Sunday, August 24, 2025 PM

Mark chapter 1. We'll begin in verse 29 tonight. Yes sir,

Mark chapter 1, beginning in verse 29. And if you all are taking notes, you can know for sure these aren't my notes.

My notes are not as organized. Mark chapter 1.

Before we read, let's open with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for tonight.

We thank you, Lord, that you are a good Father who gives to us everything we need, who takes care of our souls and our bodies, who watches over us and who leads us in the way everlasting.

We thank you for your blessed Son, Jesus Christ, through whom we are reconciled to you.

We ask, Lord, that we would lift up our hearts to you tonight and bring you praise and worship, for this is what we are made for.

And it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Let's begin to read.

Mark chapter 1, verse 29. 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 began waiting on them.

Now 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 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. Reflecting on this passage, it's a joy for the believer to know that there is one who is in control.

In a world filled with physical pain, there is the great healer who sits on the throne and who cares for his people.

It's Jesus Christ who has authority not just over the supernatural, but also over the physical as well.

He is the great shepherd not just of our souls, but also of our bodies. He cares for us and brings us healing when we need it.

He restores our broken bones and takes away our illnesses. Because he is good, he is the great healer.

And we see that in our text tonight. After he delivers a man from an unclean spirit,

Jesus Christ comes to the mother -in -law of Peter. And this woman is helpless, incapable of seeking

Christ on her own. Yet by the mercy and grace of Jesus, he comes to her.

He seeks her out and brings her healing. And just like delivering the man from the unclean spirit,

Jesus does not rely upon any gimmicks, any props, any complex rituals to heal this woman.

But with divine authority, divine power, he simply raises her up and she is healed.

This isn't a one -time event, but the success rate of Jesus healing everyone who came to him was 100%.

Both for delivering people from demons and also delivering them from physical illness. Jesus Christ never failed to heal those who came to him.

And he went to those who were ill and demon -possessed and delivered them. Jesus is not a false healer, being careful to select those who will act along with him.

But everyone who comes to him is genuinely healed, restored, made whole by divine power.

This portion of Mark's Gospel reveals to the reader that Jesus has absolute authority over the physical world.

And we know it's Jesus who is the one who upholds the universe, all things, by the word of his power.

In him we all live and move and exist. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

You can study the human body and learn how it works, but what is the source that causes it to work?

What is the source that causes your own physical heart to continue to beat and operate as it should?

And that great brain that the Lord has given you, that mixture of electrical as well as chemical, how is it caused to continue to work and operate as it should in this world that God has made?

It's because God continues to give you the strength, continues to empower you to live your life.

He is the one who upholds not just your soul, but also your body, to give you physical strength as well as spiritual strength.

For he is the one who has power over the physical. And it's good that we pray,

Lord, heal me, heal those around us, heal those who are sick and in need. It's good that we go to the great shepherd, the great healer, and ask,

Lord, please bring healing to us as we hurt. Jesus not only heals through miracles, but also ordinary means in this life.

There are times for the people of God when the illnesses simply go away, when for whatever reason it seems like it just is gone overnight, and the believer is left with nothing but to say, this is a miracle from the

Lord. Just like all throughout the Gospels, Jesus heals today in miraculous ways, taking away illnesses, taking away sickness overnight as a miracle.

For he has the power to do so. And the

Lord also heals through ordinary means, through medicine, through proper nutrition.

And the Lord is the one who blesses the food we take to the nourishment of our bodies. He is the one who gives us water when we need it, food and sleep when we need it.

And he is the one who gives us gifts of good physicians who don't try and exploit their patients, who don't try and operate in a twisted system of just making money, but those who genuinely and sincerely care.

These are gifts from the Lord, physicians who truly want to help. Whether we're healed through miracles or through ordinary means, we know that the healing ultimately comes from the great healer,

Jesus Christ. For he is the one who has power over the physical.

And we are utterly dependent upon him. As we move and live and exist, we are utterly dependent upon the

Lord. This is a great joy and a great comfort to know that the

Lord heals us and takes care of us in all of our different ways and all of our different days.

But as we meditate on this, it's good for us to meditate on the question, what do we do when the great healer does not heal?

What does the believer do when the Lord in his goodness and his sovereignty chooses not to heal in this lifetime?

The believer must respond knowing that God is still at work to glorify his name and to bring about our good in this life.

Though he might not bring us healing in this life, he still will glorify his name through us, even through our pain, and bring about our good in this life.

The believer can rest in the fact that there is divine purpose in all of our pain. For an unbeliever, what is their hope?

What is their assurance as they go through illness and pain? Is there purpose in all of this?

But for the believer, we know there is divine purpose in all of our pain.

Though it might last a month, a couple of years, or even a lifetime, the

Lord is at work to bring about his glory and our good, even in our pain.

God is able to bring life out of graveyards, and he is able to bring goodness even out of our physical pain.

And perhaps we don't know why he doesn't bring the healing, but we know God is still at work. We know that he knows what he is doing.

And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called according to his purpose,

Romans 8 .28, a blessed promise to hold on to, and one that is hard for the believer often, but one that proves true and trustworthy in every circumstance and in every single one of our pains.

Physical pain is a hard thing to walk through, but we can rest assured God will bring good even out of this.

I appreciate the words of Kosti Hinn in his book, More Than a Healer, which if you ever get a chance, it's a simple read, and considering his background, this brother brings a lot of good insight to considering that Jesus is much more than a healer.

In his book he writes, God doesn't promise to remove all pain and make your life easy, but the

Bible makes it clear that he will take you through your pain and make something beautiful out of it.

Amen to that. And we know that Jesus himself said, In this world you'll have trouble, but take heart,

I have overcome the world. And we know that Jesus will bring good even out of our pain.

And at this point we can ask, in what ways? How so? What kind of blessings does

God bring out of our pain? Well, tonight, as the Lord allows, we'll consider three blessings that the

Lord brings out of our pain. For he does not remain silent on this issue in life, but the

Lord speaks to this issue and reveals to us that he does in fact bring blessings out of our pain.

Number one, God brings the blessing of our faith growing. Let's turn to Romans chapter 5, verses 3 through 5.

Romans 5, beginning in verse 3. And not only this, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not put to shame because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the

Holy Spirit who was given to us. Amen to this. In our physical pain,

God grows our faith. He adds to our faith perseverance, or as some translations put it, endurance.

That is to say that our faith becomes one that is strong, that holds under pressure, and is not deterred.

It becomes a faith that can take a hit and keep moving on to glory. And it's good to recognize that we cannot obtain perseverance, endurance before the valley, but we gain it in the valley, going through.

We cannot come before the valley and say, I'd like to have endurance for this, but we gain it while going through the valley.

We gain it in the trial. The way our faith is strengthened is by stretching it and exercising it in pain.

And the Lord is good to grow our faith in the trial. We know from James 1, under the inspiration of the

Holy Spirit, the writer there writes, Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance, endurance.

And let perseverance have its perfect work so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Physical trials are used by God to perfect our faith, to make it complete so that it lacks nothing.

It grows, it is strengthened and developed into godly character and hope.

Hope that is not just simple wishing, but a certain expectation the

Lord will do as He says. He will help me through this, and He will strengthen my faith so that it is stronger than ever before, for I have gone through this valley, and my shepherd has been good to be by my side and strengthened me every step of the way.

Let's turn to 1 Peter 1, verses 6 and 7.

1 Peter 1, beginning in verse 6. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And we know from chapter 4 of 1 Peter, that Peter writes also, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.

As the Lord brings us through trials of physical pain, our faith is tested, it's refined, and the gold of our faith loses all of its dross.

It is purified, strengthened, and made to be much more glorious than it was before.

And it is only going through the fire of trial and difficulty that our faith is grown and purified.

It's not a strange thing to encounter problems in this life. It's not a strange thing when we encounter pain in this life.

Again, God does not promise us an easy life, but he promises to be with us and to bring us through all of it.

And physical trials proves our faith, showing it to be genuine. For oftentimes, this is the testing ground that proves people's faith to be truly not true.

Several times, people who say they are Christians come up to physical pain, and when they experience it, they walk away, showing that their faith was not really genuine, not true.

But for true faith, for true believers, it abides in Christ, and Christ in them.

Christ is the one that holds them fast and brings them through the trial. And we can look back on the physical pain that we endured and say, yes, my faith was proven true.

It was real and genuine, and it's real and genuine now, and can face the next trial that tomorrow holds, for we know who holds tomorrow, and we know the one who holds us fast.

Amid the dark clouds of physical affliction, God sends grace like rain to grow our faith.

A second blessing that the Lord brings out of our physical pain is to grow our trust in Him.

Let's turn to 2 Corinthians 1, beginning in verse 8. God can bring good out of affliction.

He can even bring good out of a creaky whiteboard. 2

Corinthians 1, beginning in verse 8. The Apostle Paul writes,

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively beyond our strength so that we despaired even to live.

Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not have confidence in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who rescued us from so great a peril of death and will rescue us, he on whom we have set our hope, and he will yet rescue us.

At one point in the Apostle Paul's life and ministry, he faced a situation which he describes as one where he was burdened excessively beyond his strength and even despairs of life.

This is the 11th hour, even perhaps beyond the 11th hour for the Apostle Paul. There is no way out for him.

There seems to be no hope on the horizon. But God delivered.

He brought through. And the Apostle Paul says, He on whom we have set our hope, he has rescued us, and he will yet rescue us.

And this trial that the Apostle Paul went through was used by God so that he would not have confidence in himself, but in God who raises the dead.

And so too, physical pain can lead us to trust in God more.

Physical suffering makes us trust less in our own physical strength, and it further dispels the illusion that we have ultimate control over our lives.

It causes us to lose hold of our own physical strength and over that illusion that we have ultimate control over our lives.

And it causes us to take that empty hand and to cling to our good God ever tighter, ever more true.

We cling to the one who is in control and who brings help in the suffering.

Our trust grows like never before. We have a greater trust like never before.

And these physical pains and trials that we go through are new situations to learn new ways of trusting in Jesus that we never knew before.

The deeper the valley, the deeper the promises of God prove themselves to be true and trustworthy.

The deeper the valley, the deeper we learn to trust in him. The deeper the valley, the deeper we learn to love him.

And later on in 2 Corinthians, Paul faced the thorn in the flesh. Whatever that might have been, it caused him to go to the

Lord and to trust in him more. Whatever this was, it was not pleasant for the

Apostle Paul. It was a hard thing to have this thorn in the flesh. And the

Apostle Paul prayed three times, Lord, take this away. Take this away.

Lord, please take this away. And we can think to ourselves and make a guess.

Why did the Apostle Paul want this taken away? Lord, I could work for you more. I could serve more people.

I could bring your Gospel to more places. I could be more effective. I could be such a better Apostle for you.

Take this away. And our Lord's response,

My grace is enough for you and my power is made perfect in weakness. And Paul learned the lesson to boast in his weakness, in this thorn in the flesh, so that the power of God might rest upon him and the glory of God might shine forth in this pain, in this thorn in the flesh.

And so too when we experience physical pain, we can learn that lesson that God's grace is enough for us every single day and that his power is made perfect in our weak and frail bodies.

These are promises that are a blessing to read through. They're blessings to study. But oh, what a blessing and what a joy to lean upon them and to claim them in those trials.

What a blessing to actually take them and live them. What a blessing it is to know

God more true, more fully, in physical pain. To know that he is in fact the

God of all comfort, who comforts us not just in some, but in all of our afflictions, all of our tribulations.

What a comfort it is to know the Lord and to know truly that he is Provider. To grow in trusting in him as our

Provider. For when we face physical pain, we have needs, finances, resources, medicine, and how often the

Lord proves to be that great Provider, that great Healer. And time and time again, he provides the finances, he provides the resources, he provides everything we need and so much more.

For he is that good. And through physical pain, we go to trust in him much more than ever before.

To the soul that is stuck in the hospital or limited at home, immobilized by sickness or pain, may that soul's heart fly upward to Christ, to heaven.

May that soul find comfort and rest in Christ, to dwell upon his promises, to live them and to take hold of them, and to grow to trust

God in deeper and newer ways. You cannot learn to trust

God in these ways unless you go through the trial. And the Lord is good to bring us through and to teach us to trust him more.

May the soul that is sick entrust himself, herself, unto the Lord. And may that soul also entrust those around him unto the

Lord. For that soul can ask, Lord, what will happen to my family? What will happen to my friends?

If I'm sick, who will provide for them? Who will care for them? And this can often be the situation for a minister or an elder who cares for people at a local church but finds himself limited in pain.

Lord, what will happen to them? May that soul entrust all of these people unto the gracious and good shepherd of the soul.

Who will take care of them? Jesus will. Who will take care of you and your sickness?

Jesus will. For he is good and shall not the judge of all the earth do right.

Another blessing that the Lord brings out of our physical pain is to grow our hope for heaven.

Let's turn to Romans chapter 8 and we'll start in verse 18.

Romans chapter 8, beginning in verse 18.

The Apostle Paul writes, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

For the anxious longing of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope, that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

For in hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he already sees?

But if our hope for what we do not see with perseverance, we eagerly wait for it.

Amen to this. We as believers eagerly wait for that great home, that great glory to be revealed at the return of Jesus Christ, that full, final realization of our adoptions as sons.

And the physical pain in our bodies often causes our hearts to become homesick for heaven.

The physical pain reminds us to let go of this broken world full of pain and misery and darkness and say within our hearts,

I want to go home. I want to be with Jesus forever and ever in all eternity.

I want to go home. And even if a believer goes through a lifetime of physical pain, glorious eternity far, far outweighs it.

Even if someone were to live a thousand lifetimes full of agony and pain, this would not be a drop in the bucket for eternity.

Oh, eternity awaits us for all who believe in Jesus Christ. The Lord is good to bring blessings out of our physical pain.

He helps us to grow in our faith, to grow in our trust for Him, and for our hope for heaven to grow.

But Jesus has done something far greater than bring healing to our bodies. Turn over to Isaiah 53.

Isaiah 53, beginning in verse 1. Who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?

For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground.

He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should desire

Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their face.

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs

He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed

Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace fell upon Him.

And by His wounds we are healed. There is a sickness far more serious than the sickness of our bodies.

There is a sickness of the heart, of the inner man, for we are all born as sinners with a sinful heart full of darkness.

This heart opposes God, does not wish for His ways, but tries to go the opposite way.

It does not desire God, but desires its own selfish ways. But by the wounds of Christ our heart is healed.

It is restored in Him and Him alone. By His wounds we are healed.

This is not a promise of physical healing, but it's a greater and far more glorious promise of spiritual healing, of our hearts to be reconciled to the

Holy God, to be redeemed and brought into fellowship with the Lord.

And in Christ, not only are our hearts healed and restored, but we have every blessing in Christ, every blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

And much more important, we know Him. This is eternal life that they may know

You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ who came into the world to save sinners. The greatest blessing that Jesus brings us is to know

Him, to be in fellowship with Him, and to have that promise that one day,

Lord, I'll be with You forever and ever in all eternity. I appreciate, again, the words of Kosti Hinn.

Deliverance from your sin is more important than deliverance from suffering. And I'm thankful for the words of the songwriter.

More... Sorry. More than comfort, we need the King. More than gifts, we need the

Giver. More than blessings, we need Your presence. And more than healing, we need the

Healer. Jesus Christ has saved you.

And one day, He will heal you, whether in this life or in eternity.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word tonight.

We thank You for the precious promises that You will take care of us. You will provide for us,

Lord. And we thank You for the scriptures that we have had time to meditate on, and the promises that we have had time to meditate on.

And Lord Jesus, we know that not everyone knows the pain and the hardship we go through, but You, Lord, You know.

O great man of sorrows, You know exactly what we go through, and You are there with us never to leave us nor forsake us.

Lord, thank You again for Your Word tonight. And Jesus, thank You for saving us. And may we respond like the mother -in -law of Peter.

May we serve You, Lord, not in order to be healed, but may we serve

You, Lord, because You have healed us. We thank You, Lord Jesus, for what

You've done. May all the glory and praise be unto You, Lord, for our lives are not about us, but it's about You.