29 in Mark 1 and forthwith They
will come out of the synagogue and they entered into the house
of Simon and Andrew with James and John but Simon's wife's mother
lay sick of a fever and Anon they tell him of her And he came
and took her by the hand and lifted her up and immediately
the fever left with her left her and And she ministered unto
them. And at even when the sun did
set, they brought unto him all that were diseased and them that
were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered
together at the door. And he healed many that were
sick of diverse diseases, cast out many devils and suffered
not the devils to speak because they knew him. And in the morning,
rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed
into a solitary place, and there prayed. And Simon and they that
were with him followed after him. And when they found him,
they said unto him, All men seek for thee. And he said unto them,
Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also.
For therefore came I forth. He preached in their synagogues
throughout all Galilee And cast out devils We have here again a description
of our Lord's life as his Whole life on this earth every moment
was taken up with doing good real good eternal good It's interesting
that when so many From the miracles that he did, so many began to
seek him. He said, let's move on. I need
to be able to preach. That's what I came for. The healing,
what a wonderful thing. What a glorious picture of his
saving power, that he can heal the incurable, that he could
even raise the dead and give them life. That's what he does
spiritually. And that's a beautiful picture,
but when it got to the point where all people just wanted
miracles, he said, let's go to the next towns because I've got
to preach. That's what I came for. The preach
of the gospel is what heals sinners. It's the truth of God from this
book concerning his son and his effectual sin cleansing blood. That's what really heals. And
so he said, I gotta go preach. But can you imagine when the
Lord came, there's something especially precious about the
Lord coming to Simon's house. And when Simon's mother-in-law
was sick, the Lord healing her. Can you imagine I thought about
this what if the Lord Jesus Christ came to your house? Vicki you'd
be cleaning for a week before he came But that's beside the point But
can you imagine that though the Son of God coming to your house?
Hmm Simon opened his home to God's
Son and the truth of the matter is
That's something we do too, don't we? We open our home, we open
our heart, we open our life. We wouldn't have any of that
without Him. Our Lord didn't have a place
to lay His head in this world. You ever think about that? He
was a master carpenter. You think there was ever a better
carpenter than the Son of God? But he had nowhere to lay his
head Isn't that just amazing? This is why we see him so often
in the homes of his disciples and their families in the scripture
in Luke 9 57 It says and it came to pass that as they went in
the way a certain man said unto him Lord. I'll follow you wherever
you go and Jesus said unto him foxes have holes and birds of
the air have nests and Son of man hath not where to lay his
head Turn with me to Acts chapter
16 This is when the Lord Comes where you are this is what
happens at 1611 and therefore loosing from Troas
we came with a straight course to Samothrace and the next day
to Neapolis and from thence to Philippi which is the chief city
of that part of Macedonia and A colony and we were in that
city abiding certain days and on the Sabbath We went out of
the city by a riverside where prayer was wont to be made And
we sat down and spake unto the woman which resorted the women
which resorted thither And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of
purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us,
whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things
which were spoken of Paul. You know, if you're listening
to the preaching this morning, not just as a ritual, not just
as a kind of a duty, but if you're attending, if you're attending
to the things of God this morning. It's because the Lord opened
your heart. That's how that happens. When she was baptized in her
household, she besought us saying, if you've judged me to be faithful
to the Lord, come into my house. Isn't that beautiful? Come into
my house and abide there. And she constrained us. She wouldn't
take no for an answer. God opened her heart and she
opened her home. And when they got to Simon's
house, notice what happened here back in our text. And imagine
again that this is your home. Do you have any troubles in your
home? Do you have any problems, any heartaches, any... Do you have a reason for the Son
of God to come in and be in your house. Look what they did. Peter's mother-in-law
was sick with a fever. And it says in Luke's account
of this that she was taken with a great fever. They probably
thought she was a goner. And look what they did. Simon's
wife's mother lay sick of a fever and anon. They tell him of her. What do you do when you don't
know what to do? When you can't help, you know,
you're making somebody comfortable, but you can't do anything about
it. Whether it's yourself or somebody that you love, you're
troubled, you're afflicted, you're sick, you're afraid, whatever
it is, what do you do about it? Tell the master. Tell him about
it. That's what we got to do. What
a privilege to be able to do that. That he would even be bothered
with our problems at all. Oh boy. Didn't the Lord already know
that she was sick? You reckon? You reckon before
they even got anywhere near the house or was told anything, he
knew. before she was even sick, that
she'd be sick, and when, and why? But there's something precious
and wonderful about this. Oh Lord, my mother is sick. My mother-in-law is sick. Will
you come and visit her? Psalm 55, 22, cast thy burden
upon the Lord. Tell the master about it. And he shall sustain thee, nobody
else can. He shall never suffer the righteous
to be moved. First Peter 5, 7, casting all
your care upon him, for he careth for you. Hebrews 4 14 seeing then that
we have a great high priest That is passed unto the heavens Jesus
the Son of God Let us hold fast our profession for we have not
an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities But was it all points tempted like as we are yet without
sin Let us therefore come boldly into the throne of grace. I that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Is there ever a time that you
don't need him? Anon, they anon told him. What does anon mean? That's the
word for the day, anon. It means straightway. They didn't
hesitate, immediately, forthwith. They told him about it. Boy, I just gotta believe if
we have any idea who he is, that's what we'll do. You reckon? Tell
him. Whatever it is, we'll tell him
about it. Verse 31, and he came and took her by the hand and
lifted her up. And immediately the fever left
her and she ministered unto them. She was kind of like Lydia, you
know, the Lord did something for her and then she wanted to
do something for his people. Boy, that's our lives, isn't
it? That's our lives. If I sat here and told you, just
started thinking, think as far back as
I could and just start telling you the things that y'all have
done for me. I could never think of all of
them for one thing, but we'd be here all day just talking
about the stuff I remember. When the Lord does something
for you, you want to do something for Him. And the way that happens,
what are we going to do for Him? He's the Son of God. When you've
done it to the least of one of these, my brethren, you've done
it unto me. Thank God for that arrangement.
What a blessed arrangement. Listen to Luke 4.39. These different
accounts of this event he stood over her and rebuked the fever
and it left her And immediately she arose and ministered unto
them now when the Sun was setting All they that had any sick with
diverse diseases brought them unto him And he laid his hands
on every one of them and healed them He was just getting started
with Simon's mother-in-law Matthew 8 15 now listen to this And he touched her hand and the
fever left her and she arose and ministered unto them When
the even was come they brought unto him many that were possessed
with devils And he cast out the spirits with his word and healed
all that were sick that Might be fulfilled which was spoken
by Isaiah the prophet saying himself took our infirmities And bear our sicknesses The greatest sickness of all
The sickness that is unto eternal death fever that burns in the
blood of every man woman and child in this world the leprosy
of our sin and Our Lord has taken the sickness and infirmity, the
sins of His people. He came to us when we were without
strength. So sick that we couldn't do anything
about it. Couldn't help ourselves. Been
all we had and we're only worse. And all He has to do is say the
word. This is precious in this text too. It's precious that
He came into their home. And knowing she was sick, he
just waited and caused it. He enabled them to tell him about
it. It didn't have to happen that
way. He could have told them before they got there. Your mother-in-law's
sick, Simon. Let's go do something about it.
He did do that type of thing. And when they told him, Lord. But listen to this, too. When
he came in there and she lay there sick of a great fever,
he could have just said, be well. She would have been well, wouldn't
she? But what did he do? He took her by the hand and lifted
her up. He didn't have to do that. He
could have healed her from the other side of the country, for
that matter. That's not how he does it. How he does it It's
not an impersonal thing it's not a statistical thing It's not a general thing we tend
to speak of the truth of Christ in general terms I believe the
doctrine of this I believe the doctrine of that the doctrine
is a person the truth of God is a person It's not a statistical
fact I believe some doctrine too. But it's not just general teaching. It's not just a fact to put down
in a book somewhere. The Lord healed me. It's personal. He did something for me. And
I needed Him desperately. I couldn't help myself. Talk about the doctrine of particular
redemption. Well, let's get more particular
than that. I believe he died for me. I believe he redeemed
my soul from hell. That's how particular it is.
He touched my hand and made me whole. And look at the power of his
touch. Anon told him about it, and he anon healed her immediately
Immediately she rose up The completeness of the cure she's got a great
fever and then the next minute. She's cooking something for him the uttermostness to which he
saves. She not only wasn't feverish
anymore, she felt like ministering. She felt like doing something
for them. Sometimes even when I'm not sick,
I don't feel like doing nothing. It's not that I'm sick, I'm just
being lazy. But she was healed and was enthusiastic
and kind and generous and ready. You know, when you've been sick
a long time, it takes a long time to get over it, doesn't
it? Even when you're not sick anymore, it takes a long time.
The fever breaks and then I'm still weak for two or three days
sometimes. Not when the Lord touches your hand. It's immediate. Are you sick this morning? Do
you know somebody that is? Tell the master about it. I mean
that. I don't mean just agree with
that, do it. Talk to him about it tonight, this afternoon. I
pray that I can do that. He is the Lord that healeth thee. And learn this from this dear
lady, everyone who is healed of the Lord, everyone is a minister. 1st Corinthians 16 15 you remember
this verse I beseech you brethren you know the house of Stephanus
that it is the firstfruits of Achaia and That they have addicted
themselves to the ministry of the Saints Submit yourselves
unto such and to everyone that helpeth with us and labor There's
a lot of help necessary. There's a lot of labor necessary
in there in the ministry of the Lord and And boy, he provides
that in the form of each other. Addicted to the ministry of the
saints. I believe if the Lord's done
something for you, the more he's done for you, the
more addicted you're going to be, aren't you? He that's forgiven much, loveth
much. Why didn't the Lord just make
a meal for them out of thin air? He could have done that if they
were hungry. No. He let them tell him about
her, about her being sick. He took her by the hand, and
then he let her minister unto them. That's how the Lord does
things now. When we minister, that's not
us doing something. How many times have we said that?
And we know that's right. That's him doing something for
us. What an honor, what a privilege to minister to the Lord through
his people. Minister to them. When the 5,000 were hungry out
in the desert, he just made some food. Why didn't he do that at
Simon's house? He wasn't above that. He washed
his disciples' feet. I know the answer to this. Our
Lord gives us the blessed privilege of ministering in His ministry. It's His ministry. We don't talk
about my ministry or somebody else's ministry. All of it is
His ministry. For His gospel to go forth, there's
going to need to be some ministering done. All manner of ministering. Vacuuming the floors is a ministry. It's all a ministry in it. Just
being an encouragement to people. That's a ministry Just not messing things up as
a ministry Because that's what we do with
me The Lord made his disciples fishers
of men. If there's going to be some fishing
done, you're going to have to mend your nets every once in
a while, aren't you? The deck's got to be swabbed. The sails
are going to have to be mended. There's work, there's labor.
He talks about it, the analogy again of a farm. That's some
of the hardest work there is. That's not a coincidence, that's
not just incidental, that those things are used. So what all
did she do? Well, she probably cooked them
a meal. Did she wash their feet? That was a common custom then,
to minister unto people that were in your home. Did she wash
their clothes for them? Did she sew up some of their,
you know, I've got a hole in my shirt, you know, she sewed
that up or whatever. Maybe put some medicine on some
tended to some injury that one of them had or whatever, you
know. We tend to think, because religion
is so wrong about everything, man left to themselves are religious
and absolutely idiotic. You know that. That's us by nature. It's just what we are. And they've
talked so much and indoctrinated so much people about the ministry,
the ministry. It's all about building buildings
and going way across the world. No, you remember old Dorcas,
don't you? She was full of good works. What
do you mean, Lord? She made coats for those that
she loved. It doesn't talk about her traveling
to darkest Africa or something. She just, she did what she could. Isn't that what the Lord teaches
in this book? She did what she could. Don't know what the specifics
are were on this case May God give us grace to do what we can
Not to not to gain favor with him Christ is our favor with
God Not doing good works to establish our own righteousness Christ
is our righteousness and because of that we want to do something Whatever the Lord will enable
us to do Verse 32 back in our text, and
that evening when the sun did set, they brought unto him all
that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils,
and all the city was gathered at the door. And he healed many
that were sick of diverse diseases, and cast out many devils. Suffered
not the devils to speak, because they knew him. These are the
ones that our Lord heals. Can you imagine this scene? I
guess he was out in the front yard maybe at Simon's house.
He sat down and they just started bringing Everybody they heard
about his miracle working power and all these lost causes You
know, he didn't go around healing people of Of things that you
just get over right flu He didn't just make your flu go away would
happen eventually anyway Probably but it would be him that did
it, right? If you don't die of it, it was him that healed you
And if you do die of it, that was him too. But I'm talking
about his miraculous power. It was lost causes. It was the
incurable because it's a picture of our nature, our sin nature.
We can't do anything about it. But imagine this scene where
just miserable Wretched people are coming sick and demon-possessed
He cast out many demons and healed many that were sick Lepers were
coming and people that were just diseased or injured very badly
and things like that Can you picture that and he would touch
him? He touched him. It says would
you touch a leper? Let me ask you this. Is it amazing
to you that the Son of God would touch a sinner? The holy, perfect,
spotless Son of God would lay hold of a sinner? Simon was embarrassed to have
the Lord wash his feet. That's nothing. If we knew what
sin was, and the Lord came to touch us. Simon at one time said,
Lord, depart from me. I'm a wicked man. I'm full of
sin. You shouldn't have anything to
do with me. That's the truth. But that's who he has something
to do with. Oh boy. The Lord Jesus Christ
hugs a vile, wretched, diseased sinner to his bosom and carries
us in his arms. Carries us to the end. Pays our
way. The Lord didn't permit the devils,
these devils, to speak, though they knew who he was. Why not? Wouldn't that be testimony to
who he was if they, you know, those ones devils said, acknowledged
him as the son of God? Those ones where he went to the
madman of Gadara. The one in the synagogue said,
I know who you are. You're the holy one of God. So
wouldn't it have been good in some way to allow them to speak,
but the Lord told him to shut up. He wouldn't let him speak.
Why do you think he did that? Well, here's what I know. I don't
want to speculate about that, but I know this. He has given
us his sheep, the privilege of witnessing of him. The devils know who he is, and
we know who he is. But he gives us the joy, the
privilege, the right to speak about him, to tell others who
he is. The devils could probably state some pretty impressive
facts about the Lord Jesus Christ. They know him in a sense, but
they don't know him. Not in a saving way. False preachers
can state facts, but they can't preach the Lord Jesus Christ
because they don't know him. Even an angel can't talk about
what we can talk about. They don't know that much about
forgiveness of sin, because they've never experienced it. Who but a sinner can speak of
Him and His sovereign mercy? Who can testify to the fact that
He's forgiven us of all of our sins, except sinners like us? And I know this may sound trite
talking about this, because religion, again,
they misuse things so much and talk about things they don't
know anything about. But think beyond that this morning
and answer this question in your heart. Forget about everything
else for just a second. Answer this question in your
heart. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know him? Have you experienced his saving
love and mercy? Has he had mercy on you? I didn't
ask you, do you believe the Lord has mercy on sinners? Has he
had mercy on you? I didn't say, do you believe
in limited atonement? Has he given himself for your
sins? I didn't ask you does he love
everybody? I'm asking you does he love you? Do you know him whom to know
is life eternal? Then let me ask you this because
of what we've been talking about. We have the privilege of speaking
of him. And we're the only ones that do. If you do know Him, if you do
know the Lord Jesus Christ, if you do love Him, you know it's
because He loved you first. Then if you don't tell those
that you love about Him, who's going to do that? Who in this world is going to
do that? I think about that sometimes. It's not easy to do. There are
those that I love that don't want to hear anything from me,
much less about the Lord. And I may or may not ever have
an opportunity to think about that if we don't tell them who's
going to. Nobody else even can if they
wanted to, except His sheep. Think what a privilege we have
to be stewards of the grace of God. What a privilege. Turn with
me in closing to 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 7. 1st Peter 4 7 the end of all
things is at hand Be there for sober and watch unto prayer Boy Watch unto prayer Hmm and above
all things have fervent love among yourselves and For love
shall cover the multitude of sins. One of the things I realize
more and more as I preach is that there is agreement with
these things. Boy, yeah, we need to do that.
And then there's doing it. There's actually praying. We all know we need to, we ought
to, we should. It's a great privilege. How much
do you pray, though? How much do I pray? Get on my knees before God and
ask Him for all that we need and thank Him for all of His
tender mercies. And love one another. Love shall
cover the multitude of sins. Hospitality one to another without
grudging As every man hath received the
gift even so minister the same To one another as good stewards
of the manifold grace of God. Oh Think about who we know And
why? If any man speak let him speak
as the oracles of God and In other words, when you do say
something for God, let it be God talking and not you. Let
it be what he said, not what you think. If any man minister,
let him do it as of the ability which God giveth. Why did he
say that that way? Because when we minister, we
tend to think we're doing something. The ability that God giveth. Remember that if you're ever
privileged enough to actually do something for somebody That God in all things may be
glorified not us Not unto us. Oh Lord, but unto thy name give
glory through Jesus Christ To whom be praise and dominion forever
and ever amen Let's pray