The power of Jesus
Jews for Jesus
(Audio: Español)
RESUMEN: The speaker talks about the power of Jesus and how it can help us in our lives. He shares three examples from the Bible where Jesus demonstrated his power: controlling a storm, freeing a man possessed by demons, and healing a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. The speaker emphasizes that Jesus' power goes beyond just being able to do something, it is the authority with which it is done. He also reminds us that storms and difficulties are a part of life, but if we anchor our lives in the will of God, we can rest in the midst of the storm. The speaker also acknowledges that there are people who are controlled by sin and Satan, and that Jesus' power can also help them.
Pastor David Wilkerson preached about the power of Jesus in Mark 4 and 5. He shared three stories of Jesus demonstrating his power: calming a storm, freeing a demon-possessed man, and healing a woman with a 12-year-long issue of blood. Pastor Wilkerson emphasized that Jesus has power to overcome any problem, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. He encouraged listeners to have faith and reach out to Jesus for healing and transformation. Pastor Wilkerson also invited anyone who has not yet established a personal relationship with Jesus to do so publicly.
The speaker invites anyone who has not had an encounter with Jesus Christ to take a step of faith and establish a personal relationship with Jesus. They encourage individuals to invite Jesus into their heart and take advantage of this moment to publicly declare their faith. The speaker also prays for healing and liberation for those who need it, declaring the power of God to heal physical ailments and emotional struggles. They encourage individuals to seek the Bible and study the word of the Lord to strengthen their faith.
Pastor David Wilkerson preached about the power of Jesus in Mark 4 and 5. He shared three stories of Jesus demonstrating his power: calming a storm, freeing a demon-possessed man, and healing a woman with a 12-year-long issue of blood. Pastor Wilkerson emphasized that Jesus has power to overcome any problem, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. He encouraged listeners to have faith and reach out to Jesus for healing and transformation. Pastor Wilkerson also invited anyone who has not yet established a personal relationship with Jesus to do so publicly.
The speaker invites anyone who has not had an encounter with Jesus Christ to take a step of faith and establish a personal relationship with Jesus. They encourage individuals to invite Jesus into their heart and take advantage of this moment to publicly declare their faith. The speaker also prays for healing and liberation for those who need it, declaring the power of God to heal physical ailments and emotional struggles. They encourage individuals to seek the Bible and study the word of the Lord to strengthen their faith.
This morning I want to share with you a message about the power of Jesus. What use is power to me? What do I need? Am I interested in knowing or knowing that Jesus has power? Brothers, life is quite complex. Life is quite difficult and I don't know how you live your life, but I know that I don't find all the answers to the great enigmas that are presented to me.
I know that many times I find myself with difficulties and problems that go beyond what I am able to solve. On more than one occasion I feel that I do not have either the knowledge or the strength or the intelligence to be able to face what is presented to me in life. And sometimes I need a force greater than myself and I want, this morning, to suggest to you that the Lord Jesus is that force that can give you the power to do the impossible, that can give you the power to do the unattainable, power to give you victory when it seems that you are going from defeat to defeat.
And it's not just power that a person can do something; as we say can you get me a glass of water?, and someone hands you a glass of water. I'm talking about Jesus having a power, but a power that goes beyond simply the ability to do something, but rather the authority with which..... the force with which it is done. It's not that Jesus just give you a little push in life, Jesus can give you victory in life. And I want to show you three examples that we find in the word of God where we see Jesus demonstrating his power, and I want us to see this afternoon Jesus demonstrating his power to overcome external forces. Jesus demonstrating power to defeat internal struggles and Jesus demonstrating his power over physical problems.
If you have your Bibles, I am going to read the passage that we find in the Gospel according to Saint Mark in Chapter 4, starting from verse 31, and we are going to see in these Chapters 4 and 5, three incidents where we see Jesus working with power and what is the lesson we can take from this.
Mark Chapter 4, verse 35: “That day when night came he said to the disciples 'let us cross over to the other side'. Dismissing the crowd, they took him as they were in the boat, and there were other boats with him. But a great windstorm arose and hurled the waves into the boat in such a way that it was already drowning. And he, Jesus, was in the forward part, in the stern, sleeping on a bolster. And they woke him up and said to him, "Master, are you not careful that we are perishing?" And he said to him, 'Why are you so frightened? Why, don't you have faith? Then they feared with great fear and said to each other, who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?
In this passage we find Jesus controlling a situation that was out of control. The disciples were, most of them were fishermen, they knew how to fish. The only thing they couldn't do was stop the wind, stop a storm. We still can't do it. It can be predicted, we can know if it is going to be cold or hot, but when it is cold we cannot do anything to change the temperature. Nor can we ask the wind to stop. A hurricane is coming, we don't like it, but it is coming. And they are situations that we do not look for, but they come. And they are crises that present themselves to us, not because we want them, but because it is so in God's design.
And here we find the disciples and Jesus in the midst of a crisis that they did not seek. The disciples, being fishermen, realized that this was becoming dangerous. The lake of Gennesaret, on the Sea of Galilee, is small, but very deep and does raise waves, and these men who were sailors knew when things were dangerous.
But do you know the passage that catches my attention the most in this entire Chapter? The verse that gives me the most confidence is the one that says that in the midst of the storm, verse 38, Jesus was sleeping. Jesus was sleeping in the middle of the storm. And the disciples go and say 'hey, Jesus, wake up, don't you realize we're drowning? This is not a joke, huh? This is dangerous. And Jesus was sleeping.
Two things could have happened: either Jesus was a fool, a fool, he didn't realize the situation that the disciples had to say to him 'hey, don't you realize the situation? That is an option. Or the other option is that Jesus was so confident in the will of his Father and had fixed his life, anchored in such a way in the will of God that He knew that not even the most severe storms could remove him or remove him from the will of God . To such an extent that Jesus can rest in the midst of the storm.
And my message to you this morning is that there are storms in our lives, there are storms that we have not looked for, it could be illness, it could be mental problems, it could be financial problems and many times it is not our fault. our. And here the problem is not looking for whose fault it is that a storm is coming. The storm is And I want to tell you that if you believe that because you come to the León de Judá congregation you are not going to have any more problems in life, forgive me for saying so, you are deceived. Because Jesus himself said 'in the world you will have afflictions'. Wow, this is not what you expected, but it doesn't end there, it says 'but take heart, I have overcome the world'.
And the Christian life is not a life where there are not going to be winds, waves or storms. The Christian life is being able to sleep and rest in the midst of the storm because I know that nothing and no one is going to separate me. If your life is anchored in the will of God, you can sleep in the midst of the storm.
In the world you will have afflictions. Is a reality. And the safest passage, the most important, the most striking is not that Jesus calmed the storm, Jesus calmed the storm to show them that He had power. He did not need to calm the storm, because He was sleeping in the middle of the storm.
And what I want to tell you is that storms are going to come in your life and the Lord is not going to take them away, but He is going to allow you to rest trusting in the Lord. And to prove to the disciples that I was not a fool, nor was I a fool, oh, do you want to see if I have power or not? Wind, it's over. Waves, finish. Wow, the storm is over. And there it says that the disciples were more afraid now than when the storm was. This is serious. Who is this?, says here.
Then they feared with great fear and said to each other “Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Jesus has power. Jesus has power and I want this morning to tell you to get close to Him, hold on to Him because in Him there is power. Power to be able to succeed and rest in the midst of the storms of life.
The next passage is found in Mark, Chapter 5, verse 1 to 20. When they got to the other side of the sea, I imagine they were already scared that they no longer knew what.... first they They were afraid of the storm, now they are afraid of Jesus, they must have arrived white with fear, but they reached the other side.
"They came to the other side of the sea to the region of the Gadarenes and when He came out of the boat, Jesus, immediately met them, from the tombs a man with an unclean spirit who had his dwelling in the graves. tombs and no one could bind him, not even with chains because many times he had been tied with shackles and chains, but the chains had been torn to pieces by him and shredded and no one could dominate him. And always by day and by night, he was still crying out in the mountains and in the tombs, and wounding himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and knelt down before him and crying out with a loud voice said, 'What do you have with me, Jesus, son of the most high God? I adjure you by God not to torment me.'
Who is speaking here? The demon inside. And Jesus said to him "Come out of this man, you unclean spirit," and Jesus asked the spirit "what is your name?" region. And there was near the mountain a great herd of pigs grazing and all the demons begged saying, 'send us the pigs so that we enter them'. And then Jesus gave them permission and those unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, which would be about two thousand and the herd rushed into the sea by a cliff and drowned in the sea. And those who herded the pigs fled and reported in the city and the fields and came out to see what had happened. They saw Jesus and they see the one who had been tormented by the devil and who had feared the region, sitting, clothed, in his right mind, and they were afraid.”
What a weird story! A man totally out of control. You can tell me, 'David, but perhaps this has a psychological explanation, that he was a man who had this... Look, brothers, I don't know if we can define it in medical, psychiatric terms, but I know what he had. This man was totally possessed by a force that was destroying him. A man who was absolutely controlled by the devil. A man who had tried to help and could not do anything. And they even tied him up, tied him up with chains and shackles so that he wouldn't get hurt anymore, and even then he broke them and kept destroying himself. And, David, you are going to tell me: 'But David, what does this have to do with us? It has to do with us much more than you think. Because unfortunately there are people in whom sin, Satan has taken such control that they are totally unable to recover.
I have seen the havoc of alcohol. I have seen homes destroyed by alcohol and I have prayed with people, and there are people who, crying, tell me 'David, I want to and I can't, he is stronger than me. I want and I can't, I can't, it's not that I don't want to.
In the first service, I recounted an experience I had 36 years ago that I am in the pastorate and I have seen more cases of these than I would like to count. But a case that came to my mind, about 20 years ago, approximately 23 years ago, we had to return to Argentina and I am there in Buenos Aires, in our office, and someone comes, knocks on the door. I go out, I attend. A man who seemed to be wearing good clothes, but they all looked worn and dirty and says 'hi David' to me. I look at him, I don't realize who he is. But if someone calls me by the first name before I would have introduced myself, and for them to call me by the first name, it has to be a person who knows me. And I looked at him, and I was kind of realizing who he was, but I wasn't quite sure.
He says 'David, you don't remember me, do you? I am Luis. And there my heart stopped. In front of me was a man who had been the pastor of the largest Baptist church in Buenos Aires, a fabulous ministry. Not new to the ministry, many years as a pastor, son of pastors, brother of pastors, a church anointed by the holy spirit and little by little he began to drink and began to allow alcohol to have a place in his life. At one point the church realized that the pastor had a problem, they could not solve it. The problem worsened to the point that he had to leave the church. It got to such a point that his wife and two beautiful daughters had to leave him.
This pastor ended up homeless on the streets of Buenos Aires. Because? There was a force in his life that he couldn't control and I remember that I was talking to him, we were the same age, and he told me 'David, it seems to you that I haven't tried. It seems to you that I have not tried. Can't'. And I called on the phone after he was home. We feed him, we help him, I called a very dear brother, who is his brother-in-law, a psychiatrist and pastor, he tells me 'David, we are going to help him today and tomorrow it is the same again. We have been trying for years and we cannot.
And how many times have we dealt with young people who are into drugs. Or how many times have we tried to solve problems in homes when there is violence. Right now I am helping a congregation on Long Island where one of the leaders is in jail for abusing his daughter. Do not tell me that the devil does not attack the believer.
All these people don't do it because they want to, or like it. And there it hides seem........ it says 'bring the extremes'. There are, brothers. wake up. There is. They just have to drive through the streets at night in cities like Boston, like New York, and see what the reality of sin is.
And there's more story that I imagine Pastor Miranda and I could tell you about men and women and young people who are so totally possessed by sin that they can't find a way to break free and how many Sometimes they have told me, with tears in their eyes, 'David, I want to but I can't. He is superior to me.’ And I want to tell you that there is someone who is superior. Because the word tells us 'more powerful is he who is in us than he who is in the world'.
And the Lord, the son of God, has manifested himself to destroy the works of the devil. And I want to tell you this morning, this afternoon, that no matter how Satan wants to get in with a hold on your life, the Lord Jesus Christ has power to destroy the works of the devil. The Lord Jesus Christ has power to break the chains of vice. The Lord Jesus Christ has power to restore broken homes.
And the people here were scared, why? Because they saw this man who was hurting himself, who was living among tombs, they saw him sitting up and in his right mind. I want to tell you that the power of Jesus has not been exhausted. The power of the Lord Jesus Christ continues to act today. Jesus has power when you are lacking. The Lord Jesus Christ has the power to overcome what seems invincible.
And the third and last case that I want to read to you is the one we find in verse 24, of the same Chapter of Mark. Mark, Chapter 5, verse 24. It reads like this: "So he went with him, a crowd followed him and squeezed him, Jesus, a very popular person, has healed, he has healed, he is the fashionable person, people have eaten without having to pay, he has multiplied it, he has given him loaves and fish, he teaches cute, they understand it. He is a very popular person. People follow him, but a woman who had suffered from blood flow for 12 years and had suffered a lot from many doctors and spending everything she had and nothing she had used before was doing worse. When he heard about Jesus, he came up behind the crowd and touched his cloak. Because it was said 'if I only touch his cloak I will be saved', and immediately the source of his blood dried up and the body felt that it was healed from that scourge. Then Jesus, knowing in himself the power that had gone out of him, turning to the crowd said, 'Who has touched my clothes? And the disciples said 'you see that the crowd is pressing you and you say, who touched me?'. But He was looking to see who had done this. Then the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done in her, came and prostrated herself before him and told her the whole truth and he said to her: 'Daughter, your faith has made you safe. Go in peace and be healed of your scourge.
Jesus demonstrating power when physical forces seem to take control of our lives. In such a way, a woman who was suffering says, for 12 years, 12 years, and it is not that she had not tried, she says that she had spent everything she had in the hands of the doctors and I am sure that the doctors tried to help her and she was sure that everyone wanted to help her, but it was a case where not only had she suffered, but because of her suffering, according to Jewish law, she could not be part of society. While a woman was suffering from a flow, she was a person who could not be participating in the life of her city, for 12 years now. I was relegated, I was marginalized. He hadn't asked for it, it's a disease.
Brothers, we don't have diseases because we are masochists right? Diseases come. We don't look for them, but they come. This woman suffered something. What is interesting is what is happening here. Because Jesus is a popular person and the whole world is together with Jesus and everyone follows him. And Jesus did not have, like these basketball players who walk with 14 bodyguards so that no one gets close. No, people came and..... a popular, happy person, besides, Jesus had a nice social life. If they invited him to dinner he would go.
You know that it is said that there is more, this is true, notice. In the Gospels there are more cases of Jesus having dinner, spending time in people's houses than going to the temple. It's not that he didn't go to the temple, but he didn't turn down a good invitation either. At such a point, what were they accusing him of? This one is going to dine with sinners. He was a man that she liked, if I have a party I would invite him, brothers. He was not a killjoy. And he was a popular man, he made himself loved, people went. And so the whole world is following that this popular man, new man, maybe he is going to be the new religious leader that we are looking for. And suddenly Jesus stops and says 'someone touched me'. The disciples say 'but, Lord, everyone is touching you.' No, everyone is around me, everyone is pressing me, they are running me, but someone touched me with faith. Someone touched me differently. There are thousands around me but I felt that only one was healed. And then he stands and looks around and this woman says that 'fearing and trembling and knowing what had been done to her, she fell down before him and told him the whole truth.'
Well, can you imagine? No? Jesus could very well have told him. 'Who are you to touch me? You don't know that socially you can't touch me, you're impure. You don't know that now I have to go to the temple and comply with the ritual and for 30 days I can't go to the synagogue because you have touched me. Because the ritual says, Book of Leviticus, a man who touches an impure woman cannot go to the temple for 30 days, and he has to bring sacrifice. What this woman had done was serious.
But the woman approaches her and says 'well, two things happen here, on the one hand she says that the woman already knew –look how interesting- she already knew why (past perfect tense, grammar here). The translation that we have here says 'but it is knowing what had been done in it'. She already knew that she had been healed. He told her everything.
Two things could happen, for the Lord to say 'you are not ashamed of having touched me'. The woman would have said 'Lord, I am not ashamed and if I am ashamed, it doesn't matter, because now I am cured'. But she told him everything and Jesus, what does he tell her? Woman, daughter, it doesn't say woman, daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed of your scourge.'
Brothers, I do not know the theology of this woman. I don't know if he knew much about the law, the Old Testament, the prophecies about the Messiah. I don't know, but I know one thing, that when I go to heaven, she will be there and I will see her. And perhaps she did not learn much in theology in the last two millennia that she was in heaven, but she knows one thing: that she was sick and now she is healthy. And that faith had saved her.
My brother, the power of Jesus was not manifested by the amount of theology that the woman knew, nor by the influence that this woman could have, nor by the profit or social position that Jesus was going to gain by demonstrating that he could work miracles. A woman who was suffering touched Jesus by faith and this woman was healed. And I want to tell you this afternoon that a little faith, a little amount of faith, in a great God can heal you, it can heal you physically, emotionally, spiritually. And I ask you this afternoon if you are suffering from any kind of emotional, physical, or psychological suffering, touch Jesus, because there is power.
It has power, of course it has power. And I can assure you that many of us here this afternoon have felt the touch of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. Between the two services, a brother came to tell me, 'You know, Pastor, that I was imprisoned by the bottle for 18 years, and it has been more than 15 years since the Lord freed me. Is there power? Yes, there is power.
If you don't believe there is power, look who could sleep in the middle of the storm. If you don't believe there is power, look at the demoniac who now sits sanely at the feet of the transformed Jesus. Do you want to know if there is power? A woman who, not knowing much, but having faith, reached out and touched and was healed and transformed because there is power.
I go to Israel very, very often and it doesn't matter what I do, it doesn't matter what activities I have. Do you know where I end my visit to Israel, always? I go to the garden where the grave is. It is not known if it is the royal tomb, if it is not. It doesn't matter. There is a tomb called Gordon's tomb, which for me is the most beautiful there is, and then with all the vicissitudes, all these problems, when I finish my trip to Israel I go to that tomb. And you know what? I'm not going to bring her flowers, I look and what do I see? There is no one, the tomb is empty. Because? Because there is power. Because He has power that not only calms the storm, not only restores healing to the mad, not only restores health to the sick, but gives life when there is death. And brothers, when I see that empty tomb I say 'here is power, here is power.'
I want to invite you this afternoon to do by faith what this woman did. If something is afflicting you, they are suffering, if you are suffering from something, it is something between the Lord and you. I ask you this afternoon to draw near to the Lord by faith and find that your victory is in his power. I want you to learn to rest, to sleep in the middle of the storm. I want you to feel healthy, whole, at the feet of Jesus. I want you to be completely healed like this woman was healed because she touched Jesus.
Pastor Miranda. Brothers, this is how the Gospel is taught almost like a piece of bread that has just been taken out of the oven, very simple but nutritious and delicious. They are the essential truths of the Gospel. In Christ there is power to heal, to transform lives, to turn the dark into light, to give hope where there is despair and to bring provision where there is drought and lack.
How many believe that this afternoon? Amen. We believe in that Christ, the same one who walked on the waters. The same one who silenced the storm, the one who healed the woman with the issue of blood, the one who freed the demoniac, is here among us this afternoon. And many of us can say that He also did it with me, and He can do it with you this afternoon.
And before finishing I want to make a call and I want us to have a moment of deep meditation and communion with the Lord. At times like this it is important to provide anyone who is here who has not had the opportunity to have an encounter with Jesus Christ the opportunity to take that step of faith. We would be more than irresponsible if we did not take advantage of this moment to invite someone, it can be a young person, an old person, a child who is on the balcony or here somewhere. Perhaps God has touched you this afternoon, through praise or through the sermon or through the direct work of God in your spirit and you feel that you want to take a step of faith and establish a personal relationship with Jesus because that is very important , tell the Lord 'Lord, come into my life. I want to get involved with you fully. If you get married and you don't do it publicly, if you graduate you do it publicly. If he gets divorced, an ad is published in a newspaper, if he dies, they put an obituary there in the newspaper. And so it happens..... the most important thing of all is when a person acquires a new nature through Jesus Christ. That should not be left anonymous, but there should be a moment to point out that moment that occurred, that transaction that occurred in the heart of a human being.
And I want to invite you this afternoon, if the Lord has spoken to you in your life, and you want to tell the Lord 'Lord, I want you to do a transforming work in my life.' take a step of faith this afternoon, invite Jesus into your heart and we would like to celebrate with you and I ask that if anyone here wants to take that step, raise your hand, this afternoon, and say to the Lord, ' Lord, I receive you as my savior. Is there someone who wants to invite Jesus into their heart? Raise your hand, if you haven't done it before and want to do it now. Take a step of faith and surrender your life to the Lord.
Do you want to do it? Do you want to invite Jesus into your heart? You are already up there. I invite you to take that step. I know someone is going to be like that woman with the issue of blood who took faith from where she didn't have it and stepped up and touched the hem of Jesus' cloak and was healed. God can do the same in your life. I want to invite you to take a step of faith. Will there be someone?
Not having taken that step before and you want to take that step of faith now, raise your hand. Will there be anyone here this afternoon? I invite you. The Lord says 'I am at the door and I knock and if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me'.
I have always been struck by the greatest mystery of all that exists, that the creator of the universe, first humbly invites himself into our lives. He could take it by force and say "I enter and possess" so men do, but the Lord respects you too much to violate your freedom and He rather says "I would like to dine with you, I would like to enter your inner house and live next to you'.
And the second thing is that the creator of the universe that contains the galaxies and everything that exists can thin out to the point of entering your life, your heart and dwelling there. That is a great mystery. God bless you sister.
Will there be someone who wants to take that step of faith this afternoon and say to the Lord, amen, who wants to invite Jesus into their heart, I invite you to come forward here. You sister want to say a word and we will do it briefly sister.
Brothers, the Lord bless you. I already took that step of faith and accepted the Lord in my life, as my Lord and my savior. I want to, I have several struggles in my life and I only come to ask you one more time to break my heart and do it again and increase my faith. I already accepted it but I need the prayers of all of you to continue forward because I cannot do this fight alone.
Amen, sister. The Lord hears your request. I know it takes courage, one to be transparent, but we are in the family, and the Lord receives that and his heart breaks and that is where the blessing begins, when we humble ourselves to the Lord, when we break and are transparent.
Perhaps there are other people here who need that touch from the Lord. We have declared a Christ who liberates and heals. If you have such a pressing need, come here right now too. We want to pray for you this afternoon and we are going to bless you. There will be someone who simply wants to say, 'Lord, I also have a need and I need your liberating touch this afternoon.' transformative in your life.
Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thanks, Dad. Thank you. Touch, touch lives, Lord. Touch the lives. Thank you holy spirit, you are here, you are here, Lord. You close what is excessively messy and open what is stagnant, Lord. You open darkened hearts and closed minds and you touch, Lord, what is not right and you straighten it. What is too exalted, You bring it down. What is too depressed, You lift it up, Lord. You are a God who puts everything according to the life that You have declared, what You are: truth, justice, life, power, healing, Lord, abundance.
Look at these lives, Father, in the name of Jesus, the ones that open your hearts to you for the first time, the ones that are reconciled with you, Father. The ones who just want a desperate touch like the woman with the issue of blood. Lord Jesus, we now call upon your people your healing power. I declare it in the name of Jesus. Funny. Funny. Funny. Thank you, in the name of Jesus. Healing, liberating grace, the holy spirit filling lives, your water, Lord, running, cleaning or removing all afflictions from the spirit, from the mind, from the emotions, Lord.
You are good, Jesus. You are good and when you enter it is to cleanse and heal, Lord, so be it this afternoon on your children. Oh thank you Jesus. We receive from you, we receive your anointing, Father. Thank you. Receive it in the name.... the anointing of God is here. I feel it right now and God is healing lives and doing beautiful things. I declare it so. God is bringing new paths, new currents in your life. Thank my Lord. Thank my Lord. We receive it, Father. I get my own portion too, Lord. Breaking chains. Oh hallelujah! releasing thoughts, thank you Lord. Oh. Hallelujah!
We release a healing anointing upon your children, Father. Physical healing inclusive, Lord right now. If there is disease in your life, right now I declare healing. Own it. Receive it. make it yours Say, 'I am healed, I am healed in the name of Jesus' because the Lord has power. Just as he healed the woman from the issue of blood, in the name of Jesus, Father, I declare healing over your people. The body of your children, Lord, we heal, we heal. We declare healing, breaking the power of the devil over lives. Where there is confusion and depression, we declare encouragement, joy. Hallelujah! Anointing of God, anointing of God healing, liberating, reconciling. Forget the past, forget the hurts of the past, the failures of the past, today all things are made new. There is newness of life for you, in the name of Jesus I declare it. Hallelujah! thank you Lord for your precious move in our midst. Thank my Lord. We adore you. we bless you Hallelujah! Thank my Lord. Thank you Jesus. Receive it and say 'thank you, Christ. You have entered my life with renewed power and I receive it and today I declare myself free and stronger than ever to walk in victory.
I announce a new day in your life. I announce the visitation of the Lord in your life. Hallelujah!. Thank you that we can celebrate before you as children, Lord, healthy children because we have a father who loves us and affirms us. Thank my Lord. We bless you, God. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thank my Lord. We adore you. It is the day of redemption, the day of healing. Amen. Amen.
Go back to your seat, my brother, my sister, if you want to talk to any of us, to some of the hujieres this afternoon, you can. We encourage you, if you need a Bible, go to one of the hujieres, let us know and we will get you your Bible. We encourage you to start studying the word of the Lord because there that healing is affirmed more and more, the work that God has done in your life is strengthened.
I know that many times I find myself with difficulties and problems that go beyond what I am able to solve. On more than one occasion I feel that I do not have either the knowledge or the strength or the intelligence to be able to face what is presented to me in life. And sometimes I need a force greater than myself and I want, this morning, to suggest to you that the Lord Jesus is that force that can give you the power to do the impossible, that can give you the power to do the unattainable, power to give you victory when it seems that you are going from defeat to defeat.
And it's not just power that a person can do something; as we say can you get me a glass of water?, and someone hands you a glass of water. I'm talking about Jesus having a power, but a power that goes beyond simply the ability to do something, but rather the authority with which..... the force with which it is done. It's not that Jesus just give you a little push in life, Jesus can give you victory in life. And I want to show you three examples that we find in the word of God where we see Jesus demonstrating his power, and I want us to see this afternoon Jesus demonstrating his power to overcome external forces. Jesus demonstrating power to defeat internal struggles and Jesus demonstrating his power over physical problems.
If you have your Bibles, I am going to read the passage that we find in the Gospel according to Saint Mark in Chapter 4, starting from verse 31, and we are going to see in these Chapters 4 and 5, three incidents where we see Jesus working with power and what is the lesson we can take from this.
Mark Chapter 4, verse 35: “That day when night came he said to the disciples 'let us cross over to the other side'. Dismissing the crowd, they took him as they were in the boat, and there were other boats with him. But a great windstorm arose and hurled the waves into the boat in such a way that it was already drowning. And he, Jesus, was in the forward part, in the stern, sleeping on a bolster. And they woke him up and said to him, "Master, are you not careful that we are perishing?" And he said to him, 'Why are you so frightened? Why, don't you have faith? Then they feared with great fear and said to each other, who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?
In this passage we find Jesus controlling a situation that was out of control. The disciples were, most of them were fishermen, they knew how to fish. The only thing they couldn't do was stop the wind, stop a storm. We still can't do it. It can be predicted, we can know if it is going to be cold or hot, but when it is cold we cannot do anything to change the temperature. Nor can we ask the wind to stop. A hurricane is coming, we don't like it, but it is coming. And they are situations that we do not look for, but they come. And they are crises that present themselves to us, not because we want them, but because it is so in God's design.
And here we find the disciples and Jesus in the midst of a crisis that they did not seek. The disciples, being fishermen, realized that this was becoming dangerous. The lake of Gennesaret, on the Sea of Galilee, is small, but very deep and does raise waves, and these men who were sailors knew when things were dangerous.
But do you know the passage that catches my attention the most in this entire Chapter? The verse that gives me the most confidence is the one that says that in the midst of the storm, verse 38, Jesus was sleeping. Jesus was sleeping in the middle of the storm. And the disciples go and say 'hey, Jesus, wake up, don't you realize we're drowning? This is not a joke, huh? This is dangerous. And Jesus was sleeping.
Two things could have happened: either Jesus was a fool, a fool, he didn't realize the situation that the disciples had to say to him 'hey, don't you realize the situation? That is an option. Or the other option is that Jesus was so confident in the will of his Father and had fixed his life, anchored in such a way in the will of God that He knew that not even the most severe storms could remove him or remove him from the will of God . To such an extent that Jesus can rest in the midst of the storm.
And my message to you this morning is that there are storms in our lives, there are storms that we have not looked for, it could be illness, it could be mental problems, it could be financial problems and many times it is not our fault. our. And here the problem is not looking for whose fault it is that a storm is coming. The storm is And I want to tell you that if you believe that because you come to the León de Judá congregation you are not going to have any more problems in life, forgive me for saying so, you are deceived. Because Jesus himself said 'in the world you will have afflictions'. Wow, this is not what you expected, but it doesn't end there, it says 'but take heart, I have overcome the world'.
And the Christian life is not a life where there are not going to be winds, waves or storms. The Christian life is being able to sleep and rest in the midst of the storm because I know that nothing and no one is going to separate me. If your life is anchored in the will of God, you can sleep in the midst of the storm.
In the world you will have afflictions. Is a reality. And the safest passage, the most important, the most striking is not that Jesus calmed the storm, Jesus calmed the storm to show them that He had power. He did not need to calm the storm, because He was sleeping in the middle of the storm.
And what I want to tell you is that storms are going to come in your life and the Lord is not going to take them away, but He is going to allow you to rest trusting in the Lord. And to prove to the disciples that I was not a fool, nor was I a fool, oh, do you want to see if I have power or not? Wind, it's over. Waves, finish. Wow, the storm is over. And there it says that the disciples were more afraid now than when the storm was. This is serious. Who is this?, says here.
Then they feared with great fear and said to each other “Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Jesus has power. Jesus has power and I want this morning to tell you to get close to Him, hold on to Him because in Him there is power. Power to be able to succeed and rest in the midst of the storms of life.
The next passage is found in Mark, Chapter 5, verse 1 to 20. When they got to the other side of the sea, I imagine they were already scared that they no longer knew what.... first they They were afraid of the storm, now they are afraid of Jesus, they must have arrived white with fear, but they reached the other side.
"They came to the other side of the sea to the region of the Gadarenes and when He came out of the boat, Jesus, immediately met them, from the tombs a man with an unclean spirit who had his dwelling in the graves. tombs and no one could bind him, not even with chains because many times he had been tied with shackles and chains, but the chains had been torn to pieces by him and shredded and no one could dominate him. And always by day and by night, he was still crying out in the mountains and in the tombs, and wounding himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and knelt down before him and crying out with a loud voice said, 'What do you have with me, Jesus, son of the most high God? I adjure you by God not to torment me.'
Who is speaking here? The demon inside. And Jesus said to him "Come out of this man, you unclean spirit," and Jesus asked the spirit "what is your name?" region. And there was near the mountain a great herd of pigs grazing and all the demons begged saying, 'send us the pigs so that we enter them'. And then Jesus gave them permission and those unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, which would be about two thousand and the herd rushed into the sea by a cliff and drowned in the sea. And those who herded the pigs fled and reported in the city and the fields and came out to see what had happened. They saw Jesus and they see the one who had been tormented by the devil and who had feared the region, sitting, clothed, in his right mind, and they were afraid.”
What a weird story! A man totally out of control. You can tell me, 'David, but perhaps this has a psychological explanation, that he was a man who had this... Look, brothers, I don't know if we can define it in medical, psychiatric terms, but I know what he had. This man was totally possessed by a force that was destroying him. A man who was absolutely controlled by the devil. A man who had tried to help and could not do anything. And they even tied him up, tied him up with chains and shackles so that he wouldn't get hurt anymore, and even then he broke them and kept destroying himself. And, David, you are going to tell me: 'But David, what does this have to do with us? It has to do with us much more than you think. Because unfortunately there are people in whom sin, Satan has taken such control that they are totally unable to recover.
I have seen the havoc of alcohol. I have seen homes destroyed by alcohol and I have prayed with people, and there are people who, crying, tell me 'David, I want to and I can't, he is stronger than me. I want and I can't, I can't, it's not that I don't want to.
In the first service, I recounted an experience I had 36 years ago that I am in the pastorate and I have seen more cases of these than I would like to count. But a case that came to my mind, about 20 years ago, approximately 23 years ago, we had to return to Argentina and I am there in Buenos Aires, in our office, and someone comes, knocks on the door. I go out, I attend. A man who seemed to be wearing good clothes, but they all looked worn and dirty and says 'hi David' to me. I look at him, I don't realize who he is. But if someone calls me by the first name before I would have introduced myself, and for them to call me by the first name, it has to be a person who knows me. And I looked at him, and I was kind of realizing who he was, but I wasn't quite sure.
He says 'David, you don't remember me, do you? I am Luis. And there my heart stopped. In front of me was a man who had been the pastor of the largest Baptist church in Buenos Aires, a fabulous ministry. Not new to the ministry, many years as a pastor, son of pastors, brother of pastors, a church anointed by the holy spirit and little by little he began to drink and began to allow alcohol to have a place in his life. At one point the church realized that the pastor had a problem, they could not solve it. The problem worsened to the point that he had to leave the church. It got to such a point that his wife and two beautiful daughters had to leave him.
This pastor ended up homeless on the streets of Buenos Aires. Because? There was a force in his life that he couldn't control and I remember that I was talking to him, we were the same age, and he told me 'David, it seems to you that I haven't tried. It seems to you that I have not tried. Can't'. And I called on the phone after he was home. We feed him, we help him, I called a very dear brother, who is his brother-in-law, a psychiatrist and pastor, he tells me 'David, we are going to help him today and tomorrow it is the same again. We have been trying for years and we cannot.
And how many times have we dealt with young people who are into drugs. Or how many times have we tried to solve problems in homes when there is violence. Right now I am helping a congregation on Long Island where one of the leaders is in jail for abusing his daughter. Do not tell me that the devil does not attack the believer.
All these people don't do it because they want to, or like it. And there it hides seem........ it says 'bring the extremes'. There are, brothers. wake up. There is. They just have to drive through the streets at night in cities like Boston, like New York, and see what the reality of sin is.
And there's more story that I imagine Pastor Miranda and I could tell you about men and women and young people who are so totally possessed by sin that they can't find a way to break free and how many Sometimes they have told me, with tears in their eyes, 'David, I want to but I can't. He is superior to me.’ And I want to tell you that there is someone who is superior. Because the word tells us 'more powerful is he who is in us than he who is in the world'.
And the Lord, the son of God, has manifested himself to destroy the works of the devil. And I want to tell you this morning, this afternoon, that no matter how Satan wants to get in with a hold on your life, the Lord Jesus Christ has power to destroy the works of the devil. The Lord Jesus Christ has power to break the chains of vice. The Lord Jesus Christ has power to restore broken homes.
And the people here were scared, why? Because they saw this man who was hurting himself, who was living among tombs, they saw him sitting up and in his right mind. I want to tell you that the power of Jesus has not been exhausted. The power of the Lord Jesus Christ continues to act today. Jesus has power when you are lacking. The Lord Jesus Christ has the power to overcome what seems invincible.
And the third and last case that I want to read to you is the one we find in verse 24, of the same Chapter of Mark. Mark, Chapter 5, verse 24. It reads like this: "So he went with him, a crowd followed him and squeezed him, Jesus, a very popular person, has healed, he has healed, he is the fashionable person, people have eaten without having to pay, he has multiplied it, he has given him loaves and fish, he teaches cute, they understand it. He is a very popular person. People follow him, but a woman who had suffered from blood flow for 12 years and had suffered a lot from many doctors and spending everything she had and nothing she had used before was doing worse. When he heard about Jesus, he came up behind the crowd and touched his cloak. Because it was said 'if I only touch his cloak I will be saved', and immediately the source of his blood dried up and the body felt that it was healed from that scourge. Then Jesus, knowing in himself the power that had gone out of him, turning to the crowd said, 'Who has touched my clothes? And the disciples said 'you see that the crowd is pressing you and you say, who touched me?'. But He was looking to see who had done this. Then the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done in her, came and prostrated herself before him and told her the whole truth and he said to her: 'Daughter, your faith has made you safe. Go in peace and be healed of your scourge.
Jesus demonstrating power when physical forces seem to take control of our lives. In such a way, a woman who was suffering says, for 12 years, 12 years, and it is not that she had not tried, she says that she had spent everything she had in the hands of the doctors and I am sure that the doctors tried to help her and she was sure that everyone wanted to help her, but it was a case where not only had she suffered, but because of her suffering, according to Jewish law, she could not be part of society. While a woman was suffering from a flow, she was a person who could not be participating in the life of her city, for 12 years now. I was relegated, I was marginalized. He hadn't asked for it, it's a disease.
Brothers, we don't have diseases because we are masochists right? Diseases come. We don't look for them, but they come. This woman suffered something. What is interesting is what is happening here. Because Jesus is a popular person and the whole world is together with Jesus and everyone follows him. And Jesus did not have, like these basketball players who walk with 14 bodyguards so that no one gets close. No, people came and..... a popular, happy person, besides, Jesus had a nice social life. If they invited him to dinner he would go.
You know that it is said that there is more, this is true, notice. In the Gospels there are more cases of Jesus having dinner, spending time in people's houses than going to the temple. It's not that he didn't go to the temple, but he didn't turn down a good invitation either. At such a point, what were they accusing him of? This one is going to dine with sinners. He was a man that she liked, if I have a party I would invite him, brothers. He was not a killjoy. And he was a popular man, he made himself loved, people went. And so the whole world is following that this popular man, new man, maybe he is going to be the new religious leader that we are looking for. And suddenly Jesus stops and says 'someone touched me'. The disciples say 'but, Lord, everyone is touching you.' No, everyone is around me, everyone is pressing me, they are running me, but someone touched me with faith. Someone touched me differently. There are thousands around me but I felt that only one was healed. And then he stands and looks around and this woman says that 'fearing and trembling and knowing what had been done to her, she fell down before him and told him the whole truth.'
Well, can you imagine? No? Jesus could very well have told him. 'Who are you to touch me? You don't know that socially you can't touch me, you're impure. You don't know that now I have to go to the temple and comply with the ritual and for 30 days I can't go to the synagogue because you have touched me. Because the ritual says, Book of Leviticus, a man who touches an impure woman cannot go to the temple for 30 days, and he has to bring sacrifice. What this woman had done was serious.
But the woman approaches her and says 'well, two things happen here, on the one hand she says that the woman already knew –look how interesting- she already knew why (past perfect tense, grammar here). The translation that we have here says 'but it is knowing what had been done in it'. She already knew that she had been healed. He told her everything.
Two things could happen, for the Lord to say 'you are not ashamed of having touched me'. The woman would have said 'Lord, I am not ashamed and if I am ashamed, it doesn't matter, because now I am cured'. But she told him everything and Jesus, what does he tell her? Woman, daughter, it doesn't say woman, daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed of your scourge.'
Brothers, I do not know the theology of this woman. I don't know if he knew much about the law, the Old Testament, the prophecies about the Messiah. I don't know, but I know one thing, that when I go to heaven, she will be there and I will see her. And perhaps she did not learn much in theology in the last two millennia that she was in heaven, but she knows one thing: that she was sick and now she is healthy. And that faith had saved her.
My brother, the power of Jesus was not manifested by the amount of theology that the woman knew, nor by the influence that this woman could have, nor by the profit or social position that Jesus was going to gain by demonstrating that he could work miracles. A woman who was suffering touched Jesus by faith and this woman was healed. And I want to tell you this afternoon that a little faith, a little amount of faith, in a great God can heal you, it can heal you physically, emotionally, spiritually. And I ask you this afternoon if you are suffering from any kind of emotional, physical, or psychological suffering, touch Jesus, because there is power.
It has power, of course it has power. And I can assure you that many of us here this afternoon have felt the touch of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. Between the two services, a brother came to tell me, 'You know, Pastor, that I was imprisoned by the bottle for 18 years, and it has been more than 15 years since the Lord freed me. Is there power? Yes, there is power.
If you don't believe there is power, look who could sleep in the middle of the storm. If you don't believe there is power, look at the demoniac who now sits sanely at the feet of the transformed Jesus. Do you want to know if there is power? A woman who, not knowing much, but having faith, reached out and touched and was healed and transformed because there is power.
I go to Israel very, very often and it doesn't matter what I do, it doesn't matter what activities I have. Do you know where I end my visit to Israel, always? I go to the garden where the grave is. It is not known if it is the royal tomb, if it is not. It doesn't matter. There is a tomb called Gordon's tomb, which for me is the most beautiful there is, and then with all the vicissitudes, all these problems, when I finish my trip to Israel I go to that tomb. And you know what? I'm not going to bring her flowers, I look and what do I see? There is no one, the tomb is empty. Because? Because there is power. Because He has power that not only calms the storm, not only restores healing to the mad, not only restores health to the sick, but gives life when there is death. And brothers, when I see that empty tomb I say 'here is power, here is power.'
I want to invite you this afternoon to do by faith what this woman did. If something is afflicting you, they are suffering, if you are suffering from something, it is something between the Lord and you. I ask you this afternoon to draw near to the Lord by faith and find that your victory is in his power. I want you to learn to rest, to sleep in the middle of the storm. I want you to feel healthy, whole, at the feet of Jesus. I want you to be completely healed like this woman was healed because she touched Jesus.
Pastor Miranda. Brothers, this is how the Gospel is taught almost like a piece of bread that has just been taken out of the oven, very simple but nutritious and delicious. They are the essential truths of the Gospel. In Christ there is power to heal, to transform lives, to turn the dark into light, to give hope where there is despair and to bring provision where there is drought and lack.
How many believe that this afternoon? Amen. We believe in that Christ, the same one who walked on the waters. The same one who silenced the storm, the one who healed the woman with the issue of blood, the one who freed the demoniac, is here among us this afternoon. And many of us can say that He also did it with me, and He can do it with you this afternoon.
And before finishing I want to make a call and I want us to have a moment of deep meditation and communion with the Lord. At times like this it is important to provide anyone who is here who has not had the opportunity to have an encounter with Jesus Christ the opportunity to take that step of faith. We would be more than irresponsible if we did not take advantage of this moment to invite someone, it can be a young person, an old person, a child who is on the balcony or here somewhere. Perhaps God has touched you this afternoon, through praise or through the sermon or through the direct work of God in your spirit and you feel that you want to take a step of faith and establish a personal relationship with Jesus because that is very important , tell the Lord 'Lord, come into my life. I want to get involved with you fully. If you get married and you don't do it publicly, if you graduate you do it publicly. If he gets divorced, an ad is published in a newspaper, if he dies, they put an obituary there in the newspaper. And so it happens..... the most important thing of all is when a person acquires a new nature through Jesus Christ. That should not be left anonymous, but there should be a moment to point out that moment that occurred, that transaction that occurred in the heart of a human being.
And I want to invite you this afternoon, if the Lord has spoken to you in your life, and you want to tell the Lord 'Lord, I want you to do a transforming work in my life.' take a step of faith this afternoon, invite Jesus into your heart and we would like to celebrate with you and I ask that if anyone here wants to take that step, raise your hand, this afternoon, and say to the Lord, ' Lord, I receive you as my savior. Is there someone who wants to invite Jesus into their heart? Raise your hand, if you haven't done it before and want to do it now. Take a step of faith and surrender your life to the Lord.
Do you want to do it? Do you want to invite Jesus into your heart? You are already up there. I invite you to take that step. I know someone is going to be like that woman with the issue of blood who took faith from where she didn't have it and stepped up and touched the hem of Jesus' cloak and was healed. God can do the same in your life. I want to invite you to take a step of faith. Will there be someone?
Not having taken that step before and you want to take that step of faith now, raise your hand. Will there be anyone here this afternoon? I invite you. The Lord says 'I am at the door and I knock and if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me'.
I have always been struck by the greatest mystery of all that exists, that the creator of the universe, first humbly invites himself into our lives. He could take it by force and say "I enter and possess" so men do, but the Lord respects you too much to violate your freedom and He rather says "I would like to dine with you, I would like to enter your inner house and live next to you'.
And the second thing is that the creator of the universe that contains the galaxies and everything that exists can thin out to the point of entering your life, your heart and dwelling there. That is a great mystery. God bless you sister.
Will there be someone who wants to take that step of faith this afternoon and say to the Lord, amen, who wants to invite Jesus into their heart, I invite you to come forward here. You sister want to say a word and we will do it briefly sister.
Brothers, the Lord bless you. I already took that step of faith and accepted the Lord in my life, as my Lord and my savior. I want to, I have several struggles in my life and I only come to ask you one more time to break my heart and do it again and increase my faith. I already accepted it but I need the prayers of all of you to continue forward because I cannot do this fight alone.
Amen, sister. The Lord hears your request. I know it takes courage, one to be transparent, but we are in the family, and the Lord receives that and his heart breaks and that is where the blessing begins, when we humble ourselves to the Lord, when we break and are transparent.
Perhaps there are other people here who need that touch from the Lord. We have declared a Christ who liberates and heals. If you have such a pressing need, come here right now too. We want to pray for you this afternoon and we are going to bless you. There will be someone who simply wants to say, 'Lord, I also have a need and I need your liberating touch this afternoon.' transformative in your life.
Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thanks, Dad. Thank you. Touch, touch lives, Lord. Touch the lives. Thank you holy spirit, you are here, you are here, Lord. You close what is excessively messy and open what is stagnant, Lord. You open darkened hearts and closed minds and you touch, Lord, what is not right and you straighten it. What is too exalted, You bring it down. What is too depressed, You lift it up, Lord. You are a God who puts everything according to the life that You have declared, what You are: truth, justice, life, power, healing, Lord, abundance.
Look at these lives, Father, in the name of Jesus, the ones that open your hearts to you for the first time, the ones that are reconciled with you, Father. The ones who just want a desperate touch like the woman with the issue of blood. Lord Jesus, we now call upon your people your healing power. I declare it in the name of Jesus. Funny. Funny. Funny. Thank you, in the name of Jesus. Healing, liberating grace, the holy spirit filling lives, your water, Lord, running, cleaning or removing all afflictions from the spirit, from the mind, from the emotions, Lord.
You are good, Jesus. You are good and when you enter it is to cleanse and heal, Lord, so be it this afternoon on your children. Oh thank you Jesus. We receive from you, we receive your anointing, Father. Thank you. Receive it in the name.... the anointing of God is here. I feel it right now and God is healing lives and doing beautiful things. I declare it so. God is bringing new paths, new currents in your life. Thank my Lord. Thank my Lord. We receive it, Father. I get my own portion too, Lord. Breaking chains. Oh hallelujah! releasing thoughts, thank you Lord. Oh. Hallelujah!
We release a healing anointing upon your children, Father. Physical healing inclusive, Lord right now. If there is disease in your life, right now I declare healing. Own it. Receive it. make it yours Say, 'I am healed, I am healed in the name of Jesus' because the Lord has power. Just as he healed the woman from the issue of blood, in the name of Jesus, Father, I declare healing over your people. The body of your children, Lord, we heal, we heal. We declare healing, breaking the power of the devil over lives. Where there is confusion and depression, we declare encouragement, joy. Hallelujah! Anointing of God, anointing of God healing, liberating, reconciling. Forget the past, forget the hurts of the past, the failures of the past, today all things are made new. There is newness of life for you, in the name of Jesus I declare it. Hallelujah! thank you Lord for your precious move in our midst. Thank my Lord. We adore you. we bless you Hallelujah! Thank my Lord. Thank you Jesus. Receive it and say 'thank you, Christ. You have entered my life with renewed power and I receive it and today I declare myself free and stronger than ever to walk in victory.
I announce a new day in your life. I announce the visitation of the Lord in your life. Hallelujah!. Thank you that we can celebrate before you as children, Lord, healthy children because we have a father who loves us and affirms us. Thank my Lord. We bless you, God. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thank my Lord. We adore you. It is the day of redemption, the day of healing. Amen. Amen.
Go back to your seat, my brother, my sister, if you want to talk to any of us, to some of the hujieres this afternoon, you can. We encourage you, if you need a Bible, go to one of the hujieres, let us know and we will get you your Bible. We encourage you to start studying the word of the Lord because there that healing is affirmed more and more, the work that God has done in your life is strengthened.
