Introduction

Imagine if we could travel back in time to meet Peter from history, Mark took notes while Peter was preaching to others. Peter was a bit of a boor, but he was used mightily by God. Peter was highlighting the rules in the kingdom of God, which is called the introduction to the kingdom of God.

An Important Principle In the Kingdom of God

At the time, Peter was right beside Jesus and he saw people bringing a paralyzed man to Jesus, they
made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. Peter heard what Jesus said to the paralyzed man.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven." (Mark 2:5)

Some people were questioning why Jesus was able to forgive sins because they believed only God can do that. Jesus told these people about the relationships between sins and diseases, healing and forgiveness of sins.

It turns out that Jesus Christ came to call the sinners, not the righteous. He paid the price, the penalty for our sins. Jesus came to this world to preach the principles in the kingdom of heaven. Not only that Jesus possessed the power to forgive sins, but He was also a scapegoat for sins. Through His suffering and death on the cross, salvation was accomplished. Jesus Christ had the authority to forgive sins, He paid for the sins for us so we can be healed.

If we were healed, it was not because the disease, illness and sickness ran away to other places or just disappeared without a cause. It was because our Lord Jesus Christ bore our sins, He was once offered to bear the sins of many.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

We were supposed to live in pain and suffering from illness, but today we have Jesus Christ who took up our pains and bore our sufferings, this is all because of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a direct relationship between forgiveness of sins and healing.

Why Jesus could heal the paralyzed man? We would experience a huge shock if we were on the scene. Whenever I read this, I believe if we have a strong desire to do what Jesus Christ had done throughout our lives, God will always make it happen.

Last Sunday, we had seen a Pastor preaching about no one he prayed for being healed. But over the 20 years, he did not give up because he had a strong desire. He still believed everything in the Bible is right, the only problem was he could not put the word of God into practice. What an incredible person! That's how anointing works. In our church, we have an anointing from our God!

Dear brothers and sisters, I encourage you to understand this: if you and I were healed because Jesus bore the sins for us, do we owe anything to Jesus? Yes, we all owe Jesus. If someone owes us, we should also do the same as what Jesus had done, we should forgive that person as well. For Jesus Christ who bore our sins, Jesus paid a heavy price.

We need to be grateful for everything Jesus had done for us, we should refrain from complaining and criticizing because you and I both are living in the grace of God by faith. This is an important principle in the kingdom of heaven, there are direct relationships between sins and diseases, healing and forgiveness of sins.

Jesus Is the Answer To All Questions

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17)

Peter was present when Jesus told Levi to follow Him. If a person comes to Jesus and claims he or she is a good person, it means the person doesn't need Jesus at all. You only need Jesus if you are someone who is paralyzed.

Why was Levi able to put down everything and made his decision to follow Jesus? Because Levi was thinking: "I am a sinner, I need to find a new way to live."

As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. (Mark 2:14)

I believe Jesus knew his name was Levi. Jesus had this gift, so He knew our names. Levi followed Jesus because there was a life question which could not be answered in his mind.

A foolish person never knows he or she is the problem, just like a healthy person would never see a doctor. If you do not have any needs, then you won't come to Jesus. If you come to Jesus with needs and Jesus is calling you, then you come to follow Him. After that, Levi became one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. We have to know that there are many unanswered questions in our lives, the first question to ask is: what are we living for?

If you are someone who has good living conditions and a good job with a monthly salary, then you probably don't need Jesus. But if you want to live a better life, then you will need Jesus in your life. The truth is that we do not know where we are coming from and where we are going. We have seen the life and death of human beings. Yesterday, one of the sisters in our church mentioned her father passed away last week due to cancer. I was sad when I heard about the news. People died miserably and had a huge impact on people who are still alive. I believe this sister might think about her father in her mind. I hope these kinds of things will always inspire us to know that there are a lot of problems in our life. If you thought all the problems have been solved, it simply means you haven't encountered any problems today, who can assure you will not get cancer one day?

This is the generation which needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but where are those people who are strong enough to preach the gospel? The method I am using to preach is different from many others, I hope brothers and sisters can learn from my method when you start preaching. It may not be comfortable for you to adapt at first, but you will get used to it eventually. I have a strong desire to help those cancer patients in the church, just like how the paralyzed man got healed and his sin was forgiven by Jesus. Last night, a couple from Singapore came to visit me, they were having trouble living well because their mother had cancer and kept shouting at home: "Oh, leave me alone! Just let me go!" She was talking to the devils, and the couple was sad when they saw her mother behaving like that.

We have a new friend among us tonight, and he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in China. Yesterday afternoon, someone found me on the Internet and told me that he was recently diagnosed with cancer. I said to myself: "Oh God! When we pray for cancer patients, we have to admit that we still did not find out what the problem is. Oh, Lord! I wish that all the things you had done on earth will be visible to us today." There are so many patients with high demands, they all need Jesus to heal them. I believe God will grant us the power to heal these people.

Think about it, if there are so many problems in our lives that are far from being solved, do we still have to keep ourselves busy with day-to-day living?

"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. (Exodus 20:8-10)

God does not want us to have a busy life. Instead, He wants us to have a healthy life. Today, we still have not received the revelation from our God yet, but I strongly believe that we will be given grace from our God. If you were healed by the grace of God, we have to be grateful to God because Jesus Christ sacrificed His blood on the cross in exchange for your health. I always have a strong desire in my heart, I am hoping everyone who has a disease can be healed by Jesus Christ. So today, if you come to Jesus with problems, Jesus will be the answer to all of your questions.

Fasting Allows People To Draw Near To God

Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. (Mark 2:19)

Why did Jesus say the bridegroom does not need to fast while he is with them? Because fasting is for people to draw near to God. It is one of the most important things in the kingdom of heaven. The relationship between human beings and God is based on fasting and prayer. Fasting means a long time of prayer, for the problems that we cannot solve in our lives, fasting is the source where we will get the power from God. Fasting will allow people to draw near to God, renew our minds, and make us more like God. When we become someone like God, we will have the power from our God and become compassionate like Him.

If you become someone like God, then you will have God's disposition. Why did all people who came to Jesus got healed? Our God is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us.

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (Exodus 34:6)

We need to follow what God is doing and allow Him to build up our character. Martin Luther, John Calvin and John Wesley, all these people did many things for Christianity. Hence, God is doing His work to make everything new, we need to pour the new wine into new wineskins because renewal will never come to an end.

God Cares About People's Lives

Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27-28)

We have to understand that God cares about our lives, but people only value rules. The will of God cares about everything in our lives. Why do we have to observe the Sabbath day? Why do we need to do Bible Study? Because we need God in our lives so we can grow up and become stronger. God cares about people's lives, and the Sabbath was made for us to live a blessed life. But a lot of people were thinking about how to make money on the Sabbath day. How to make money is not important at all because the Bible tells us over and over again: you need to be blessed!

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? (Deuteronomy 10:12-13)

Why should we obey the word of God? It is for us to get blessed in our life. Jesus paid the heavy price by sacrificing Himself on the cross so our sins can be forgiven.

It is our choice to follow the path of blessing or the path of the curse. Our God values our lives above all other rules. If churches ever want to promote rules and these rules conflict with our lives, then the priority is to preserve our lives. Rules are not important, Sabbath is the rule from the Bible, but God allowed people to violate His rules for the sake of preserving people's lives. We need to renew our minds, many wonderful things in the kingdom of heaven are related to the needs in our lives.

Pray, Preach And Cast Out Demons

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)

Jesus had set an example for us! He told us that this power is from praying, preaching the gospel and casting out demons. An aircraft cannot operate with the engines or the wings alone. Both parts must work together because they are indispensable. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a complete system, it is about praying, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and casting out demons. If we follow what the Bible is telling us, then God will show His glory among us in the church!