Introduction:   I’m beginning a series today CHOICES THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE we want to consider CHOOSING GOD’S FORGIVENESS. Let us consider two things. 

I.          AN UNPARALLELED POWER (VV.4-8)

A.        Unparalleled In His Ability. 

In Matthew 9 the Bible gives us an up-close and personal glimpse of Jesus at work. He had just finished teaching the Sermon on the Mount and was travelling around in the region of the Sea of Galilee healing people. Jesus was not only a great teacher, but He also demonstrated His divinity the very God who became flesh, because He had total power to heal. There were two things the scribes could not do: they could not heal and they could not forgive. They found Jesus’ words offensive because v4 tells us. Jesus wanted to show them that His words of forgiveness had the power to speak physical healing to the man (Read vs. 5-7). Jesus talked the talk, and the man walked! 

B.        Unparalleled In His Authority.  The friends of this paralyzed man brought him to Jesus. Jesus knew exactly what the man really needed, so He forgave his sins. The man’s friends might have been confused. The religious leaders were angry. The scribes thought He is claiming to be God!  And that’s Blasphemy!” In John 8:23-24 Jesus told the religious leaders plainly that He was God and they must believe He was or they would die in their sins. At another time He said—“I and my Father are one.” (John 10:30). Jesus also said—“…he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” (John 14:9). Jesus didn’t pull any punches. He told it like it was. He started with the real problem the man had, not just the obvious problem that could be seen. Jesus not only possessed the ability but He also had the authority to heal and forgive the paralyzed man. We have considered AN UNPARALLELED POWER but let us also see…

II.        A UNIVERSAL PROBLEM (Rom.3:23)

A.        Where Does Sin Reach? (1 Jn. 5:19b)“…the whole world lieth in wickedness.”

1. SIN IS THE CAUSE OF EVERY ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM. The Bible tells us Sin is the cause of every problem on this planet. The volcanoes, the tsunamis, the earthquakes, famines, and floods are all because of sin. Beloved, our universe itself is broken. Everywhere you look you can see the examples of the damage caused by sin. (Rom. 8:22) “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” Every voice in Nature reminds us of its bondage to corruption and tells that the original purpose of the Creator has been perverted; that Nature is not what He designed it to be. The universe does not work as well as it once did. In the last fifteen years we have had more earthquakes then in the last fifty years and more in the last fifty years than in the last five hundred years. Friends, this universe is wearing out under the weight and load of sin. (Read Heb. 1:10-12) When Adam and Eve chose to sin the consequences of their disobedience set creation on a destructive course. Creation has not worked right since and God is not trying to fix it. But one day He will completely wipe out the old and create it anew (Revelation 21:1).

2. SIN IS THE CAUSE OF EVERY SICKNESS PROBLEM. God made mankind perfect but sin ruined God’s perfection. Our bodies break down as a result of the judgment of sin. Sometimes good people get cancer and bad people get away with murder.   

3. SIN IS THE CAUSE OF EVERY SOUL PROBLEM. The Bible declares that every person without Christ is spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1-3). We are bent toward doing wrong every time because of our sin nature. The Media reports daily the results of sin—perversion, greed, quests for power, sexual sin, and all forms of crime. The Bible tells us that wickedness and wicked men will grow worse and worse until God makes things all things right. (2 Tim. 3:13) “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 

B.        What Is Sin’s Reality?  What does the Bible say about our Sin?  It tells us that:

1.  WE ARE DETERMINED SINNERS.  We don’t need a pep rally to get us to sin. But we do need much help from God and His Word to keep us on the right way. All of us are hard as stone and it is only through God’s grace that our stony hearts can be broken. 

2.  WE ARE DISEASED SINNERS.  Sin is a spiritual disease. Sin caused God to destroy earth by flood in Noah’s day because “that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5). Sin is the virus of the soul. Mankind’s condition without the Lord is terminal. (Ezek. 18:20a) “The soul that sinneth, it shall die…”

3.  WE ARE DECEIVED SINNERS.  Many will not admit their sin. Sin is deceitful and sin deceives. (Jer. 17:9)“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Satan is called the Deceiver. His deception is to keep us from being saved.

4.  WE ARE DESPERATE SINNERS.  Nothing but God’s grace can cure our sin problem. WE can do nothing of ourselves. We are desperately in need of Jesus. 

5.  WE ARE DESTINED TO SIN.  The road of sin leads to death (Rom. 6:23). The soul that sins, dies (Ezekiel 18:20). This means spiritual death and if we leave this life in that condition eternal death—eternal separation from God and all who know and love Him.

C.        What Are Sin’s Results? 

The Bible declares that the end result of a life of sin is HELL! (Ps. 9:17) “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” (Rev. 20:15)“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” What does the Bible say about this place called HELL?  It says:

1.  HELL IS A PLACE OF TORMENT.  The book of Matthew reminds us that “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Rev.14:11)“And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…” 

2.  HELL IS A PLACE OF BONDAGE.  In Jesus’ parable about the king who prepared a wedding celebration for his son, the man without a wedding garment was sentenced—“Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 22:13).

3.  HELL IS A PLACE OF MEMORY.  In Luke 16 the rich man remembered his life. He remembered his brothers. People will remember their missed opportunities to be saved. They will remember every friend who witnessed to them. They will remember every Church service they sat through and heard the gospel message. They will remember their rejection. 

4.  HELL IS A PLACE OF UNMET DESIRES.  The first desire of the rich man in hell was for a drop of water. He didn’t get it. He cried out for mercy, he didn’t get it. He wanted someone to go back from the dead and warn his brothers about hell. The answer was no. He did not have one desire met. 

5.  HELL IS A PLACE OF SEPARATION FROM GOD.  2 Thes. 1:9 gives us the fate of the lost—“Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” This does not refer to annihilation but separation from God. Hell will go on and on and on forever because no amount of punishment can justify a person’s rejection of the forgiveness freely offered through God’s Son.

Conclusion:  The only cure for sin is to choose God’s forgiveness. Have you chosen God’s forgiveness?  If not, come today. He will forgive if only you believe. Christian, are you resting in God’s forgiveness or are you still living in regret, remorse, and anger over your past?  If so, tell it to Jesus. Lay it at His feet and rest in His promise—“Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”