(Sabbath Miracles) 02 - Unclean Spirit

Good evening. Thank you, Barry. Bless the Lord, what he's done.

Rick, Chaz. Does everyone have that paper that I handed out this morning? If you don't, there's some on the back. Does everybody have one? Because we will refer to that now and then.

I'll ask you to turn, please, in your Bibles to Mark chapter 1 and Luke chapter 4 and sort of mark both of those places, if you would. Thank you. Anybody else need a sheet there? All right, thank you.

Thanks, Dave. Dana, thank you. As we come to the study of God's Word, there is a principle of Bible study that is absolutely indispensable.

And that principle is total reliance upon God's Holy Spirit. And the reason we repeat it over and over and over again is because our natural hearts would love to take for granted the one thing that's indispensable. We gravitate toward things that are helpful.

Now, Rick came up and said, I've got my Bible. I came up and I got my Bible and a thousand pages of notes. Helpful, but not indispensable.

There's only one indispensable thing, and that is that God himself speak through his Word. We bless God for the helps. I think he expects us to do donkey work and to study and to labor.

But when it's all done, brothers and sisters in Christ, have you learned to come before God as a little child? And just say, Lord, with all of the light I have, speak to me, show me Christ, show me Jesus. This is indispensable. And so he's promised that we would come that way, whether we're coming as individuals or whether we're coming corporately as we are tonight.

If we would come just asking the Lord to put his light upon the Lord Jesus through this book. I'm pretty sure he'd splash our eyes and we'd come back seeing. And then he'd fill our sight with the vision of himself.

So bow with me, please. Let's commit our time to him. Our Father, we do thank you that we have this opportunity again this evening to trust the Holy Spirit.

As we splash our eyes to take the scales away that we might behold our lovely Lord Jesus in a living and transforming way. Lord, you know each one of us and all that concerns us. We're here.

You've brought us here. And now we'd ask you to minister unto us by your precious Word. We thank you in advance that from all eternity you have planned for this time.

Meet with us and perform all your will. We ask in the all deserving name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.

Let me just say a few words to get us back in the spirit of what we've been looking at. We've gathered this weekend, as you know, to see the Lord in terms of these wonderful scriptures that deal with what we're just calling the full restoration of the Sabbath day. That's on the Lord's heart to take his Sabbath back.

Even since that day he has longed to have his Sabbath. When God instituted the Sabbath on the seventh day of creation, as I suggested, the Sabbath is only one day younger than man. God created man and the next thing he did was institute the Sabbath day as a glorious picture.

The Sabbath day was sort of God's crowning act of creation. I wonder if you've ever wondered why God did it that way and waited until the end of the sixth day before he created man. I don't know the full story, but I think I know one reason.

He didn't want man's help. He didn't want man's help. And so he just knew that man would say, let me help you separate the waters above from the waters beneath.

And he would have had to say, no, I don't need your help for that. And he knew that man would have come along and said, let me help you with the animals or the vegetables or let me make a grain of sand or a blade of grass. Let me help you with the feathers or the fins or something.

And God said, no, no, no. I don't want your help with anything. I'll make you last.

So you can't help. It's all done. And after he made man last, he made the Sabbath.

So that would be first. And so man's first day was a Sabbath day. A finished creation.

Man had nothing to do with it except to enter in and enjoy it. And he named it rest. He named it Sabbath.

And that became a picture. And he said, I'm going to have to repeat that in redemption. Because I know man's going to want to help.

And he can't help. I've got to do it all by myself. And you know redemption's story.

And our Lord Jesus went to the cross and finished the work. And then invited us to enter in and enjoy. That's called Sabbath.

That's called rest. Well, as you know, all of that was a picture. That's how God planned it from the beginning.

I'll make this beautiful picture that will minister unto man. Which will serve man and bless his heart. And he set aside that wonderful day.

That great day to illustrate every day in our union with him. Ezekiel 20 verse 12. I gave my Sabbath to be a sign between me and them.

That they might know I am the Lord. The Lord that sanctifies them. And so the Sabbath was a wonderful picture as God intended it.

But then you know the story through the years. The Sabbath somehow got into the hands of man. The one who couldn't help and tried to improve instead.

And when he took the Sabbath, oh my. It became encrusted with man's ideas and man's reasonings. And man's superstitions and all of the traditions and the ideas.

And that which was designed to serve man. And bless man and minister unto man. And reflect the relationship man had with God.

Instead became a terrible taskmaster. With a whip in its hand. And it began to beat up and destroy the people of God.

And put them under horrible bondage and condemnation. That approach to the Sabbath has been with us through the centuries. It really hasn't gone away.

I don't know how you grew up. I grew up with a taste of that. My grandmother was a German Lutheran.

And she related very closely Sabbath and Lord's Day. And she put those together. And we had to get permission to breathe, you know, on Sunday.

We couldn't do anything on Sunday. If it didn't have an open Bible or prayer or go to church or something like that. God's picture.

Instituted, designed to picture our delight, our relationship with Him. That we've entered into a finished work and are just enjoying Him. That had become ruined.

Glance if you would at that sheet. I pointed out that seven times our Lord Jesus rose up on the Sabbath day. And performed these wonderful miracles.

I suggested this morning that He wasn't trying to be divisive. Our Lord Jesus was not being a troublemaker by doing these things on the Sabbath. Certainly He could have done it on another day.

But He chose the Sabbath not to antagonize the Pharisees. Not to mock them because they didn't have the truth as He held the truth. But in His heart He wanted to reclaim the Sabbath.

He wanted to take it out of unholy hands. He wanted to deliver it from all of the pernicious teaching that had come along with it. And that was enslaving His people.

When we left off this morning we closed by looking at the seven conditions of those people who were rescued on the Sabbath day. Picture either seven people or these seven maladies in one. Possessed with an evil spirit.

Burning with a high fever. Crippled for 38 years. A wilted hand.

Born blind. Humped over for 18 years. Swollen from head to foot with an internal poison.

That's how the Sabbath had left in the hands of men. That's how it had left God's people. What we're looking at is the full mention of deliverance.

Our Lord Jesus is going to deliver those people. He's going to take His Sabbath back. You know it's interesting as you go through the record.

Nobody cries out, Son of David have mercy on me. None of these Sabbath miracles, nobody reaches out to touch His hand. Nobody calls out to be saved.

They're all oppressed. And they don't even know it. He had to come in and deliver everyone.

He had to come in and reclaim His Sabbath. I'm suggesting that these seven miracles, these Sabbath miracles, that the Holy Spirit has grouped together. Are the full explanation in bud form.

When I say seed form, I mean Old Testament. When I say bud form, I mean the Gospels. When I say fully developed form, I mean the Epistles.

This is the full explanation in bud form. It's a little more than the seed, in bud form of deliverance. When you're finished with these seven miracles, you will not be able to think of another way that God could deliver you.

If He delivers you in these seven ways, you've entered into His rest. There are no other ways to get delivered than these seven ways. And that's what He wants to do.

This morning, again, just glance at the sheet once more. We've looked at these two Sabbath events. The first event was our Lord Jesus, at the beginning of His ministry, went into the synagogue at Nazareth.

Picked up the Bible. The Scriptures. Opened it to Isaiah 61.

And applied that Messianic passage to Himself. He closed the book at a comma. Because Isaiah continues into His second coming.

He stopped at the first coming. And He said, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He's anointed me to preach the Gospel.

Basically, to proclaim jubilee to those who are oppressed. To those who are in bondage. To those who are captive.

To give eyes to the blind. To set the prisoner free. All those things we read about in the Jubilee.

Jesus said, I'm going to do that. And He rises up to go and reclaim His Sabbath. The second event was this Matthew 12 story of our Lord Jesus walking in the grain fields.

With His disciples. And I believe that God gives us, before we start. He gives us this overall picture.

What is this Sabbath all about? It's Jesus rising as the emancipator. As the liberator. He said, I'm going to set my people free.

And when they get set free, this is what it will look like. And Jesus is strolling through the grain fields with His disciples. And the Lord is providing their sufficiency.

They're hungry and they're being fed. And while they're being fed, He prepares a table in the presence of our enemies. And there were legalists hiding behind the stalks.

And they were in the fields. And they were upset, but the disciples didn't have to deal with them. Jesus dealt with them.

What is Sabbath living? Brothers and sisters in Christ, the simplicity of it will blow you away. It's walking with Jesus in the grain fields. If you've come up here this weekend to get a bunch of theology and learn all about Sabbath this and that.

You're not going to get it here. The simplicity is, He wants to bring us back to what it means to walk with Jesus in the grain fields. And let Him provide all of our needs while other people complain.

So what? But God does that for us. But you know, some people are in bondage in all of these ways. So what we'd like to do starting tonight is go miracle by miracle.

Walk with the Lord Jesus as He sets these people free. Here's how I'd like to divide it up for those that like logical connection. Tonight we'd like to look at the first two miracles.

By the way, I'm only going to home in on the heart because there's too much, as you know, too much ground to cover. I'm just going to look at the heart of each story. I'll probably leave out something you would have brought in.

I am definitely going to leave out controversial stuff. There's a lot of it in there. And for a good reason.

I don't have a clue what it means. And so I'm just going to lay that aside. And home in on Sabbath living.

What is the heart of each of these? And brothers and sisters, I feel like I can just not only preach, but just sort of talk to you. And really I would appreciate if you'd pray in terms of this first miracle. Because it's the first one.

And because it has to do with demon possession. And because there's a great world of thinking on all of this. And I don't want to get into that.

So that we can look through that and get the principle. And so if we could just see and press through. I'm trusting the Lord to make all of that clear.

So tonight we'll look at two. Tomorrow morning we'll look together at the miracle at Bethesda. And then tomorrow night two.

And then Lord willing we'll finish up on Monday morning. Mark chapter 1. This is also in Luke 4. I was going to read both texts. I'll just read Mark.

Chapter 1 beginning at 21. They went into Capernaum. And immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and began to teach.

And they were amazed at his teaching. He was teaching them as one having authority. Not as the scribes.

And just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out saying, what do we have to do with you Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. The Holy One of God.

Jesus rebuked him saying, be quiet and come out of him. And throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. And they were all amazed so that they debated among themselves saying, what is this? A new teaching with authority.

He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him. And immediately the news about him went out everywhere into all the surrounding districts of Galilee. You'll want to also read the sister passage from Luke 4. But we won't do that now.

So that we don't lose the power of this story. See every story, we need all seven to have the complete picture. Every story sees the Lord Jesus reclaiming part of the Sabbath.

Each story sheds new light on what it means to enter into Sabbath rest. Since the Sabbath is a picture of our relationship with Jesus. By the time we finish these seven miracles.

You'll have the full teaching on what it means to walk with Jesus in the grain field. Each miracle sheds a new light on what it means to rest. And so we're going to look at these one by one.

Now let me make a couple of observations about this first miracle. The first observation is, it's the first miracle. That's really a general observation.

But that's important because as the first miracle, it prepares your heart for what's coming. And it sort of summarizes everything. I've been trying to insist on the spiritual counterpart behind all these pictures.

You might say, well I come to these miracles, that doesn't look spiritual. That looks like a real fever. That doesn't look spiritual, that looks like real paralysis.

That doesn't look spiritual, that looks like a real withered hand. And real blindness. But when you come to the first one, you can't say that.

That one looks spiritual. Because that is possession by an unclean spirit. And so he starts us off showing us the spiritual nature of all of these things.

And then later on, he develops it a little further. Each one of these is spiritual. But it's very clear in this first one.

I've got one commentary tries to explain this away as an epileptic fit. It's not an epileptic fit. When you read about those demon possessions, I'll tell you, they were real.

Or you'd have your first case of epileptic pigs. It's not epilepsy. It's an actual miracle.

Right here in this first miracle, we're brought face to face with the overriding theme of the Bible. The war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. And you can't get very far in any truth of God and not be brought back to the war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

And the Lord is sort of expecting us right at the beginning to prepare for this spiritual conflict. It's also a summary miracle. And that is, it includes, it's the greatest expression and includes everything under it.

In Mark 1.23, it says that he was possessed with an unclean spirit. Luke 4.33 calls it an unclean demon. Let me pass on a principle of Bible study that's been very helpful to me.

Every now and then, I read and I find these gems that help me. A.T. Pearson, are you familiar with him, the great missionary writer, Arthur Pearson? He has so many of these suggestions. The first time something's mentioned in the Bible.

The last time something's mentioned in the Bible. Any full mention in the Bible. And I found this very helpful.

If you're struggling with something, look for the opposite of that. And sometimes by finding the opposite of that, it sheds light on both cases. For example, we know what the word death means.

Basically it means separation. That's what death is. And so the body, James says, when the body is separated from the spirit, that's death.

And spiritual death is when my soul is separated from God. And the second death is when I'm separated forever from the Lord. Death is separation.

Well, what's the opposite of death? Life. And what's the essence of life? It's union. It's union.

See? And why do I know that I'm not going to hell forever? Because my name is written in the book of union. Your name's written in the book of union. Life is union with God.

Now come back to this miracle here. What's the opposite of unclean spirit? Clean spirit. Alright.

How clean? Holy. Holy spirit. Exactly right.

And there is no restoration of the Sabbath until someone is delivered from being possessed by an unclean spirit and is brought to the place where they're possessed by the clean spirit. By the Holy Spirit. And it's not a surprise that this story would open with this great truth.

If God's going to get his Sabbath back, it's got to start with someone being possessed by the Holy Spirit. That's the first. That's the beginning.

Every true Sabbath is going to have that in it. Glance at Mark 1 24, please. When the demon said, what do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? I know you're the Holy One of God.

Or Luke 4 says it this way. He cried with a loud voice. Ha! What do we have to do with you? We're told by the Greek scholars that what the unclean spirit was doing was mocking.

The Greek is, we have nothing in common. That's what he said. What have I to do with you? I have nothing in common with you.

That's how far the Sabbath had gotten. Nothing in common with the Lord. When Jesus proclaims Jubilee, one of the things he has to do is get rid of the unclean spirit.

Some have been bothered by the fact that the Lord Jesus told the unclean spirit to shut up. Said be quiet and come out of him. Well, wasn't he testifying? Wasn't he testifying of the divinity of Christ? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

No, this spirit was not testifying. This demon had an attitude. This demon had a problem.

He was not testifying at all. This is unholy audacity, what he's saying. When he says in verse 24, have you come to destroy us? Who's the us? Remember, it is one spirit.

You say, well, maybe it's like legion, we are many. I don't think that's what he means. When he says, have you come to destroy us? I think what the demon is saying basically is this.

I know you, Lord Jesus. We have nothing in common. What are you doing here anyway? This is my play.

I've got this person. Have you come to destroy us? Me and the one I'm holding? And I'll tell you why he said that. Because this demon had this idea.

You can't get me without getting him. I'm holding him so tight and the only way you're going to get me is to destroy him too. Is that what you've come to do, destroy both of us? Because I'm not letting him go.

He didn't know the emancipator. Satan would love you to think that he could have a hold on you that Jesus can't break. Satan would love to have you think that Satan has some kind of a manacle that can hold you down or a chain.

He wants to destroy you. I love this. Luke 4.35 says, When the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him without doing him any harm.

Aren't you glad for that? Without doing him any harm. When Jesus shows up, Satan's got to go. And although he hates you and he hates me, he's not going to do any harm.

In this connection, I love that first promise. Genesis 3.15. Not only because it tells me about the war. This has helped me so much.

Brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a matter of faith. And I'll just pass it on and encourage you to take it by faith.

You know, in this war between the serpent and the seed of the woman. You are the seed of the woman, you know. It's not only Christ.

It's Christ and all that belong to him. That's the seed of the woman. And the seed of the serpent is Satan and all that belong to him.

And in that war, there's a promise that Satan can only scratch the heel of the seed of the woman. Now, I know we apply that to Christ and the cross and all. And rightly so.

Like Barry was sharing, I also have seen some marriages. This thought broke my heart. The people that I've joined in marriage are now divorced.

I've got to have very clear leading from the Lord anymore. If I'll ever marry anybody again. I've got to have very clear leading from the Lord.

And I look at some of these broken marriages and my heart breaks. I know Christians that are so bound up with addictions. Breaks your heart.

I know some Christians who name themselves sons of God. And as I talk to you tonight, they're in the pig pen. Satan would love me to think he got to the head.

He didn't. He did not. And I know, I say it's a matter of faith.

That's only a heel scratch. And I'll ask you to trust me now in time. And when they stand before God in their resurrection bodies, you'll see what I mean.

That he only scratched their heel. We've got to pray in faith for these kinds of people. And God wants to deliver them.

But we don't need to believe what Satan is trying to get us to believe. That God can't deliver us unless we're destroyed. That's not the truth at all.

Jesus told them to shut up because he wasn't giving a testimony. He wasn't proclaiming the divinity of Christ. He was getting proud.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let me nail it down. Here's the first principle. Call it what you want.

I'm going to call it Sabbath surrender. Because this first story has to do with who possesses you. Who possesses you? An unclean spirit.

Don't just say, well Christians can't be possessed by demons. I don't want to get into that. That's a question all its own.

And I have my opinions and others have theirs. And I don't want to get into that. But I know that he used the big picture demon possession to picture anything less than that.

Anything that is not the fullness of the Holy Spirit can be included under unclean spirit. And we need to be delivered. You know this guy was in the synagogue.

He knew he was possessed. He kept coming to church. He was in the synagogue.

And he was going through the motions. One day he came face to face with Jesus Christ who had determined to get his Sabbath back. And all of a sudden he's revealed.

There comes a day when the Lord Jesus Christ shows up in such a way that the game is over. No more playing. No more acting.

No more going through the motions. And he comes in to say, I want to get rid of the unclean spirit and I want you possessed by the clean spirit. When Jesus confronts you like that, there might be somebody here today.

Nobody knows it, see, because that's the secret. And you're living maybe for the flesh or for the devil or for the world. You haven't given yourself over to the Lord.

You haven't given yourself to the clean spirit. And I promise you this. Whether it's here or someplace else.

Someday Jesus is going to show up and confront. And then it's over. The game is over.

When Jesus sets you free from this unclean spirit. You notice he didn't say to the person that had the unclean spirit. He didn't say, now struggle with that unclean spirit and fight with that unclean spirit.

Try to quit this sin and try to quit that sin. And all that kind of thing. No, no, this is Sabbath surrender.

This is something that the Lord Jesus does and it's all by grace. Satan, you know, he's like a tenant that just got word that he's going to be kicked out of his apartment. And he's going to do all the damage that he can do.

When the Lord shows up and Satan is confronted. And the issue is clear and you're exposed and there's no more game. It would be embarrassing.

I bet that guy was embarrassed. He'd go into a compulsion and I bet he was embarrassed that everybody knew he had an unclean spirit and all of that. And then Satan took him because that's his malice and he just threw him down.

And you know what the Bible says? He came up unharmed. Unhurt. Unharmed.

I can't promise you that you won't be hurt. I can promise you you won't be harmed. I can't promise you you won't be hurt.

And if the Lord Jesus comes in, that's how Sabbath begins. He comes in and he confronts this and the issue is clearly who's possessing you. Brothers and sisters in Christ, row by row.

The game's over. Who's possessing you? He wants his Sabbath back. To any degree whatsoever.

Anything other than the Holy Spirit. You need a deliverance. You can't quit.

You need the Lord to come in and deliver. Some people believe that so much they believe that the Lord has to come in and actually cast out a spirit of this or that. That also is a question all of its own.

But I'll guarantee this. We need deliverance. We need deliverance.

And only the Lord can deliver. Hold that for a moment and turn to Luke 4. Just look at this second miracle. 38.

And he arose and left the synagogue. And he entered Simon's home. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever.

And they made request of him on her behalf. And standing over her, he rebuked the fever. It left her.

And she immediately arose and waited on them. Mark also records this and adds three facts. Mark tells us that it was Andrew's house too.

That they co-owned the home. And Mark tells us James and John were also present. And Mark tells us that when Jesus did this miracle, he took her by the hand.

Now I told you in the first story, we're sure it's spiritual. You say, well this is a fever. This isn't spiritual at all.

And I told you this morning, it's from Luke. And it's a high fever. And the doctor told us that.

But did you notice, even as he deals with this physical thing. Did you notice the spiritual side? Luke 4.39 He rebuked the fever. It's almost like an exorcism.

He's talking to the fever as if it were a spirit. We see the same kind of thing in the sixth miracle. When that woman was all humped over for 18 years.

And then Jesus tells us, Satan is the one that held her for all of those years. Even though it's physical. We see that Satan is behind it.

He has everything to do with destroying the Sabbath. I believe the Holy Spirit worded it this way. So that we would be on the lookout for the spiritual side.

Maybe even more than that, but at least that. And what I'm suggesting is, there is such a thing as a spiritual fever. And if you have a spiritual fever, you can't enjoy Sabbath.

So we need to identify that. May God help us. In Luke 4.39 there's this emphasis that is given in all of the records.

Luke 4.39 She immediately arose and waited on them. Mark 1.31 She waited on them. She served them.

Matthew 8.15 He touched her hand. The fever left her. She arose and waited on him.

The thing that the Holy Spirit is emphasizing in the fever of Peter's mother-in-law. Is what we call service. It's what we call ministry.

This woman is down for the count. With a high fever. The Lord Jesus ministers unto her.

Touches her. She rises up and runs to the kitchen. From her fever.

From her high fever. I think it's logical for the Holy Spirit as he begins to unfold Sabbath. To say look I want my Sabbath back.

But it's got to start with this. The Holy Spirit must possess you. And then it's very logical that he would begin to talk about ministry.

And service. Serving the Lord. In order to make this intensely practical.

Let me break it down into several principles. What like does this shed on Christian service? Well the first thing I see is that Christian service. Is designed by God in Sabbath truth.

To be spontaneous. It was certainly spontaneous for her. There was no command.

After the fever was gone Jesus didn't say. Now I command you in the name of the Lord. Get up and serve dinner.

There was none of that. Not a single word was said about ministry. This woman got up out of her fever and said.

I got to serve the Lord. And I got to serve his people. Spontaneous.

Some people think as soon as you start talking about rest. You might as well throw service out the window. Because rest just means lazy.

And if you're going to rest in the Lord. You don't do anything. You're just lazy all the time.

Some folks carry that idea all the way to heaven. And what I mean by that. I've heard people say.

Oh heaven yeah. Lazy man's paradise. I can't wait to go to heaven.

I'm just going to. I've been so busy down here. I'm going to sit down for a million years.

And I'm just going to relax for the first million years. Or maybe two million years. I got news for you folks.

Read your Bible. Heaven is a busy place. Heaven is a busy place.

It's not a lazy man's paradise. Jesus said of earth. We work while it's day.

He said of heaven. They serve him day and night. In his temple.

All the time. Heaven is a very very busy place. And I'm so glad that he brought this up right at the beginning of the Sabbath miracles.

Because there is no conflict between rest and ministry. Rest and service. It's spontaneous.

You get someone who has really been touched by the Lord. They want to serve the Lord. They don't have to think about it.

They don't need a command. It's not a duty. And then notice this.

It's carried on in supernatural strength. It's not only spontaneous. It's supernatural.

One illustration of this is that Peter's mother-in-law did not need convalescence. And I don't know if you've ever had a high fever. Or I don't know if you've known anybody with a high fever.

But usually the doctor says okay now. Take it easy for a couple of days. Wait till you get your strength back.

Let's do this thing gradually. Don't do too much. You'll relapse.

You'll get back into the fever again. Peter's mother-in-law did not need time to recuperate. She did not need convalescence.

She got up from a high fever. And she began to minister to the Lord. Let me sort of give you a testimony in this regard.

Try to nail down what is spiritual fever. I remember my early Christian experience. And perhaps some of you have done the same kinds of things.

I was big on service. I wanted to serve the Lord. But my life was in fits and starts.

You know what I mean by that? Fits and starts. Meaning that I moved from natural strength to natural weakness. And then when I revived I went back to natural strength again until I pooped out.

And then went back to natural weakness. Sort of malaria. Fever chill.

Fever chill. And I was running good and then all of a sudden I'd peter out. I had this great zeal.

This great drive. This earnestness and ambition for the Lord. And I'd become involved in everything.

And then after a while I'd be tired and I'd wear out. And then I quit everything. And then when I quit everything I went on to this condemnation.

Oh man. I quit everything. And then the Lord would allow me to maybe hear.

And I'd get all revived again. And it would start all over and I'd give new vows and dedicate my. I came forward so many times.

Signed so many cards. Raised my hand so many times. Knelt at so many altars.

And I kept giving myself over and over and over again. And I'd run. I'd run.

And then I'd die. And I'd be in bed with a fever. And then I'd get revived again.

And that was my whole Christian life. That's not Sabbath service. That's not Sabbath ministry.

Sabbath ministry is being touched by the Lord. Not moving from natural weakness to natural strength. But moving from natural weakness to a supernatural strength.

That's why it doesn't peter out. That's why Rick could come up here tonight after a whole year. As excited as ever.

One of the worst things that could happen. And I pray, honestly, I pray it does not happen. And every place I go it seems that people are talking this way.

Oh, I love to go to this conference because there I can charge my battery. Leave your dumb battery home. You didn't come here to charge your battery.

You didn't come here to fill your cup. You didn't come here to get revived. You didn't come here to go outside.

From now on I'm going to make new promises and new oaths. And I'm going to go do it. That's not why you're here.

You're here to see the Lord. And when He touches you, the fever's gone forever. When He touches you, you rise up in the strength of the Lord.

In the power of the Lord. You don't have to get gradual. You don't have to start and then fail and start again and fail.

That's one of the first things I said to Rick. After the Lord began to touch him, I told Rick, It is not going to wear off. I just felt like somebody's going to tell him it's going to wear off.

I didn't want him to hear it. It's not going to wear off. That's outrageous.

It gets better and better and better. Deeper and deeper. Fuller and fuller.

Sweeter and sweeter. Jesus becomes more lovely all the time. That's the reality.

Spiritual fever. Serving the Lord. I've got to serve the Lord.

I've got to do that. I've got to volunteer. I've got to give.

Service is spontaneous. It's intuitive. It's life.

Service is supernatural. The power of God. And then one other thing.

And we'll close. Not only is it spontaneous and supernatural and not something that you have to grow into. You just sort of step into it.

Once the Lord touches you. But I love the fact that God emphasizes this. Matthew 8.15. It says, The Lord Jesus went over and He touched her hand.

Mark says, Taking her by the hand, she rose up. Isn't that a tender picture? Service. Ministry.

Serving the Lord is spontaneous. And it's supernatural. And it is a byproduct of union with Him.

It's a byproduct of union with Him. I'm not surprised He ends this way. What is Sabbath living? It's walking with Jesus in the green fields.

It's being hungry and letting Jesus feed you. That's the Christian life. What is service? It's holding Jesus' hand.

Allowing His life to flow through me. So that I want to minister to Him. And I want to minister to others.

Jesus said, I want my Sabbath back. I can't have my Sabbath. If the unclean spirit is there.

Brothers and sisters in Christ. Years now. In this place.

We have not come to play games. We've come to meet in reality with the Lord. If there is somebody here.

They say, oh it's going to be embarrassing to admit it. So, maybe it is. Maybe Satan will just throw me down.

Try to destroy me. Ah, you might get hurt. You won't be harmed.

You might have to make some big changes. And go back and adjust a few things. He wants His Sabbath back.

He wants His Sabbath back. Brothers and sisters in Christ. He wants you to know the fullness of the clean spirit.

The fullness of the Holy Spirit. To be possessed and controlled by the Lord. Have you ever made an active decision? Who is going to possess and control your life? He wants His Sabbath.

He wants to touch your fever. Hold your hand. Raise you up.

So that service from this time until you step into heaven. Will never again be a bondage. It will be spontaneous.

It will be a desire. It will be a longing to serve the Lord. And to serve the people of the Lord.

And to whoever the Lord sends you. By a power not your own. By a life not your own.

So you don't have to fizzle and get weak. And get back in bed. He wants to take your hand.

There is nothing deep this weekend. He wants you to know His fullness. He wants to take your hand.

And teach you what it means to serve the Lord. And that's only. We've got five more.

And when we're all done. We'll get the complete picture. Of the Christian life.

Let's pray. Father we thank you. That you have complete authority.

Any degree whatsoever. There is any hold by Satan. On any person.

You can set them free without harm. Oh will you do it tonight. Set them free without harm.

We won't ask you to spare them. Because you spared not your own son. Set them free without harm.

Take your Sabbath. And Lord for so many. Who have been so fevered for so long.

Not knowing how to serve. Wanting to serve. Starting off and then failing.

And starting and fading. And fainting away. Will you touch our hands.

Will you rise us up. Will you give us your life and power. To serve you in joy and liberty.

Take your Sabbath back Lord. We ask in Jesus name.