Directly addresses the question of who has the authority to forgive sins, asserting that only God, and by extension Jesus Christ, possesses this power. The message explores the ancient and universal nature of this question, highlighting that human laws, personal efforts, or other people cannot absolve sin. Through the demonstration of Jesus healing the paralytic, as recorded in Mark 2, the sermon illustrates Christ's divine authority to forgive sins, linking this power to his sacrificial work on the cross. It concludes by emphasizing that forgiveness is freely available through faith in Jesus Christ alone, urging listeners to accept this gift rather than perish in their sins.
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Greetings to our radio listeners. It's a grand thing to be able to praise the Lord for a full and a free salvation. To be saved and certain of it brings joy and a life filled with satisfaction. If you have this joy, you will be able to praise the Lord as you listen to this gospel program. If you do not have this joy, I want you to listen with an open mind and heart, praying that God will bless the gospel message to you. This is Welcome, Detweiler Speaking. From when he died, for you died, for when he died, for when he had sinned, he might have slain.
He might have slain. God be kind, God be kind, God be kind, He knows me, who is my love, but let God be not, pretending love. He takes away from my Lord's faithfulness of his heart, and so has In loving kindness Jesus came, my soul in mercy to reclaim.
And from the death of sin and shame, Through grace he lifted me. Let him be, let him be, let him be.
Some shade of light, let him light, no light, no rain, no rain, no rain. He called me long before I heard, before my sinful heart was stirred. But when I took him at his word, forgive me, lifted me. Will it be?
Will it be? Will it be? Will it be? Will it be? Will it be? I read a familiar portion of God's Word, John chapter three, verse fourteen. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
I am so happy if I'm today, and I don't see thee alone my way. Yet I'm so happy the Lord's day. Give us the truth and the truth. Give us the truth and the truth. He is full and me.
He is full and me. When did I speak to whoever may, come to the plunders of life today? But when I read it, I always say, Jesus will do and be true. He is the one who shall be. Yes, he is the one who shall be. And the one who shall be, and the one who shall be. My poem is in the title.
We thank thee, Lord. That thou didst for thy creature, man, enslaved by sin, redemption plan, that thou didst give thine only Son, who by his death our triumph won. We thank thee, Lord. That thou didst for our souls provide a refuge where we safely hide, that thou hast given us to know salvation from eternal woe, we thank thee, Lord. But through thy sovereign grace alone, thy favors all to us are shown, that thou for us didst freely care, dost bend to hear our feeblest prayer.
We thank thee, Lord. That thou hast guarded us each day, preserved us from the crooked way, poured out thy blessing on our heads, been true to all that thou hast said, we thank thee, Lord. That all our times are in thy hand, that all things are at thy command, that in the dark and in the light we've proved thy ways are always right, we thank thee, Lord. Thou source of every living spring, to thee heart praises we would bring, Thou found of every pure delight, we're satisfied both day and night.
We thank thee, Lord. Lord, thou art good. Lord, thou art just. For future days in thee we trust. Through time and through eternity, true worship shall ascend to thee. We thank thee, Lord. Thou song of God, eternal word, Through heaven and earth, foundations lay, upholding by thy word and power the universe thy hands have made we worship
thee Oh, glorious Lord, forever be thy name at all. We worship thee, oh, glorious Lord. Forever be, thy name adored. For us thine untold sufferings there, For us the darkness and the woe, In the transcending all compare, O Lord, for
us to death its goal. We worship thee, O glorious Lord, forever be thy name adorned. We worship thee, O glorious Lord, forever be thy name adored.
Our gracious Father, we bow before thee. praising thee for this opportunity that since we've been brought into thy family, we can truly worship thee and think of our glorious Lord. And we thank thee for the blessings that he has brought by bringing to us salvation. Bless the message from thy word and the message is in song to those who are still outside of Christ. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. By the way, by the way, shall my little village, To sail to law, the well that God is right.
And he pray, O'Veignance is my building, What I'm going to carry, Flossed in shades of light Published and hiding, hiding the feeling Finding the people, dreaming the mercy of God and Savior, that God is good, where they live and live in God's blood.
Hail the Holy Good day, good day for creation, and by all death and life near the blood. And now the choir is singing the little chorus, let the words of my mouth of my mouth and the revelations of my heart.
He accepts the gold in my sight. He accepts the gold in my heart. O Lord, I pray And now to bring to you a message from God's precious word, it's my pleasure to introduce to you Mr. George M. Landis from near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and he will be speaking to us on the subject Who Can Forgive Sins? Mr. George M. Landis. May we read a few verses from the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark. When Jesus saw their fate, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their heart. Why did this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit, if they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your heart? Whether is it easier to say, to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed and walk, but that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, He said to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
And immediately he arose, and took up the bed, and went forth before them all, insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. Have you ever been concerned? about your sins and the matter of the forgiveness of your sins. Have you ever asked the question, Who can forgive sins? We want to speak this morning on the one who has power to forgive sins. And first we will deal with an interrogation, Who can forgive sins? This is an ancient question.
It is as old as sin, and sin began with the human race. This question has troubled people in all the ages of this world history. Who can forgive my sins? But not only is it an ancient question, but it is also a modern question. Not all ancient questions are also modern, but this one is. Some questions are solved in the advancement of learning and civilization, but the sin question is ever with us. It has never been solved by the thinking and reasoning of men. Not only is it a modern question, but it is a universal question because of the universality of sin.
Some questions affect one locality only, but sin is in every locality, from the stately mansions to the slimy slums, from the frozen plains of the north to the tropics. sin is on every side. This race is a sinful race. All men have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And then, too, the preeminent question of every aroused sinner is, who can forgive my sins? Many sinners are not aroused. They're utterly indifferent and unconcerned.
They go on day after day and year after year as those sins did not exist. God is not in all their thoughts, and consequently their sin does not concern them. Thinking not of God, they think not of their sins, and being unconcerned about their sins. They give no thought to the God who alone can put away their sins. But again there are others who are awakened, by the smiting voice of conscience, or by reading or hearing God's word, and their sin begins to loom large and terrifying before them.
The more they think about their sin, the more awful does it become. The more they hear of God's word, the more convinced they are. that their sin is very great and very grievous, and they must find someone to put away their sin. It becomes such an intolerable burden that the great question of life is, who can forgive my sins? Now the answer to this interrogation is not in the law of God, great and wonderful as the law is. The law of God demands a just penalty for sin. The law makes no exemption and knows no exception.
The law has but one voice for the sinner, the soul that sin is, it shall die. By the law is the knowledge of sin, not salvation from sin. And then the answer is not in the sinner himself. He cannot laugh off his sin. You may laugh off some of your troubles and depressed feelings and the like, but you cannot laugh off your sin. Nor can you forget your sin and be rid of it thus. Some things which may have troubled us, we forget them and banish them from our mind, and they no longer seem to cause us concerns, but not so with sin.
Though you may forget it for many years, someday you will meet your sin. and the judgment which your sin has deserved. Nor can you deny your sin. Some try to deny the facts of sin and allege that man is incapable of sin. There is no reality to sin. But, dear friends, God's Word takes cognizance of the facts of sin and shows us the remedy for sin. Nor can you buy off your sin For we are bankrupt as far as the currency of heaven is concerned. We have nothing to say.
Other sinners cannot take away your sins, however great or pretentious their claims may be. No, friends, we cannot get rid of our sins from man. But now having considered the interrogation, maybe notice next the declaration. but that ye may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, the Lord Jesus declared. The fact that he could forgive sins was questioned by the religious leaders of that day. The scribe said, You remember, this man committed blasphemy. Who can forgive sins but God alone?
Now these scribes were right in ascribing forgiveness alone to God, but they were utterly wrong in not recognizing that Christ was indeed God. And being God, He could forgive sins. Being God, He is the one against whom all sin has been committed. As David cried out, Against thee and thee only, have I sinned. And then He gives a demonstration of His deity. You remember the Lord Jesus then, but that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. He said to the sick of the palsy, Rise, take up thy bed and walk.
That seems like a very strange manner of proof. How could he prove he was the one who could forgive sins by saying to the sick of the palsy, Take up thy bed and walk, and healing him instantly? Well, dear friends, back in the one hundred and third psalm, we have these wonderful words predicted of Messiah, who forgiveth all thy transgressions, who healeth all thy diseases. If he is the one who could heal the diseases, he is the one who could alone forgive their transgressions. Now the Lord Jesus Christ can forgive sin because of what he has done, his sacrificial work upon the cross, thereby a righteous ground was established.
whereby God can forgive the sins of all who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. How wonderful it is that sins can be forgiven because of what Christ has done for sinners on the cross. He died on the cross for sinners, and now he offers free and full forgiveness to all who will come to him. And now in the third place, May we consider an amplification of this subject, who can forgive sin? We find that forgiveness comes through Christ alone.
There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby he must be saved. He and he alone can forgive sin. Yet there are some who would rather go to hell than receive forgiveness from that blessed one. We think of those who might be starving in some great calamity, and food is brought to them, perhaps, by a kindly disposed enemy. And yet their enmity against that enemy is so great that they would rather starve than to take the food which he offers unto them. So great is the enmity of the human heart against the Lord Jesus Christ that there are indeed thousands who would rather die in their sins than take the sinner's place and receive forgiveness from the nail-pierced hands of the Son of God.
Now what is the condition of forgiveness? We'll state it negatively and positively. First negatively, because a great many people have the wrong idea about how the forgiveness of sins may be obtained. Forgiveness of sins is not by merit. You will never merit or deserve the forgiveness of sins, regardless of how holy you may think you have been, or how righteous you have tried to be, that cannot put away your sins. Your money, however much you may have, cannot buy forgiveness of sins.
It is not purchased by money. Your prayers, however earnest, cannot in themselves procure forgiveness of sins. The taking of ordinances will not put away your sins and secure forgiveness. There is but one way to receive forgiveness of sins, and that is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. As the Lord said to certain ones, Thy faith hath saved thee. Go in peace. And so, dear friends, there is forgiveness of sins with the Lord Jesus Christ and with him alone.
He is the one who answers our questions. Who can forgive sins? May you trust in this one the Lord Jesus Christ and know the joy of sins forgiven. Simmer how thy heart is troubled, God is coming very soon. And by deep emotion Do not check that falling tear His grace is free.
O be saved, He died for thee. O be saved, He died for thee. Art thou waiting till the morrow, Thou mayst never see its light. Come at once, accept his mercy.
He is waiting some to day. Oh, be saved, His grace is free. Oh, be saved, He died for thee. Oh, for thee