And this is Leslie Curran saying hello once again and welcome to the program. I'm delighted you're tuning in and joining us and I do hope you'll be able to stay with us for the next 15 minutes as today the Reverend Philip Gardner is with us to let the Bible speak. Today I want to read some words from the Gospel of Luke chapter 4. The Gospel of Luke chapter 4 in the verse 38.

And Jesus arose out of the synagogue and entered into Simon's house and Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever and they besought him for her and he stood over her and rebuked the fever and had left her and immediately she arose and ministered unto them. Amen we trust the Lord will add his blessing to this short reading of his word. During the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ there were a number of individuals who had their relatives rescued from death as a result of the of the Saviour.

We can think of the Kilnite woman or the Seraphim woman who cried unto the Lord that deliverance would be granted to her daughter. We can think of Jairus who requested that the Lord would come to his daughter. We can think of Mary and Martha who longed that the Lord might come and touch their sick brother Lazarus.

Here in Luke chapter 4 we read of another relative who was rescued, the mother-in-law of Simon Peter. The dear lady was extremely ill. We read in verse 38 that she was taken with a great fever.

That word taken has the idea of being take hold of. The fever had gripped her. The word actually carries the idea of a prisoner being held.

The word was used in that sense in 2263 and the men that held Jesus mocked him and smote him. That is the men that were Jesus Christ's prisoners. This fever had gotten hold of this dear lady.

It was as if it was determined not to let her go. Her healing under the miraculous intervention of the Saviour was therefore a deliverance. We have in this healing then a picture of the sinner being delivered from the grip of sin and of Satan.

Salvation is a deliverance, a being set free. So we want to look at the deliverance of Simon Peter's mother-in-law. I want to see first of all the pleading for her deliverance.

In Luke 4 verse 38 we read they besought him. Simon and his friends James and John were pleading with the Lord to come and to look at her, to come and to touch her and to make her well. This pleading brings to her attention the fact that this lady's circumstances were extreme.

This was not a little fever from a head cold Lou. This was a serious illness. Her condition was very grave.

Luke says that it was a great fever. The word fever in the Greek comes from the word fire. This fever was like an internal thing.

You could say that this lady had an internal problem with an external manifestation. What exactly was going on inside we are not told. She had some great condition resulting in a raging fever.

Her body may have been poisoned. She may have been suffering from some disease, the chief symptom of which was fever, a disease such as typhus. This was not only a great fever it was an advanced fever.

It is interesting what Mark says in Mark 1 verse 31. Jesus came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. The words lifted her up not only have the idea of her being raised from the bed they actually mean he roused her.

You get this picture. The Lord came into the room where the lady was lying. He lifted her hand and roused her.

It seems she was unconscious. That would certainly fit with what Luke says. It was a great fever.

It was well. Now on today hanging in a grave. This woman is the accurate picture of the sinner.

Remember in the wilderness when the children of Israel were complaining the Lord sent the fiery serpents. Why were they called fiery serpents? Because when the people were bitten the poison went into their bodies. They then had a roaring fever.

It felt like their bodies were on fire. That was a symbol of how man has been bitten by the old serpent the devil. We are members of a lost race.

The poison of sin on the inside is manifested by this roaring fever. Unless the root of the problem is dealt with, the poison, that sinner is only going to grow worse and worse. Dear unsaved one, if you have never been cured from the poison of your sin it is bringing you closer and closer to a lost eternity.

The longer you linger in sin the less likely it seems you'll ever be made better. I'm sure prior to the coming of the Lord into this house, Peter and his wife were treating this lady's symptoms. I'm sure they were washing her body with tepid water to try to keep the temperature down, but treating the symptoms was never going to cure this lady.

The problem on the inside needed to be dealt with. There are many today that recognise their

“The sermon, based on Luke 4:38-39, highlights the healing of Simon Peter's mother-in-law, symbolizing the sinner's deliverance from sin's grip. The fever, described as severe and gripping, represents sin’s hold on humanity. Jesus' miraculous intervention—rebuking the fever and restoring her instantly—demonstrates His divine power as the God-Man, capable of complete and immediate salvation. The woman’s immediate service after healing reflects the Christian’s response to salvation: to serve the Lord wholeheartedly. The sermon calls both sinners to seek salvation through Christ alone and Christians to actively serve in gratitude for their deliverance.”

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fever, the outward sign of a sinful heart, and they'll try to treat the symptoms. They'll try to be more religious.

They'll try to show a little more kindness. All that may be very good. It may make that sinner feel a little more comfortable, but it doesn't deal with the vital matter, the heart.

The sinner might feel better in himself, but he's no better before God. Has that poison in your heart been dealt with? Have you looked to the Lamb of God? So we see the pleading for her deliverance. I want to see secondly, the power in her deliverance.

How did the Lord heal this lady? In Matthew's Gospel chapter 8 and the verse 15, we read that the Saviour touched her hand. The Lord's hand was brought to hold her hand. We see here the humanity of Christ, the Son of Man.

He took her. He took one of our bones and flesh of our flesh. But then the Lord's voice addressed the fever.

In Luke 4 verse 39, Jesus rebuked the fever. He actually spoke to the sickness. We see here the divinity of Christ, the Son of God.

The one who commanded the demons to come out of their victims spoke to this lady's sickness. The one who commanded the winds to cease told the fever to leave. Christ then had the power to heal this lady because he is the Son of Man and also the Son of God.

He is the God-man. God manifests in the flesh. This is the reason why he is able to save you on account of his unique person.

Man cannot remove your sin. Had God not come in the flesh, he would not save. God is angry with the sinner and justly angry with the sinner.

But in Christ we see one who came and lived a holy life on behalf of the sinner. One who died on the cross to make full satisfaction before God on behalf of the sinner. You cannot make satisfaction for yourself.

You cannot cleanse yourself. You need this one who is both the Son of God and the Son of Man. So we see the pleading for her deliverance, the power in the deliverance.

I want to see thirdly the proof of her deliverance. In Luke 4.39 we read, When the Saviour rebuked the fever, it left her, and immediately she arose and ministered unto them. This certainly was the proof of a marvellous healing.

She awoke and ministered. When someone is cured from a severe fever today, they will not get up from their bed and immediately go and cook a Sunday dinner. A fever leaves the patient very weak.

It can take weeks for the recovery to take place. The healing of this woman was so miraculous that she not only was delivered from the symptoms of the illness, this high temperature, she was not only delivered from the illness itself, the root of the problem was gone, but she was delivered from the recovery period as well. She was made completely better in a moment of time.

Her healing was immediate and complete. That is the healing touch of the Lord. Today, dear sinner, if you have never looked to Jesus Christ, you stand condemned, on your way to a lost eternity.

If you were to look to Jesus Christ for salvation today, it doesn't mean that you will start to be improved in your seeing before God. It doesn't mean that gradually you will become a Christian. Rather, if you come to Jesus Christ, you will be immediately converted.

One moment the sinner stands condemned, lost, standing, deserving of the fire of hell. The next moment he is justified, prepared for heaven, the righteousness of Jesus Christ put to their account. So then, in one moment, the sinner is being judged on account of his works.

The next moment, the sinner is justified on account of the grace of God. Where do you stand before God today? If you are coming on the basis of anything that you have done, you are lost. But if you are standing on all the merit of Jesus Christ and His finished work, then you are saved.

You are justified. And today, if you are saved, it ought to be evidence that you are justified. By doing what this lady did, she ministered unto the Lord, and she ministered to the people of the Lord.

She couldn't serve the Lord when she was ill. She was confined to bathe, and so the sinner cannot serve God in his sin. He is offensive to God, but the Christian must serve.

The Christian is a new creature. Her service was immediate. She immediately got up and served.

I ask you, Christian, how many years have you been saved? Have you begun to serve the Lord? And her service was appropriate. She served. She did what she could.

But there was this sign of one delivered. Dear Christian, when you consider all that the Lord has done for you, suffering and dying in your place, bearing your condemnation, what is it for you to serve Him? May you even lay your all before Him today. As Paul sayeth, it's your reasonable service.

We trust the Lord to bless His word to our hearts.