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When Jesus Comes Over | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  1. Welcome to all our visitors here.

  2. This is your first time we bless you in the name of the Lord

  3. Jesus. If this is home for you, welcome

  4. home. If you are home here then you

  5. know that we're in the gospel of Mark as a series.

  6. But before we turn to Mark, I asked you to turn your attention

  7. to the prophet Zechariah. I want to make a brief comment

  8. about the atrocious event that took place in Highland Park the

  9. massacre at the parade, where several lives were lost because

  10. of a man who Clearly was influenced by a devil.

  11. Had no fear of God, it just turned to Zechariah.

  12. I'm not going to take too much time here because I can spend

  13. this time explaining biblically. Why these things happen?

  14. And why we're seeing what we're seeing.

  15. But I want to give a message of Hope.

  16. Zechariah Chapter 8. In verse 3.

    Zechariah 8 chapter mention

  17. This is a prophecy of the millennial reign of Jesus

  18. Christ. That means that we believe Jesus

  19. Christ will return. And when he does return

  20. physically, he will establish an Earthly Kingdom for 1,000 years.

  21. And in that we see so many prophecies in the Bible that

  22. give us a little window into what that world will look like.

  23. And here is a snippet of what the millennial reign will look

  24. like under the perfect dictatorship.

  25. Yes, dictatorship. Of Jesus Christ.

  26. Dictatorship. Intimidates.

  27. Us and the reason is because we've had evil dictators, but

  28. he's a righteous dictator and is Zechariah 8, verse 3, I want you

    Zechariah 8:3

  29. to see something. Thus, says the Lord, I have

  30. return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem and

  31. Jerusalem shall be called the faithful City.

  32. And the mountain of the Lord of hosts the Holy Mountain.

  33. Now, look at verse for thus, says the Lord of hosts all the

  34. men and old women shall see. Again, sit in the streets of

  35. Jerusalem, each with staff in hand, because of great age.

  36. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls

  37. playing in its streets. Not wonderful.

  38. We saw elderly people shot. In their backs, we saw children

  39. scrambling. If you've seen any footage on,

  40. the news children with their little bicycles and the little

  41. lawn chairs running, not knowing what's happening.

  42. And this prophecy tells us that when Jesus comes and he rules

  43. and Reigns, there will be safety in our streets again.

  44. There will be no fear of looking and wondering if something will

  45. happen or if something will do, somebody will do something.

  46. They will be total Serenity trust Comfort because the world

  47. will know, Christ is King over our Earth.

  48. And so I want you to understand that this is what we're headed

  49. to this is what we will know one day but I want to, I want to use

  50. this text to say If any politician is listening that if

  51. you want this reality in America, again make Jesus

  52. Christ, King of this nation submit to his word that you may

  53. know, peace, like a river that you may know, righteousness that

  54. will rule this land only until you submit to the lordship of

  55. Jesus Christ. Or what we have seen over the

  56. past weeks, and months, and years will only grow and

  57. increase because you push God out.

  58. You invite the devil in, it's plain and simple.

  59. But I praise the Lord that when he comes even children will be

  60. able to play in the streets again and that amazing thing

  61. Jesus when he rose he wants kids to play, that's why I love.

  62. Single children, run around in church sometimes.

  63. Yeah, sometimes it makes us nervous.

  64. We don't want to hurt themselves or do anything crazy.

  65. But Christ himself loves the little children when they feel

  66. free to play in his presence, turn with me to the gospel of

  67. Mark. In chapter one, please.

  68. Mark chapter 1. We're beginning here together in

    Mark 1 chapter mention

  69. our Bibles and verse 29, verse 29.

  70. Here's what the word of God says.

  71. And immediately he being the Lord left the synagogue and

  72. entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.

  73. Now, Simon's mother-in-law, I lay ill with a fever And

  74. immediately they told him about her and he came and took her by

  75. the hand, and lift her up, and the fever left her, and she

  76. began to serve them that evening at sundown, they brought to him

  77. all who were sick or oppressed by demons and the whole city was

  78. gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick

  79. with various diseases and cast out many demons.

  80. And he would not permit the demons to speak because they

  81. knew him. Pray with me, please.

  82. This is your word. We Revere it, we cherish it.

  83. And we asked by your grace that you would help us understand it.

  84. And that Lord, everything that the Holy Spirit intended to say

  85. through these verses would be communicated clearly in this

  86. place. Lord, we have heard of the

  87. authority of your son Jesus Christ, while he was on the

  88. earth. We've heard of his anointing.

  89. We've heard of his power. We heard that when he speaks, he

  90. did not speak like the scribes who are void of conviction and

  91. unction. But Lord, in this place

  92. together, we urge and we plead with you Lord, please let us

  93. know something of your Authority.

  94. Let us know something of that anointing.

  95. The anointing of the holy spirit that brings about a great force

  96. behind Ministry. A great power that reaches

  97. beyond the mind but touches the soul, we ask Lord as we submit

  98. to you with great eagerness that we would know something of your

  99. presence in our midst and we give you maximum praise and

  100. honor through our submission to what we hear today and the

  101. precious name of the resurrected Christ.

  102. We pray Amen, and amen. At the end of the Gospel of

  103. John, John leaves us with an interesting phrase, an

  104. interesting statement after giving us the account of his

  105. perspective of the life and Ministry of the Lord.

  106. Jesus Christ, I'm paraphrasing. But he says something on the

  107. long life of Jesus did many, many things, and if all the

  108. things that were written about him, were to be recorded in

  109. books. There would not be enough books,

  110. not enough space to tell us every single thing that the Lord

  111. himself had done when he was in his three-year.

  112. And that statement is is incredible, but it's realistic

  113. because when you and I come to this text that we just read

  114. today, we have to understand that what we learned last week

  115. if you were here last week and what we are about to hear today,

  116. happened all in one day in real time.

  117. And so you can almost say that in the morning of this sabbath

  118. day, Jesus was casting out a double and for lunch, he was

  119. Healing The Sick and it's as though, Mark gives us just a

  120. glimpse on a particular day of what an average.

  121. Average day look like for the Lord Jesus Christ.

  122. When he walked through those streets in Jerusalem and Beyond

  123. and that is exactly what is happening here in marks account.

  124. What Mark is doing by the spirit is that he is Shifting.

  125. Our Focus away from Jesus Christ.

  126. Possessing authority over demons and unclean spirits and is now

  127. showing us that this same. Jesus Christ has authority, over

  128. sickness and disease. That there is nothing in the

  129. body, no matter what the doctor report is, no matter what,

  130. people have said, no matter who signed off on who Jesus Christ.

  131. When he speaks even disease, not just demons have to bow to his

  132. rebuke. And so that's what's happening.

  133. As we come into these verses, here we are seeing the Lord

  134. showing us that there is nothing that can resist his power and

  135. his authority. But a passage like this that we

  136. just read has more to offer us than just a topical study.

  137. Of how God operates in the realm of sickness and ailment and

  138. infirmity. We can take these Texans speak

  139. about how do we understand God's will for suffering and for

  140. healing and does he heal? All why doesn't he heal all?

  141. That's true. We can touch on that, but

  142. there's something here in Mark throughout the gospels.

  143. That is that is important as well beyond that.

  144. If you look at Mark, which is a great emphasis on Miracles as

  145. you heard so many times before, with every Miracle there is a

  146. message and the message is beyond, just the fact that it's

  147. a declaration of the deity of Jesus Christ, that's important.

  148. But the circumstances around the events of his healing and the

  149. different diseases that he's dealt with the situations before

  150. and after teach us something else.

  151. There are there are other nuggets.

  152. There are other Jewels there that would require Meditation.

  153. It's okay. Lord.

  154. What else are you saying? Beyond the fact that you have

  155. the power to heal and that is what you.

  156. And I will explore in a very short way, though we can expand

  157. greatly on them of what these things here that the house and

  158. Simon's mother-in-law and the response and the reaction.

  159. What is that have to say for us as Believers today?

  160. Beyond the fact that Christ is Sovereign over sickness and we

  161. will endeavor to do that by understanding three simple

  162. points. We're going to organize our

  163. thoughts here and three simple ways.

  164. The first One is, we are going to consider the residence of the

  165. healing. The residents of the healing,

  166. where did this healing take place?

  167. Why is that important? What does that say to us?

  168. Secondly, we will explore the request for the healing.

  169. How was it? How was it asked for what's

  170. there for us to understand in terms of how Christ liens and

  171. listens to the way we request something from him.

  172. And lastly you and I will also see you get the, you get the

  173. point here. The third arm, sure, the

  174. response to the healing, the reaction to the healing.

  175. The residents of the healing, we read here in verse 29, that

  176. immediately he being Jesus left, the synagogue and enter the

  177. house of Simon. And Andrew remember Jesus called

  178. a pair of brothers to follow him.

  179. They did, they surrendered everything.

  180. Then we're told by Mark, that Jesus goes into Capernaum, and

  181. he stands in a synagogue and he speaks with authority and a

  182. demon manifest in the middle of his preaching.

  183. And with one simple word, this, this man possessed with a devil

  184. Falls and is rescued and his say Eat from that oppression and you

  185. see that Simon and his brother James and his brother.

  186. They see this. They witness they were in

  187. attendance of that particular service and this this obviously

  188. moved their heart to see this is unlike anybody else that we have

  189. met and so after church so to speak that day, they invite

  190. Jesus. They invite Jesus to come over

  191. to be in their home, namely Peter and Andrew.

  192. And we see here that Jesus is a type of servant through that.

  193. I love this. You look at it through Jesus

  194. perspective and you see the kind of Minister that he was.

  195. You see when Jesus preached in that synagogue, it was a very

  196. public thing. It was a spectacle and I had

  197. such an effect that when you look at verse 28 very quickly,

  198. what you will see is that his Fame spread everywhere

  199. throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

  200. He did something very, very known and it became even more

  201. known. But I love the Lord Jesus in

  202. this because when he was asked to come to a home, he gladly

  203. went to that home When he was about to be asked to serve

  204. within a Galilean house, he was willing to serve within that

  205. Galilean home. In other words, the

  206. demonstration of Jesus compassion was not limited or

  207. strictly reserved for large platforms.

  208. His Spirit empowered Ministry was ready to be exercised

  209. wherever the opportunity presented itself.

  210. And so if Christ was on the hilltops where you saw a sea of

  211. people and he could have just with one word so multiplication

  212. of food, he would do it out of compassion, but when a family

  213. would invite him over to his house and the only audience can

  214. be counted on one hand, he was still with the same compassion

  215. and eagerness willing to bless that family and blessed that

  216. household. What we see here is just another

  217. example of the the awesome humility of Jesus.

  218. This is not a man who is moved by honorariums how much you can

  219. give him, what kind of what kind of press he would get, who knew

  220. what he was doing. He served with the same Vigor,

  221. the same Zeal, whether people saw him or they didn't see him.

  222. And we see that his compassion for people was the same

  223. privately as it was publicly. And this is our example, Jesus

  224. is your example, if you long to serve the Lord know that this is

  225. your, your example to look too. Shouldn't we be just As

  226. passionate about serving and honoring the father.

  227. In private. If nobody's willing to even

  228. witness our sacrifice, are we still willing to sacrifice?

  229. Are we content and honoring God, regardless of whether crowds

  230. hear about it or not, this is the perfect servant capital P

  231. Capital as perfect. Servant who not only gave

  232. himself when he was invited to synagogues or he was invited to

  233. the homes of a Pharisees or a regularly held worship service.

  234. This was a man ready to demonstrate the character and

  235. the nature of God and all places and all times and may, we be by

  236. his grace like But I like to see this verse from the perspective

  237. of Peter and his brother Andrew. Yes, Jesus was a humble servant,

  238. but look at these two brothers here.

  239. After the meaning of the synagogue, we see that they,

  240. they didn't, they didn't want Jesus to be encountered just at

  241. the synagogue. They want to take Jesus home.

  242. They wanted to know more, they want to no greater blessing and

  243. so they called Jesus over to their home.

  244. And that's an incredible thing to see because unfortunately

  245. what you have as many people who attend their local church, maybe

  246. even regularly to worship Christ or at least in the name of

  247. worshiping Christ and hope. That's not you today.

  248. And they're content with that only to dismiss Christ and leave

  249. him at the church that they were just on.

  250. That nominal kind of faith. There's an only robbed God of

  251. Glory. It will definitely rob you and

  252. strip. You a blessing.

  253. I mean, look at these eager disciples and learn from them.

  254. The testimonies that await The life that awaits, that could be

  255. known when we intentionally and mindfully, practice.

  256. Our faith beyond the walls that you.

  257. And I are in right now. When we say Lord, I'm not just

  258. coming here to visit you for a couple of hours.

  259. Would you come home with me? Would you come home with me?

  260. I'm about to shock you with a statement, but brace yourselves.

  261. We don't come here to worship God.

  262. Take a breath. We come here to worship god with

  263. God's people. You and I worship God, we should

  264. at least throughout the week. We should love him.

  265. Adore him pursue him. Be mindful of him.

  266. And when we come here once a week, we do it with other people

  267. who also have been doing that throughout the week.

  268. That's what it should be. And these men here, they want

  269. Christ to come, they don't want to just thank you Lord, for the

  270. service that was powerful and then just walk out.

  271. Not thinking about I'm not engaging him.

  272. Seeking him, not obeying him not being mindful of him, not

  273. practicing his presence only to come to the synagogue and

  274. hopefully, Jesus will be there again.

  275. That is not the Christian Life. That is a defeated life.

  276. That is a less than ideal. That is not the standard for

  277. you. And I and you see this principle

  278. throughout the scripture that whenever cries whenever God is

  279. intentionally invited and to any setting there is always blessing

  280. consider John Chapter 2, a family wisely invited Jesus to

    John 2 chapter mention

  281. their wedding, that's a wonderful thing.

  282. We almost have these events and things in our minds where we

  283. say, okay, this is sacred, this is not, this is religious and

  284. this is not, that is foreign to standard.

  285. Christianity Christ goes, wherever you go.

  286. If he lives in you then he goes where you go.

  287. And so don't be ashamed, right? Don't be ashamed of his name

  288. wherever you are. Whether it's celebratory or its

  289. somber Christ is with us and Christ longs to be with us.

  290. Let me give you an example of this in the Old Testament.

  291. Cement at one point in Israel's history, the symbol of God's

  292. presence which was known as the Ark of the Covenant was missing.

  293. The Philistines took it and they brought it to their land, bad

  294. idea, God began to curse them, so they send it back to the

  295. nation and there is no sacred place where the ark should be.

  296. And so it was kind of hopping around in different places and

  297. at one point it laid in the home of a man named, I've been a dad.

  298. And it stayed that have been in that house for 20 years,

  299. finally, David becomes king and one of the first assignments

  300. that comes to David's mind because he longed for God's

  301. presence, he said we need to go back and we need to get that Arc

  302. and we need to bring it back to the city of worship where he

  303. belongs. And so they make this whole

  304. campaign where they go and they fetch for this Arc and is a

  305. whole sermon on that by itself because they did it in the wrong

  306. way. Eventually, because they didn't

  307. do it. According to the protocol of

  308. God's word. God, judges them.

  309. David is afraid and angry at the same time and he goes, I can't

  310. handle it. This is how holy God is.

  311. I got to retract your and rethink this whole thing.

  312. So he sends the ark to the man named obed-edom.

  313. And here's what God's word says, the moment.

  314. The Arcane to this man's house. And second, Samuel 611 and the

  315. Ark of the Lord remain in the house of obededom, the gittite

  316. three months and the Lord blessed obededom, and all his

  317. household. The blessing of God's presence

  318. being in that man's home was so obvious that Outsiders

  319. recognized it, they were able to see it.

  320. So much so that word gets to King David and verse 12 and he

  321. says, let's get it. I want that, I want the

  322. blessings that obededom is experiencing from my life and

  323. for the nation's life. And so he goes and he does it

  324. according to God's word this time, but I find so amazing.

  325. Is that when the ark was an abinadab, his house.

  326. There is no mention that that there was blessing there for 20

  327. years, you don't get one verse one hint that have been in two

  328. halves household was being over overwhelmed with God's blessing.

  329. It's silent. In fact, one of his sons died

  330. for irreverently touching the ark when he shouldn't have, but

  331. for three months, obededom experiences, a shower of grace.

  332. And the only explanation that comes to mind is that Shirley

  333. obed-edom practiced and walked and lived with an awareness of

  334. the presence of God in his home. Unlike a better dad, abinadab in

  335. his sons had an irreverence and I think part of the irreverence

  336. is part of the irreverence that you see, a lot of people who

  337. grow up in the church, They become so comfortable with the

  338. presence of God, with the name of Jesus, with his word that

  339. they are. Able to handle it.

  340. In a way that actually violates the word of God for 20 years,

  341. they grew up with the presence of God and what happens, you

  342. have kids and God forbid, that it would be true here who grow

  343. up and because I'm sure it came from their father who did not

  344. know how to reverently act around the presence of God.

  345. It translated to the children. Perhaps we're now they were

  346. judge instead of blessed, but obededom, I'm sure he had this

  347. Ark and God saw his heart pross. Sure, a man who intentionally

  348. lived with the knowledge that God is in my home.

  349. God is with us at dinner, God is with us at Family Vacation.

  350. God is with us. When guests come over the Lord

  351. saw, his heart, Pasha and blessed him.

  352. And bless them and bless them and bless them.

  353. In the Old Testament, the emphasis of blessing is

  354. physical. The number of children, you have

  355. the wealth that you have the crops that you have in the New

  356. Testament. It's spiritual And you and I

  357. have an opportunity to. So live with an awareness of

  358. Christ in our day-to-day living, that people can actually see

  359. there's a piece in your home. There's a joy in your life.

  360. There is a Harmony amongst yourselves and maybe that are

  361. answered because Christ lives. Here, he doesn't live in some

  362. guest room. He has the deed of this home.

  363. He is the one who is the king of this house.

  364. And so, you see example, after example, of the times, when

  365. people make an intentional effort to say, Lord you are

  366. here, we will obey you. We will walk in the fear of your

  367. presence and reverence to your name that God cannot help but

  368. overwhelm them with his Blessing.

  369. And so we see that here, so, here's my question to you before

  370. you move on, And love. I asked this in my desire for

  371. you to know great joy in life in your walk with Christ, this

  372. Christ abide with you, Or do you just visit him once a week?

  373. Come on, be honest. Please be honest, this Christ

  374. live with you. Or do you just visit him and

  375. maybe once a year? You skip a year or two?

  376. You go on vacation with Jesus at a conference.

  377. Does he live with you? You alone can answer that and if

  378. you're not sure, I beckon you to ask him to come home with you

  379. today and that you would live with him day after day that you

  380. wake up with him, that you go to sleep with him and your mind in

  381. Christ will bless you. I'm sure the residents of the

  382. healing consider. Now, the request for the

  383. healing. We see here in verse 30 now.

  384. Simon's mother-in-law I lay ill with a fever and immediately

  385. they told him about her, Mark loves that word immediately.

  386. Lee and we see here that Peter and Andrew with his, their

  387. friends come over, they're aware of the condition of Peter's

  388. mother-in-law. And after they come from the

  389. service in the synagogue, these men had a strong faith.

  390. Obviously, what they just perceive to bring Christ to a

  391. situation that was also beyond their control.

  392. Therefore, Peter and the rest here, immediately came to the

  393. house and they immediately told the rabbi about a loved one's

  394. need for relief. And if we were encouraged by the

  395. fact that Peter and Andrew brought Jesus to their home, be

  396. further encouraged by the manner of their supplication.

  397. They told them about their precious, loved one, when, if

  398. immediately not later, not next week, immediately, there was no

  399. hesitation on their part. There were not reluctant there

  400. reflex by being in the presence of a great need was to bring it

  401. before a great God. And we see here that for many

  402. professing Believers, the relationship between a need a

  403. real need and that causing of faith-filled.

  404. Cry is either an afterthought or non-existent all together.

  405. Why is it that there's so many delays and on our laying of our

  406. requests down before the feet of the master?

  407. Why is it that we don't think about him as our Shepherd, as

  408. the first person to call tuned to ask for to intervene with his

  409. wisdom and his power. Why is it that we sense

  410. confusion? Or we feel lost or we feel

  411. hopeless or in danger that we do not, we do not immediately turn

  412. to the Lord and our hearts, Underneath our breath, maybe

  413. even desperately coming before him on your knees, as you close

  414. your bedroom door and say, Lord, you need to come and you need to

  415. help. I'll give you two reasons.

  416. I believe. Number one, many believers, do

  417. not comprehend the capability of Christ.

  418. They don't comprehend the capability of Christ.

  419. Could it be that the faith of these men was fueled by the fact

  420. that they just saw him speak to a man filled with the devil and

  421. that devil immediately had to leave?

  422. And they said this, this is something, this is something?

  423. Do you think he can heal, mom? Do you think he can call that

  424. fever to come out the same way? He called that demon to come out

  425. and they had this image so fresh in their minds that they brought

  426. the Lord, and they informed them of a personal challenge that

  427. they could not control. And I believe the reason, So

  428. many Christians do not pray much, it's because they have a

  429. small view of God. A little view of God.

  430. He's the source of everything that we have and he is able to

  431. provide everything that we need everything.

  432. There's not one Avenue want, not one area in life that Christ is

  433. I don't know if I can help you. There every aspect he has a

  434. remedy for every situation, he has a solution for.

  435. So let me ask you. This are any of you suffering

  436. today this afternoon from a broken heart, a broken heart.

  437. I'm not talking about a broken arm.

  438. I'm talking about a crushed Spirit.

  439. I'm talking Emotional distress. I'm talking about something that

  440. is so profound that you wish you would had a broken arm instead

  441. that can be true. Here's what I say to you.

  442. According to Psalms 147 verse 3, he heals the Brokenhearted.

    Psalms 147:3

  443. And he binds up their wounds. He doesn't just heal bodies.

  444. He heals hearts. He doesn't just put skin

  445. together. He doesn't just put fresh power

  446. and legs that couldn't walk for years together.

  447. He's able to breathe life into your soul where you can know a

  448. joy again and you can know something of a satisfaction

  449. beyond the fact that you are being distressed by something

  450. that is lacking. Do any of you need wisdom as you

  451. endure trial. Well, James 1:5 says if any of

    James 1:5

  452. you lacks wisdom let him ask of God, ask God.

  453. Who gives generously to all without reproach and will be

  454. given him. this fear harassed you this anxiety attack you

  455. constantly And that precious verse in Philippians 4, 6 & 7

  456. verse 7 says, and the peace of God, which surpasses all

  457. understanding will guard your hearts.

  458. That's your emotional state, your hearts and your minds.

  459. That's your thought process. He will guard both of those

  460. things in Christ. Jesus.

  461. What's the diagnosis? He has the Cure.

  462. What's the problem? He has a prescription.

  463. So why is it that we hesitate? I believe it's.

  464. It's because we don't know the capability of Christ.

  465. We don't know how much he is able to zoom in on a particular,

  466. in a particular situation and deal with it accordingly with

  467. surgical precision. People do not comprehend the

  468. capability of Christ. And secondly, they don't realize

  469. the compassion of Christ. They don't realize the

  470. compassion of Christ. I can't help but think that

  471. these disciples not only learn something of the power of Jesus.

  472. I believe they tasted something of his tenderness.

  473. I believe they walk with him, though.

  474. It was brief up to this point, but they caught on very quickly

  475. that this Jesus does not serve people under compulsion, he

  476. chooses with compassion. I when you look at him in the

  477. eyes and when you see the way he handles people, you cannot help

  478. but think that he genuinely loves those that he serves.

  479. And so, they did not hesitate to bring this person.

  480. Their mother-in-law who was Ill who is sick, because they knew

  481. that this was not cause Christ to sigh, but like a great

  482. physician, he would be moved in the innermost parts of who he

  483. was to provide some kind of healing.

  484. Is it good? Doctor have a patient come in

  485. ago. Another 10K, come here, do this?

  486. No, they love what they do, and yes, they have bad days but

  487. Christ does not have bad days. He is perfectly loving and we

  488. see here that they believe that to some degree and Jesus is

  489. willing to move quickly upon our needs though.

  490. He does know as a great physician would went to allow

  491. for painful resistance to remain knowing that it will produce a

  492. greater strength and maturity as a result.

  493. That's why Jesus doesn't answer every single prayer, every

  494. single time because sometimes the best thing is, for that,

  495. burden to stay there. Guess what?

  496. Because he put it there. I bring this point I because you

  497. have many people who have this thought this false impression

  498. that God is just too big to care about the little things.

  499. You know what I love about this, there's a debate about what the

  500. fever was. How intense was?

  501. It was, it was it a deadly fever with it, just a mild fever.

  502. I was enough for this person, not to be able to move, but when

  503. we hear fever in comparison to the dead being raised and in

  504. comparison to the blind seeing in the deaf hearing for the

  505. first time, I mean, if we had a scale of sickness, this isn't

  506. seem that big of a deal but it is to the Lord He cares.

  507. He cares about the little things.

  508. He cares about the things that hinder us, even at a small

  509. percentage and the Lord shows up here and he wants to prove that

  510. he actually does have this deep longing for us to be whole for

  511. us to know something of his touch.

  512. And so this idea that God is too distant, and he only cares about

  513. like, big things in our lives is false.

  514. It's absolutely false. And what's amazing?

  515. I was having this conversation with a couple of Brothers last

  516. night is when you look at mark from the cover of it and the

  517. start to the finish, what you will see is Jesus ministering

  518. often with his hands with his hands over and over.

  519. You see several times the Lord using his hands too.

  520. Watch those who are in need of that touch.

  521. Let me ask you a question, you have to answer it audibly and I

  522. hope we can all agree with this. Cannot the Lord Heal any disease

  523. or casts out. Any Devil by just his word.

  524. We've seen a more than one occasion where he's just sends

  525. his word. He doesn't need to even be in

  526. the same space as the person who is suffering for them to be

  527. relieved and rescued. And yet what you see in the

  528. Bible is that Jesus intentionally comes close to

  529. people and he holds them by the hand or he lays his hand

  530. wondering Why would the Holy Spirit?

  531. Show us that? Let me prove it to you first.

  532. You have your Bibles right? Good Mark chapter 1 we read it.

    Mark 1 chapter mention

  533. Verse 31, and he came and took her by the hand.

  534. Scroll down to verse 41, here's a man with leprosy Moved with

  535. pity, he stretched out his hand and touched them.

  536. A leper and said to him, I will be clean.

  537. Go to Mark, chapter 5 verse 41, Mark 5:41.

    Mark 5:41 Mark 5:41

  538. Taking her, by what the hand, he sets her Talent Akuma, which

  539. means little girl, I say to you arise, Mark, 8, chapter 23, and

  540. there are other places, but I'm just coming to just a few of

  541. them Mark 8:23. And he took the blind man by

    Mark 8:23

  542. what by the hand and led him out of the village.

  543. And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he

  544. asked, do you see anything by the hand, by The Hand, by the

  545. hand? Why, why does it matter for one

  546. simple reason? His touch would communicate that

  547. he is not only able to heal, but he was deeply willing to be

  548. involved. The hand of God willing to be

  549. near a variety of fragmented lives.

  550. Shows us that he is willing to be near not in a compromising

  551. way. But in a way in which He is

  552. wanting to make us whole regardless of how broken we are.

  553. So why hesitate to come broken before the Lord when he is eager

  554. to embrace you in that state of Brokenness?

  555. Why hesitate to come with your concern?

  556. When he launched to put the pieces together, this is Christ.

  557. We should not hesitate. We should not be reluctant for

  558. one simple reason. Through this action alone, we

  559. see that he is showing us that he's ready to be near hand in

  560. hand. If you will, here's what

  561. Spurgeon said, quote, make a practice Spurgeon said, make a

  562. practice of telling the Lord all about your family concerns,

  563. bring sicknesses and other troubles to your best friend.

  564. Do it at family prayer but do it also at your bedside alone.

  565. If Jesus has come to stay with you .1, bring them home.

  566. If Jesus has come to stay with you, he will not hold himself

  567. aloof. From your anxieties.

  568. He comes with his great sympathetic, heart to be

  569. afflicted in your afflictions and quote.

  570. Mark, here wants us to see the faith of these men by saying

  571. immediately, Lord, hears our mom would you do something with her?

  572. Please. We saw what you did in that

  573. synagogue. You can surely do something

  574. here, but I love what Matthew does.

  575. He tells the same story, but he puts a different emphasis and I

  576. want you to see it because it will encourage you to do

  577. something that we call people. The practice, read your Bible

  578. slowly. Matthew chapter 8, verse 14.

    Matthew 8:14

  579. Look at this in your Bibles and it's so comforting.

  580. When you realize the detail that he adds to the scene, Matthew

    Matthew 8:14

  581. 8:14, the same story. Same Miracles, same Jesus,

  582. different emphasis. And when Jesus entered Peter's

  583. house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever.

  584. Matthew doesn't mention the faith of these men, Matthew

  585. doesn't mention their prayer. He doesn't mention their

  586. request, the focus turns to Jesus that when he enters into

  587. that same house, he himself sees the Mother-in-law who is sick,

  588. and then acts accordingly Mark. He was told he was asked and

  589. then he moved upon their faith. Matthew, he saw it and he did

  590. something about it. Teaching us what?

  591. That in Matthew, we learn Christ is already aware of the

  592. situation that you need to be answered.

  593. He already recognized that he already sees it, he's already

  594. there with the problem in mind completely mindful of you as you

  595. deal with it. And that comforts me because as

  596. I come before the Lord and pray, I'm not asking about something

  597. that he is not aware of. He's already there, he already

  598. perceives it. He's already calculated, he's

  599. actually there. He sees it.

  600. Well, then if he sees it, why doesn't he just do something

  601. about it? Well, Mark tells us because he

  602. moves by faith, your faith, and he awaits for you to call upon

  603. him. He waits for you to seek him, to

  604. honor him with that request. So that he can move and bring

  605. glory to him. Through that prayer, being

  606. answered. But I love to know that the Lord

  607. sees it because even though I pray about something because I'm

  608. not going to use a text like this and say, everything you

  609. pray for, Jesus will immediately answer, but I can be comforted

  610. when I come to Matthew to see that even though he doesn't

  611. answer it immediately, at least he's aware of it, and if he

  612. doesn't answer it, then it means that he knows that it's best to

  613. delay. It.

  614. And I rejoice in the Lord because of that, we see the

  615. request of the healing last. So, we come to the response

  616. after the healing. Let's go back.

  617. Mark together as we close on a moment.

  618. In Mark, chapter 1 verse 31. And he came and took her by the

    Mark 1:31

  619. hand and lifted her up and the fever left her and she began to

  620. serve them. You see the reaction of the

  621. woman? Humble domestic service was the

  622. response of the woman. After she received fresh

  623. strength, she got up and she saw Christ, and she realized the

  624. healing came from his hand. And she said, I want to serve my

  625. healer. And so she begins to do so and I

  626. believe that the reaction should be no less for those who have

  627. experienced way more than healing from a fever.

  628. She was raised from her sick bed.

  629. You know what you were raised from the dead spiritual death

  630. and you were raised into New Life.

  631. How much more should we be willing to immediately?

  632. Say Lord, you've touched my heart.

  633. Now, I want to serve you from the same heart.

  634. You are worthy of my life being surrendered, for your service,

  635. whatever it is. And in the case of this woman,

  636. like a good middle eastern Mom. I'm sure the service had to do

  637. something with food. What else do you do in the home?

  638. Hosting people here. She begins to host, she begins

  639. to show honor and glory to the one that touched her.

  640. And I find it very difficult for people who claim that Jesus

  641. transform their hearts while showing no evidence of service

  642. to him. How?

  643. That would be like this woman being healed.

  644. You getting up and leaving the house immediately to go about

  645. your own affairs. It seems also almost insulting

  646. there's an it. When you hear it that way.

  647. And yet you have so many people who claim.

  648. Yeah. Jesus he's my, he's my Lord and

  649. He transformed my life. I when And they just there's no

  650. evidence of service. There's no evidence of

  651. gratitude, there's no evidence of Lord.

  652. Here's my life, here's an aspect of my life that when I dedicate

  653. to you in a particular Ministry but here's my whole life.

  654. For what you have done. But what I find amazing here is

  655. that Peters mother-in-law did not only direct her service to

  656. Christ. She ministered to his followers

  657. as well. What does it say?

  658. She began to serve them. Not just the Lord them his

  659. followers, his disciples she spread out a banquet and how

  660. you? And I love and serve the body of

  661. Christ is a major indication of what Christ has done in you.

  662. And who Christ is to you? She served them.

  663. And for those who are discouraged because they think

  664. that they cannot serve Christ unless it's in a particular way,

  665. realize that this woman serve Jesus in her home.

  666. The very same place where she slept every night, the same

  667. place, where she cleaned the same place where she had many

  668. responsibilities is a very same place where Jesus Christ was

  669. served. And glorified.

  670. And I think that is an encouragement to many people who

  671. feel limited, because they have a desire, great desire to do

  672. great things, but they feel like their life is at home, mom's pay

  673. attention future, mom's pay attention.

  674. Jesus can be served at home. He can be blessed at home.

  675. He can be pleased at home. And I want you to see that these

  676. disciples also were blessed at the home of these men.

  677. And Peter's family was Pious, indeed, Peter invited Christ to

  678. the house and his mother-in-law hosted Christ in that same house

  679. and what became of this home as seem to be just an average home

  680. in the streets of Capernaum. Look at verse 33 and the whole

  681. city was gathered together at the door.

  682. Imagine that one day, you've a handful of people and it within

  683. a few hours you have the city at your door, lined up to meet with

  684. the Jesus. That is at that house.

  685. I'm not saying that will happen every single time but there is

  686. no knowing listen. What can happen to a person who

  687. says Lord even my home is yours, Even where I live.

  688. Is yours, my resources are yours, whatever it is that you,

  689. you asking me belongs to you, there will be no telling what

  690. Christ will do. As a result of that.

  691. For some it will look like hosting disciples from time to

  692. time with good Middle Eastern food.

  693. For others. It may be using that home and

  694. blessing. Ministers who are out there

  695. serving on the streets serving in the synagogue's, I am a

  696. recipient of many people who have said, I'm sending something

  697. to your house. It's at the front door, I hope

  698. you enjoy it and you know who you are.

  699. I say thank you from this Pulpit because that has helped me study

  700. more that has helped me Council more and your services unto

  701. Christ for others. It may look like you being at

  702. the synagogue regularly and teach It may be like the

  703. disciples going out into the streets, going out into the

  704. city's, to preach, whatever it is, that it looks like Christ is

  705. worthy to be served wherever his Providence places us.

  706. And in this case, this Highbridge Galilean home with no

  707. Revival in their living room, And that excites me and not

  708. shows me that you have no idea what awaits when you take this

  709. thing beyond the meeting. Please do that.

  710. I'll end with a story when I was in college, I moved into an

  711. apartment after I first got saved.

  712. A my roommate was a Christian first Christian roommate, he's

  713. from The Young Adult Ministry that we were part of that was

  714. not too far from our church. And so we began to move in and

  715. we began to ask what we needed to purchase and all that.

  716. And finally, it came down to the living room.

  717. Some of, you know, this story, some of you don't I hope it

  718. encourages you. And so we were there in the

  719. living room and he looked at me. He says, well I think we need to

  720. get a TV. What do you think?

  721. And I looked at him, I said, I don't know.

  722. Why don't we not? Let's do something.

  723. This is what we stood there. In the empty living room.

  724. We looked at each Isis. Why don't we why don't we pray

  725. and dedicate this living room to the Lord?

  726. And he did not even hesitate. He says listen to it.

  727. So he grabs my hand this and we put our foreheads against one

  728. another. This is the first time for me,

  729. but I went with it. And there was an earnestness in

  730. that prayer. Lord.

  731. This living room is yours. Not very big, not much.

  732. We're going to leave it empty for you, do as you please.

  733. Within a few weeks. We had a regular meeting in our

  734. apartment. We weren't too far from the

  735. college. We weren't too far from the

  736. downtown area of Toronto. And five people came and we

  737. worshipped in that living room. We read our Bibles.

  738. We would go into the college campus and witness a few weeks.

  739. Came 15 people few weeks came 20 people it became a meeting of 50

  740. people on a regular basis. And Not only was there.

  741. No room for a TV. We didn't even use the TV.

  742. We had one, we had to get rid of our couches.

  743. And our living room was filled with foldable black chairs.

  744. That's all look like. So if you walked into the

  745. apartment you would just see black chairs stacked up in the

  746. living room with nothing else because we reserve that space

  747. for those meetings we would pray on Friday night, go out on

  748. Saturday. And that prayer that we prayed

  749. didn't come to mind, but when we were leaving that apartment, we

  750. didn't have much to move out. It dawned on me, he heard that

  751. prayer. He heard that prayer and he

  752. filled it with people. And it was an easy all the time,

  753. it wasn't because we would have people sleep over a lot to go to

  754. church on Sunday morning. We didn't have space.

  755. We have to serve people, we have people would come late, people

  756. would all these different things.

  757. People would stay late to be prayed for and all these things,

  758. and it's just like this. I mean, you see these people

  759. coming to the front door as a much of that.

  760. That's a blessing, there's natural burdens that come with

  761. that. So worth it.

  762. So worth it. Am I saying if you leave here

  763. tonight and you go to your living room, put your head on

  764. somebody else's head and you pray They have to get rid of

  765. your furniture. And your, I'm not saying that

  766. I'm just giving you one real example. but if you really

  767. sanctify, it unto the Lord, He might blow your mind.

  768. And he is faithful. Bring Jesus home.

  769. And watch what he'll do with it. Let's pray.

  770. We thank you for this this study.

  771. In a few verses. That has shown your Supremacy

  772. over sickness. You can still heal today.

  773. But thank you for the lessons underneath.

  774. Lori ask. That with the difficulties of

  775. different scenarios even from this church where you have one

  776. spouse, who's a believer? And the other is not.

  777. Or you have one sibling who's a Believer.

  778. And the others are not. Whatever the situation may be

  779. Lord. We just ask that on the

  780. individual basis, you would be more real in our day-to-day

  781. lives. And that whether or not a spouse

  782. wants Christ in that home or the children want Christ in that

  783. home. Your word tells us in First

  784. Corinthians 7, that when a believing spouse remains in the

  785. house of an unbelieving spouse, they are sanctified.

  786. And those children are made holy because of the presence of that

  787. believer in that house. We asked for that Christ would

  788. be more real even in the homes where there is not a unanimous

  789. decision for Christ to be in that home.

  790. And Lord, we just ask that you would have your way Beyond these

  791. meetings, but that Lord, they would be testimonies in our

  792. living rooms. In our kitchens and our

  793. conversations over dinner. And Lord, we just pray that you

  794. would be magnified. And that you would be glorified.

  795. Where we sleep, and where we eat, and where we have memories

  796. and where we celebrate Christmas and Easter Lord be there.

  797. Today, we make a conscious decision that as we leave this

  798. place, you will come with us. You'll be worshipped and praise.

  799. And lugged where we do life, you are the author of life.

  800. We give you praise in Jesus name.

  801. Amen. Can we stand and Worship the

  802. Lord together?