"The Lord's Power"

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus' power over evil spirits?

Jesus has authority over evil spirits, commanding them to come out, as seen in Luke 4:33-35. In Luke 4:33-35, we see a clear demonstration of Jesus' authority over evil spirits when He rebukes an unclean demon during His ministry in the synagogue. The spirit recognized Jesus as 'the Holy One of God' and feared His command. This passage emphasizes that Christ has complete sovereignty over demonic forces, showcasing that He can confront and expel them at His will. The nature of His power illustrates not only His authority but also His mission to destroy the works of the devil, as stated in 1 John 3:8.

Q: How do we know the power of Jesus is real?

The power of Jesus is demonstrated through His miracles and authoritative commands in the Scriptures. The reality of Jesus' power is evidenced throughout the Gospels, particularly in passages like Luke 4:36-41, where His authority over sickness and demons is vividly illustrated. When Jesus rebuked the fever of Simon Peter's mother-in-law, she was healed instantaneously, prompting her to serve immediately. This highlights how Jesus' words and actions carry divine authority that produces immediate results, reinforcing the belief that He is not merely a prophet but the Son of God who has power over all creation. Additionally, His commands are met with obedience from both nature and the spiritual realm, confirming His divine efficacy.

Q: Why is seeking Jesus important for Christians?

Seeking Jesus is crucial for Christians as He is the source of life, healing, and salvation. For Christians, the pursuit of Jesus is fundamental because He embodies our hope, healing, and salvation. In Luke 4:42-43, when the crowds sought Jesus and urged Him to stay, He emphasized His mission to spread the good news of the kingdom of God to all. This highlights the essential truth that in seeking Christ, believers not only grow in faith but also fulfill their purpose to share His message with others. The act of seeking Jesus can lead to personal transformation and empowerment, as His presence brings about healing and restoration in the lives of those who turn to Him.

Well, I tell you what, it's good to see everybody. I hope you're glad to see me. The folks at Shoalhaven Grace Church send their greetings. And every time Angus talked, he said, I tell you folks, thank you for allowing you to come down here. He said, we'd hardly ever get preachers down here. And I enjoyed it very, very much. I got to preach to the last convert of Henry Mahan when he was down there 30 years ago. The man's 92 years old. I got to preach to him. It was a wonderful experience. He went into some people's home, preached in their home. Preached an awful lot while I was gone. Preached outside one time. And, but those folks down there, they said, oh, I'll be sure to tell them folks how much we love them and appreciate them.

And one, you know, the Lord's people are just the same wherever you go. They're just the same. They're just lightful. And Angus and his wife, Lisa, treated us so good. So good. So good. Saw kangaroos, wombats, koala bears. wallabies, you know, parrots of every color and kind, cockatoos, you know, they're just, they're just common down there. So it just, it was a wonderful experience, wasn't it, Shirley? Just, we had the most wonderful time, wonderful time, but there's no place like home, no place like home.

And I'm so glad to be here and listen to preaching, not all of it, but I know that it's wonderful to leave and know that preachers is going to preach. You're going to preach the same gospel that I preach. And I'm very grateful for that. Now look with me in Luke chapter 4. Start reading at verse 33 and go down to the end of the chapter. Verse 33.

And in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.' And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.

And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this? For with authority and power He commanded the unclean spirits, and they come out. And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about. And he arose out of the synagogue and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife, mother, was taken with a great fever, and they besought him for her.

And 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 divers' diseases brought them unto him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.

And the devils also came out of many, crying, and saying, Thou art the Christ, the Son of God. And he rebuking them, suffered them not to speak, for they knew not that he was Christ. And when it was day, he departed, and went into a desert place. And the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them. And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to others also, other cities also. For therefore am I sent. And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

Our Lord and our God, in the blessed, blessed name of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Master, our Savior, our Redeemer, we come to bless you and to praise you and thank you for your traveling mercies that you gave us while we were gone.

Thank you for the preachers that came and preached here. Thank you for the dear saints of God, yet in Australia, bless them. And Lord, thank you for allowing me to be back one more time to worship with the saints of God here, to be able to preach the gospel, to be able to enjoy the fellowship of this body of believers again, this side of eternity. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you kept us all and you allowed us to do this, gave us this privilege. Lord, meet the need of every heart and soul here. cause the gospel to run well. And our blessed Savior, please save your people in this place.

Please remember our families, our sons, our daughters, our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren now that are getting grown. Lord, please meet the needs of their hearts and bring glory to yourself through this service as we give you thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. amen and amen. Let's stand together and sing the hymn of the day in the bulletin. Me turn from Zion's way. Alas, what numbers do? Methinks I hear.

Thy Savior save, wilt thou forsake? me too. A Lord with such a heart as mine, unless thou hold me fast, I feel I must I shall decline, yet proof like thin at last. Yet thou alone has power I know, to save a wretch like me. To whom? Where could I go if I should turn from Thee?

Beyond the doubt I rest assured and Lord, the Christ of God, who hosts eternal life, secure thy promise in my blood. The help of men and angels joined Could never reach my case Nor can I hope Relief to find but in thy boundless grace. No voice but Thine can give me rest and bid my fears depart. of thine can make me blest, and satisfy my heart. What anguish has that question stirred? If I will also go with Lord relying on thy word, I humbly answer, no. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, But now I'm found. Was blind, but now I see. Be seated. Well, let's look again together into Luke chapter 4. You remember, I know it's been a while, but our Lord left his hometown and returned to Capernaum. But while he was there, you remember that he started his earthly ministry.

And then he went down and they were amazed and at his gracious words, and then he told them about God's sovereign election, that God saves whom he will. He healed a leper that wasn't a Jew. He healed a widow and saved a widow's son who wasn't a Jew. They both were Gentiles.

And it upset them, so they went from enjoying what he had to say to trying to persecute him and trying to kill him. So he left and went to Capernaum. And they were astonished at his doctrine. And I tell you, he exposed man's heart. And the Pharisees were, he dealt with man's heart. The Pharisees only dealt with the external things or traditions and the law.

Now my message today has to do with our Lord's power over the devil and over diseases. And he has the power over both. But look what he said here in verse 33. And in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil and cried out with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth, that thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

I want you to notice where this fellow was. He was in the synagogue. He was in the place of worship just like everybody else. He come into a place like this here to worship. But he was a man. He was a man. But his heart was empty with God. His ideas and all that thing that he believed, believed just like everybody else in the synagogue.

But the difference was that when Christ came, he exposed him. When Christ came into the synagogue, he was exposed. In the presence of Christ, everybody's exposed. If you're ever in the presence of Christ, and Christ makes himself known to you, you'll do just like this fella did. You know, but I'll tell you what, our Lord Jesus Christ, that's where we found him at. You know, Job, The scripture says that Satan went about seeking whom he may devour. And he said, oh, listen, if you let me at Job, you're just an outright perfect man. He said, I'll destroy him. You know what God said? He says, you go ahead.

I'll let you have at him. You can have everything he's got but his life. His life belongs to me. His soul belongs to me. He got his life from me. He gets everything from me. Take everything else you got but don't you dare touch his life because his life is mine. I gave him life and it belongs to me.

And this is where this man was. He was in the synagogue. He is a man. And this unclean devil used the mouth of a man. He used the mouth of a man, and every man's heart's unclean. You know, I was thinking about a fella that he had a bad leg and it started rotting from the inside out, and it began to be corrupt. They had to end up opening it up and all this dead flesh was inside of it. They had to start cutting and cutting and cutting it. But this corruption was there. It was on the inside and it worked its way out.

And that's the way man is. He's full of corruption. He's full of uncleanness. There's nothing clean about a man apart from Christ. As you know, he said, now you are clean through the word which I've given unto you. But oh my, this unclean devil used the mouth and the will of this man.

And I tell you what, that's where you find, you know, most preachers, most preachers are up there, they're unclean and preaching an unclean message that cannot do anything for anybody. cannot do anything for anybody under any circumstances. I was watching a preacher preach on the street the other day, and this fellow was preaching, and he was afraid to say something, but there was this man that got out of the crowd and walked up there and said, tell these people the truth.

He said, tell them that instead of just about a God of grace, tell them about the God of judgment too. He said, tell them that there's nobody that can come unto God but by me, the Lord Jesus Christ said. And he said, tell them that they can only get forgiveness through Christ. And he said, for by grace are you saved through faith and that's not of yourself.

Tell these people the truth. He got out of the crowd and confronted that preacher. Every once in a while, you're gonna... He confronted that preacher right there, said, tell these people the truth. He was watering it down. And that fellow said, tell them the truth. And I'll tell you what, that's what, you know, and look what this fellow said here. In verse 34. The devil cried out with a loud voice. He got loud in the synagogue.

He said, let us alone. Let us alone. We don't want to be bothered with you. We'll not have this man to reign over us. Let us alone. We don't want to be bothered with you. And God said about Ephraim, said, let him alone. He's turned to his idols. Let him alone. Let us alone.

What have we to do with you? We like our religion. We like our synagogue. We like what we're doing. We like what we're hearing. We like what's going on in the synagogue. Let us alone. What do we have to do with you? And this man and that devil speaks as one. This unclean spirit speaks as one.

And he knew, look what it says here. He knew the true character of Christ. I know thee who thou art. I know exactly who you are. You're the Holy One of God. The scripture says the devils believe, but they tremble. And I tell you, he says, oh my, he knew the true character of Christ. I know thee the Holy One of God. I know ye the Holy One of God. And I tell you what, and how many people say, let us alone.

When they hear the gospel, even Angus and those folks down there, they attended a Baptist church for years, and he started learning the gospel, and he started preaching the gospel there. In a little while, they run him off. In a little while, they said, no, we won't hear that. And so a few went out with him. And that's the way it always is. The people who know the gospel, most of them have been brought out of some false religion.

And people say, let us alone. Let us be comfortable in our religion. Let us be comfortable where we're at. Let us be comfortable in what we believe. Quit upsetting us. Quit telling us that there's only one way of salvation. Keep telling us about the Holy One. Quit telling us about God who sits on His throne. We don't want to hear it anymore.

We want to hear about our will, our power, our rights, our abilities. And oh, my. And He knew His purpose for coming. Look what He said. He said, Art thou come to destroy us? Yeah, he'll destroy every hope you've got. He'll destroy your religion. He'll destroy your hopes. He'll destroy your false ideas. He'll destroy everything that you ever believed before and how he'll destroy it. He'll tear it down. He'll tear it down.

You know, John 1 John 3 says this, that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. And I mean that's in all of us. I'll tell you what, this is that enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the spirit. Serpent, the seed of the woman, seed of the serpent. And this is the devil's work. Christ came to destroy the devil's work.

And I'm glad he did. I'm glad he did. And in doing so, in destroying this man's hope and destroying his religion and destroying everything about him, our Lord, and he knew who Christ was, in doing this, our Lord saves his people. That's how he saves his people.

He got to destroy their hopes, got to destroy their truth. Old Ralph Barnard used to say, you got to destroy a man's God and he'll get mad at you when you do. You just start, you tackle a man's God and he'll get upset. You'll get upset, and that's what our Lord did here. That's what our Lord did. Then look what happens.

In verse 30, you know, he said, the devil, I know thee who thou art, verse 35, and our Lord rebuked him. And they said, what have we, don't look back up there. He said, what have we to do with thee? What have we to do with thee? That's what he said in verse 34. What have we had to do with it?

The devil and Christ have nothing in common. You know, we have nothing. You know, the apostle said this, what fellowship has Christ with Belial? That's a false god of death. What fellowship has light with darkness? What fellowship do we have? What fellowship with us in light, what fellowship we have with the darkness? What fellowship we have with Christ and the devil? What fellowship do we have? We have nothing in common. Nothing at all in common.

And God, here's the thing, God is light. God is holy. And wherever Christ comes and God comes, there's always brings the light. And he always makes bread out of the darkness. And all men, and people like to rest in their sins. They said, let us alone. We're comfortable in our sins. I've said so many times that I wish, if God ever let me preach to a great crowd of people, you know what I'd tell them? There's only one savior, one savior, one God. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Everything is one. Nothing, you can't get confused in that.

And this man, you know, they wanted to rest in their sins. People would be more comfortable in their sins than they would to have Christ, than they would have the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us alone. This is always the cry of the devil in the men and them in whom he dwells.

But thank God, thank God. Some say, Lord, please never leave us alone. Don't leave us alone. I don't want to be left alone. Do you? I don't want to miss Christ. I don't want to miss him at all. Lord, let us alone. And I tell you, that's an awful thing to be left alone of God. You know, in Romans 1, it says, God gave them up. God gave, three times it says, God gave them up. Now you think about God giving a man up. You know, I got a family. I've got a mother that's gone, my father that's gone, and neither one of them was a believer. My children's not believers. My grandchildren's not believers.

Now what's going to have to happen to them, Christ is going to have to come where they are, because they're not going to come where he is. He gonna have to do what they, he gonna have to do to them what he did to these folks right here. Let us alone. Let us alone. You know how many times it says in the scriptures that the Lord, people told the Lord, depart from us. Depart from us. Depart from us. I tell you, won't you ever, like with this hymn we just sang. Will I go?

Oh, I've left to myself a will, Lord, if you don't hold me fast. And I'm so grateful that the Lord's held us fast for year after year after year. And if the Lord don't keep me, I won't be kept. If the Lord don't hold fast to me, I can't hold to him. He has to hold me. I can fall, but I can't get up by myself. I can sin, but I can't cleanse myself. And oh my, and there, you know, there's some that says, oh, let us alone, but there's some who refuse to say let us alone, let us alone.

And then look at the power of our Lord's word. Verse 35, and Jesus rebuked him. You ever been rebuked by the Lord? You don't. The Word of God's profitable for reproof, for correction. And look what it says. He says, shut up. Our Lord said, rebuked him saying, hold your peace. Don't want to hear another word you've got to say. I don't want to hear what your excuses. I don't want to hear what you've got to say. I don't want to hear you talk about me. I don't want to hear you confess anything.

And he said, hold our peace and come out of him. Come out of him. Hold thy peace. And what that means is be muzzled. Be muzzled. Christ has to muzzle them. And he stopped the mouth. And I'll tell you what, Owenga said this so many times, said, God has to stop a man's mouth. You know, Romans 319 says that every mouth may be stopped and become guilty before God. God will, you know, we all, How many times have our conceptions of God, oh, we make our decisions, we have our opinions, we make stupid statements, we make all these statements, and Christ says, I'm going to stop your mouth.

You thought I was like this. You believed I was like this. You believed that I was one way and I'm another. You know, you had your free will, you had your power, you had your ability, you had your works, you had your legalism, you had your self-righteousness, you had all the things that you was trusting in.

And he said, now I'm going to stop you. I'm going to stop you now. You're going to quit bragging about yourself. and you're going to glorify me. You're going to keep trusting in yourself and you're going to glorify me. Everything about our Lord, hold your peace. And I'll tell you, he's going to stop all mouths one of these days. And I'll tell you what, he stops our mouths about trusting in ourselves, bragging about ourselves. even talking about our humility. Our humility needs to be wept over. Our repentance needs to be wept over. Our faith needs to be wept over.

I'll tell you, we, and our Lord Jesus Christ, he stops our mouths, and one of these days, every mouth gonna be stopped. All those folks that said, Lord, look what all we've done for you. We've cast out devils in your name. We've done many wonderful works in your name. We went and done this, and we went and done that. And our Lord says, I never knew you. I never knew you. And oh, my.

And like in that storm, all that it takes for him to still a storm. What power his word had. Peace, be still. And the storm laid down just like that. Just rays went down just like that. And look what our Lord said, come out of him. Come out of him. The devil tried to hurt this man. Devil throwed him, throwed him around. Said, oh, no, no, we're not going. No, he got loud. He got boisterous, got to where he wanted to be seen and didn't want this to happen. And the devil tried to hurt this man. He's angry that he's defeated, losing his goods. He threw him in the mess, but watch what it says. He came out of him. Why did he come out of him? Of course, Christ said, come out of him. When Christ speaks his word, things happen. You know, when he says his word, it happens. He said his word and healed them.

That centurion said, I'm not fit that you come under my roof. I'm not worthy that you come under my roof. And he said, if you would just say the word, my servant will be healed. Christ said, I've not seen such faith in all of Israel. And he sent his word. When he got home, he said, what time did he start healing? About the same time Christ said, send his word, send his word to heal him. And oh my, he threw him in the mist and he came out and didn't hurt him.

And their response, look what how people response now in verse 36. And they were all amazed. We just sang, amazing grace, how sweet the sound, saved a wretch like me. Oh my, they were amazed. They saw this supernatural act of Christ. And they seen it done with just him speaking. He didn't have to do anything, just send his word. Look with me over in Psalm 33. Look at Psalm 33 with me. Look what it says over here. Psalm 33 in verse 8. Look what he says here.

Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast." All he's got to do is just send the Word. Just speak the Word. Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth. Speak, Lord. Let us, oh, don't clean out our ears, Lord. Stop our ears, and I'll tell you something about our Savior. He commands. He does not ask. He does not plead. He commands. And I'll tell you, when our Lord, He's the sovereign. He's the one with the power. He's the one with the authority. And, oh my, people say, well, you can resist Him.

Try that. Just try it. People do. I mean, they do. They just hate, hate Christ, and they don't want nothing to do with Him. But I do know this, when he sends his word, when he speaks his word, something happens. I mean, something really happens. And all the devils could do was they came out of him. When Christ speaks, things happen. When Christ speaks and he says things to be done, it's going to be done.

It's going to be done. And that's why I remember Bill Kirkpatrick. You know, he was He attended up in Michigan for years and years and years. And then they came down here and they were here for years. And he never was a believer. And he, he went to conferences. He listened to lots of messages. He listened to lots of preachers and he make good comments about them.

But you'd ask him, I asked him one time, I says, Bill, why is it that you're not a believer? You go to conferences, you hear the gospel preached all the time, you listen to all these CDs, you listen to all these preachers, even when you're riding. What dates you up? Why aren't you a believer? He said, I just not. He said, I know when I do, I know I'll know it.

Well, one Wednesday night, I preached on the power of God's word. Abraham believed God. People believed God. That centurion said, Lord, just send your word. Here Christ just spoke. And I preached on the power of the word. Bill went home, called me about an hour later, and he said, I believe.

I never seen how simple it was just to believe what God said. He was looking for, I don't know what he was looking for, but he believed. He said, I believe now. I'm a believer. He said, I understand clearly that salvation is believing God. Not believing something about God, but God himself.

And people have such power. You know, everybody wants power. You know, we have these people with power. They got all this authority. President has got authority. Congressmen and senators got authority. But nobody, nobody has the authority that Christ has. And you can think you have all the power in the world and be so successful, but until you know Christ and the power of his word, you don't know nothing. You ain't got no authority except what he gives. There ain't a person in power and authority or wealth in this country or any other place that Christ didn't give it to them, and Christ has the power and authority over this universe nobody else does. When we was in them airplanes, Christ was sovereign over that airplane.

When you get tired, he's the one that gives you the strength. And His Word has such power, all He's got to do is send it. He speaks, and it's done. He commands, and it's done fast. He spoke the world into existence. He spoke light into existence. He spoke the sun into existence. And I tell you what, if He brings a man from darkness to light, all He's got to do is say, I want it to be. I will it to be. That's all it takes. And that's why, oh, Lord, please, please, please, please speak to me. Speak to my heart, speak to my mind, speak to my will.

And oh, Allah, how many leave Zion's way? Oh, my goodness, how many have left Zion's way? How many over the years it's been here? If we'd had everybody here that ever visited this place for just a little while, this building, we'd had to double it. But how many people would be here for years and then all of a sudden they're not here anymore? Why is that? Oh, the differences in the word of God.

When our Lord commands, he don't ask, he don't plead. To hear the average preacher preach, he says, oh, listen, Christ is, oh, I heard a preacher say one time, listen, be a lady and a gentleman and let Christ into your heart. Be a lady and a gentleman and let Christ open your heart. I seen a woman the other day said, I gave my heart to Jesus. Let me tell you something, he don't want your heart. He don't want your heart like it is. It's a filthy, unclean, oh, it's not worth anything. Christ, we don't give our hearts to Him.

He has to give us a heart. A heart to believe Him, a heart to trust Him. He's got to do it for us. Everything that we have, He has to do it. And all He's got to do is send His word. Why are we here this morning? To hear what Christ has to say. Had no other reason for us to be here. Huh? And oh my.

Now look over his power over, that was power over the devil. Look at his power now. He said, hold your peace. And the devil come out of him. And they come out. When Christ speaks, things happen. And look what, they were all amazed. And look what they said, what a word is this? That's what I was just talking about. With authority and power, he commands. He commands. Oh, my. And look what happens. And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about. Oh, my.

You know, our Lord Jesus Christ, what fame, what fame, what glory. I tell you what, we ought to give him a blessed name that's worthy of him, and speak of him that's worthy of him. And oh, everybody got to, he got to be famous, but not very many believed him. And then look what he says.

And I tell you what, he came, and after the service, after the service in the synagogue, look what it says. He went out, and he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house, that's Simon Peter. And Simon's mother's wife's mother was taken with a great fever, and they besought him for her. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she arose and ministered unto them. After he left that service in that synagogue, everybody was amazed at his power, his authority, and his commandments.

And I'll tell you, he went to Peter's home, his mother-in-law. This is Peter's mother-in-law. She's sick. She had a bad, bad, very, very strong, strong fever. She was in bed. She didn't feel well. And when you get a fever, you start shaking, you know. You get fevers awful. And they ask him to do something for her. You know why we don't have anything? Sometimes because we ask not. We have not because we ask not. And our Lord Jesus Christ, look what it says.

He rebuked that fever. He rebuked that fever. Guess what? Fever left her just like that. Now, if you ever get over a fever, you ever get over a fever, you know, it makes you really, really weak. You can't hardly do anything for a while. You feel so weak and You know, but look what it says here about her. She immediately got out of bed, because when our Lord does something for you, she got out of bed, arose, and started doing something for them. She said, I'm too weak to do it. Oh, no. She got up and started ministering to them right away. When we have a fever, it takes us forever to get over it. We're just so weak.

They asked him, would you do something for my mother-in-law? Would you do something for her? Would you do something? She is so sick. She's so sick. He said, yeah, I'll do something for her. Yeah, I will. And oh, my. I'll tell you what. And look what our Savior did. Oh, he has such power over diseases. I'm going to tell you something happened to me years ago. I may have told you this before. But when Josh, Josh is 30. 35 meets 36. He may be 36 now. I don't know, 35 or 36. But when he was a baby, he was about two months old, maybe three.

And we kept him a lot. And up in the night, he got a real, real high fever. He got real, real sick. And we didn't have no insurance. We, you know, if we'd have took him to hospital, we didn't know how, and we couldn't pay it. So I asked the Lord, I said, I prayed with that little baby laying beside us. I said, Lord, please heal him. Joshie, please, here, little Joshie, take this fever for him. We can't afford to go to the hospital. We can't afford to go to the emergency room. Please, Lord, do something for this baby.

And about 30 minutes later, he was, fever was gone. When you be honest with Christ, I know that I couldn't do anything for Him. I couldn't afford to go to, if we'd have took emergency room, we'd have had to sign a note and paid on it for a long, long time. So we couldn't. So the only thing I could do was ask the Lord.

And the Lord answered. And how many times has He answered us over our family and friends? How many times? And that's what they said when he went into Simon's house. He knew she was sick, but they had to ask him. They had to ask him. Ask him. Ask him. Ask him. And guess what he did? He said, yeah, I'll take care of this. I'll make her well. I'll make her so well she'll get out of bed and she'll fix you something to eat. Fix you something to eat. And then look what happens in verse 40. Oh, my.

And he labored all day this day. He started out in that synagogue. Then he arose and went to Simon's house. Now when the sun was setting, He had labored all day long doing something for somebody else. Now when the sun was setting, he labored all day. When the sun was setting, the sun was going down. All they that had any sick with all kinds of diseases brought them unto him. Oh my, that's not a better person to bring someone to than to Christ.

That's why we keep praying for our families. That's why we keep praying for our sons and daughters and grandchildren. And you pray for your husbands, you pray for your wives, you pray for your children. Why? Because he's the only one that can do anything for them.

And they said, oh, my son's sick, my wife's sick, my baby's sick, my brother's sick. Here's my wife. Here's my husband. And they bring them to him. All the sick, all those with diseases, they brought them to him. Who else can you bring them to? Oh, my. And I'll tell you, this is the thing. Brought it. Here's brought them to him. Bring them to him.

You know, Herman was 75 when the Lord saved him, and his wife, Ethel, God only knows how many times he prayed for her. I prayed for him, other people prayed for him, but he finally, I've told him of this before, I may be dead and gone when any of my children ever become believers, when any of my grandchildren become believers. I don't care when it is, as long as they're, that's why we're going to keep bringing them to Him. Bring them to Him. I bring you who are unbelievers to Christ. I bring all of you, the dear saints of God, to Christ. Who else am I going to bring them to? I bring you before the Lord.

And oh my, they brought them to Him. And look what He did now. He laid His hands on them. Every single one that come there, he put his hand on. Sometimes maybe they'd bring them two at a time. He'd put his hands on each one of them. And look what it said, laid his hands on every one of them.

And what happened? They were healed. Oh, I think it's over at Luke 11. We'll get there sooner or later. But they brought them to him and laid them at his feet. That's the best place to be found. When you come to lay down at his feet. And it said he healed them. All of them were healed. Every single one of them. Our Lord, there's nobody like him. Oh, every one of them.

And I'll tell you what, he put his hands on him to show, you know why he put his hands on him? To show him that he was the one doing this. He was the one doing this. This, I'm the one, the only one that can do this. And oh my, he had the power himself, in himself, and he healed him.

Devils also cried out, now look what it says here, in verse 41. Here we go again. And devils came out of many, crying out, saying, and listen, this is another thing, Thou art the Christ, the Son of God. Oh my. They asked Simon, our Lord asked Simon Peter and his disciples said, who do men say I am? They said, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, one of the other prophets. He said, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter said, thou to Christ, the son of the living God.

The devils said the same thing. But look what the difference is. Oh my. He refused to let them speak. And he rebuked them and said, don't you dare say another word. Oh my. Oh, don't you speak. For they knew that he was the Christ. He said, I don't want you to honor me in any way. I don't want you to speak my name. I don't want you to have anything. You don't know me like everybody else knows me. He didn't need the devils to bear witness to who he is and what he does. He don't need them. And I'll tell you what. Oh, my. He didn't want them to speak of him. He said, no, no, you don't use my name. Don't do it. Don't do it.

And then when it was day, evidently, you know, when the day ended, he departed and went into a desert place. He went off to be by himself, went off to rest, I'm sure. He was a man, got tired. And it was day, he departed, went into a desert place. He went to be alone, to rest.

And then look what happens. The people went looking for him. And that's what we do. The people sought him. The people went looking for him. The people sought him. And when they found him, they came to him. They came to him. Oh my. Once you start seeking Him, you never stop. Once you start looking for Him, you never stop. I mean, you know, we're just always seeking Him. Where'd He go? And look, they came unto Him, and look what it says. They stayed Him.

Lord, stay right here. Stop. Stop. And they stayed Him. And look what it said, that He should not depart from them. Here the devil said, let us alone. And now these folks say, Lord, don't depart from us. Don't leave us. They come and sought him out. Don't leave us to himself. Don't leave us. His hometown ran him off, sought to kill him. And here they desired, Lord, don't leave us. Don't, please, don't depart from us. And you know what he said to them? I must.

He said, I must preach. the kingdom of God to other cities also. What is the kingdom of God? Christ. Christ is the kingdom. That's what he told Nicodemus. He said, you know, without the new birth, you can't see the kingdom of God. Except you're born again, you can't enter into the kingdom of God. And so he come preaching the kingdom of God to others also.

And he said, that's what I was sent to do. That's what I was sent to do. And he went into Galilee in the synagogues and just kept on preaching, kept on preaching. And our Lord has power and authority, and all it takes for Him to do anything is to speak, is to speak.

And they brought people to Him. Let's bring our children, our sons, our daughters, our loved ones, let's bring them to Him. Let's bring them to him. Our Father, in the blessed, blessed name of the Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for allowing us this privilege to be in this service again, to be with the saints of God.

Lord, I can speak, I can preach your word, I can talk about your word, but you're the one with the authority, you're the one with the power. You're the one whose word accomplishes what it's sent to do. So, Lord Jesus, please speak to hearts, speak to our hearts. And Lord, let us let it be said of us before we leave this world.

We were lifelong seekers after the Lord Jesus Christ. We want him more than we want anything else. We need him more than we need anything else. And we find him to be our rest, find him to be our savior, find him to be our blessed, blessed redeemer. Oh, Lord, please keep us believing and believing to you. Oh, Lord, grant it for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen.

"The Lord's Power"

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about Jesus' power over evil spirits?

How do we know the power of Jesus is real?

Why is seeking Jesus important for Christians?

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"The Lord's Power"

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about Jesus' power over evil spirits?

How do we know the power of Jesus is real?

Why is seeking Jesus important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Donnie Bell

Comments

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