Gospel Outbreak

 

"And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they *spoke to Jesus about her. And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.

When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door. And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and *said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You." He *said to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for." And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons."

Mark 1:29-39

 

Good Morning my beloved,
 
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a privilege it is to come together to study rich awesome Truths in God's Word. We are so thankful that the Lord lead you join us today.  

In our last message, we learned that when Jesus shows up astonishing things happen, this is true in all areas of our life. When we encounter Jesus a response is required. That requires me as a pastor to share some things that are heavy on my heart. I cannot recall a time in my life when the Bible has been being taught with such blatant rebellion against God. False teachers will always claim to serve Jesus Christ, but they will lead those who follow their teaching astray. 

The true church is not identified by it's denomination, the size of its congregation or by the charisma of its leader but only by it's teaching the right doctrine. No false religion can provide redemption, nor can it empower people to do what is right, because it is a corruption and a perversion of the Truth.

 

The apostle Paul writes in Romans 10:9, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." In other words, you must confess Jesus as Lord, and if He is not your Lord, then He is not your Savior and you're not saved. You cannot come to Christ and imagine that He is less than Who He says He is; Jesus said that He is Lord. In fact, in the New Testament, Jesus is called Lord more than 700 times and Savior less than 10 times.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah and the Savior, came to give sinners the mercy and grace of forgiveness and eternal life to those who confess Him as Lord. In other words, no one can be saved, no one can receive forgiveness and receive eternal life who does not confess Christ as Lord and deny himself. In Luke 9, Jesus said in no uncertain terms, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." By confessing Christ as Lord, and denying yourself, that means you refuse to associate with your former self, your old way of life in order to follow Him. He has been very clear on that fact that by taking up your cross and follow Him it means you must prepare to die to self. Christ has no interest in false converts who claim to follow Him but choose to live no differently than the world.

 

Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

 

If you have been crucified with Christ and if you no longer live, than you no longer have a will of your own, a desire to do what you want to do, your will is now to do only that which please Him. To be alive in Christ is complete self-denial. Your life is no longer about you and what you want, it's all about Him and what pleases Him. You must deny yourself or you are denying Christ. Matthew 10:32-33, "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven."

 

When Jesus came, bringing the good news of salvation, He attracted huge crowds, tens of thousands of people were following Him because of His message and His miracles. However, as His ministry and His teaching progressed, it became apparent that the people were beginning to reject His message and many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, in John 6:67, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" More and more people are now buying into the lies of demonic false teaching that has become prevalent in the church today, abandoning the True teaching of Christ. The invitation to salvation, to follow Christ has always been a call to self-denial, a call to submission, a call to self-sacrifice through genuine repentance. That's the Gospel of salvation that Jesus came to proclaim.

 

That's what it means to confess Christ! When Christ returns all hypocrisy will be unmasked. Luke 12:3, "Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops."  

 

The church today has become so busy pleasing the culture, watering down, and misinterpreting the Gospel in order to create a new version of Christianity that is custom tailored to your preferences that they're no longer concerned about pleasing the God they claim to serve. Compromising with the world, quite frankly has had a devastating effect on the preaching of the true saving Gospel, the only Gospel leading to genuine salvation.

While politically incorrect preaching, avoiding anything that could offend might make people feel better about their sin, it's shallow leaving the hearers an the utter lack of any ability to discern Truth from error, and it's a worthless prostitution of the Gospel of salvation, leaving people thinking that they're being rescued from eternal judgment when, in fact, they're being tragically misled. We've now reached a point where the typical churchgoer today no longer wants the Truth to be presented because it sounds offensive.

By accommodating man's sinful condition, they have neglected the reality that Scripture teaches that "man is dead in trespasses and sins," and must be delivered from them in order to be saved. People no longer understand how to be saved because the leaders of the church no longer know how to be saved and so you have the blind leading the blind straight to Hell.

Jesus didn't lower the bar of salvation, He actually raised it.

In Matthew 5, He said "You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell."

He then said "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
 

There's nothing like having the truth in order to expose the lies of false teaching, which is no longer rooted in Christ. What doesn’t bring us closer to God and obeying His Word, isn’t from God, it's from Satan. That’s the bitter pill that many professing Christians are going to have to learn to swallow! 

 

Jesus' words aren't friendly and comforting; they're actually terrifying and threatening, filled with grace and truth, motivated by love and compassion, offering mercy and forgiveness to the sinner. There is no other way to describe His teaching other than narrow gate evangelism, an open invitation to salvation by calling for a severe alteration to one's present life.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ conveys to us with such clarity and power that it isn't a message of acceptance and tolerance of sin, but a message that redefines and reverses how you view yourself, your closest relationships, and everything that you possess. The invitation to follow Christ isn't a makeover, it's a complete takeover of your life and everything in it.

If you have ears to hear it, and understand, then I beseech you to embrace it, because deception has crept in and the day has now come when many hearing will not hear or understand, but will instead reject it.

 

Lets us pray

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Father, we thank You for Your Word. What a precious gift we've been given to open up Your Word and study the deep Truths that are so often overlooked, it is so humbling. Thank You for our teacher, Your Holy Spirit, Who illuminates Your Truth, giving us such clarity to help us understand and guides us in applying it to our lives. Lord, we pray for those who have to lead astray by false teaching, we ask that You would open their blind eyes and deaf ears to the Truth and deliver them from Satan's power and the bondage of sin. We pray that You would be merciful to those who have never trusted Christ as Lord and Savior, even those in our own families, plow up the hardened places in their hearts, and call them to the true repentance that leads to saving faith while there is still have an opportunity. Lord, cause every heart to rejoice in the abandonment of the old life and embrace the new life that is in Jesus Christ!

We ask and pray for Christ's sake and for Your glory.

In Jesus' name

Amen

 

Today's Message:  Gospel Outbreak

 

If you have your Bibles, open them and turn with me to Mark chapter 1, verses 29-39. I encourage you follow along with me as I read to set the text in our minds. I pray that the Lord would help us to hear and apply what He has to say to each of us today and strengthen our faith.  Mark 1:29-39.  

"And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they *spoke to Jesus about her. And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.

When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door. And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and *said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You." He *said to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for." And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons."

 

In our passage today we’ll see the authority of Christ displayed in His power to heal physical diseases, He not only makes those claims, but He can actually demonstrate His ability to prove them. So let's begin by looking at verse 29. "And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John." This is the the same day that Jesus went into the synagogue in the morning on the Sabbath, which would ended about noon on Saturday and He commanded the demon to come out of a man, and the demon threw the man into a convulsion, screaming with a loud voice and came out of him in obedience, against his will. If Jesus is to be the Savior of the world, He must demonstrate that He has power over the physical and spiritual effects of the curse, to rescue souls. 

 

Because since the fall, the entire human race bears the marks of that curse, both spiritually and physically. So, when Jesus came, He demonstrated His unmistakable power over the spiritual realm by casting out demons, and rescuing men's souls from sin and condemnation by healing the physical and spiritual effects of the curse. This is powerful evidence of His deity and proof of His authority over the supernatural realm.

 

So verse 29, picks up with them, meaning Jesus and His followers leaving the synagogue after performing a miracle and coming into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. This isn’t the first time they’d seen Him do a miracle, Luke chapter 4 tells us Jesus had done many mighty works in Judea the year before, so they would have already know His power and authority. We know from John 1:44, that Simon and Andrew were originally from Bethsaida and relocated to Capernaum which was the center of the fishing industry, since they were in the fishing business. Then, when Jesus called them to follow Him, they immediate dropped their nets, left their fishing business to follow Him. So, now they've left the synagogue and go to Simon Peter and Andrews house, which was only about 100 yards from the synagogue, probably for lunch, which was common in those days for people to gather in homes for Sabbath lunch since there weren't any local restaurants like we have today.

 

By the way, if you go to Capernaum today, it is ruins except for one small building, believed to be the location of Peter's house and that's about all that's left there in Capernaum. The excavations have unearthed there was a large plaza courtyard with a number apartments with kitchens surrounding it, which explains why Peter and his wife could live there as well as Andrew and his mother-in-law, where he was able to care for his family and use his home for God’s glory. The Gospel teaches that we are called to take of our families; in 1 Timothy 5:8, Paul writes "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

 

It's interesting that archaeological excavations have uncovered ancient writings on the walls in Aramaic, Greek, Syriac and Latin with the words "Lord" and "Christ" along with references to Peter, such as first century fish hooks.

 

When Peter left everything to follow Christ that meant that he also gave everything to Christ. That is a stark contrast to they way we categorize our faith today, we put faith, worship, prayer and Bible study in a huge pile with our family relationships, work, and finances along with secular hobbies and plans. But the biblical view of repentance and receiving Christ, you literally forsake everything to follow Christ, that includes your family, your house, your possessions, your finances, your job, your hobbies, your relationships, your schoolwork, all all of your activities. Everything from that moment forward becomes spiritual, because there is nothing is more important than Jesus!

 

Verse 30, "Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they *spoke to Jesus about her." Since the Catholic Church advocates that Peter was the first pope, and they prohibit popes and priests from marrying that may shock some of you who have been taught that Peter was never married. But 1 Corinthians 9:5 as well as this verse debunks the Catholic teaching, clearly indicating that Peter had a wife. It's impossible to have a mother-in-law without one ever having had a wife, right? So, Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever. Luke tells it was a high fever, indicating she had been thrown into a sickbed and her body was working hard to fight some kind of a severe illness or infection and no sooner that they came in the house, they asked Him to help her because there wasn't any hope of her getting better. In other words, this is a family crisis. Since there were several diseases prevalent in that marshy area around the Sea of Galilee during that time, it’s possible that she may have had malaria or typhoid fever.

 

I'd like you to notice verse 31, "And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them." Luke adds He was standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and waited on them. Scripture doesn't tell us how long she had been sick just that she immediately got up and made them lunch. She didn’t get better gradually, there was no recovery time, it was instantaneous! Isn't that just like our Lord to come close to us in our time of need so that we can experience His presence?  He could have stayed at a distance and just spoke the fever out of existence, or snapped his fingers but He didn't, He came near to her and took her hand. The next thing I'd like you to notice is that He raised her up because she wasn’t able to get up on her own. He came down to her, raised her up and took her by the hand. Allow me to note, the natural response when you encounter Jesus is to serve Him. We have been saved to serve, healed to help and touched so that we can can touch the lives of others. Ministry belongs to the members of the House of God.

 

I feel it necessary to address these so-called faith healers who prey upon suffering people's desperation to be healed from life threatening diseases for which there is no cure and devastating disabilities; urging them to pay large sums of money for a holy handkerchief and elaborate incantations in order to receive a "miracle healing" that God does not promise, so they can get rich. I have been at the bedside of those who helplessly watch their loved ones dying, I've sat with someone in their final hours as they are dying from AIDS and I've held the hand of my son as he lays in a hospital bed, fighting for his life, while praying for a kidney transplant. I've held my mother's hand as she gasped for air just before taking her last breath on this earth. Many people are so desperate to be healed, they will pay just about anything to receive it. I've heard stories of some paying thousands of dollars waiting for a healing that never came. There's no record of Jesus ever once telling someone "If you have enough faith, name it and claim it!" I believe there's a special place in hell for those who blasphemously misrepresent Christ. I've never heard of any of these fake faith healers laying hands on someone and restoring a missing limb even once. And, I believe it's safe to say that you haven't either. Jesus didn't just heal invisible ailments and deformities, He healed absolutely everyone of everything!

 

Let me tell you something, if there's healing to be had, I’ll intercede by going straight to God and ask for it because there is no one but the Lord Jesus Christ Who has that power! 

 

Verses 32-33, "When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door." Naturally, the news of Jesus physically healing Peter's mother in-law was spreading and triggered a domino effect reaction, literally everybody began bringing everybody. Mark uses the imperfect tense of the phrase began bringing, meaning it was a continuous, an action that is on-going. In other words, they just kept coming and coming and coming. Can you imagine looking out your front door and seeing the whole town on your front lawn?

The older I get, the more I begin to realize that there are many people who are fighting a battle that you and I know nothing about.

 

I have occasionally been asked, "If that's true then why did they wait until sundown?" Because they were Sabbath-bound people, prohibited from carrying anyone on the Sabbath, which started at sundown on Friday and ended at sundown on Saturday, because it would have been considered work. Malachi 4:2a says "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings" I imagine everyone was eagerly waiting for the sun to set so they could bring battered people to Jesus. In fact, they actually had to wait until the first three stars were clearly visible in the sky.

 

Verse 34, "And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was." Notice Mark tells us "He healed many," Luke adds He healed "all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them." I hasten to say, they weren’t ready to repent, looking for salvation, they wanted relief from affliction, they were looking for physical and spiritual healing. I find it interesting that the demons wanted to declare who Jesus was but were not permitted, and as Christians we are commanded to tell others about Him, yet many of us walk around with our lips sealed, in complete silence. Jesus doesn't need affirmation from Hell, that's why He didn't permit the demons to speak. It really irks when false teachers claim to affirm Christ, while teaching their damning lies; I can't exchange pleasantries and pretend to smile when they don't know Christ at all, I just want to silence them.

 

By the way, mark it, while Jesus originally went to Peter's house for a different purpose, He was also on a mission, so He extended mercy to those who were in need. A tremendous reminder, that we are all called to live out our faith no matter where we are and to show mercy to those in need no matter what our plans might be. For the record, that is to be standard operating procedure for a follower of Christ, there is always an opportunity to serve Christ by serving others. The real question is will you serve? It doesn't matter how many people that you tell you're a follower of Christ, the real measure is how faithful you are serve Him. If you’re saved, you’re a servant.

 

Matthew 25, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’"

 

Then, in verse 35, "In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there." Jesus had a very busy Saturday, casting out a demon in the morning, healing Peter's mother in-law in the afternoon, and in the evening He was healing the whole city, those who were sick and casting out many demons. He certainly would have been justified if He would have slept in, but He didn't. "In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house," to seek His Father's will and the power of the Spirit. Mark's reference  "In the early morning, while it was still dark," places this during the fourth watch of the night, which was between 3:00 and 6:00 a.m., which seems to be the precedent for Jesus' time of prayer. God richly grants His presence and provision for those seeking Him.

 

Then, Mark says He "went away to a secluded place, and was praying there." It's the word "érēmos," meaning an unpopulated place; free from disturbances. The Gospels records that Jesus prayed some 25 times. His dependence on the prayer was crucial to His laying aside His own will to do the will of Father. The night of His arrest, while He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will." We’re called to do battle in prayer and it's best if we find a private place to do that. When we pray early in the morning, we receive our marching orders for our day.

 

Verses 36-37, "Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and *said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You." It was obviously a prolonged time of prayer. Luke 6:12 tells us at times He spent the whole night in prayer. The word search or the verb "katadiókó,"conveys they were earnestly pursuing Him, or hunting Him down.

 

I believe there are some Christians that really need to hear that, I often hear people say, "I just don't have time to pray." Prayer is not a matter of time, it's a matter of priority! These same people that are attend weekend sporting events, and find time to spend countless hours binging their favorite TV shows, yet their too busy to pray. If people spent half as much time with God as they do on their cell phones, many of their problems could be resolved.

 

Verse 38, "He *said to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for." Jesus said, "Let us go somewhere else," I love that!

Luke 4:42 says they tried to keep Him from going away from them. They want Jesus to capitalize on this popularity, because there are many who want to see Him. Leaving Capernaum would be a big mistake because it was one of the largest cities in the area. Capernaum has heard and now Jesus takes the Gospel to other places, so that they might believe and be saved. We live in a culture like that today, people are drawn to those with celebrity status simply because they are popular. Jesus didn’t care about being popular, He cared about people and was more interested in their response to His message. You won't be popular if you refuse to compromise the Word of God but instead will be persecuted. That's why the false teachers claiming to serve God but rejected the Truth killed Him.

 

That brings us to verse 39, "And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons." He didn’t go back to Capernaum, He was committed to preach the Gospel, by proclaiming the Good News that saves people. The miracles He performed were only so that people who heard His message would believe that He is Who He says He is. Tragically, many were more interested in what He could do for them, than what He could offer them. Sounds similar to our society today, doesn’t it?

Unfortunately, the inevitable results of a church that has lost its grasp of the True Gospel.

 

In Closing..

 

Preaching the Gospel that saves is more important than miracles. We often hear today, God is the healer, He will always heal the people of faith, but that's just not true. Jesus' ministry wasn't about healing to provide health, it was to fulfill prophesy that the Messiah has power over the physical and spiritual world to heal our infirmities, affirming He has the power to raise a glorified, perfect body into heaven in the future. Jesus healed sickness and disease, and raised the dead as a supernatural authentication that He is the promised Messiah. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, to rescue souls, the miracles He performed so that people might believe and be saved. That's why He gave the power to heal directly to the twelve, so that their message could be authenticated. As the Scriptures were being written down, miracle healings began to disappear. After the apostles, there’s no mention of a healing ministry.  

 

Our commission in Matthew 28, is to to prioritize prayer, and preach the Gospel in all places and to reach all people, to make disciples teaching them to observe all that He has commanded us. Jesus strategically preached the Gospel to seek and the lost, proclaiming salvation through faith in His name. They don't need hear the gospel twice while there are those who have never heard it even once, and He expects us to do the same.

 

The only one thing can spread faster than a pandemic is the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I’d like to challenge all of you to start a "Gospel Outbreak!"

 

May it be so..

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen

 

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