Getting People to Jesus, Pt. 5

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 answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?  Whether it is 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.

Luke 5:21-25

When these men brought their friend to Jesus, they were probably bringing him for physical healing.  He could not walk and needed help with a physical need.  But Jesus healed him both physically and spiritually.  He may not have even realized that he needed spiritual help, but that was actually his main problem.  As bad as his physical condition might have been, it would have paled in comparison to his physical need.

There are many in our world today who need physical help.  We should be doing what we can to help them.  If we see a need that we can meet, we should do what we can to meet it.  But all of the physical help in the world isn’t going to save a soul.  If we could feed and clothe every single needy person in the world, we would simply make their short stay on earth a little more comfortable, but we would do nothing that affects eternity.

People can easily see and feel their physical needs, but often don’t even realize that they have a spiritual need.  Fortunately, there is One who can help with both.  As in this passage, the Lord can heal the body and heal the soul.  When we bring someone to Jesus, He can meet every need that they could have.  What a wonderful Saviour!

Getting People to Jesus, Pt. 4

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 upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.  And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

Luke 5:18-20

These men have become legendary for their dedication and desire to get their friend to Jesus.  They went so far as to break up the tiling on a roof to lower him down to Jesus.  Once they got him to Jesus, however, they disappear from the story.  They brought their friend to Jesus.  They did everything in their power to get him in to the house to see Jesus.  But then it is as if they melt into the background.  It is the same with us.

It is our job to get our friends to Jesus.  But once we get them to Him, it is now a matter between them and Him.  It is our duty to confront people with Him and get them to Him.  We cannot save a soul.  We cannot heal a disease.  We cannot forgive sin against an almighty God.  We can do none of those things.  It is our job to get people to the One who can do all of those things.

Once this man was put in front of Jesus, the conversation that takes place is between those two.  That is what we need to be striving for in our witnessing and in our dealings with people: get them to Jesus and let Him do the rest.

These men were rewarded for their faith by seeing their friend healed.  We will also be rewarded for our faith in getting people to Him.

Getting People to Jesus, Pt. 3

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 Judaea, 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 upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.

Luke 5:17-19

These men were absolutely dedicated to getting their friend to Jesus.  At first, they couldn’t get him in, but they kept seeking means by which to get him in front of the Lord Jesus.  There was a multitude of people around Jesus, and they could not get by.  So they came up with another plan.  They went on the roof, took it apart and lowered their friend on his bed into the middle of the house, right in front of Jesus.

That was a very unconventional way to get a man to Jesus.  But it worked.  These men have gone down in history for their dedication to and love of their friend.  They were willing to take apart the roof of a house if that meant helping their friend.  While we may not ever have to take apart a roof to get someone to Jesus, we may have to leave our comfort zone at some point.  We may have to make some form of sacrifice.

Other people might have laughed at these men or rolled their eyes at seeing them taking apart a roof.  But their entire focus was on getting this man to Jesus, no matter the cost.  We can learn much from that level of dedication.  Just how dedicated are we?

Getting People to Jesus, Pt. 2

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 Judaea, 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. 

Luke 5:17-18

We can learn many things about getting people to Jesus from the example of the men in this passage of Scripture.  These men understood that their friend had a desperate need and that Jesus was the One Who could heal him.

They were right in taking him to Jesus, but when they got there, they could not get in to see Him.  It would have been ideal for them if they could have simply carried him in and put him in front of Jesus, but that was apparently not a possibility.  So, they did something that has served as a lesson for Christians since: “…they sought means to bring him in…”

When their first plan didn’t work, they looked for another method.  They “sought means” to bring him to Jesus.  How much time to spend seeking ways to get our friends to Jesus?  How often do we “seek means” to bring others to Him?  So often, we tell someone about Him, which is a good start.  But if that doesn’t work, we have a tendency to just give up.  That’s not the way these men were – they were willing to do whatever it took.

How dedicated are we to getting people to Jesus?  How far are we willing to go to get our friends to Jesus?  We should be constantly thinking of ways to get people to Him, whether they are conventional or unconventional.

Getting People To Jesus, Pt. 1

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 Judaea, 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.

Luke 5:17-18

To me, this is one of the best passages in the Bible dealing with getting people to Jesus.  There are several things that we can learn from it.

The first thing to realize about this story is that these men realized that Jesus was what their friend needed.  “…the power of the Lord was present to heal them.”  These men had a friend who could not walk.  They knew he needed help.  And they realized that Jesus could help him.  Jesus was healing people and they knew that He could heal their friend also.

We know people all around us who are suffering the effects of the disease of sin.  Some of them are completely dead in their sins.  They are like this man.  They can’t walk or even move.  They desperately need healing in the form of salvation.  Others have had healing in the form of salvation but are like the prodigal son who strayed far from the Father’s house.  They too need healing.

While we certainly know people who need the Lord, we are not going to make much of an effort to get them to Him if we do not truly believe, deep down in our hearts, that He can and will heal them.  In order to take the first step toward bringing people to Jesus, we have to understand that Jesus is the only One Who can help them.

Do we really believe that?  These men believed it and their friend went away healed.

O Come All Ye Faithful

O Come All Ye Faithful
John Wade (1751)

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;

Refrain
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal,
Lo, He shuns not the Virgin’s womb;
Son of the Father, begotten, not created;

Refrain

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;
O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest;

Refrain

“O Come All Ye Faithful” is one of my favorite Christmas hymns and I thought it would be a good one to start off the Christmas season with.  “O come, let us adore Him” is really what Christmas is all about.  I like the fact that the Christmas hymns seem to do a great job of glorifying Jesus Christ, which we should all be doing, especially at Christmas.

Coming to Call Sinners

But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?  And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Luke 5:30-32

Luke 5:32 is a great verse and one that I am thankful is in the Bible.  Have you ever stopped to think about the truth it contains?  “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  If it were possible to be righteous on ones own, Jesus would not have needed to come to Earth, suffer and die on a cross, and rise from the dead.  But, we are not and cannot be righteous on our own.  Romans 3:10 tells us that “…There is none righteous, no, not one…”  Fortunately, Jesus didn’t come to call the righteous.  He came “to call sinners to repentance.”  He came for sinners.  He came for us.

I’m not a righteous man.  I’m not even a “good” man.  I am a wicked, vile, evil sinner.  If the Lord Jesus Christ had come for the righteous, I would have no chance.  I would surely have been passed by and left out.  But He came for wicked, vile, evil sinners like me.  He came to give His own righteousness to those who could not obtain it any other way (which includes all of us).  One of the most amazing thoughts about the salvation and the Christian life is that He came for me.

Sometimes as Christians we get comfortable in our churches, surrounded by other Christians.  While there is nothing at all wrong with fellowshipping with other Christians, we do need to remember that Jesus came to call sinners to repentance and expects us to do the same.  He came for us: the least we could do is share that good news with others!

A Heart for Helping

And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.  But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?  And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.

Luke 5:28-31

When the scribes and Pharisees took Jesus to task for eating with publicans and sinners, He responded with this statement: “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.”  This response gives us a great insight into the heart and attitude of Jesus.

Jesus came to “seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)  Jesus, Who is the Great Physician, came to heal the sick.  Healthy people don’t need a doctor.  Sick people do.  These publicans and sinners were among the worst sinners of the day.  As such, their “sickness” of sin was in an advanced stage.  They needed healed badly.  And Jesus came to give them that healing.

Jesus had a heart to help people.  He had a desire to heal the sick, bind up the broken, and save the sinful.  The Pharisees were of the opinion that they needed no help.  They were not “sinners” like those evil publicans.  They didn’t need Him (or, at least they thought they didn’t need Him).  The publicans and sinners needed Him.  They may have even realized their need of Him.  Levi certainly realized his need because he followed Jesus when given the opportunity.  The Pharisees didn’t follow Jesus.

Even though the publicans were looked down upon, Jesus went to them anyway because they needed Him and He had a heart to help.  Do we have that same heart in us to help others, no matter who or where they may be?

A Day of Thanksgiving

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Colossians 3:15

The idea of setting aside a particular day for giving thanks has been around for a long time, and it’s been around for a long time for a good reason.  As we know, we should be thankful all of the time about every thing.  But it’s also nice to take a day to think about the things for which we are thankful.  That is what we do today.  So, as you spend time with loved ones, probably eating too much and enjoying good fellowship, spend some time thinking about the One who has made all of that possible.  We should spend a little time today thanking the Lord for giving us so much and doing so much for us.  What am I thankful for?  A short list:

My salvation through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

My family and friends.

A perfect Bible.

My dogs (chocolate labs – Duke and Brutus)

The mercy and grace of God.

Food and football.

Did I mention my salvation?  If I were to lose everything else on the list, I can still thank God for saving my sinful soul.  What a wonderful Saviour and what a wonderful object of thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Be Thankful, Part 3

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God…

II Timothy 3:1-4

In these days around the holiday of Thanksgiving (in the United States), we will look at a few of the many verses in the Bible that deal with the subject of thankfulness.  It’s an important subject to remember today in our society of greed and covetousness.

I have always found it interesting that in these verses about the perilous times of the last days, the Lord would choose to put “unthankful” in the list along with much “worse” things like blasphemy, disobedience, unholiness, liars, traitors, etc.  Those are some serious things.  And right in the middle of them we find the sin of unthankfulness.  Make no mistake – not being thankful is most definitely a sin.  It’s just as much of a sin as any of the others things on the list in these verses.

We can even find this sin listed in the sad story of the failure of man in Romans 1: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”  Man’s descent into sin and his rejection of God included simple unthankfulness.  If we ever find ourselves questioning how important being thankful is, let us consider these verses.

We probably don’t normally think of not being thankful as a sin on the same level of some other “big sins.”  But God puts it there and we should confess and forsake unthankfulness just as we would any other sin.