Four Men at Work

8/2/2019 Four Men at Work

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Four Men At Work 4/10/12

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Four Men At Work

(New Version) Mark 2:1-12

1-And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was

noised that he was in the house.2-And straightway many were gathered

together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so

much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.

3-And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy which was

borne of four. 4-And when they could not come nigh unto him for the

press, they uncovered the roof where he was and when they had broken

it upthey let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

5-When Jesus saw their faith,he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy

sins be forgiven thee. 6-But there was certain of the scribes sitting there,

and reasoning in their hearts. 7-Why doth this man thus speak

blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? 8-And immediately

when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within

themselves he said unto them,


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Why reason ye these things in your hearts? 9-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? 10-But that ye may know that the Son of man

hath power on earth to forgive sins, he saith to the sick of the palsy.

11-I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine

house.12-And immediately he arose. 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.

As a Christian we all have an important Mission to fulfill. They are an

essential part of living for Gods Glory. The Bible gives several reasons

why our Mission is so important.

John17:18 TMB

In the same way that you gave me a Mission in the world I give them a

Mission. We all were made for a Mission. God is at work in the world

and He wants you join Him.


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This assignment is called your mission. God wants us to have not only a

Ministry in the body of Christ but a Mission in the world.

1-And again he (Jesus) entered into Capernaum after some days; (Maybe

several weeks) and it was noised (to spread by rumor or report) that

Jesus was in the house. (Peters house)

Dont you know that there had been a lot of talking about what was

going on? The rumor had definitely been spread. They were probably

coming from all directions to see what was going on. Actually this

second verse answers that question.

2-And straightway (Immediately) many were gathered together,

insomuch that there was (no room) to receive them, no, not so much as

about the door: and he preached the word unto them.

The house was full to capacity. They could not get any one else in not

even through the door. The man that had the Palsy had needs that moved

his friends to action. But because of the crowd they had to come up with

a plan. So what did they do?


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3-And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy (Paralysis)

which was borne (carried) of four.

4-And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, (The

great crowd) they uncovered the roof where he was: (Houses have flat

roofs in that part of the world, usually with steps on the outside leading

to the top) and when they had broken it up, (there were usually one or

more trapped doors in the roof, and it was one of these which they

probably enlarged) they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy

lay.

When you recognize someones need, do you act? Or maybe just say,

well I am sorry for what you are going through I will be praying for you.

When all the time you had means that you could have helped them but

did not. By friend that is not compassion! Many have physical and

spiritual needs you can meet either by yourself or with others who are

also concerned.

Watch what happened in the following scripture.


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John 11:40,42-44

40-Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest

believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

42-And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people

which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me

43-And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus,

come forth. 44-And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot

with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus

saith unto them, loose him, and let him go.

Jesus knew the need here to be great, but He stayed away four days to

perform a miracle that would open the eyes of many that day and even

now as they read it.

Did He not say but because of the people which stand by this is why I

have prayed as I did? Jesus saith unto them, loose him, and let him go.


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Wow! This is what we need to say to Satan! Loose these people that are

bound and let them go. We must intercede for the lost. Be willing to

stand in the gap for them.

So you see human need was what moved these four men to take action!

They were on a mission and were determined to get this man to Jesus no

matter what they had to do.

Our mission is a continuation of Jesus mission while on earth. As His

followers we are to continue what Jesus started.

He calls us not only to come to Him but to go for Him. Our mission is a

wonderful privilege. Paul calls us co-laborers and says we are workers

together for God.

I want to call these four men: Work..Compassion. PrayerFaith

And the sick man we will call Hope.

These four men had a friend that had a disease that was called Palsy.

They loved their friend very much and were very much concerned about

his needs. So lets picture the conversation here.


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Mr. Work began to think in his mind I know where Jesus is and we have

to get Mr. Hope to him.

We must come up with a plan. So he says to Mr. Compassion (who was

sitting there with tears in his eyes as he looked at the condition of his

friend.

While turning to Mr. Prayer he said what do you have in mind? You see

Mr. Prayer had been talking to God about his friends condition. I have

the answer he said, but I want to know what you think about it.

The four of us must work together on this plan to get it done. (Divided

we fall together we stand).

Mr. Faith says I believe if God has given you a plan it will work. About

that time all wheels began turning. (God knows how to put people

together and give them wisdom to know what to do in times of crisis).

Now Mr. Work has been sitting back just listening to the conversations.

As Mr. Prayer, Mr. Faith, and Mr. Work discussed all the plans and

looked at the lay out, they were excited.


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Gods plan is not always on our time table, but it is always the right one.

Lets go back to the sick man. (Mr. Hope) We know from what we read

in the scriptures that he was not a Christian. I believe as he watched

these three men working so hard to get him to Jesus that Hope began to

rise up in him.

Think about it church, there have been so many won to Christ by seeing

things done by other Christians. As they see God working in someone

elses life it will cause them to have that hope that if they will allow

God, He can and will do the same thing for them.

They got excited about what they were doing. We need to have

excitement in our walk with God. Cant you just see these four men

(Faith, Prayer, Compassion, and Work).As they put this man on a bed

and was going to take him to the house where Jesus was.

Wouldnt it be wonderful if we had that much faith that we would try

that hard to get the sinners to the house of God? Just think what would

happen.


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As they pressed their way through the crowd they could not come nigh

Him because of the press. What did they do? Here they had run upon an

unexpected hindrance. Well do we stop here and give up? Do we say

well we went as far as we could go but it is just too complicated to go

on? So we will have to turn around and take him back to his house

untouched by the Master. We just cant do it!

You think these men had no more faith than that? Prayer, compassion,

and work would not be stopped that easy. Mr. Faith held on, Mr.

Compassions feelings were so strong that he could not and would not

give in. Mr. Prayer just kept on talking to his Heavenly Father, and Mr.

Work was going to do what he could to get him there. Mr. Hope (the

sick man) said there hast to be a way. We can make it! We can make it.

Dont you see that (you can make it spirit kick in). They were all on

the same page, working together to get this man to Jesus.

Once we have a made up mind that we are going to live for Jesus no

devils in hell can stop us. But there were four things they did not do.


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1-They did not sit down and throw a pity party, grumbling andcomplaining about the situation.

2-They did not discourage the sick man.3-They were not concerned about tradition. We better do it a certain

way or we will offend someone. But as they prayed they received

Gods instructions and they listened to Him.

3-They did not argue about who was going to do what, because they

already had a plan. No one was jealous of the other one.

But what they did, was this, they put their plan into actions. Wow! They

were willing to work together to get the job done. No one person trying

to get the recognition. Just look at what team work these men had.

So what made these four men do what they did? They were dissatisfied

at just looking at the situation and not doing anything about it.

One minister said it this way: Your life is like a voyage. If you want to

avoid ship wreck read Acts 27:11- 12TMB:But it was not the best

harbor for staying the winter. Phoenix, a few miles further on, was more


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suitable. The centurion set Paul's warning aside and let the ship captain

and the ship owner talk him into trying for the next harbor.

1-In this scripture they two were dissatisfied with where they were.Since the harbor was unsuitable the majority decided that they

should sail on.

You know church we need to get dissatisfied to the point that we want

God to do something about our situation. It is time to get tired of what

the devil is trying to do to Gods people. What he is trying to do to our

love ones. It is time for us to stomp him under our feet. We must learn

that when things get difficult we cannot give up because Christ calls us

to be over -comers for Him.

2- These men in Acts were impatient to get where they were going.There is not a single verse in the Bible that tells us to hurry or we

will miss God!

3- In the wilderness Israel learned that when the clouds moves orwhen the clouds stop, stay where you are and wait on God.


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4-They failed to heed Gods Word, But! The Centurion instead oflistening to what Paul said followed the advice of the Pilot.

God must be our Pilot not our Co-Pilot! Be careful if you look hard

enough you will find someone whose opinion confirms what you want to

do. And that will get you into trouble. If there is ever a question about it

dont do it!!!

4-They looked to the circumstances instead of looking to God to guide

them. When a gentle South wind began to blow they thought they had

obtained what they wanted, so they sailed on. Before long the ship was

caught up by the storm.

KJV-Acts 27: 13-15- 13 - The idea that circumstances will always line

up favorably with Gods guidance is not scriptural. Sometimes God

leads you through the wilderness. And He will never lead you anywhere

that doesnt require His provision and protection. If you get there

without GodHe didnt send you. So if you want to avoid shipwreck

ask God to show you the right way which is always His way! The only

one can stop you from being the person God intended you to be is You!

Lets go back to the four men!


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I am sure that the people were laughing at these men, sneering at them,

probably yelling at them for having to enlarge the opening in the roof.

No doubt calling them all kinds of names, but, the love, compassion and

desire they had to get this man to Jesus would not allow them to stop.

Because of the roof being a flat roof it made it easier to get to, than an

angle roof or slanted roof. But watch here now!

Mr. Work had come with the right tools he would need to get the job

done. You see they all were armed and ready for battle no matter what

the crowd did to them. Determination is what it takes to succeed in any

situation. (Keep your armor on Eph. 6) (We are in Gods Army)

Your experience with Christ determines just how much you want to

know Him, or how close you want to be to him.

Do you realize that there is a continual covering of Gods presence over

your life every moment of your time on earth? Why? Because He is

God, he knows where you are going, what is about to happen and how it

will impact your life.


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The Bible teaches that He measures what enters our lives against our

ability to handle it. Once He is convinced of our ability through Him to

manage the dead end he allows it. Yet even in those moments He makes

a way for us to get through even if we are just treading water.

This is the only plausible explanation for how you have survived the

stuff that has happened in your life.

Things that came against you have crushed and destroyed other people.

But you survived because He assigned His Angels to watch over you

and keep you. You have a mission to complete. With humility I offer my

conviction that God is so careful about your life and your purposes that

He will not allow the enemy to subvert that plan when you are submitted

to Him and when He is in control of your life.

I can see these four men now as they had the sick man on the bed

climbing the ladder to get to the roof with him. When they finally got

him there they placed the bed to the side and Mr. Work reached and got

another tool to maybe saw or cut through the roof.


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Tool after tool that may have been needed but God had helped them put

it all together before they got there. Nothing was missing. Although I am

sure it wasnt easy because this opening had to be large enough to get

the mans bed through it. Watch him now as they began to let the bed

down through the roof.

The crowd in the room will have to move back as this man is being

lowered down into the room. Cant you just picture the people in the

room as the debris from the roof started falling on them and around

them? Scrambling to get away calling out to these four men, what in the

world do you think you are doing?

You see even though all these people were in the house where Jesus

was, it was truly known that all of them did not share the same vision

about the sick man as Work, Prayer, Faith, and Compassion did.

I do think as in all services there was excitement within the true

believers. Because they knew actually what was going on. You know I

wonder just how Mr. Hope (the sick man) was feeling about now.

Because he was seeing hope coming to place right before his own eyes.


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Im sure the devil was really talking to his mind, oh my, what is going to

happen to me? The devil says this is just too much trouble. Jesus is not

going to heal you so why are you allowing these men to make a fool out

of themselves. Just look at the way they are being laughed at.

Wow! But about then Jesus, looks up and sees what is going on. As the

men lower the man into the room and Jesus the great physician walks

over to his bed, as the four men are watching to see what He will do.

Dont you know that room was filled with excitement?

Mr. Work, Mr. Compassion, Mr. Faith, and Mr. Prayer were so excited

at what was happening. You see they had been obedient to God and they

knew something great was going to take place. Jesus was so touched at

what these men had done.

5-But, When Jesus saw their faith, (Faith without works is dead)

If God spoke to you would you know it! Are there times of confusion

when you wonder if God is talking to you?


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Him) he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?

(This must have been startling to them. They had not spoken these things

aloud, had only thought them in their hearts).

9-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? (God alone can

forgive sins, and God alone can heal. Therefore to heal validates the

power to forgive sins. As stated they were now coming face to face with

His Deity).

10-But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to

forgive sins, he saith to the sick of the palsy (He did all of this in full

view of everyone, even the skeptics, and especially the skeptics.)

11- I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine

house (All they knew including the skeptics that this man could not take

up his bed and carry it unless he was truly healed; whether they admitted

it or not they also knew that only the power of God could accomplish

this).


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These four men prepared themselves for whatever problem they may

have encountered. Think about this! Faith is seen when: A: Plan

doesnt work. Then you go to B Plan C Plan and D Plan. I think

this was their plan.

(A) Plan.. Side Door(B) Plan ..Back Door(C) Plan...Window(D) PlanLast resort Roof

When we give our all to accomplish what God has told us to do He will

never fail us. We should never rest without a desperate struggle to do

whatever is necessary to get people to Jesus.

Ruth 2:2.. Says, let me go into the fields and pick the left over grain.

Sometimes the leftovers are better fit for us than what we thought we

might need. One writer wrote, even the dogs eat the crumbs from the

Masters table. Remember God always has a plan. (Read Jer.29:11) So if

you are downcast and troubled today come and glean in the abundance

of precious promises of God that will meet your needs.


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Take this promise: A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering

wick He will not stuff out. This is exactly what happened to this sick

man with the Palsy.

He was as a helpless reed, insignificant and weak. A bruised reed out of

which no music, no laughter, no excitement could come. He was weaker

then weakness itself. A reed and that reed bruised and battered. As the

song says: Though the ship is batter though the sail is torn, my anchor

still holds!

Wow! But if we are anchored in Jesus Christ we will not break. On the

contrary Jesus will restore and strengthen us. You may be like the

smoldering wick no light no warmth can come from you: but He will not

quench you but He will blow with His breath of mercy until He fans you

to a flame again for Him.

I believe He is saying to us todaywont you pick up some grain, come to

me all ye who are burdened and carrying a heavy load. I will give you

rest. My, what soft words from our loving Father!


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Your heart is tender as the Master speaks to you and He knows that and

therefore He speaks so gentle. Wont you obey him and come to Him

today. Take more grain. Dont be afraid to trust Him. Oh my friend, do

not worry about failing, but worry about what you will tell Him if you

do not ever try. Get your eyes on God not on the world. He is the rock

we must build on.

The Titanic received five icebergs warnings just before it went down.

When the sixth message came during the wee hours of the morning

Look out for icebergs the operator wired, Shut up! Im busy! Thirty

minutes later the great vessel whose Captain said, Even God couldnt

sink this shipbut it was sinking fast. What happened? They forgot the

truth about icebergs.

What they saw above the water couldnt have sunk the great ship. But

unfortunately most of the iceberg was below water.

Do you know what saints, that iceberg represents your life! The ten

percent above the water is your reputation and the ninety percent below

is your character. And its what below the surface that sinks your ship.


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He pri-ori-tizes taking care of the inside of (your heart) because that will

determine what takes place on the outside (which is your behavior).

Think about this. God can turn your failures into stepping stones. Look

at Peter!

Luke 22:31-32 - Jesus told him: Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.

But,I prayed for you! Jesus said, I have prayed for you Peter that your

faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your

brothers.

Notice this:

(1) Christ warned him about it but He did not stop it from happening.

There are certain things we only learn the hard way.

(2) Jesus told Peter that hed deny him, not once but three times. Most of

us are stubborn we do not get it the first time.

(3) Luke 22: 22-23- Peter thought he was stronger than what he was

Lord I Am ready to go to Prison and to death We usually start out with

an exaggerated opinion of our own strength.


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(4) Jesus told him, I am praying for you that your faith may not fail. Isnt

that amazing when we cannot pray for ourselves Jesus handles the

enemy and intercedes with the Father on our behalf. What did Jesus pray

for? He prayed for Peters faith.

Faith in Gods grace is the rope that pulls us back up again.

(5) Jesus believed in Peter when he did not believe in himself. That is

because we evaluate ourselves by our present circumstances. But Jesus

sees us in fullness of our potential. So He tells Peter, When (not if) but

when you get back on track do something good with what has

happened.

Now if temporary failure happened to Peter how much more is it likely

to happen to us? And when it does what do you suppose the Lord wants

to accomplish through it? We must realize with God it is never too late

no matter what you have done.

We as Christians must be like these four men were. As true servants of

God we must be willing to work for Him.


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To get this man to Jesus required hard work. They not only worked hard

but they showed compassion toward their fellowman. Compassion will

cause us to push self out of the way and help others.

With compassion in our hearts and the willingness to work we will be

anxious to go to our Father in Prayer with Faith believing that He will do

just what He says He will do.

When we put to practice Work-Compassion-Prayer- Faith and Hope we

realize that we can do what our Father wants us to do.

It is then that we see the miracle of God preformed. And our faith will

also begin to rise up to higher heights and deeper depths.

Remember The Higher the Mountains the more understandable is the

Glory of Him who made the mountain and holds them in His hands.

I think one reason God delays His answers to our prayers is, because He

knows we need to be with Him far more than we need the things we ask

of Him? Wow!


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I find that doing the will of God leaves me with no time for disputing

about His plans. Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is

progress; working together is success. We dont have to be afraid of

praising God too much; unlike humans, He never gets a big head.

Despite hard times, Paul faced an uncertain future with confidence and

was not afraid! He had a determination to press forward. When did you

last count on God and He failed to come through?

It was not hard for David to believe God would take care of the Giant.

He represented another opportunity for God to show His power with

courage.

David declared to the Giant, despite hard times armed with a sling, five

stones and a great experience with God he had tested in the fields of his

Father, He positioned himself opposite Goliath.

When have you faced a decision you committed to God and He did not

provide wisdom and direction? When have you needed courage in the

face of an attack and you trusted God?


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If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior why would you want

to put it off, time is running out. As we often say this is a free gift so just

reach out and take it.

(KJV) Psalm 37:4-Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give

thee the desires of thine heart.

Remember He showed up! You drew from a reservoir of strength and

courage that had not been available to you previously. You did more

things, said more things and accomplished more than you dreamed all

because God was with you.

Pour out your heart to him in true confession. Lord Forgive me of all my

sins. Im sorry for all the wrong things that I have done.

Come into my heart and cleanse me from all mine iniquities. I know

that you died that you were buried, but Praise God I know that you did

not stay in the grave. I know that today you are seated at the right hand

of the Father. I receive you into my heart and I accept this free gift of

salvation. Praise God I am saved and I go in faith believing in you.


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Ephesians 6:11- Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to

stand against the wiles of the devil.

A Fight to the Finish (MSG) Ephesians 6:10-12

And that about wraps it up! God is strong, and he wants you strong. So

take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of

the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to

everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic

contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours.

This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and

all his angels.

Four Men at Work

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