Miracles Begin at Home

We read the Word of God from Mark chapter 1, beginning at verse 21. And they went into Capernaum, and straightway on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught.

And they were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as a scribe. And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, 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 unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority commanded he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.

And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. And immediately when they had come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and straightway they tell him of her.

And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up. And immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. And in the evening, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and those who were possessed with demons.

And all the city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many that were sick of diverse diseases, and cast out many demons, and permitted not the demons to speak, because they knew him. And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. And he said unto them, Let us go into the next town, that I may preach there also.

For therefore came I forth. And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out demons. The blessing that came to Peter can come to us.

On October 17, 1933, a German immigrant arrived here in the United States of America, carrying with him the secret of the greatest power man would ever release. His name was Albert Einstein. Six years later, he wrote a letter to the President of the United States telling him about the discovery.

The President set in motion a program that led to the development of the atomic bomb. Little did those of us who were living in the Chicago area realize what was going on down here at the University of Chicago on Stagg Field when they built the unit there that led to the first self-induced chain reaction in atomic fission. Of course, the result was the complete devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the ending of World War II.

One man came walking into our country and held in his hand the secret of the power that runs the universe. Many years ago, a man came walking into Capernaum. His name was Simon Peter.

He had a home in Capernaum. He was with Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Peter's home became a focal point for the releasing of the greatest power the world had ever seen and ever will see.

Not power to destroy, but power to build. Not power to kill, but power to save. For Jesus Christ had taken hold of the heart and the life and the home of Simon Peter, and things were happening.

If you and I were to interview Simon Peter in his home in Capernaum, the first question we'd ask is, how come this is such a popular place? My, people are gathering at the door. Well, he says, miracles are taking place. But you just look like an ordinary fisherman.

There's nothing special about you. That's right. Well, Peter, we understand there's been healing in your home.

We understand that your life has been changed. We understand that the neighborhood has been changed. The city has been changed.

Now it's spreading all throughout Galilee. What is the secret of all of this? Peter, why is it that you and your home should be the focal point for such tremendous miracle power? Well, Peter would give three reasons for that. And Peter would say, you know, what's happened to me can happen to anybody.

It can happen in your home. It can happen in Moody Church. It can happen in your life.

You and I can be the kind of people who are channels of miracle power, not necessarily for the healing of the body. That wasn't the greatest need in Capernaum. Delivering people from the power of darkness, breaking the bondage of sin, setting people free into life in Jesus Christ, that is the greatest thing we can do for the city of Chicago or for anywhere else.

Jesus had to say one day, and thou, Capernaum, though thou be exalted to heaven, thou shalt be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which had been done in thee had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have stood till this day. God gave that city a tremendous opportunity.

And the city failed. That wasn't the fault of Jesus, and it wasn't the fault of his followers. It was the fault of those who would not believe.

But the opportunity was there. Peter, would you explain to us, please, why it is that you and your house are such a focal point, such a heartbeat of miracle power? Well, there are three reasons, says Peter. First of all, I entered a miracle family.

Explain that to us. Well, there was a time when I was just a regular Orthodox Jewish fisherman, and I kept an Orthodox kosher home, and I obeyed the law, and I never ate anything I wasn't supposed to eat, and I never defiled myself with the things around me, and I did my best to seek to please the Lord. How did it work out, Peter? It was a yoke.

My family and I wore a yoke, and it was so heavy we weren't able to bear it. And we began seeking for the one who had been promised in the Old Testament scriptures, the Messiah. You mean to tell me, Peter, that being a good Orthodox religious person does not save you? No.

We never saw any miracles wearing the yoke. We never saw any miracles obeying the law. It would have been a great miracle if we could have been delivered from this.

Well, what happened? Well, a preacher showed up named John the Baptist, and John the Baptist never did a single miracle. People would watch. He never did one miracle.

But he preached about the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And one day, says Peter, my brother Andrew came home, and he was different. He was different.

And he said to me, Simon, we found the Messiah. You've got to come. And so I went with him.

Anyone whose life was changed like Andrew's was changed. I wanted to know why. And I went.

And I met the Lord Jesus Christ. And he looked at me and said, I know you, and I'd never seen him before. I know you.

Your name is Simon, but you're going to be, Peter, a rock. And I laughed when he said that. A rock.

There's nothing about me that's stable. I'm rather unstable. I'm just a little bit impetuous.

I'm just an ordinary fisherman. Ah, but you're going to be a rock. You're going to be the kind of a person I can build with and build on.

And says, Peter, my life was changed. I entered a miracle family, the family of God. Well, of course, you know the rest of the story.

He came home and he said to his wife, wife, I've experienced a miracle. I can't explain it, but it's real. There is life within me.

We have found the Messiah. I want you to know him. And Peter had the joy of leading his wife to Christ.

And then Peter and his wife had the joy of leading her mother to Christ. And so you had Simon, Peter and his wife and his mother-in-law and his brother, Andrew, a family of four in that little ordinary house in Capernaum. Ah, but they had entered into a miracle family.

They had been born by the miracle power of God. That's the way it all begins. You see, they had experienced this miracle birth and they were experiencing miracle blessings.

And they were facing miracle opportunities. And when they woke up in the morning, they never knew what was going to happen next. Life was no longer just the boring experience of what's the weather today? How are the fish doing today? Are the nets all ready? Are the boats in good shape? No more of this dull routine of life as usual, cookie cutter days, carbon copy days.

Every day was a different day. Every day was a challenging day. Every day brought some new miracle, something that Jesus was doing.

And, says Peter, the reason my life and my home have been channels for miracle power is because I've entered a miracle family. Have you entered that family? Or are you still wearing the yoke of some religion? It doesn't have to be Old Testament mosaic law. It could be any religion.

Are you seeking to please God in your own strength? Are you wearing a yoke, a burden? Oh, how Peter must have responded in his heart when he heard Jesus say in that marketplace in Capernaum to those people who were so harassed, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

And Peter could step up and say, I know he's telling the truth. For there was a day in my life when I exchanged the yoke of religion for the yoke of redemption. I changed trying to please God to receiving him as my own Lord and Savior.

And oh, what a difference it has made. And my life is now a miracle because I entered a miracle family. That's the first reason.

But Peter, there must be more to it than that, because a lot of people have entered into that miracle family and nothing's really happened in their lives. Oh, they're saved. They know they're going to heaven, but their homes are not any different.

Their lives don't seem to be channeling the power. Isn't that a tragedy? Isn't it tragic that of all of the thousands of believers in the city of Chicago, so very few seem to be channels for the miracle power of God? Here's a man who has the whole city gathered together at his door. Peter, there's got to be more to it than that.

Yes, there is. Yes, there's a second reason why God is channeling his miracle power through us. Not only did I enter that miracle family, but I am enjoying a miracle fellowship.

I'm following Jesus Christ. You see, fellowship with Jesus Christ is the basis for power. Not just salvation.

Not just trusting him. Fellowship with Jesus Christ is the basis of power. What the lamp does when you put the plug in the socket, the light does when you fellowship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus said to Peter, follow me. Follow me and I'll make you. I'll make you into something.

He had said to Peter, thou art, thou shalt be. Thou art Simon. Thou shalt be Peter.

That's the word of God. As many as received him, to them gave he the power to become. Follow me, I will make you.

Make me what? I'll make you into something for my glory. And says Peter, I've been following him. And I've been experiencing power to become.

Become what, Peter? Become all that he wants me to become. I've been trying to make my own life, but I couldn't do it. Now he's doing it.

He said, follow me and I'll make you. I'll make you into something. I'll take the sand and clay of your life, and I'll mold you and make you into a rock.

Well, they followed him. They followed him into the synagogue and discovered the authority of his word. Can you imagine Satan in the synagogue? Does the devil go to church? You bet your life he does.

Jesus is preaching and he's interrupted by the screaming voice of a demon. And with authority, Jesus says, be quiet and come out of him. And the demon was muzzled and he came out and the man was delivered.

That's authority. You see, when you follow Jesus Christ, when you fellowship with him, you share in the authority of his word. Do you mean he has authority even over Satan? Of course.

That's why Satan hates us, because we belong to one who has absolute authority in heaven and on earth. Does he have authority over demonic forces? Certainly. He even has authority over diseases.

I always says, Peter, I'm enjoying a miracle fellowship. I always thought I had a good time fellowshiping with my fisherman friends. We have a tremendous comradeship.

But all what I have experienced since I've been fellowshipping with Jesus Christ. After the synagogue service was over that Sabbath morning, they went home and they took Jesus with them. Wouldn't it be wonderful if everybody who came to church on Sunday took Jesus Christ home with them after the service? I hear that some of God's people find Sunday morning somewhat of an evangelical rat race.

Where's my this? Where's my that? Where's my Bible? If you'd been using it all week, you'd know where your Bible is. And get in the car and fuss all the way to church, pull into the parking lot, adjust your halo, come walking in very piously, go through the service, get out, get back in the car and start fighting again. Are you going to take Jesus Christ home with you after the service today? They did.

They went home with the Lord Jesus because Jesus later on said, if any man loves me, he'll keep my word and my father will love him and we will come and make our abode with him. Don't you like that? The Lord Jesus Christ just wants to move in. He said, my father and I want to move in and we want to fellowship with you.

Can I go home with you? Now, there are some homes where Jesus cannot fellowship. Over in Ephesians chapter three, the apostle Paul is praying an interesting prayer. Verse 17, he's praying for Christians that Christ may dwell in your heart by faith that you being rooted and grounded in love.

Now that word dwell means feel at home. Paul is saying, oh, I'm praying for you, saints at Ephesus, that Jesus Christ may be able to settle down and feel at home in your heart. Now, there are some homes where the Lord doesn't feel at home.

Back in Genesis chapter 19, for example, Jesus wouldn't go and visit Lot's home. He sent some angels down to visit Lot. He came to visit Abraham's home.

You know why he visited Abraham's home? Because Abraham's home was a home where there was faith and love. Faith and love, that's where Jesus likes to live. He wouldn't go to Lot's home.

By the way, all the city was gathered together at the door of Lot's house, but not to see blessing, to indulge in sin. What kind of a crowd do we attract? And Paul says, if you want Jesus Christ to really settle down and feel at home in your heart, you've got to have faith and love. That's fellowship.

And Peter says, I'm trusting him, and I'm loving him, and I'm obeying him, and we're enjoying a miracle fellowship. He took Jesus home with him. Did you notice in Mark chapter 1 that the Lord Jesus Christ got his power through fellowship with his father? Early the next morning, Peter woke up.

He was a fisherman. Fishermen are used to getting up early. They went looking for Jesus, couldn't find him.

He woke Andrew and said, Andrew, where's Jesus? I don't know. I know. You know where he always is early in the morning, but he was up practically all night healing people.

But you know where he is early in the morning? He's out praying. Let's just go find that place where he is. That's where he'll be.

If anybody looks for you early in the morning, where would they look? TV set? Refrigerator? If anyone came looking for you in the morning, where would they... Oh, I know where he is. No question about that. He's reading his Bible.

He's praying. You see, the Lord Jesus got his power through fellowship with his father. And Peter and Andrew and James and John got their power through fellowship with Jesus Christ.

Early in the morning, Peter went and found Jesus and said, all men are seeking for you. Jesus said, well, let's go to the other towns now. I've been praying for power.

Maybe one reason why our lives are not channels of God's miracle power is that we don't take time for fellowship. As tired as Jesus must have been after healing people that night before, he was up early in the morning praying, praying, praying. We don't have time for that.

I have noticed in churches that as prayer meetings increase, business meetings decrease. I've noticed in homes that as people pray, God works. Haven't you noticed that? Sure you have.

Peter, what's the secret of this power that's being released through your family and through your home? Oh, I'm enjoying a miracle fellowship. But there's got to be more to it than that. Oh, yes, there is.

There's one more reason. Not only have I entered the miracle family, not only am I enjoying the miracle fellowship, but I'm exercising a miracle faith. I'm believing him.

Because when they got home, Peter said, Lord, my mother-in-law is sick. That's faith. When you read Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all three record this miracle, but a little differently.

In Matthew, it says he saw her. Now, Matthew is the gospel of the king. The king knows what's going on.

He saw that she was sick. In Mark, they tell him about it. In Luke, they request that he do something.

It's rather beautiful to put the whole picture together because Luke is the book of the son of man who is so sympathetic. And Luke says he came and stood over her. Can't you see that? Aren't you glad when Jesus Christ comes in? Here's a problem.

A financial problem. A discipline problem. A physical problem.

An emotional problem. Here's a problem. And you say, Lord, we need your help.

He comes and sympathetically, understandingly, he leans over. He's there. He doesn't run away.

That's what Luke tells us. And Matthew says he touched her hand. That's the king.

People for many years had the idea that if a king touched you, you'd be healed. Well, he is the king. And so he leaned over her sympathetically as the son of man.

And he touched her sovereignly as the king. And Mark, which is the gospel of the servant, tells us he took her by the hand and lifted her up. Because he's a servant.

He helps you get up. And instantly, she was healed of her fever. Luke was a doctor.

And in his gospel, Luke tells us it was a great fever. Doctors in that day had two kinds of fevers that they had in their book. A little fever and a great fever.

It was a great fever. Ever had a fever? Oh, a fever is an uncomfortable thing. You can't find one position where you're comfortable.

You are so hot. And you are so restless. And after the fever breaks, you are so weak.

But not here. I wonder if Peter didn't see in this a picture of that whole town. Restless, feverish, lost people.

You know why people are so hot-headed in Chicago? They're feverish with sin. You know why they're running pell-mell here and there? They're restless. They're looking for something to satisfy them.

They try this and they try that. And oh, they have no satisfaction. And what's the answer? They need to know Jesus.

How are they going to meet him? You and I are going to have to do it. You see, they prayed. They were exercising a miracle faith.

They prayed and said, Lord, you can heal her. He said, I'll do it. And he leaned over her.

He touched her. He spoke. The fever departed.

He lifted her up. And guess what happened? She began to serve them instantly. She didn't say, oh, I've got to recuperate for two weeks.

Go out and get me something to eat. Instantly, she began to serve. You know, that needs to happen here in Chicago.

We need to meet people and introduce them to Jesus Christ. And when he heals them of the fever of their sins, they're going to serve him. They're going to fill the places that need to be filled and do the job that needs to be done.

She went right back to her everyday task and served the Lord Jesus. That was the Sabbath day when this happened. And she went out of her house and her neighbor said, well, you're well.

Well, you were so sick yesterday when I brought you that bowl of soup. Jesus healed me. He did what? He healed me.

And by evening, the Sabbath was over, you see. They weren't allowed to have healing on the Sabbath. By evening, the whole crowd, the whole town was gathered together at the door.

Wouldn't you love to have the whole town gathered at your door? What would you do if they came? Would you tell them about the Lord Jesus? That's what Peter did. And Peter stepped out into the courtyard and said, look, I want you to meet a miracle. I want you to meet your Messiah.

I want you to meet Jesus Christ. And Jesus stepped out. The demons began to scream and Jesus rebuked them.

And he touched the little babies who were sick and he healed them. He took the little children. He loved them.

And you know what? The next morning when that town woke up, everybody was well. It was an amazing thing. Health had come into the town.

Healing had touched them. The tragedy is most of these people accepted the physical blessing, but not the spiritual. And they were lost.

Now we don't have the privilege of extending to them healing. We have a greater privilege, extending to people the permanent, eternal healing of the soul, salvation. Isn't that much greater? I think it is.

If God came to me and said, I will take away from you the privilege of preaching the gospel, but I'll give you the power of healing. I wouldn't take it. I don't think he'd do that.

Because the greatest thing any of us can do is open the front door and say to a world, I want you to meet Jesus Christ. But instead, what do we do? We lock the front door and keep them to ourselves and call our saved friends in. We have our own little evangelical coffee clutches where we can enjoy each other.

Peter wasn't this way. Peter exercised a miracle faith. He said, if Jesus can save me, he can save anybody.

If he can heal my mother-in-law, he can heal them. And he opened his home and opened the door. And Jesus Christ began to perform miracles.

You ever thought of how marvelous this is? Here's one man, Andrew. He went and got his brother, Peter. That's two.

And then John went and got James. That's four. And that four then became 120.

In the upper room, there were 120 praying. And then in chapter two of Acts, 120 becomes 3,120. And by the time you get to Acts chapter four, it is 3,000 plus 5,120.

You get to Acts chapter six, a great multitude of the priests released. And the enemy said, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine. Have we ever filled any city with our doctrine? We can.

And then you get to the book of Revelation. And John says, I remember four. And I remember 120.

And I remember 5,000. But here is a multitude that no man can number. And where does it all start? A fisherman opened his home and said, I want you to meet Jesus.

That's home mission. Miracles begin at home. I wonder if my life, my home, your life, your home are like this.

Have you entered into the miracle family? Are you born again? Are you saved? If not, you ought to be. No reason why you shouldn't be. Are you enjoying the miracle fellowship, do you pray? Do you have time in the morning when you get alone with God? Oh, I'm busy.

Jesus was busy. If anybody had no reason to pray, it was Jesus. He was God.

If anybody has every reason to pray, it's believers today. We're not God. Are you enjoying that miracle fellowship? Are you exercising that miracle faith? Do you really believe God can do it? Do you believe that God can touch the lives of people and save them? Have you opened your life for that to happen? Peter said, Lord, here's my heart.

Lord, here's my hand. Lord, here's my boat. Here's my home.

You can have my wife. You can have my all. Here it is.

And Jesus said, thank you, Peter. I'm going to make your life a miracle. And Peter exercised that miracle faith.

And you know what happened? Peter enlarged that miracle outreach. And the river of miraculous blessing began to flow and reached around the world. It's all miracles from start to finish.

And it comes when you'll say, Lord, here I am. Here I am. Here's me.

Heavenly Father, in these days of unprecedented opportunity, we confess that we have failed in so many ways. And yet we want to be channels of your miracle power. I pray for those who have never entered the family that they'll come today and be saved.

I pray, Father, for Christians who have been neglecting that miracle fellowship. Oh, God, get them back to the word of God in prayer. I pray, Father, that if any of us are not exercising that faith, oh, Lord, forgive us for our unbelief.

And he could do there no mighty works because of their unbelief. Lord, do mighty works in our homes, our lives, this church, this needy city. Do mighty works.

And may we see the miracle power of God enlarge and reaching out and changing lives. Do it, Father, for Jesus' sake. Amen.