corruption? Yes. For they look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, from heaven, who shall change their vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. (Phil. 3:20, 21.)
And this is sweetly taught us in the instance before us. For He who had said, "Thy sins be forgiven thee," also said, "Arise, take up thy bed, and walk." He who had already forgiven the sins, afterward banished the palsy!
And a day is coming when this same power will be put forth, though in a far more perfect and glorious way, on behalf of all who believe in Jesus. The day is coming when they shall “ARISE,' every one clothed in an incorruptible body; in a body on which disease and death can have no power. Jesus will come again, and then, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, will all who have believed on Him be changed into His likeness. (1 Cor. 15) From the depths of the sea, and from the bowels of the earth, will those of them who have fallen asleep start forth; while at that same moment shall all of them who are alive be changed. Arid then they will ascend, in the clouds, those chariots of heavenly majesty, to meet their Saviour in the air. (1 Thess. 4:17.)
Do you ask, "How may I be among that glorious company?”
I reply, Believe in Jesus now, sinner though you are. Trust Him, as this poor palsied man trusted Him. He will not fail you, any more than He failed him. For if you believe in Him your sins win be instantly forgiven, and you will wait, in peace and confidence, for the resurrection to life. (John 5:29.)
And then present trouble and pain will sit lightly on you. Not that you will be without trouble. You may have more than ever; but you will find streams of heavenly joy and refreshment flowing into your spirit, sustaining and cheering you amidst your troubles, and lifting you above them. And hope will shed its light also on your path, the hope of that glorious day when God shall display you among the vessels of mercy, to the praise of the glory of His grace! (Rom. 9:23; Eph. 1:6.)
But most persons are far more anxious that their bodily ailments' should be cured than that their sins should be forgiven. Pain troubles them more than guilt. But what folly, what madness, is this? For suppose I could make your body free from disease, and preserve you in that state all the while you live on earth., how short-lived would this benefit be! And would hell be less horrible if you were plunged into it from amidst health and ease? Or would bodily strength and vigor give your soul peace and hope? Are all who are hearty and strong at peace with God? Are all such persons happy? Go and ask them. And if their consciences might answer you, instead of their lips, I know what answer you would get.
Now God looks at the heart. He sees its evil. He hears its groan. He knows its doom. And this touches His heart. And therefore He gave Jesus to be the Saviour; Jesus who thoroughly saves; Jesus who says now to all who trust in Him, "Your sins be forgiven," and who will soon say also to them, "Arise.”
One word more; and I address this to the careless. Would you like to keep your palsy forever? Would you like to dwell in your afflicted, diseased, corrupt body to all eternity? Would you like to have it raised again from the dust, in all its wretchedness, to be your home forever?
You shudder at the thought. But this must be so, if you do not, through faith in Jesus, become a changed person. Except your believe in Him you must keep both your corruption and your sins forever.
It is true that your body may be laid in the grave, and may rot and moulder to dust. It is also true that your soul, during all that time, may be suffering alone, in the pit of destruction.
But resurrection will come. For there is a resurrection to damnation, as well as a resurrection to life. (John 5:28, 29.) And at that resurrection the wicked dead must again receive their corrupt and sin-worn bodies. God has fixed an hour for the host of the unbelieving to "ARISE." The voice of the Son of God, at that hour, will call them up from the great bed of death. (Rev. 20:12, 13.) But what a mournful host will they appear! Unchanged! They never trusted in the Saviour. They refused to welcome His salvation, and therefore, on that solemn day, they must stand forth in their own guiltiness and misery and shame.
What a woeful contrast will this: risen host be to those who had part in "the first resurrection"! "Blessed and holy' is he which hath part in the first resurrection." (Rev. 20:6.)
Remember, therefore, that "there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust." (Acts 24:15.) And perhaps one of the most awful scenes we can contemplate is "the resurrection to damnation." "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Heb. 10:31.)
I say therefore to you, "Believe and live." Jesus saves, not only from sin, but from all its consequences also. All blessing is in Him. Life and holiness and glory are His. What He is, and what He has, shall be yours, if you trust Him. And be assured the hour will come, when the most careless will awake to the blessedness of Him whom now they so lightly esteem. The beauty and glory of Jesus will one day burst irresistibly upon our view. But, oh! how awful will it be to see His glory only when He comes forth to execute wrath, to carry down into the pit the harrowing conviction that Jesus, whom they have forever rejected, is indeed the Saviour.
Such was the horrible end of Judas Iscariot. The torment of his soul is expressed in those words, "I have betrayed the innocent blood." (Matt. 27:4.) His perception of the value of the blood of Jesus became his torment. What a view of the blood of Jesus is this!
How blessed it is to turn to that company before the throne of everlasting glory, who with one heart and with one voice will worship the Lamb that was slain, and will sing, "Thou art worthy, for... Thou hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood." (Rev. 5)