Mark chapter 2. The Bible says in Mark chapter 2 in verse 1. And again he entered into Capernaum
after some days and it was noise that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered
together insomuch that there was no room to receive them. So does this sound like it's
a real easy place to get to? No, it's difficult. You can't even get through the door. No, not
so much as about the door and he would preach unto them. So this is a difficult place to
get to, right? Getting to Jesus in this circumstance was hard. It's less than ideal circumstances.
And it says in verse 3, and they bring unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy. So this
guy is sick of the palsy. Meaning this guy has a need. This guy, we read the story, he's
bedridden. He can't get himself there. And look, we might go into these hill countries
and these small towns, these places that are out of the way and see people that are perfectly
physically fit. There's nothing wrong with them. But if we learn to look at them spiritually
what we would see is people who have a spiritual disease. Something I shared in Tucson recently
was trying to see the things which are eternal. And I made this application that if we did
that soul winning, what would that look like? If you could look at a person when they come
to the door and see them not in the temporal, where they are right now, their physical appearance,
but see them in the eyes of eternity, like where they're going to end up. What if you
could see them that way? That would probably motivate a lot of people to maybe be bolder,
to be better at their gospel presentation, to not worry so much about how they received
at the last door. I mean, we know the destination of how people are going to end up if they
don't get saved. They're going to go to a place of eternal fire and torment. You ever
seen those guys, like the stunt guys who light themselves on fire and run around, just engulfed
in flames? I mean, the next time some unreceptive guy, or just, receptive or not, just some
unsafe person comes to the door, maybe we should learn to look at them like that. Just
imagine them engulfed in flames. It's not a pleasant picture, but that's the spiritual
reality of their situation. That's the palsy that they have. That's their spiritual sickness.
They're going to burn forever. And if we don't go and reach them, that's what's going to
happen. So this guy has a need. And it says that he was once sick of the palsy and he
was born of the four. Meaning this, that he needs others to help him to get to Jesus.
We need to go and bring the gospel to these people. He's not going to get cured, he's
not going to get over his disease until somebody gets him to Jesus. We're not going to put
that spiritual fire out on those people unless we get them to the Lord and get them saved.
He needs to get there. And you know what, we know how the story goes, verse 4, and they
could not come nigh unto him for the press. They get there, they got their buddy, you
know, on the bed, there's four of them, they're moving this guy over there, they get there
and there's this huge press. It's hard to get there. So they turn around and said, sorry,
you know, we had good intentions, we wanted to, but it was just too difficult. You know,
you've had the palsy for a while, you know, you're used to it. It's not that big a deal.
Try to get your hopes up, maybe another time. It's just too difficult to do it. And here's
the thing, you know, we could, I was writing, I was thinking about the fact that, you know,
no matter how difficult any of these trips, any soul winning you do, no matter how difficult
it is, at least I'm not going to, I guess I can't speak for everybody, but I'm not going
to ask you to carry an invalid on your back up on top of a roof. And that's what these
guys were willing to do. And, you know, they're willing to climb up a roof and pull this dead
weight up a roof and tear the roof apart and then lower him down. That's, I mean, that's
physically demanding. Just the physical aspect of doing it is very difficult. So we say,
oh, you know, brother Cormier drags us out here, there's this driveway, it's 30 feet
long and it's uphill. Well, how about I jump on your back? And when we get there, we'll
set up a ladder and you can climb up the ladder with me on your back, you know, and
we'll see, we'll see how bad that driveway is after that. It says, and we know the story,
they uncovered the roof where he was and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed
wherein the sick of the palsy lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick
of the palsy, son, thy sins be forgiven thee. I mean that, those four guys, that was worth
it. They got that done and they said, worth it. All that hard work, all that effort, all
that difficulty trying to, you know, climbing, all of that was worth it because their friend
got healed that day. And look, we go out to a place like globe, like we did yesterday
and you know, we say, well, only four people got saved. Look what they did for one guy,
just one guy. And you know, and how difficult is it to get in a van, you know, get fed all
the Panera, right? Get taken out there. How was nerd burger? I'm getting mixed reactions
on that, you know, I'm getting thumbs up. All right, I could trust some of you, but
it looked good to me. You know, you got a good meal there, you know, he got some fellowship,
you got to go out there and, and hey, four people got saved. Praise God. That was four
people that were on their way to hell. And you know what? You didn't have to carry anyone
on your back. You didn't have to drag someone up a roof. And just imagine if his friends
hadn't tried because they said, oh, it's just too hard. And again, you know, if we can't
make it to these trips because we got work, we got other duties, you know, we have, physically
it's just too much. I understand, you know, we've got other duties, so on and so forth.
I get that. But if the only reason we're not going to go is just because, you know, you
just don't feel like it's just not, you know, it just seems too hard. Well, what if these
guys friends had said that, you know, what if this guy had the palsy, what if his friends
said that? Sorry, it's just too hard. So I guess the point I'm trying to make this morning
is this, is that, you know, getting people to Jesus isn't always easy. It's not always
going to be easy to get people to Jesus. You know, in one way, shape or form, it's not
going to be easy. Even if it's, you know, flat streets of Tempe, you know, nice level
driveways, broad walkways, no obstacles, it's this time of year, perfect weather out, just
go out, it's not too hot, it's not too cold, and we go out, it's still going to be unreceptive,
you know. It's not always going to yield high numbers, but, you know, it's not always going
to be easy, it's not always going to yield high numbers, but I'll tell you one thing,
it will always be, to go out into the highways and byways, into the hedges, to go out and
noise the gospel abroad in the hill country, no matter how difficult, I'll tell you one
thing, it will always be, it's worth it, every time. Let's go ahead and pray. Dear Lord,
again, thank you for the opportunity to preach the gospel, Lord, to every creature. Thank
you, Lord, that we have a church that desires to send us out to reach the lost. Lord, thank
you for, thank you for everyone that participates in these programs, be it the weekly soul winning,
these trips. Lord, I pray you just continue to help us to keep that zeal, that fervor
for lost souls, that we would never lose that as a church, that we continue to reach out
to a lost world that's on its way to hell, and that we would help them to receive you
as Christ, Lord, that we'd be able to preach them the immeasurable riches that are in Christ.
We ask these things in your name. Amen.