The Healer

Been with me all respect for the Lord God. If you have your Bibles turn with me if you would to Mark chapter 1 we are going be looking at verses 29, two verses 39 immediately left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, James and John and Simon's mother-in-law lay eel with a fever and immediately they told him about her and he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up and the fever left her. She began to serve them. That evening at sundown. They brought to him all were sick or oppressed by demons, and the whole city was gathered together the door and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons he would not permit the demons to speak because they knew him rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark. He departed and went out to a desolate place and there he prayed Simon and those were withing search forming.

I found him and said to him, everyone's looking for you he said to them let us go on to the next towns that I may preach there also for that is why I came out, he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons is pray. Heavenly father lift up my brother Randy Presley to you this morning. Thank you Lord for the grace that you have given him a thank you Lord for the peace that passes all understanding that you put in his heart, I pray heavenly father that you would be with us tomorrow as we celebrate the life of his wife, Joni, pray father said that service would remind us of the testimony that she left and of the love of Jesus that she had in her heart. I pray heavenly father that that service would comfort all of those who loved her and that it would glorify Christ to we love.

I pray for my brother Eugene Oldham as he has surgery coming up this past this coming Wednesday and I pray heavenly father that you would be with his doctors and God direct their hands they might operate successfully and father that this operation might do its intended work on his hip and that he might be made well from this problem that he suffered with for all these months.

Heavenly father, we thank you for the Christmas season that we are all still enjoying. We thank you for the time to focus on the miraculous virgin birth, the appearance of the Angels, the gathering of the wise men in the worship of the shepherds last week rejoiced in your birth and we stand amazed that God became man. Today we see Jesus is a 30-year-old man we see his amazing ability to heal the sick.

We are wild over the fact that every disease, disability and demon had no recourse but to bail before Jesus Lord, help us not to read this like a fairytale but to embrace it is absolute truth and full revelation of our God.

May what Jesus did 2000 years ago as a sinless man motivate us to trust him more as our Savior, Lord and God 40s in the precious and holy name of Jesus that we pray.

Amen. You may be seated.

Peter's house was built right beside the synagogue in Capernaum over the last century, there has been much archaeological and work in excavations that have been done they are and they have dug up and they have have found what they believed to be almost without a doubt, Simon Peter's house. That is one of the larger houses and all Capernaum. I believe that Peter built that house large because it needed to hold his family and Andrew probably his family and also they had a special room for Jesus. Every time Jesus would come to India Capernaum. That's where he would stay, and they also did ministry there that house right beside the synagogue. So what happened here. Jesus had called Peter to be his disciple. At that point time Peter was living in Bethsaida into John 144 and he moved just picked up and and decided that ministry would be better for him somewhere else.

He moved to Capernaum and he built this larger house.

It was a house that Jesus had a room. I also Jesus could live. I also Jesus could minister house that could be used for the glory of God in ministry in Capernaum. So what's going on in Peter's life. Peter is leaving out the gospel. He's learning how to think biblically. He's learning how to practice godliness. Peter learned how to do practical things that would further the ministry and bring glory to God.

So how does this apply to us. I think it it it it's an endeavor to make us think biblically, these and this is what we need to do so folks are. We need to ask yourself a question. I think our week of Sunday Christians are we Christians become the church and and when we're around God's people. Yet we minister to them at church with is pretty much it. We need to quit thinking like that and think like Peter. Peter fixed up his house so that Jesus could live there.

Peter arranged his home so that he could use it as a place of evangelism so that people could come into his house and and Peter would share the gospel with them so that Peter could tell them about Jesus. I don't how many people in Capernaum actually got saved. But I wonder how many of them got saved right they are in Peter's house.

One commentator said this significantly archaeological investigations have discovered sacred devotional markings written on the stone and scratched into the plaster.

The engravings indicate that Peter's house was an early gathering place for Christians and most likely a church, dating back to the late first or early second century only ask you something. Would your home have a different feel about it. If Jesus lived there. What would your television have a different set of channels on it.

If Jesus lived there.

If Jesus lived in your home. Would your home be a place where evangelism would take place where Bible studies would happen.

Would you have their right beside your door little table where you would keep gospel tracts every time the Amazon man came to deliver a package you could handing one would that happen. Would that happen. Would your living room be an open door for people to hear the gospel while never thought about it that way.

Well, me tell you something folks, if you're a Christian, Jesus does live at your house and we need to start living like that we have this idea that church is a place for evangelism and if you bring somebody that's unsafe to the Grace Church, they can hear the gospel and that's a good thing.

That's good. Lotta people get side coming to church but church is not specifically for evangelism. The church is specifically for the people of God who get together and corporately worship the Lord is the place where God's people can be fed and nourished by the word of God.

That's important. So where is evangelism supposed to take place. Evangelism should take place in the marketplace.

What do I mean by that I mean by the place were unsafe people are at might be at your workplace, it might be at your school. It might be at your kids ballgame wherever the law*we are to take the gospel to them.

When Jesus said Peter follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

Peter jumped right up and followed Jesus and he said I will be a fisher of men. And he did and he used his own home as a tool for evangelism in this passage about three points and I will share with you this morning.

Number one is the proof of his deity. Look at that.

Mark 129 to 34 and immediately left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, James and John. Simon's mother-in-law -like deal with a fever and immediately they told him about her and he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. That evening at sundown. They brought to him all were sick or oppressed by demons, and the whole city was gathered together at the door and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons and he would not permit the demons to speak because they knew him. Another typical synagogue service ended about 12 o'clock on the Sabbath day Jesus was preaching that morning and these people that listen to his sermon were absolutely shocked. They had never heard such power. Such authority and such wisdom. Jesus finish the message and about the time he did this demon possessed man stepped up and he begins to scream at Jesus on the other you are you are the holy one of God. That's who you are and you have the power to destroy us. Jesus made him shut up. Then he cast the demon out of that man and set that man absolutely free.

In other words, what we've got here is a very busy morning, but is, as they were walking out of the out of the synagogue together.

Peter walks often over to Jesus and gets them off to the side and said, Lord, I need ask you a favor got mother-in-law at home and she is terribly sick. She's running this high fever and she needs your touch Jesus. Would you minister to her. Would you heal my mother-in-law only just stop here and throw something in this passage teaches us emphatically that Peter had a wife, the woman who is sick is Peter's wife's mother. This is not the only time in the Scripture that were told that Peter had a wife over in first Corinthians chapter 9 verse five Paul was talking to the Corinthian church and, and, jump, and only him about some of their attitudes and Paul said this, he said, do we not have the right to bring a believing wife with us as the other apostles in the Lord's brothers do, and as Peter does. In other words, Peter took his wife with him on his missionary trips very important to see the folks the Catholic Church will tell you that Peter was the first pope and the Catholic Church will tell you that the popes in the Cardinals in the and the bishops in the and the priest that they are to never get married, and that they are to live a life of each of celibacy will let me tell you something. The Catholic Church needs to read your Bible, Peter was most definitely married and the Catholics command of celibacy for its ministers is not only on biblical but it is dangerous dancer Catholic Church history there have been massive incidents of sexual misconduct there. There has been child molestation. There is been terrible homosexuality.

There is been women who have come for confession and been event manipulated and molested by a priest and this is happened over and over and over again. Peter was not a Pope Peter was an apostle and apostle. He was married he was married. Many church historians believe that he had at least one child and maybe more now why would I bring that up because all this mess could have been avoided. It could have been avoided if a commitment to the word of God had been full-field like back to the text first force is immediately. They told Jesus about her not only Peter but his brother Andrew and James and John loved Peter's wife's mother.

She must've done all kind of stuff for them and love them in and it was just one of those ladies that you were, drawn to and she had this high fever.

They had seen this before they knew that this was something she could die from it and so they that they said to Jesus, Jesus, could you minister to her could you help her. She desperately need your help.

Verse four starts off with the word immediately and in other words, they didn't waste a second they went right to Jesus to tell him about the problem but what we see here is a picture of prayer. Prayer was there absolute priority. If you ever heard somebody complain about a problem that they say it in a cement. I have tried everything I've done this I've done that I've done all listen and finally it got to the point where I realize that my only recourse was to pray for the prayer should be a priority in it should be detailed and it should be specific. People say no, no, you don't need to be specific when you're confessing your sin, because our God is an all-knowing God. He knows exactly what your sins are so you just need to cite all Lord forgive me for my many sins and and let it go.

No no no, listen, you will never truly repent without getting specific about your sin, you need to get detailed you need to share with the Lord about exactly what you're doing.

That was wrong. If you don't do that the conviction will not be deep enough. The Holy Spirit guilt that comes on. That's a good thing not a bad thing will bring you to the point where you need to genuinely repent and turn from that sin.

And if it's not specific. You just won't care enough to do anything about it will obtain a pray in generalities about intercessory prayer taken.

I just pray like this, Lord save the lost, feed the hungry and and heal the sick will you pray that prayer you know how do you know if it's when it's answered. If it's your prayer that was answered or not you know if it's that we don't know.

Do you because every day.

Some lost persons can get saved some hungry persons can get fed and some sick person is going to get healed.

You need to pray specifically, Lord.

I'm praying from unsafe files. I pray Lord bring conviction to his or her heart. Do you deal with them.

Help them Lord to see the reality of heaven and Hale and help them Lord to come to know and love you with everything that's in them.

Lord, I'm praying for my son who's a Christian, but he's not walking with you. Like he should put a hunger in his heart for Jesus Lord I'm praying for a missionary.

I'm praying for Young on pray for him Lord is in Madagascar are teenage resources he needs.

Energy needs to be able to get these Bibles out to the people they are get to them for their starving today at and when God answers those prayers. Let me take something you know it and you know that was sure prayer that he answered and what happens he it builds your faith and you start growing and you start living in appreciation and Thanksgiving what God has done Peter, Andrew, James and Jeanette and James and John beg Jesus to minister to Peter sick mom and what you think happened when Jesus healed her mail. When Jesus healed her immediately that there was there was no recuperation. With her, she immediately got whale disfavor left she got energy she jumps up. Guess what she's doing.

She's run around serving food everybody. And now, I guarantee you it meant a lot to her.

She was very happy about all this we say something it meant a lot to Peter, Andrew, James and John to because this built their faith.

It built their trusted built their dependence on the Lord in a very powerful and pop just a very powerful way I can imagine them saying man from now on. Prayer is a priority for now. All were taken our problems straight to Jesus how are we to look at this idea of divine healing. I have seen God heal in some miraculous ways are shared with you several weeks ago about my friend Tony Harper. Tony was a just a dear friend of mine.

He we played football together in high school. He went on to Vietnam.

He got saved when he was in Vietnam I got saved was in college. We came back and we were just friends anymore. We were Christian friends. When I went off to seminary. He started having bad headaches. He went to the doctor found out that he had a brain tumor about the size of an orange. We started praying for Tony made everybody that I knew I tell him Christians to pray for Tony. Tony went to the hospital. He was laying on a gurney and he was waiting for more x-rays to be done. They done x-rays from yesterday as he was laying on that journey. All of a sudden he felt something warm.

They just came across the top of his head and the pain stop. Just like that. They went in they did x-ray. They came back to left to do another x-ray that I did another x-ray and end up doing three x-rays.

The semester Harper, we don't know what happened.

I would, but this is crazy said the tumors gone since a look at this appears x-ray of yesterday that tumor was as big as an orange and now that tumors absolutely gone now had that happen. The TV evangelist comment shout over Tony no.

Did I have faith healer common layers hands-on on him no, what happened is church prayed for his Christian friends prayed forming and God answered.

I go to James chapter 5 in James chapter 5 James is given instruction to the elders of the church and he says when there's someone sick, lay your hands on them and pray the prayer of faith over them and is never just a one-man show in the church. It is always a corporate body prayer.

Sometimes we are to pray specifically and in healing privately. I do this when I go to the hospital so much is in the hospital or sick I go up to the hospital. I read Scripture to the my pray with them a pray affair prayer of faith. I pray in hope. I have known no ideas that that I'm to do like Jesus did that something just miraculous is going to come from me. I know better than that. All I can do is ask Jesus the Jesus who has the power to heal. John MacArthur said the following. He said the healing miracles of Jesus like this one stand in stark contrast to the alleged healings of contemporary faith healers and charismatic televangelist.

The world has always been plagued by false healers who pray on the physical suffering of desperate people in order to extort money from them in spite of their brash claims. Modern healers are nothing more than spiritual con artist. They may have the ability to manipulate crowds in susceptible people, but they do not possess the power to gingerly heal anyone. The healings of Jesus could not be more different than the contemporary counterfeits. Unlike faith healers who supposedly cure invisible ailments. Jesus healed people with undeniable organic diseases and physical disabilities such as deafness, blindness, leprosy and paralysis on one occasion Jesus reattached to missing a year such that it was perfectly restored. He did the most extreme form of healing whenever he raised someone from the dead. Jesus also healed instantly and completely those who experienced his healing power needed no time for recovery or recuperation. Peter's mother-in-law's a prime example of the immediacy of Jesus healings.

She did not need to wait to feel better. The Lord did not instruct her to take it easy, for a few weeks. In order for body to recover.

She went from languishing in bed to function and in full strength modern faith healers to control the illusion carefully prescreen the people they allow on stage, but Jesus healed indiscriminately healed everyone who came to him, no matter the nature of their illness or infirmity. I limit reverse 32 334 once again that evening at sundown. They brought to him all that were sick or oppressed by demons, and the whole city was gathered together at the door and he healed many were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons and he would not permit the demons to speak because they Museum literally hundreds of people were healed. On that day. I mean hundreds of people and in and this was only one day in the life of our Lord. The ministry of our Lord was was at a time. Over thousand days 3G over three years. His ministry was and this happened these, he went over and over and over again in the Scriptures and the gospel.

We have 90 different myth different times where the healings of Jesus are mentioned to me it was absolutely amazing don't you think for just a minute about what this meant for Israel. Thousands of people literally thousands of people were made whale. Many of them had been on their deathbed. Many of them were blind and now they were saying they were deaf and there were there were hearing. They were lame, and now they were walking is miracles of Jesus were unique and they were undeniable, and the people who were actually healed, or who saw the healing experience that they were. They were shocked and go over and in Mark chapter 2 verses 12 and after Jesus healed the paralyzed man the people backed off and they said we have never seen anything like that and that was true because I had in all the centuries before Jesus came.

Nothing like this is ever happened in all the centuries after Jesus nothing like this has happened folks Jesus was wiping out disease deformities and injuries he had said hundreds of people free from demon possession why all this in just these three short years of Jesus ministry. Why this was absolute proof of the deity of Christ. That's why there when Jesus was baptized, as is coming out of the water, God the father spoke from heaven said this is my beloved son, who I'm way in whom I am well pleased. All the healings that Jesus did proved that what God the father sent from heaven was absolute truth, he is the son of God. But what happened did Israel Joyce did Israel praise God and proclaim the Lordship of Christ. No, they they cried out for Jesus to be crucified. Folks if you ever put human beings on a pedestal and if you ever have the idea that the sea and nature of man is not really all that ugly. You need to think again. You need to go back to this day and remember what Jesus did, he was healing the sick. He was casting out demons. He was loving people being compassionate with people who were not loving, compassionate people themselves. He was living absolutely sinless. Everything he did was perfect and was right and what did they do with perfect love and perfect holiness that he nailed him to a cross I take. I'm shocked when I hear about what it happened on Epstein Island where all these movie stars went down Epstein Island always politicians and they sexually molested and abused little children, some of them even to death. Today I'm I'm just sick when I see our politicians that are telling us that abortion is a positive thing that we ought to embrace and love. I am shocked when I hear that one of the largest industries in America today is the pornography. It is the pornography industry. Some friends of mine were telling me the other day about Christmas gift that came on Saturday night live and they begin to share with me what it was. It was one the most blasphemous things that I have ever heard of it made me want to vomit.

I'm shocked when I hear these things I should not be shocked.

That's the fruit of the sin nature. The sin nature is so evil that lasts at perfect love and perfect holiness that was nailed to a cross I can laugh at that Israel should have been ashamed of their rejection of Christ in America should be ashamed as well.

Verse 34 tells us that his Jesus is delivering a many of these people from demons that the demon spoke out expressing their knowledge of him and what did Jesus do Jesus told him to shut up.

He would not let them speak and I were saying the right thing about Jesus ever seen Jesus you are the holy one of God harassing Jesus, you have the power to destroy us, what they were saying was true. But Jesus would not let him speak. Why not Jesus did not want nor need the affirmation of demons. Their testimony would only confuse people. Jesus was actually angered at their positive confession. You know why because he is that holy books that takes us back to .1 the proof of his deity.

Why did Jesus healed the sick, why wanted. He cast out demons, primarily I'm saying primarily here primarily to affirm the gospel and to validate his claim to be the Messiah of John the Baptist got thrown in prison.

Herod was gonna executing.

He was in prison, and started thinking about his life, his ministry, and all these doubts came into his mind. He wonder did I make a mistake. I pointed the world to Jesus.

I said, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world and he's wondering yet here I am in prison I was the forerunner of Christ. If he is the Messiah wanting to get me out of prison so he's got all these doubts week gets to the disciples as the guys want to go find Jesus when you find them.

No, I want you asking this question.

Are you the Messiah. Should we look for another, and so they ran to find Jesus and they found them is administering and I going to Jesus and they say Jesus we have come from Johnny sinless here. John is in prison, they get read executing these got all these doubts in his mind and he's got a no are you the Messiah, or should we look for another.

Should we look for another and we would need a yes or we need another Jesus knew that, given them a yes or no would just not be enough for John Fraser. This is what I want you do want you to go back don't you tell John what you see and what you hear, and so they looked out his ministry to see what was going on and what did they see the blind were seen in the deaf or hearing the lame were out walking the. The dead were rising and so they ran back to John and I got back to the prison and and they went right to it is prison window and they said John we saw Jesus and he said what did Jesus say did he say yes or did he say no and they said well you didn't say yes or didn't say no. He said that were to come back and tell you what we saw in what we heard. He said what did you say hazy John Blinder sin, the lame are walking the deaf or hearing the damn army and race of the dead and the poor have the gospel preached to them. John what does that mean I can see John in that prison and it tears rolling down his cheeks.

Joy is about to pop his heart and he says, praise God. That's the word of God. That's the messianic prophecy of Isaiah that chapter 35 billion full-field.

What does that tell us it tells us that Jesus is exactly who he said he was. He is the Messiah. I can hear him scream out here. Come get me, execute me if you want to type my life because now I know that Jesus is the son of God, that Jesus is the King of Kings that Jesus is the Lord of lords, and I am ready to go to heaven brothers and sisters.

That's that's what it's all about. That's what it's all about Jesus healed out of love healed out of compassion. He cast out demons from people because he hated to see them in bondage that was part of it, but primarily when those healings and that casting out of demons took place. It was for a purpose to affirm his deity to let the world know Jesus Christ is Lord, I point to the power of prayer look with me at verse 35, rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed, he went out to a desolate place and there he prayed Jesus was fully human. So after an excruciating and exhausting day he he decided to go to sleep went to sleep for several hours, and he got up for any of the disciples got up and he left before sunrise way before sunrise the Scriptures as he went to a desolate place where desolate places the same word that she is for wilderness that we were looking at a few weeks ago when the Holy Spirit of God drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for 40 days and 40 nights and he was there and and you remember I shared with you that the Bible teaches us that the wilderness is a place where God speaks so that's where he is again any spray into his heavenly father. You see, he realizes that he doesn't have enough in in his own human nature to do the things that he needs to do to minister so he goes and he prays to his heavenly father for help for strength for encouragement. He prays to his heavenly father for inside. Philippians chapter 2, the apostle Paul said this have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but tempting himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father.

So we are told that for those 33 years were Jesus ministered here on earth that Jesus laid aside his powers of deity. Notice I didn't say is deity never cease to be God. But his powers of deity laid them aside and in that time he had to trust his heavenly father to give him everything that he needed to do the work that his father had called him to do so.

What is a good before anybody else gets up before sunrise.

He goes to the wilderness to pray his heart to pray showed his total dependence on his father by .3 the priority of his calling. Look at verse 36 to 39 in Simon and those were withing search forming and they failed him and said to him, everyone is looking for you and he said to them let us go to the next town, that I may preach there also. That's why came out anywhere throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Peter woke up the next morning Jesus was nowhere around.

Where is he and they start looking around and all of a sudden he remembers what happened the day before Jesus healed every single person that came to him for healing. And now that music spread and there's all these other people that are sick and now they have come in.

There's a huge cry out in their will to be healed as well. So Peter takes off of the look of panic in his eyes, looking for Jesus. He finally sees Jesus coming out of the wilderness and he runs up to others is all glad I found you. Hey said there's a huge crowd there back that there lined up a mile long waiting for you to come so that you can helium come on, hurry up, Jesus, you gotta get this done is very interesting what happens here. I don't think I don't think Peter understood a thing Peter was shocked by what Jesus said in verse 38, 39, he says of them, let us go on to the next hands that I may preach there also. That is why came out anywhere throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus tells Peter that he must be about his primary calling, which is not healing but is preaching the gospel.

Healing the sick was loving and it was compassionate but it was temporary. It was essentially a signpost pointing to Jesus the Jesus who would go to the cross and die is our substitutionary atonement and pay or send it.

The Jesus who would rise from the dead and break the power of death, Jesus was telling Peter that physical healing is temporary.

It's temporary is just a signpost pointing to the gospel and in the gospel.

There is eternal healing. Our church is grieving right now are Joni Presley's passing away. It hurts our heart.

But the gospel shouts to us. This world is not our home were just passing through this life is like a little vapor. It's like a little puff of steam it's here and then for we realize it it's gone. We pray for Joanie's physical healing. It was not the Lord sovereign will. For that to happen.

That's okay because her spiritual healing is forever, lift up your heads, Grace Church, rejoice. Randy Presley, Joni is with Jesus Christ and the day is coming when we are going to worship with her side-by-side, and we are going to see Jesus face-to-face, and that joy that worship is never going to end, prays praise God spray heavenly father.

After Jesus healed literally thousands of people from sickness and infirmities. He then up and left say in physical healing is not my primary calling.

Jesus came to this earth to die to take our sins and give us his righteousness to take our hail and give us his heaven when we gets sick or friends or loved ones get sick, we tend to get sidetracked from your primary purpose. We tend to focus too much on the physical and not enough on the spiritual we tend to emphasize the temporary neglect the eternal. I thank you Jesus for being a miracle working God help me help Grace Church to focus most of all on your she had blood that wash away our sins and gave us eternal life, what is in the holy and precious name of Jesus that we pray