Breath of Life

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: BOLS

Program Code: BOLS000178S


00:06 #S094 - “Easier Said Than Done”
00:19 Do me a
00:20 favor and stand to your feet as we go in our Bibles
00:21 to the Book of Saint Mark. Chapter One.
00:24 Saint Mark. Chapter one.
00:26 Excuse me, Saint Mark, chapter two.
00:27 And verse number one.
00:29 Saint Mark, chapter two and verse number one.
00:34 When you get there,
00:35 let me hear you say Amen.
00:38 Saint Mark, chapter two
00:41 and verse number one.
00:42 If we're going to go
00:43 briefly into the word
00:44 and then we'll transition to our table today.
00:47 Saint Mark two and verse number one.
00:50 How many of us are grateful for Jesus? That's you.
00:51 Raise your hand ahead of us. Great for Jesus. Amen.
00:54 Amen.
00:55 And today,
00:56 this is one of the reasons I believe we should be thankful
00:58 for the savior Saint Mark to in verse one.
01:00 When you get there, you say, Pastor, I'm there, the Bible
01:04 says.
01:06 And again, he entered Capernaum, and after some days
01:09 it was heard that he was in the way in the house.
01:14 Immediately many gathered together
01:16 so that there was no longer room to receive him,
01:19 not even near the door.
01:21 And he preached the word to them.
01:23 Then they came to him
01:24 bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men,
01:29 and when they could not come near him
01:31 because of the cry, they uncovered the roof where he was.
01:35 So when they had broken through,
01:38 they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
01:42 And when Jesus saw their fate, he said to the paralytic,
01:46 And this is good news, son, your sins are forgiven you.
01:54 And some of
01:55 the scribes were sitting there, reasoning in their heart.
01:59 Some people on the wind shouted Church,
02:02 why does this man speak blasphemies like this?
02:07 Who can forgive sins but God alone?
02:10 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His Spirit
02:14 that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said unto them,
02:17 Why do you reason about these things in your heart?
02:19 Watch this.
02:21 Which is easier to say to the paralytic.
02:25 Your sins are forgiven or to say Arise.
02:29 Take up your bed and walk, but that you may know
02:34 that the son of man have power on earth to forgive,
02:37 since he said to the paralytic, I say to you, Arise,
02:44 take up your bed and go to your house.
02:48 Immediately he arose and took up the bed
02:53 and went out into the presence of them all.
02:56 And so they were all amazed and glorified God
03:00 saying We have never saw anything like this,
03:04 but I'm going to emphasis verse nine,
03:06 which is easier to say to the paralytic.
03:09 Your sins are forgiven
03:12 or to
03:13 say, arise, take up your bed and walk
03:17 for just a little while saying
03:18 I want to talk to you on the subject.
03:20 Easier said than done.
03:24 Let's pray together.
03:25 Father,
03:28 in this finite amount of time,
03:31 would you communicate an eternal truth?
03:35 Father I'm praying
03:38 that you would allow us, through today's service,
03:40 the word and the sacraments, to experience
03:44 the gift of salvation in a fresh way.
03:47 So, Lord, would you please hold me
03:48 in the shadows of the cross that Jesus alone might be seen,
03:53 that Christ alone would be heard,
03:54 and at the end of our time together,
03:56 let Jesus alone be praise blessed.
03:58 So they said, We ask in the mighty name of Christ,
04:02 let those who love him say together.
04:03 Amen.
04:05 Any man you may be seated in the house of the Lord today
04:09 again talking on the subject.
04:10 Easier said than done.
04:17 Our text today, friends, is filled
04:20 with some spectacular tensions.
04:24 Here we find Jesus coming back to Capernaum
04:28 for the second time early in his ministry.
04:31 And you've
04:32 got to recall the first time that Jesus went to Capernaum,
04:36 he turned the entire city upside down.
04:39 While there, Jesus healed Peter's mother in law.
04:44 He cast a demon out of a man in the middle of a church service,
04:49 and then he had a sunset healing where Jesus healed everybody
04:53 in sight so that everyone left with whatever they needed,
04:59 so that if you came limping, then you left strutting.
05:03 If you came blind, then you left.
05:07 See if you came deaf, then you left hearing.
05:12 If you came with cancer, you left without cancer
05:16 if you came cripple, then you left cramping.
05:20 And if you came late, then you left sleeping.
05:24 And the thing it teaches is a metaphorical truth
05:28 that Jesus never leaves you the same way He fights you.
05:33 And the thing
05:34 I love about Jesus is he made no referrals.
05:38 He did not send anyone to a specialist
05:41 because every need you have can be met in Jesus Christ.
05:47 And it is in this context,
05:50 upon hearing that Jesus is back in town,
05:54 that this house is now filled be on the capacity.
05:58 Now, today, I don't want to focus briefly
06:01 on the common details of this story.
06:04 I don't want to spend a whole lot of time
06:07 talking about the ingenuity of the friends
06:09 that let the man
06:11 down through the roof, because sometimes we get more impressed
06:14 with what they do than we are with what Jesus did.
06:19 And so you've got to see this now that this moment has become
06:23 suddenly upward and irreverent, as Jesus is preaching the Word
06:29 and as Jesus preaches the word debris begins to fall
06:33 from the ceiling as hands pull back
06:36 the tile and a man is let down through the roof
06:41 and understand for a moment there is a must see spirit
06:45 that seizes those that are in the room.
06:48 All of a sudden they begin to tussle
06:52 in order to get a good view of what is going to take place.
06:55 There is a sense of anticipation that ricochets
06:59 throughout the room.
07:00 People put down their drinks and their plates
07:04 and they take out their phones to be able to record
07:08 this miracle moment.
07:09 And as the man is let down through the roof
07:13 and he looks at Jesus and Jesus reads the unspoken prayer
07:17 of the man when Jesus speaks, this is not to speak.
07:21 There is a spirit where people get ready to see
07:24 the miracle and folks sit on the edge of their chairs
07:29 as Jesus fixes his neck to say something,
07:33 and Jesus lifts up one hand and says to the man on this bed,
07:38 Son, you're saying all forgiven
07:43 and understand.
07:45 In this moment it becomes somewhat anticlimactic.
07:50 In fact, those who are in the room
07:53 breathed sighs of disappointment,
07:56 for there is an unexpressed frustration
08:00 that all Jesus does is healed.
08:02 The man is forgive the man.
08:05 In other words, the man has an obvious physical malady.
08:10 But Jesus is addressing his unseen malady.
08:13 He has an outward need, but
08:16 Jesus prioritizes his spiritual needs.
08:19 And Jesus is teaching us a truth that sometimes
08:23 our obviously is not our most urgent need, sometimes
08:28 and most immediate need is not the most critical need.
08:33 In fact, friends, this man's greatest need
08:37 is to experience the amazing grace of Jesus Christ.
08:42 And for a moment, climb down
08:44 with me into this man's world.
08:48 Do you realize that the worst part about being
08:51 paralyzed is not just the inability to go.
08:57 The worst part is where it keeps you from going.
09:00 Do you realize that because he is paralyzed,
09:04 he is set out from the Atonement Network of the day
09:08 so that someone like him, a leper, and the woman
09:12 with the issue of blood
09:13 would be separated from the temple and its services.
09:18 And because he cannot work, he cannot afford sacrifice,
09:22 because he cannot avoid sacrifice,
09:25 he cannot participate in the services of the Temple.
09:28 But the thing I love about Jesus is that when the man couldn't
09:32 make it to the temple,
09:34 Jesus brought the temple to where the man could reach him
09:38 and understand that it's been some time since he has had
09:42 a sense of God's expunging of his record.
09:47 It's been a long time that he's before,
09:50 since he's had a sense of nearness to God.
09:53 It has been a while since he's been able to participate
09:56 and services like this,
09:57 which symbolizes the redemption of God's people
10:02 and understand your not with it, that the only thing
10:05 he would want to hear more than Jesus say, Take up your bed
10:10 and walk is to hear Jesus say
10:14 your sins have been forgiven.
10:16 In other words, if Jesus steps at forgiveness,
10:20 Jesus is still right with this man.
10:24 In other words, just to have the sin
10:26 remove was enough just to have the condemnation.
10:31 Silence is enough.
10:33 Just enough to have the sins removed is enough.
10:37 And I think that there are
10:38 some of us
10:39 that are still missing the point,
10:42 because how many of us understand that
10:44 your greatest blessing is not the car that you drive,
10:49 it is not the house where you live.
10:52 It is not the shoes on your feet.
10:55 It is not the promotion that you receive.
10:57 But the greatest blessing in life is to have your
11:01 iniquities pardoned and your sins washed away.
11:06 In other words, do I have in these 17
11:08 spiritually intelligent people that understand that
11:12 the greatest blessing you have is the Amazing Grace of the Lord
11:18 Jesus Christ that washes away all of your sins.
11:22 It is my son, 32, says.
11:24 Blessed is the man who has his iniquities
11:28 covered, who has his sins washed away.
11:32 You are with me today.
11:33 In other words, I want to thank God that he has
11:37 given us every life we've ever told,
11:41 every last we've ever meditated
11:43 on, every adulterous act,
11:47 every surface at every cave that they've all been
11:51 washed in the blood and the lamb.
11:56 Are you with me today?
11:57 And understand, beloved, that Jesus shows us
12:02 what we should be shouting over by teaching us
12:05 which one is more difficult for him to do.
12:09 Understand what Jesus does.
12:11 He perceives their heart that they believe that
12:16 He does not have the power or the authority to forgive sin.
12:21 So he asks the question, which is easier for me to say
12:25 Your sins be forgiven,
12:28 or to say take up your bed and walk.
12:32 And Jesus knows that they don't believe
12:35 that He has power over sin
12:38 and to demonstrate His power over sin,
12:42 what he does is he alleviates the man of his sickness.
12:45 Now you're probably say, why do you address sickness
12:50 in order to teach them your power over sin.
12:53 I'm glad you asked.
12:54 Remember that a Jew at that time always says suffering
13:00 as the result of some type of sin.
13:03 In other words, that was a belief
13:04 that if you had a sickness or a disease,
13:09 that it was some type of sin that put you in that position.
13:13 But the reason that God removed his said
13:17 before he removed his sickness is He wants us to know
13:21 that sin and suffering are not always related.
13:25 In other words, sin and suffering are not one.
13:29 The reason that Jesus removes the sin first is
13:32 He wants him to know
13:33 that he can have salvation even in the midst of his suffering.
13:38 Now, why is that critical?
13:40 Because if I know that I have salvation even while I'm
13:45 suffering, if I have salvation, then my suffering is temporary.
13:50 And see, the reason I need somebody to know this is because
13:53 some of us feel some alienation from God,
13:57 because we're carrying guilt simply by virtue of the fact
14:00 that we have suffering.
14:01 But I need to free somebody today to know that the sickness
14:07 is not always because of saying that the miscarriage
14:11 is not because of some uncovered iniquity, that losing
14:14 the job is not evidence that you're losing your hold on.
14:17 God, that's not Psalm 34.
14:19 It says that many are the afflictions the right says,
14:25 but the Lord delivers them from them all.
14:28 Are you all with me? Excerpts.
14:30 So, so now here it is.
14:31 Church of that gone be before you long,
14:34 I need you to make sure you get it.
14:36 So Jesus says.
14:37 Yo, yo, yo, yo.
14:40 Tripping, he says.
14:44 What do you think is easier for me to do
14:50 to forgive his sins
14:53 or to heal him of his disease?
14:57 He is showing you which thing you ought to be impressed with,
15:01 because the problem with some of us is we don't shout
15:04 until the man gets healed.
15:07 See, some of us are so utterly blessing centric
15:11 that we see the healing as the greater
15:14 blessing and forgiveness as the lesser blessing.
15:17 We see provision as the greater blessing and redemption
15:21 as a lesser blessing.
15:22 We see protection as the major blessing
15:26 and his mercy as a lesser blessing.
15:29 But the greatest blessing we can receive
15:32 is the merited grace of God.
15:37 So Jesus says, Hey, hey, what is there for me
15:41 to do to forgive the man or to heal him?
15:44 Now stay with me.
15:45 Church How many of us understand that every thing
15:50 in creation obeys
15:54 God perfectly?
15:59 In other words, I need you to stay with me.
16:02 Sickness obeys God.
16:04 Disease obey is God,
16:07 the wind and the waves obey God.
16:11 Do you notice in the Scripture that even demons obey Jesus?
16:16 Do you realize that when the Devil came to meet with
16:19 God about Joe, God said, You can have His stuff,
16:23 you can have His livelihood,
16:24 you can have his kids, but don't put your hand on his person.
16:28 And guess what?
16:29 The devil did not cross one boundary
16:33 that God put in place and is crazy
16:36 that the devil obeys God better than we do.
16:42 I hear what I'm saying.
16:44 So God says sickness is going to obey me.
16:47 Disease is going to obey me.
16:48 The wind and the waves obey me.
16:52 The devil himself obeys me and understand that
16:55 when he speaks it is done.
16:57 When he commands it, it stands fast.
17:00 Understand that there is no miracle and the outside of God,
17:04 wind, waves, sickness, obey is not a miracle.
17:07 That's just God's everyday reality.
17:10 And see what Jesus
17:11 is trying to say to them is that healing the man is done.
17:16 Cost me nothing.
17:19 Okay, okay.
17:22 Healing the man is.
17:24 See, because that's just an outgrowth of my divinity.
17:28 Y'all see it and get it.
17:30 He say it's easy for me to heal him
17:34 because of God and because I'm omnipotent.
17:38 His healing doesn't cost me nothing but understand that
17:42 when Jesus says you're forgiven,
17:47 forgiveness comes at a price.
17:51 Do you realize that when Jesus says he is forgiven,
17:56 it is actually his first plans
17:59 to go all the way to the press?
18:01 Because in order for him to be forgiven, there's
18:04 got to be a substitute, and that's got to be a sacrifice
18:09 so that when somebody's
18:10 forgiving, sin doesn't just dissipate into the air,
18:14 it's simply
18:15 applied to somebody else and somebody else has to die.
18:19 Y'all still not with me yet?
18:21 Jesus says it's easy for me to forgive your sense
18:25 simply because I am God.
18:26 But in order
18:28 for you to be forgiven, I've got to take your place.
18:32 I've got to suffer your condemnation.
18:35 I've got to pay your rent, ransom.
18:36 I've got to stand in your stead.
18:39 It cost me something
18:43 in order to forgive you.
18:45 Because remember, friends, that up until the time
18:47 of Jesus, Moses, Elijah, Abraham,
18:51 those guys with pretty much saved on
18:53 credit.
18:57 No, no, no.
18:59 You realize it was not complete yet that the service is up.
19:03 A Land's End does that that was simply a placeholder
19:08 that at some point the time had to make that type.
19:12 The shadow had to meet the reality.
19:14 The Covenant could only be ratified by blood
19:18 so that if Jesus doesn't go all the way to the cross,
19:21 those that went to sleep, say, would wake up, condemn
19:25 their Jesus does not finish his work,
19:28 and see the reason, beloved, that God wants us to understand
19:32 that for healing is not superior, or then
19:35 forgiveness is because healing doesn't cost God anything.
19:41 But every time we are able to recognize
19:45 that we are forgiven for our sins, there
19:47 ought to be a praise that is what's in your soul,
19:52 because you realize that you are born with a price,
19:56 not with
19:58 corruptible things such as silver and gold,
20:01 but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
20:04 And listen, before I take my seat,
20:06 I want to just let you know.
20:07 You want to thank God for all of your blessings. Yes.
20:10 What if he provides?
20:11 You are to praise him.
20:13 If he protects, you are to praise him.
20:17 If he promotes you, you ought to praise him.
20:20 If he healed you, you are to praise him.
20:24 If he takes care of you, you ought to praise him.
20:28 But how many of us know that our best praise
20:31 it out, not be over? No house.
20:33 It ought not be over.
20:34 No shoes, not not be over, no job but your loudest praises
20:40 praise ought to be over the fact that he was home hard.
20:44 He was stressed.
20:46 Why he lowered his heart.
20:49 And there he that that thank God that
20:52 that's not how the story ends.
20:57 Because every day he rose again.
21:01 Is that ready body thankful that you've been redeemed?
21:05 Everybody thankful that you've been forgiven
21:08 anybody grateful that you say anybody
21:13 thankful that your inequities have been inferior.
21:17 Anybody thankful that no record has been expunged?
21:21 Anybody grateful that there is no condemnation?
21:25 Anybody thankful that the accuser has been cast?
21:28 That anybody grateful for the grace of God today?
21:33 Amazing grace.
21:35 How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me
21:40 I once was lost But now one time I was dead.
21:44 But now I see Can we praise God
21:48 for 30 seconds?
21:51 Kick you?
21:53 It can be set for 30 seconds Can you stop looking cute
21:59 for 30 seconds and praise him for the press praise.
22:04 And then he went to the great
22:06 praise of that the stone is the way
22:09 and that we want a new message of life
22:14 because we are covered by his redeeming
22:17 power, his righteousness, and his blood.
22:21 And see, I just want somebody to understand
22:24 that we think
22:25 that just because we confess our sins, he's
22:28 faithful and just forgive us and cleanse us.
22:31 But guess what?
22:32 The only reason that can happen is because he paid the price.
22:36 He already paid the ransom.
22:38 And so if you get he'll crazy.
22:40 But the greatest blessing is one that you can celebrate
22:43 every single day of your life,
22:46 that we've been redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
22:50 Somebody give him glory in this moment
22:52 when people say
22:57 there's somebody today
22:59 that needs to truly embrace
23:04 the reality of this moment, because you've been thinking
23:09 the hardest
23:10 thing you need God to do is to get you financially cleared.
23:15 You think the biggest miracle you need
23:17 is some healing in the arthritis in your knee right now?
23:22 The biggest thing that some of us need got to do
23:24 is to pay up.
23:25 You know, God says, listen, you realize, got said listen,
23:28 you know, some of those things that you are
23:29 that you are stressing about
23:31 the truth is because you are his child,
23:33 he's going to do
23:33 some of those things,
23:34 whether or not you even pray about those things.
23:37 He says, I know what you need even before you ask.
23:40 And I need, you know, paying your bills.
23:42 Don't call God that he owns a lot of thousand hills,
23:45 he says the silver and gold belong to me.
23:48 He's just like, Man, no matter what's happening in the stock
23:50 market, my stuff is always right.
23:51 I don't hear what I'm saying.
23:53 Hey, pay your bills.
23:54 Don't cost God nothing.
23:56 Healing doesn't cost him anything.
23:58 But I need to know that there is only one thing that creates
24:01 expense to God and it is our redemption.
24:06 Listen, there's somebody today
24:08 that needs to recognize that God has so much value for you
24:13 that he pay top dollar
24:16 even when your behavior was on the low end of the market
24:21 before you were even thinking about God,
24:24 God was thinking about you
24:26 that while we were yet
24:27 since Christ died for the ungodly,
24:31 there's somebody today that maybe
24:33 you're in a heart and soul.
24:34 You kind of wonder,
24:37 does this apply to somebody like you?
24:40 Maybe look at your life
24:41 like man and wonder, am I shut out and separated
24:44 from God and his covenants and his promises?
24:46 But I need you to know the arm of the Lord is not,
24:48 or that He cannot say, and his ear is not,
24:52 though that it cannot be.
24:54 If you keep letting losing happen to you,
24:57 if you keep letting people do you
24:58 and treat you any kind of way, it's
25:00 going to become our culture winners.
25:01 Winners and losers lose their vision and dream.
25:04 This conference has been a true blessing.
25:06 My breakout sessions for amazing practical ways
25:09 for entrepreneurs to start their business,
25:11 all of the guest speakers.
25:12 I mean, it's quite amazing calling all Dreamers,
25:16 CEOs, content creators and entrepreneurs.
25:20 We're inviting you to the second Annual Vision
25:23 and Dreamers Conference November 7th through the ninth,
25:27 right here in Huntsville, Alabama.
25:28 Last year we did it big, but this year
25:31 we're going to do it even bigger.
25:32 We're going to kick it off that Friday night
25:34 with hip hop preacher himself.
25:36 Dr. Eric
25:37 Thomas is going to be in the house
25:38 and then that Saturday morning at 11,
25:41 I'm going to exhort you and teach you in the world
25:44 on how to crystallize and walk in the visions God gives you.
25:47 And then that afternoon,
25:48 we're going to hear
25:49 from the leadership voice of this generation, Dr.
25:52 John Maxwell,
25:53 and then we're going to close out the day
25:55 with the anointed one.
25:57 God's the woman, Miss Tabitha Brown
26:00 And when we come together that Sunday,
26:02 you're going to attend a number of breakout sessions
26:05 that are going to build, instruct and encourage you
26:08 and how to make those visions a reality.
26:11 And then we're going to conclude with our second annual Vision
26:14 and Dreamers brunch.
26:15 Listen, you do not want to miss this conference visit
26:19 breathoflife.TV and grab your tickets today.
26:24 It's going to be epic and they'll be amazing.
26:27 And you don't want to miss this.
26:28 Inspire ring event that's coming to Huntsville in November.
26:32 Listen, I believe it's going to be the biggest event
26:34 to hit the city of Huntsville in a long time.
26:37 So if you're in Huntsville, you need to come.
26:38 If you're outside of Huntsville, you still need to come.
26:42 And if you want to join online,
26:43 there's a way for you to register
26:45 and join from a distance as well.
26:48 I believe that we are in the age of visions and dreams.
26:53 Joel 2:28 lets us know that there's more visionary
26:55 power available now than at any other time in history.
27:00 So we look forward to seeing you at the 2025 Vision
27:03 and Dreamers conference.


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Revised 2025-06-26