Sunday, July 16, 1995
"Who on Earth Can Forgive Sins?"
Text: Matthew 9:1-8 (Related texts: Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26)
P. G. Mathew
Copyright © 1995 by P. G. Mathew
Who on earth can forgive sins? The scripture we are considering
is Matthew 9:1-8.
After the introduction, I want to speak about four points: (1)
the paralytic; (2)
the problem; (3) the possibility; and (4) the pronouncement of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Throughout his gospel Matthew presents Jesus as one having
authority. He calls him
"the Son of Abraham," "the Son of David," "the King of Israel."
He is "God with us
- Immanuel." People were amazed at his teachings, we read at the
end of the Sermon
on the Mount. Unlike the professional theologians and the
scribes, Jesus taught with authority.
He said, "You have heard such and such things, but I say unto you
- ego de lego
." Jesus is the one who has authority over diseases. He is the
one who has authority
over demons and nature. The wind and the sea obey him. "What
sort of a man is this?"
the disciples wondered. They thought they had known him, but
somehow they did not
know him. He was beyond their knowledge. And Jesus Christ has
authority over death.
He raises the dead.
In this particular passage in Matthew 9, we now discover that
Jesus Christ has authority
over sin. What is the greatest need of man? This text tells us
it is not food, clothing
or shelter. The greatest need of man is not for peace between
nations. It is not economic prosperity, nor for the healing of
various diseases. This scripture teaches
us that the greatest need of man is not physical but spiritual.
Man needs
forgiveness of sins.
So our question is, "Who on earth can forgive sins?" In chapter
1 of his gospel,
Matthew introduced Jesus in this way: "His name is Jesus, for he
shall save his
people from their sins." Jesus alone can forgive sins. He alone
is the Savior of
the world.
Having gone for awhile from his headquarters in Capernaum to
minister to other people,
such as the man on the southeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee
who had been possessed
of many demons, now Jesus returns to Capernaum and enters the
house. He was there for many days. This house may have belonged
to Peter and Andrew, or it could have
been a house that was given to him for his use. Jesus himself
did not own any house.
Having returned, then, for many days he was teaching in the
house. What did he teach?
The text says, "the word," which is the word of God. He was
preaching about the kingdom
of God: how man should repent and believe on Christ to enter
into the kingdom of God and to enjoy righteousness, peace and joy
in the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us
in Matthew 11:12, "'From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the kingdom of God
has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men will lay hold of
it.'" Many were
repenting and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Many were
showing spiritual courage, vigor,
power and determination to enter the kingdom, despite the
ever-present threat of
persecution.
In his account of this miracle Luke tells us that scribes and
Pharisees from every
village in Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem were in
attendance. The scribes were
professional theologians, trained and ordained to function as
custodians of religious
orthodoxy. They were guardians of the teaching office of
Judaism. Some of them were
members of the Sanhedrin. They would challenge Jesus concerning
his refusal to submit
to the halachah
- the oral law, the oral tradition, which the scribes regarded as
binding in its authority.
These scribes did not come to believe in Christ. They came to see
whether Jesus was
kosher or not, whether his teaching conformed to theirs or not.
It was their duty to check him out and to report to the
Sanhedrin.
So the first point is that there was a paralytic, a paraplegic, a
impotent man - a
man of total inability. This man was being carried, borne by
four other people.
Jesus had not been in Capernaum for awhile, but now he was home.
News of his presence
spread abroad, and it reached, especially, the ears of five
people, of whom one was a paralytic.
This man couldn't move. He had to be carried from place to place.
But he and his
friends had heard the stories of how this Jesus of Nazareth had
healed many people - this Jesus who had power and authority, this
Jesus who could calm the storm and
the sea, this Jesus who could cast out thousands of demons from a
man and make him
instantly whole.
And these five, therefore, concluded that Jesus was able to heal
this paraplegic,
this paralytic, this impotent man. They all believed in Jesus.
So the friends of
the paralytic carried him to Capernaum. It was hard work. They
probably had a long
journey, carrying the paralytic, but these four loved their
impotent friend. In the same
way, it is good to have friends who guide us to Jesus the Savior.
Let me ask you this morning: Do you have such love for sinners?
The Bible says,
"God so loved the world that he gave up his only begotten Son."
"The world" means
the world of sinners, the world of God's enemies, the world of
ungodly people, the
world of rebellious men. May God enable us to carry sinners to
the Lord Jesus, especially
beginning with members of our own families. We must realize that
every sinner is
impotent, and that he is suffering from total inability to save
himself. He must
come to Jesus. He must be brought to Jesus. I hope your house is
an open house, where you will
not only invite fellow believers, but you will also invite
sinners. You should have
a sign outside: Sinners are welcome in this house. So the house
of Jesus was an
open house.
But there was a problem. The house was an open house but it was
filled. So these
people looked, but there was no way to enter. Many people were
crowded around the
door, and there was no room for this sinner in the house. No one
was going to give
this impotent, wretched man entry into the presence of God. Most
of the space was taken
by the unbelieving critics of Jesus. So what could the five do?
They probably had
come from a far place. They were tired. Because of the crowd,
they couldn't meet
with Jesus. Should they just go home? No. These five had faith.
Most of the people who were in the presence of Jesus in the house
had no faith, but
these five had faith in Jesus Christ. They heard of him. It could
be that the four
had met with Jesus before and received great grace,
encouragement, forgiveness of
sins and physical healing. Then they may have told the paralytic
about Jesus, and he also
believed. He may have said, "Please, take me to Jesus. I am sick
and tired of being
in this wretched condition. No one can help me. I believe Jesus
will help me and
heal me." These five had vibrant faith. The kingdom of God, I
said, is forcefully advancing,
and forceful men lay hold of it. Forceful men are men of faith in
Jesus and his teaching.
They are those who say, "Come what may, I believe in Jesus
Christ." These five were forceful men. They would not be
deterred by any problem. They would say, "This
mountain shall be removed." Their faith in Jesus would move this
problem mountain.
Let me assure you, no problem can stand in the way of Jesus
Christ.
Look at Mark 11, beginning with verse 22: "'Have faith in God,'
Jesus answered. 'I
tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, "Go, throw
yourself into the
sea," and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he
says will happen,
it will be done for him.'" Faith in God! This means especially
faith to meet with Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ is the way and he will remove your mountain.
He will show you
the way to come and meet with him.
So the third point is the possibility. The man said, "Yes, I have
a problem. I am
a sinner. I am a paralytic. I need to be made whole. There is
only one who can make
me whole and that is Jesus Christ, who has come down from heaven
- 'The word became
flesh and dwelt among us.' I must go to him." So the five
counseled together outside.
No one was compassionate enough to give them entry into the
presence of Jesus Christ.
"But we must get to Jesus!" So faith found a way. These five
went up to the roof
on the outside stairs. They removed some tiles and made a hole
big enough to lower
the paralytic down to the very presence of Jesus. "This is an
emergency! We have
no time for etiquette." It was a little rude. Dust fell on Jesus
and the unbelieving scribes.
But these men knew Jesus would understand. It was an issue of
life and death.
Oh, what a zeal, what vigor, what action, what labor, what
motivation, what compassion!
"Oh, yes," they said, "we will repair the roof later on. But we
must get to Jesus,
that we may be saved and healed. We must place this needy sinner
before Jesus."
Brothers and sisters, let me ask you this: Do you feel such
urgency? There are sinners
all around us. They are in our own homes - people who are
paralyzed in their souls,
in their spirits. Do you have the faith to see their paralysis?
And do you have
any love and compassion for them? Do you see the emergency? Do
you see the urgency?
The wages of sin is death. Any moment some of yours will die.
That father and mother
and sister of yours will die at any moment, and will slip into
this eternity of hell.
Oh, we are living in urgent times!
But look at the pronouncement of Jesus. Jesus didn't complain. I
am sure that there
was dust on his head and dust in his eyes, but he made absolutely
no complaint. PGM He
said, "Tharsei, teknon!
Cheer up, son!" Oh, what an encouraging word from him who is
righteousness, who is
pure, who is holy, who is God. He said, "Cheer up, my son; thy
sins are forgiven
thee."
This is the only place in the gospels that we find Jesus Christ
meeting a person's
spiritual need first. Yes, the deepest need of man is not
physical. It is spiritual.
Man is not just a body. Man cannot be explained by deterministic
materialism. Man
is a soul. But man is paralyzed. Man is paralyzed in his soul.
Man is a paraplegic in his
soul.
What does that mean? Man is a sinner. He is born a sinner. He
practices sin every
day. He is against God and his law. He is an enemy of God. He is
ungodly, the Bible
says. He is under the wrath of God on a daily basis. So
forgiveness of sin is man's
greatest need. Otherwise, he is incapable of happiness. How can a
sinner be happy? The
wages of sin is death. How can a person sentenced to capital
punishment be happy?
This is why the world is not happy. Even after the best party a
man is miserable.
The wrath of God is staring at him in the middle of the night.
He must die, not
just a physical death, but an eternal death. He must go to hell.
So let me tell
you, despite all the shoddy, superficial signs of cheer and
happiness, every sinner is baptized
in depression. His happiness is only a delusion - a grand
delusion.
So Jesus saw their faith and said, "Cheer up, son; thy sins are
forgiven." Now some
people would say it was the faith of the four people, but not the
faith of the paralytic.
I don't believe that. "He saw their faith," and there were five
- one being carried by four. They all believed in Jesus Christ.
Let me tell you: the Bible says,
"'Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved - you and your
household.'" So
no one is going to be saved without trusting in Jesus Christ, in
his person and in
his work. It's an impossibility. You cannot save someone by
proxy. It's impossible. If that
were true I could make a lot of money. I could say to someone,
"You sinner, you don't
have to believe in Jesus Christ, but I believe in Jesus Christ. I
will intercede
for you. Give me money!" But no, that is impossible. Everyone
must believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ in order to be saved.
The scribes did not believe in Jesus. They were critics. Now,
they came to church,
all right. Oh, how many people are in the church even today, like
the scribes, to
check it out, to see whether the gospel conforms to their own
idea of salvation!
But here were five people who were full of faith in Jesus Christ.
And Jesus said
to this paralytic, "Tharsei, teknon
- Cheer up, son!" Oh, that's wonderful! That is the gospel,
isn't it? It is not
simply saying, "Good morning." We say all kinds of words of
greeting that are simply
formal. We are expected to say these things, and we ought to say
these things. But
when God's Son, Jesus Christ, says to this paralytic, "Cheer up,
son," that's the gospel.
That's the eternal God saying to a sinner, "You have nothing to
worry about. I love
you. Rejoice!"
Jesus said in John 16:33, "In this world you will have
tribulations. But rejoice!"
It is the same word. Why? What is the reason for your rejoicing?
"For I have overcome
the world." Jesus was going to go to the cross to die for the
sins of the whole world. He would be buried, but on the third
day, according to the Scriptures, he would
be raised up. Therefore, he says what? Rejoice! In this world
you will have tribulations,
but rejoice! I have overcome the world.
There is a reason for your joy, brothers and sisters. Cheer up,
son! Cheer up! Your
sins are forgiven thee. Oh, this is good news! This is great
news! This is cause
for celebration! Jesus said, "Rejoice!" That's what he told me.
Jesus called me "son."
I was trembling. I thought he would say, "I refuse to heal you.
I refuse to have anything
to do with you. You are a sinner. I condemn you because I am God.
I am purity, I
am holiness, I am perfect righteousness. I am the only one who
has the authority
to condemn all people." But, no - instead, what did he say? He
told me, "Rejoice," and
then he called me son. And then he said - he made this amazing,
shocking pronouncement
- what was it? "All your sins are forgiven thee." Hallelujah!
Now, how can this be? That will be the question in the heart of
every sinner: How
can God forgive anybody's sin and still be God? Does he make laws
only to be flouted
by human beings? Oh, no. Let me tell you, this Jesus Christ, who
came from all eternity, from heaven - this transcendent, God of
all majesty came to take upon himself
human nature. In that human nature he offered himself as our
atoning sacrifice, and
received in his own body the wrath of God that is against every
elect sinner. "He
who knew no sin," the Bible says, "became sin for us, that we
might become the righteousness
of God." He came to give his life as a ransom for many, he said.
He is the Lamb of
God who taketh away the sin of the world. He was given up by the
Father to suffer
the wrath that is against us. Isaiah says he would be crushed
for our iniquities.
Yes, that is the truth. Read Romans, chapter 3. Here St. Paul
explains this idea of
propitiatory sacrifice, so that we understand that Jesus Christ
would die for that
woman who caught in the very act of adultery (John 8). When she
was brought to Jesus,
he said, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." Yes, he
would die for the
sin of this paraplegic, this paralytic, also. He would take his
sin upon his body
and would die upon the cross, that God would be just and would
justify the ungodly.
So you see, this wonderful benediction, this wonderful
pronouncement, "Rejoice, son;
your sins are forgiven thee" was music in the ears of the
paralytic. But it didn't
sit well with the religiously-orthodox people, the scribes. And
they began to murmur
in their hearts: "Who does he think he is? Everybody knows only
God is able to forgive
sins. We know that as rabbis. We know that even the Messiah will
not be able to forgive
sins. We know that. How dare this man say this? We know he is a
man. We know he
is the son of Mary. We know he is a carpenter. We know his
brothers and sisters. How
dare this man say, 'Thy sins are forgiven,' when we know that
only God can forgive
sin? And we also know that this man is not God." And so they
thought in their hearts.
Now Jesus was omniscient God and he knew their evil thoughts. In
Matthew 9:4 he said,
"'Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?'" Isn't that
interesting? The
heart of man is the problem. It is wicked. It is deceitful above
all things. Who
can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9) Jesus said in Mark 7:21:
"'Out of men's hearts come
evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed,
malice, deceit,
lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.'"
Let me introduce you to Jesus Christ who reads your thoughts.
Even now, what is going
on in your hearts is read and seen by God. Jesus Christ doesn't
have to study anything.
He knows. He is infinite God. He is omniscient God. And the
scribes were saying, "Anybody can say that your sins are
forgiven. It is an unprovable, uncheckable statement."
He understood this. So Jesus asked, "'Which is easier: to say,
"Thy sins are forgiven
thee" or to say, "Rise up and walk"?'" He knew what they were
thinking. The rabbis said this: "Sickness is the result of sin,
and sickness cannot be cured until
God forgives sins." So they wanted proof.
Jesus took up that challenge. What did he say? All right, you
can check it out now.
He said, "Thy sins are forgiven thee," and then he said, "Rise
up and walk." These
are things that this man could not do before. But now, in an
instant, by a miracle,
the man rose, took up his bedroll and walked, we are told
elsewhere, in the presence
of all.
So, if you are sane in your heads, rabbis and scribes, you must
draw this conclusion:
Only God forgives sins; sickness is the result of sin; if one is
forgiven, he should
be well. So here is one who said, "Thy sins are forgiven thee,"
and the man was healed; therefore, this Jesus Christ must be God!
But is that what the scribes concluded?
It is amazing how wicked hearts will draw such illogical
conclusions. Isn't this the
reason why people refuse to trust in Jesus Christ, that their
wicked hearts cannot
bring themselves to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God? And so
what did they conclude? "Oh, no, no, no. This man is
blaspheming. This man is pretending to be God. This
man is doing something that wars against the majesty and
authority of God - that
is what blasphemy is - and Leviticus 24 tells us such a person
must be put to death."
Oh, the twisted, unbelieving, wicked heart! No matter how much
evidence is given, the
heart is twisted and refuses to bow before the Almighty God, even
Jesus Christ our
Lord! That is pretty sad indeed, isn't it?
So they came to this twisted conclusion: Jesus is blaspheming. He
is just a man. He
is just a sinner. He is not God. But if you asked them, "Why,
then, did this happen,"
do you know what their answer would be? They would say, "He is
the demon. He is the
chief demon. Jesus Christ is Beelzebub. He is the chief of
demons, so he can do these
things." That is exactly the conclusion they came to, and it
started right here with
the accusation of blasphemy. Read Mark 14:64. That was the
charge, finally, that
they brought against Jesus Christ. And he was crucified for this
specific charge.
But let me tell you again, even that is ordained by God. No one
can crucify Jesus
outside of God's ordination. He was crucified according to the
determinate counsel
of God. When they put him on the cross and crucified him, they
only fulfilled divine
plan so that from the cross forgiveness of sins could flow to the
woman who was caught
in adultery and to this paralytic man, who was paralyzed in body
and soul.
Unbelief will never acknowledge that Jesus is God. Although
Jesus Christ gave them
incontrovertible proof, they would not accept it. They said, "Oh,
he is doing this
by Beelzebub." "No," he says. "I want you to know something."
He said, "'that
you may know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive
sins. . .Then he said to the
paralytic: 'Get up, take your mat and go home.'"
Let me introduce you to Jesus Christ, the Son of Man. In Daniel 7
he is the heavenly
being. He is deity. But he alone has authority on the earth to
forgive sins. That's
why I said that no other religion can cause your sins to
disappear. No other religion can help you in terms of the
forgiveness of sins. No one else can make this pronouncement:
"Cheer up, son; thy sins are forgiven thee."
Let me offer Jesus Christ to you - the one Savior of the world,
the unique one, who
has authority in earth to forgive sin. No, he is not one of many
who have authority
to forgive sin. He is the only one. And we read what he says in
the Great Commission:
"'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me. .
. And surely I am
with you always, to the very end of the age.'"
Let me give to you Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Let me
give you Jesus Christ,
who will save every person who trusts in him, who repents of his
sins, who bows down
before his majesty and says, "I am paralyzed in my soul and in my
entire being. I
am ungodly. I am wicked. I have sinned against you. I deserve to
drink the full cup
of the wrath of God." Let me tell you what he would say to you:
"Son, rejoice! Your
sins are forgiven thee. Rise up, take up your burden and go."
That's what he would
say. Come to Jesus!
This Jesus is no longer on earth in his body. Jesus Christ
ascended into the heavens
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. But he can be
approached by people
everywhere. There is no problem of room. There is room at the
cross for you. Call
upon the name of the Lord and you shall be saved. Everyone who
calls upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved.
I was reading a Scottish theologian, and he had a hard time
understanding that Jesus
Christ is God. He couldn't bring himself to say that. So he
explained the idea of
Jesus saying, "Thy sins are forgiven thee," by saying it could be
because Jesus was
conveying God's forgiveness to this person, as Nathan conveyed
the forgiveness of God
to David. Remember that? Nathan said, "The Lord forgives you."
Or, this theologian
said, "You know, it may be because Jesus was given the power of
attorney to do this."
When you give the power of attorney to somebody, what you do, he
does. He is doing exactly
what you want him to do. Or, thirdly, he said, "Oh, it may be
that Jesus is revealing
the attitude of God. God is perfect love, and so he was
displaying God's attitude: I love you; I forgive you." This man
is a great professor who has written a number
of books, but he cannot bring himself to say that Jesus Christ is
God, that he is
deity! But that is exactly the truth, and that is what is being
demonstrated in this
passage. Oh, what blind scholarship, what unbelieving
scholarship!
Yes, Jesus Christ is God who became flesh. There are three
reactions, then, to this
whole wonderful deliverance of the paralytic. One is the
reaction of the scribes.
Their hearts were twisted. They would not accept Jesus Christ as
God, so they would
say, "You are blaspheming." If you asked the scribes, "How come
he is doing these things?"
they would say, "He is doing it by the power of the devil."
That's one reaction.
How did the crowd react? They were excited. That word is used in
the other parallel
passages. They were excited. Crowds of people come, and what do
they want? Excitement.
They are the "Wow!" people. They come to church and follow
preachers everywhere.
They are looking for an opportunity to say what? "Wow!" Let me
tell you, "Wow!" won't
take you to heaven. Let me assure you of that.
But then, there was the reaction of these five people and other
believers. They believed
in Jesus Christ. We are told in Luke 5:25 that this man went
home rejoicing and
praising God. You see, when you trust in Jesus Christ, from that
point on your life
is filled with joy and peace. You have been given entrance, not
into a house, but into
the kingdom of God, which we are told is righteousness, peace and
joy in the Holy
Spirit. So this man went home praising God.
And can you imagine what he did when he went home? He was happy.
He was rejoicing.
He was speaking to everybody: "Do you know what happened when we
went there? There
was no room at all. The doorway was full of people. No one moved.
No one showed compassion. But God granted us faith, so we took
the stairs, went up on the roof, and dug
a hole on the roof. They lowered me down, and as soon as I was in
his presence Jesus
said, 'Cheer up, son.' And then he said, 'Thy sins are forgiven
thee.' Then he told
me, 'Rise up, walk, and go,'" and for the first time in my life,
I walked!"
Yes, this man went home - not to sit in his house or to sleep for
the rest of his
life. He went home to declare the glorious gospel. He said,
"Jesus Christ is God.
Jesus Christ is Savior."
And I offer to you Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ your Savior. There
is no other Savior
in all the earth. I have seen people from Canada and from the
United States coming
to my country looking for gurus, to hear great truths of wisdom
from them. I have
met with them and gone with them and lived with them. I have told
them this truth: "You
know, you are looking for a grain of wheat in the cow dung."
I offer to you Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Let me
assure you, there is
room for you. You don't need to go up the stairs and dig in the
roof. There is room
at the cross for you. Christ is risen from the dead, and Christ
said, "I'll be with
you always, even to the end of the age." Why? To save us, to
heal us, to comfort us, to
pronounce this great benediction: "Son, rejoice; your sins - all
of them, past, present
and future - are forgiven thee" Oh, that's justification, isn't
that true? He took
your sins completely, and he gives you his perfect righteousness.
That is God's double
transaction.
That's what he would say to you: "Son, daughter, rejoice! I have
overcome the world.
Son, daughter, rejoice! I have paid for your sins. Son,
daughter, rejoice! I have
drunk to the last drop the cup of the wrath of God so that you
can rejoice. You can
have eternal life."
I urge you to come to Jesus. If you want to receive Jesus Christ
as your Savior, if
you want to trust in him, if you want to be touched by him, if
you want to be comforted
by this Jesus Christ, I say, Come to him. If you want to be a
scribe, you have that freedom, but God never saved an unbelieving
scribe. "His name is Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins."
Come and meet with Jesus Christ! He is the way, the truth and
the life. There is
only one who always tells the truth, and he is the truth. If we
don't believe in
him, we make him out to be a liar, the Bible says. Come to him
and say, "Lord Jesus,
meet my need." And the first and deepest need is my sin and my
guilt. "Have mercy upon
me and forgive my sins. I confess that you are the Son of God,
that you are God,
that you are the Savior of the world, and that there is no other
Savior."
Or come to him and say, "God, I am a Christian but I need your
blessing this morning."
And he will bless you and he will help you. Believe in him. I
know Americans pretend
that they have no need. We are not in the Third World. We are
part of the industrialized economy. But we have needs. May God
open our eyes to realize our spiritual
needs. If God is speaking to you, come to Jesus today. "Come
unto me," he said,
all who are weary and heavy-laden; I'll give you rest." That's
what he said. I'll
give you rest. "Come unto me," he said, "and drink from me." He
said, "I am the living bread;
come and eat." To the Samaritan woman he said, "I will give you
water that will
spring up within you unto eternal life." Do you think he is
lying? Do you think he
is exaggerating? We lie, we exaggerate, but God cannot lie, the
Bible says.
Do you want to meet with the Lord Jesus Christ, your Savior, our
Savior? This same
Jesus Christ will come again to judge everyone who rejected him,
everyone who treated
him with contempt, everyone who said, "He is lying."
Would you pray this prayer?
Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus Christ, to save me, to forgive my sin, to die in my place. Lord Jesus Christ, I believe in you. I believe in you by the faith you have given me. Save me, O Lord. Forgive all my sins. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Make me a new creation. Heal my body. Heal my soul. Heal my mind. Speak to me, Lord Jesus, "Son, daughter, rejoice! Your sins are forgiven thee. Rise up, walk and go home." Praise you, heavenly Father, for hearing our prayers, for filling us with peace, for removing the burden of guilt and sin. We are forgiven forever, saved forever. Who said so? Jesus Christ the Son of God said so. I believe in him. Amen.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society.Return to Sermon Transcripts"NIV" and "New International Version" are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark office by International Bible Society.
