0:00 Please meet me in the gospel according to Mark in your bibles in chapter one. Gospel according to Mark in chapter one, and meet me here in verse 21. Mark one twenty one. Pray with me. Lord, we thank you for our time together.
0:31 We know that some are away for this weekend. We know some are busy with families and plans, but thank you that we can still gather in this place to receive your word. And we just ask, Lord, that you would help us help us understand what these passages mean. We wanna be more in the light than we were when we came in. We wanna know you more than we did before we drove up here.
0:55 And we ask, Lord, that there would be a particular grace in delivering this word, and a much needed grace for our hearts to be opened. And Lord, we just ask that we would sense the reality of your authority, and that Lord we would be able to rest in that authority, rejoice in that authority. And Lord know that in you, we are more than conquerors. And greater is he that is in us than he who is in the world. We give you praise now in Jesus' name.
1:27 Amen. As we explore this passage in scripture, it's helpful to know that at this particular point, the author, as you've realized, who had a certain pace in the previous verses, will now slow down the rhythm of his thoughts as we come here to this text because now we can say that this is really the beginning of the the main body of Mark's record of his account of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. And so now we're going to see that he is going to expand his thoughts on certain events about the ministry of Jesus Christ. And although there is gonna be a change of shift in that rhythm, there will also be a continuation of certain themes that will flow from the verses that you and I have been exploring in the previous Sundays. And one of those themes that will continue, especially in this text, is the unmatched superior authority of the person of Jesus Christ.
2:29 Up to this point, you and I have just gotten a glimpse of his authority in different arenas. We've seen how he is much more supreme than Satan. We have seen his mastery over severe and intense temptation. We can also say that there is something about an attractive authority that melted the hearts of these grown fishermen who joyfully submitted to his tutelage and would follow him wherever he would go. And if we think that up to this point there is nothing else to be proved, the spirit is preparing us now to see how the authority of Jesus Christ extends into a different realm.
3:18 And that realm has to do with the demonic, unseen spirits, an unseen world, a world that in the days of Jesus, and not just the days of Jesus, but from the beginning of time, has tormented many in this world, has shown great power and deception to sway people into self harm and destruction towards others. Christ now in this portrait that we are going to see by the hand of Mark is going to show that he indeed rules and reigns not just over different aspects that we are familiar with, but even that which we do not know much of. And so we see that here in verse 21. And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority and not as the scribes.
4:21 And immediately, there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the holy one of God. But Jesus rebuked him saying, be silent and come out of him.
4:46 And the unclean spirit convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice came out of him. And they were all amazed. So that they questioned among themselves saying, what is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.
5:03 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. The subject of angels and demons has captivated the masses for centuries. The curiosity around spiritual beings has been something that has spilled over even into our culture, a secular culture. And I believe the main reason for that is because mankind generally has a yearning. A yearning to know how to satisfy this gnawing sense that there is this unseen world that interacts with our own world.
5:47 And the great amount of books and movies and this new desire, this growing desire for the phenomenon of new age and all these different things testify that our culture is probing. And you even have some who claim to have answers. But no matter what experience people have, no matter what kind of blurry footage of sightings someone may claim to have, God's word is a final authority. God's word gives us the sufficient data that we need to understand all that we need to know about angels and demons. And our subject today in particular is that of demons.
6:29 And as we understand this, we should be satisfied in knowing that in the spirit's wisdom, he has given us all that we need to know. We don't have to try to figure out the answers that Jesus or God's word doesn't give us. And just to rest in the fact that whatever we are exposed to is enough for us to glorify God, be free from confusion, and walk in holiness as he commands us to walk. And that is what we are going to see here. This is not going to be a comprehensive study of all that we can know about demons, about fallen angels, about unclean spirits.
7:03 But in the verses that you and I just read, there is important truths about this kingdom. It's a dark kingdom. It's an evil kingdom. It's a king that opposes the kingdom of God for us to be edified and prepared to continue to follow our master. And so the insights that we see here, it is our duty to collect this information, and it comes from a very detailed description of a day in the ministry of Jesus Christ.
7:30 And so here are some points. Here are four points to consider about this realm, about these foes. Number one, demons are able to influence men. Demons are able to influence men. As we just read, Jesus and his disciples entered into Capernaum and immediately went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.
7:54 Now it's important to understand that synagogues, you've probably seen it, throughout the New Testament emerged. They emerged during the Babylonian captivity. This is not something that was known before the Babylonian captivity, but once the Israelites were taken out of their land under the rule of king Nebuchadnezzar, they could not have access to the temple to worship God. They could not go freely and and perform pilgrimage and honor God with the feast that he has commanded them to honor. And so what they did was they they established these places of worship called synagogues while they were in a foreign land so they can come together, recite scripture, receive some kind of teaching, and pray.
8:37 And now as we fast forward to the days of Jesus, we know that these places of worship remained in Jewish society and were still honored as places of worship for different Jews in different areas. And so we see that here, it's prevalent. They would come, they would they would invite rabbis to speak, and there was even a freedom for rabbis to come into these synagogues and volunteer to share something. We see that with Paul, and we see that in the New Testament in the book of Acts where we see the people going and spreading the gospel in synagogues. Synagogues played an instrumental role.
9:10 They were used greatly by the early church to spread the truth of the gospel. I love that. I love that. This is something that was later on in Jewish culture, but was used for the gospel, and I like to apply that to our own lives. That as we think see things invented and emerged that are not blatantly sinful, that we should utilize them for the spread of the gospel.
9:31 We should utilize them to to speak truth. Where where there is freedom of speech still, let us utilize this time and the tools that we have before it's too late. And that's what we see here with Jesus. Jesus spent many, many times, many, many days, sessions in synagogues to proclaim the gospel that we see here. And on this particular day, a guest teacher by the name of Jesus visited and stunned his listeners.
9:57 He came in and they heard him preach, and when they heard him preach, they were amazed. They were astonished at not just the content of his message, but the method, his delivery, the way he spoke. They recognize that this guest teacher many scribes have came in and out, but this particular guest teacher has authority when he speaks. There's conviction. There's boldness.
10:25 There's clarity. There's authenticity, and there is a weightiness to this man. When he preaches, we know that it's coming from a heart that not just believes it, but a power. There's a power behind these words. And I believe the reason why Jesus walked in this authority is from what we learned in the previous weeks.
10:46 He was anointed with the Holy Spirit of God. He was Jesus in those waters of baptism, and he was praying according to Luke, and the Holy Spirit came and descended upon him. And he goes into that wilderness, and he defeats Satan, and he overcomes temptation. And Luke also tells us he comes out of that wilderness with great power. Great power.
11:08 To all the aspiring teachers of God's word, to all the aspiring preachers, and perhaps even the evangelists in this place, may I tell you and remind you today that you can acquire great information from seminaries. You can gain much theology from books, but authority, spirit inspired authority only comes from heaven. It only comes when you realize your need and you walk in the spirit. It only comes through a life of prayer as Jesus demonstrated. It only comes when you, as Jesus did, know how to first overcome sin in your private life.
11:46 Because there is no such thing as authority publicly if there's not authenticity privately. And Jesus had those components, and when he came on the scene, they realized there's something different about this guy. When he speaks, there's a compelling persuasion behind it. These scribes were hypocrites. They just had a wealth of knowledge, and they would come and give their little speech, and it didn't touch anyone.
12:10 But all this Jesus comes, and he speaks, and there is such a gripping element to it, but there is something else about that particular day that astonished these listeners, these regular attendees of the synagogue in Capernaum. We are told immediately in verse 23, there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. This man was possessed with a devil, and this man was not by the tombs like the man in Mark chapter five undressed, chained, cutting himself, screaming and disturbing the neighborhood. This man was sitting in a spiritual religious service. Some would even say he was a regular attendee of the synagogue.
13:03 He had interest in religious things. He wanted to hear God's word. He was willing to be taught. He was willing to be among God's people, and yet hidden in this man was an unclean wicked spirit. This teaches us many things, but here's one thing it does teach us in fact that we should consider for ourselves in terms of our understanding of demonology.
13:28 When we put all the scriptures together, what we learn is that there is a wide range of symptoms of demonic influence in people's lives. Just because somebody may be having a demon in them does not mean that they are always out of control and dramatic in their behavior. The symptoms are diverse, and the various accounts of deliverance in Jesus' ministry and the New Testament clearly teach that. You have some who were overpowered by demons, and all we are told about them is that they were either mute or deaf. They were not erratic.
14:08 They simply had these powerful ailments placed upon them by demons. Others experienced sporadic seizures. Others experienced this pull to self harm. And there is even some in some cases where there was supernatural strength on display that could not be explained by human reasoning. And in this case, we have no comments of this man being ill.
14:34 There's no ailments described. There is no strange behavior other than the fact that while God's word was being preached, there was an outburst of resistance and confrontation against the Lord and his message. Listen. Though though demonic deliverance throughout Jesus' ministry was a major feature, it was not the only feature. We see him doing many other things including healing people miraculously.
15:04 And when he healed many people, it was not ever, always rather, tied to demonic influence. Why is that important to understand? Because we have to be careful in attempting to identify strange behavior or disease because of demons. There are people who are sick. There are people who even have psychological or physiological disorders that are just because as a result of the fall.
15:30 Not because there's an evil spirit behind it, not because an evil spirit is possessing someone to be harmed or to be self destructive, just because we live in a broken world, and Jesus' ministry proves that because in many cases, he just heals them out of compassion, and in other times, he delivers them from demonic stronghold. And the great question that many people wanna know is, well, how do I make that distinction? How do I make that distinction between somebody's behavior that seems very strange or somebody's situation that seems very dark, whether this is something coming from an evil spirit or something that's just coming from a result of the fall. And the Bible doesn't really give us any kind of lists of check offs so that you and I can make that conclusion for ourselves. If there is anything that we can we can have confidence in, for an answer for that distinction being made is in the ministry of Jesus himself.
16:25 Jesus himself, by the power of the spirit, was able to deliver people, and at the same time, he was able to discern. By the spirit, he was able to discern what was what, who was struggling with what, and then making the appropriate action to bring about relief to the person who is either bound by a demon or just experiencing a consequence of the fall. There is great need of discernment, and there needs to be great hesitation and running around saying this is demonic and this is not demonic. The Lord was able to make that clear distinction because he was given the spirit without measure. And more can be said about identifying demonic activity.
17:07 But I wanna use this time to explain something that is crucially important because this verse that I just read to you is often used by those who would believe that it is possible for Christian believers who are filled with the spirit to be at the same time possessed by a demon. That that might be something that you are familiar with in your network, but I must say that among millennials, this is a growing trend. It is becoming increasingly popular where you are having people claim and believe that Christians can be possessed by demons and then make up their entire ministry called deliverance ministry, doing deliverances on people who are apparently child a child of God, or children of God. And what they would say with a verse like this is, well, you see you see a man who is in the synagogue, a place of worship, and because this man was a regular attendee in a place of worship who had a demon, what makes us not believe that somebody who comes to a regular church service can be possessed with a demon? There's so many problems with that inter it might sound clever, but it is extremely problematic and severely overly simplistic.
18:15 You can't just come to a verse like this and say, well, there was somebody in the synagogue who had a demon, so people in church who are Christians can have demons. First of all, you and I know this. Who says that you coming to church means that you're an actually child of God? We can just end the argument right there. Just because somebody's regularly attending a service, does not mean automatically, we don't presume that they belong to Christ.
18:38 So to make the conclusion that somebody was sitting physically in a religious service means that they are in right status with God is already an argument that defeats the whole thing. What we have to understand, if this teaches anything, is that you can have people who regularly attend a church service who are demonized and unsaved. That's how we interpret it. And they might go on to say that, well, you see many instances of the New Testament where people who are followers of Christ are clearly possessed by a devil, and so they will use scriptures like with Jesus rebuking Peter when Peter tried to rebuke him about going to the cross. And what does Jesus say?
19:17 Get behind me, Satan. Get behind me, Satan. You see? Here's Peter that in a moment, Satan entered him and influenced him and spoke through him to speak to Jesus and try to divert him from the cross. And then they would go on to say, well, that's even seen in the book of Acts where you see Ananias and Sapphira.
19:32 They come into the church and they lie about their giving. And Peter looks at this couple and says, well, rather the man first. How has Satan why do you allow Satan to fill your heart? To lie to the Holy Spirit. To lie to God.
19:47 You see? Satan filled this church goer, this Christian, this follower of Christ, filled his heart. And so it's possible for Satan to enter into a Christian, and then perform his will through the Christian. And I just have one simple question with both of those instances and many other instances that they would use in the scripture. If that was the case, then why didn't Jesus cast the devil out of Peter?
20:12 And if that was the case, why didn't Peter cast the devil out of Ananias? No. What you see there in both of those instances is that the evil one influenced their thinking. And even with Peter, Jesus, I'm paraphrasing, looks at him and says, your mind is on the things of man and not the things of God. And in Ananias' case, we all believe that it is possible for evil spirits to influence us, to tempt us, to to suggest things in us, but we are not among those who believes that a demon can come and have direct influence over your behavior and your speech.
20:50 There's so many arguments. We can spend the rest of the service debunking these things, but let me give you one simple, I believe, final verse that would close this argument. It's found in Ephesians chapter two one and two. What you see in this portion of scripture is Paul addressing the glorious rescue in Jesus Christ. He's telling these Christians who you were before Christ, the things that you were caught up in before Christ, and who you are now because of Christ, Ephesians two one to 10.
21:21 But let me read to you the first two verses. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. The spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. There are many explanations for what this means. But one thing I know in the wider context is that the spirit, the prince of the power of the air only has access to various degrees in those who are outside of Christ.
22:06 Those who are outside of Christ as they, whether knowingly or unknowingly, follow Satan and are guided by Satan through sin and the deceptions of this world, open themselves up to his influence in their lives to various degrees, and depending upon the severity of a sin or the invitation of a person for the demonic, that can even include demonic possession. You have those who are messing up with the occult, those who are messing up with certain drugs, and these different kind of activities that open themselves up for Satan to have access to them in very powerful ways. But that is a threat. That is a danger for those who are outside of Christ. When Jesus rescues you and I, he fills us and he seals us with the Holy Spirit.
22:56 And part of that is that we are protected from ownership from Satan. And this is an extremely important truth because I wanna tell you the fruit of this teaching among many who are in my age bracket. And there are some who are older who believe this too. Deliverance has been replacing repentance. What do I mean by that?
23:21 Now what you're having is a demon for every sin. So if I struggle with pornography, it's a spirit of lust. If I have a habit of lying, it's a spirit of deception. If I have, gambling issue, it's a spirit of greed. And so every sin pattern now has a demon behind it, and what you have people doing is lining up to these kind of ministers, asking to be delivered from particular sins, when in the Bible, Jesus doesn't say get the devil out of you.
23:49 He says, repent. So do you see how this is very, very tricky? What you're having now is people who not only receive one form of deliverance, they come for constant deliverance. Because these same people who say that you have a demon in you will also say you need multiple sessions to be delivered. Which is fascinating to me because when you explore those who hold to this view of deliverance, they would argue, Jesus delivered, Jesus had a deliverance ministry, and so Christians must also, and I believe that there are demons, and I believe that demons can be cast out today, because it is biblical.
24:27 But what I'm trying to say is those who say that we have to do deliverance because Jesus did deliverance, Don't do deliverance the way Jesus did deliverance. Look at how Jesus brought about deliverance to people with such authority, with one word. And those who propagate this deliverance ministry among Christians have hours upon hours exhausting themselves and others, multiple sessions to see a demon cast out. And so there are a lot of flags here, and my main concern is it's bringing about much fear among the people of God, much confusion, and more importantly, deliverance now is actually replacing the call to simply repent. It's not a devil, it's your flesh.
25:16 Crucify your flesh. Come to the cross. Carry your cross. And so I needed to touch on that because you have many people who would say what I'm saying is false, and they would often use their experience or their ministry as validation for their belief. But you don't take your experience and then use your experience to interpret the word of God.
25:38 You take the word of God and you interpret that experience. And so some who might be watching this might accuse me of not believing that Jesus can deliver and people need deliverance. I believe that people need deliverance. I just praise God that because I'm saved, I don't have any worry to be possessed by a devil. Demons can influence people.
26:03 Demons are able to influence people. But number two, demons are at war with the truth. Demons are at war with the truth. Look here again in verse 23. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
26:21 Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the holy one of God. Now what's amazing about this is that demon activity is much more sophisticated than people perceive. These spiritual agents of Satan do not only seek to destroy people's minds and their bodies, but they are more eager to deceive and divert people from the truth. In first Timothy four one, Paul tells us that there are deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.
26:52 Unclean spirits are the masterminds behind damning doctrines. They're inventors of blasphemous teachings, and recruiters of humans, so that they would be helpers in persuading the masses to adopt that thought that originated with a fallen angel. And this is something important to understand because demons also know that God has his men. God has his servants who are faithful in proclaiming the truth and spreading the gospel and advancing in the kingdom of God in this world. And because of that, their strategy is not just trying to invent and deceive others, but it also includes being obstacles to those who do move forward with the truth.
27:42 And that's exactly what we see here. Note the timing of this demon interrupting the service. We read. Right? That Jesus was speaking with authority.
27:55 And it wasn't just that, look at verse 22, and they were astonished at his teaching. And so, it was after the truth was proclaimed with authority, and after the people expressed amazement at what they had heard, it was then that the demon manifested. Demons cannot stand still when the Lord Jesus is being preached, and when the people are praising him in truth. Wherever people hearts are stirred by the truth of the gospel, you can expect a stirring up of evil opposition. Ministry with spirit empowered authority will attract unseen adversaries.
28:39 And Satan's arsenal of distraction and disruption, of interference is vast. We see it with a man here who seemed to be just a religious Jew, who screams in the middle of the church service to try to distract everybody from the preaching. We see it in Acts chapter 13 when Paul and Barnabas are preaching to a politician, and there was a magician by the name of Elymas. And he sought to persuade Sergius Pallas away from the gospel. And Paul, by the spirit, has a confrontation with this man who is indeed dabbling within the occult.
29:16 And we see it even in a place like Acts chapter 16. The reason why I'm bringing these things up is to help you understand the strategies of the evil one. Turn with me to Acts 16 very quickly in verse 16. And what you see here is Paul and Silas. Paul and Silas are in Philippi.
29:38 Let's start in verse 14. I want you to notice something in verse 14 of Acts chapter 16. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia. Remember, they went to a place by the river to pray, and there they found some woman. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God.
30:02 The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized and her household as well, she urged us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay, and she prevailed upon us. What we see here is a clear conversion story. Lydia was converted. Her household was saved.
30:24 And notice what happens after a soul was saved in this region. Verse 16. As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune telling. She followed Paul and us crying out, these men are servants of the most high God who proclaimed to you the way of salvation. Do you see the timing?
30:52 This demon possessed young girl who is making money through some kind of knowledge that she had received from from spirits begin to follow Paul, begin to follow Silas after her soul was converted. In other words, the demonic realm recognized that Paul and Silas were making great advancements in their region, and they wanted to put a halt to it as soon as possible. And so you see this demon possessed girl harassing, not just in this moment, but for days. We read days. She kept persisting, annoying them to the point where he finally cast the devil out of her.
31:30 That's so interesting, is it not? Because it's no different for us today. We see it with Jesus' ministry. Satan often, when he recognizes that something is spirit empowered, something will be effective, he seeks to put a stop to it as soon as possible. Mark chapter one, we're at the beginning of Jesus' ministry.
31:48 Here in Acts 16, we see that there's a new region, a new missionary endeavor, and the devils recognize it, so they come and they put up a fight. But not just that. Look at verse 16 again. And as we were going to the place of prayer. You want spiritual warfare in your life?
32:06 Anyone who wanna volunteer? You want spiritual warfare? Get a prayer life. You you wanna see things happen in this church? You wanna see resistance?
32:18 Come to the prayer meeting. The devils know that a praying man, a praying woman, a praying church is a dangerous man, a dangerous woman, a dangerous church. And so, as they set themselves to pray, which encourages me because they just want a soul and a household of souls to Christ, and yet they still see their need to come before God, to humble themselves, and to seek him in prayer. These disciples knew that we are dependent upon God, not just for success, but even after our success. And not just these disciples, not just these missionaries, but the devils themselves knew.
32:55 We cannot let these men pray. We cannot let them come in contact with God. We cannot let them receive more power. They're already causing trouble in our midst. And so I wanna tell you something.
33:07 If there's any ministry that Satan will attack, surely it is the preaching of God's word, especially when it is with authority, but also the prayer meeting. Any church that does not have a prayer meeting is already a losing church in my opinion. And that's not my personal opinion. That's because the scriptures command us to pray, and there is no other way by which we can receive great power, wisdom, and guidance other than when we humble ourselves before God. And these devils knew that.
33:35 Satan knows how to bring about a resistance and distraction whenever there is a work of God happening. I remember hearing an evangelist preach about the birds of the air that come to steal the word from the hearts of the listeners, And he had shared a story that while he was preaching once he looked out. By the way, preachers can see everything when they preach, just to give you a heads up. They can see everything. And so here's this preacher preaching.
34:06 And as he is preaching, he recognizes and he sees a woman in the pew holding a calm, still baby. And as he was declaring the truth, he saw her hand reach out and pinch the baby so that that baby would shriek in pain and cause a distraction in the service. The baby didn't just combust in tears. Babies cry all the time. We shouldn't be disturbed by that.
34:30 He saw this mother take her hand and squeeze the baby so that baby would cry out loud. He finished preaching. He approached her, confronted her. Her face changed color and she ran out of the building. Satan and his demons hate the truth.
34:53 And we see here that after this demon in Mark chapter one realized that there was a man now who came and he was no ordinary man with authority and the people hearts were being stirred, that he was gonna do whatever he could to bring about some kind of interference. And the devil knows how to find troublemakers. He, in fact, knows how to find men and women to do his bidding. But let me tell you something, this account in Mark should encourage us. You know why?
35:17 Because it tells us that the devils know the great power behind the word being preached. He is threatened by what's happening right now. And I'd love to know that what we are doing today is threatening him and bringing glory to God. So let us continue to preach and let us continue to pray with no fear. No fear, but with a preparedness that there will in fact come times where the enemy will make very, very, very obvious attempts to put up resistance against the move of God.
35:51 Demons hate the truth. Demons and their activity are not just limited to crazy behavior. They have minds. They create teachings. They influence people and powers.
36:02 They have some kind of influence even over nations and governments. It goes beyond just people acting in a certain way that's obvious. No. No. No.
36:10 They are much more clever than that, and we need discernment to realize it. Our war is bigger than just demons being cast out. It is also pulling down strongholds with the truth because they have lies to share. Number three, demons have a knowledge of God. Demons have a knowledge of God.
36:30 Verse 24, what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the holy one of God. Mark, by the spirit, clearly wants us to know what this invisible enemy said in that meeting. When he protested, he wants us to see exactly what was said, and much can be said about this dreadful expression.
36:53 But I want us to know here that I find it quite interesting to see that the very first acknowledgment and accurate description of the person of Jesus Christ came from a wicked spirit. It didn't come from his early followers. It didn't come from the religious Jews. It didn't come from any Jew. It came from a demon.
37:11 And the demon knew four aspects of Christ with great accuracy. The humanity of Christ. Notice here, what have you to do with us Jesus of Nazareth? The humanity of Jesus. The deity of Jesus.
37:23 The holy one of God. The authority of Jesus. Have you come to destroy us? And even the fate of the end of all things. He realized what his destiny was, and what Jesus's destiny for him was, and yet with this level of insight, and with this understanding to outshine those of Jesus's day, this demon also confessed that he was terrified of being destroyed.
37:52 Other than the fact that Hebrews tells us that the Lord did not come to save angels, namely fallen angels, this demonic manifestation proven here in Mark chapter one teaches us that there is a critical difference about knowing things about God and knowing God. Great difference. James two informs us that there is in verse 19 a type of faith that has the quality of demonic belief. It's a faith that understands very, very maybe even rich revelations of God, insightful things about the word of God that can include the eternal existence of Christ, the incarnation of Christ, the works of Christ, the return of Christ just like this devil. Yet all at the same time, you can be damned to hell.
38:42 You can have this very same fate as this demon. And what this demon soberly teaches us is that a precise perception of Jesus will not save you, and it is not the thing that we measure somebody's salvation off of. What is needed is a humble submission to the truth of Jesus Christ that makes all the difference. And so you have some people who have a knowledge of Christ, but just like this devil, are headed towards destruction because they have never repented and believed. They have not submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
39:20 There are some people who have PhDs in theology who will be damned for eternity. And this may make you feel very uncomfortable, but the screech of terror that pierce the atmosphere of that synagogue foreshadows the torment that this demon will face one day, but also those who share his quality of faith. There will be some people who will be in hell who have amazing amazing ability to articulate doctrine. Because that truth has not changed them and caused them to fall at their feet, at the feet of Jesus and to repent, they were never delivered. Demons have a knowledge of God and James uses that to explain if your faith does not have works in chapter two, then you are no different than the demons themselves.
40:14 Demons. Have you ever noticed in your wide range of scripture when you consider cover to cover that they tend to peak in their manifestation during the ministry of Jesus Christ? You don't really see them much. They're kind of veiled in the Old Testament. You do see them in the book of Acts and you see them later in Revelation, but they they're really at the the feverish pitch during the life of Jesus.
40:38 Have you ever wondered that? I'll tell you why. It's because when Jesus Christ came in the flesh, the presence of his holiness and the overwhelming authority that he carried compelled these demons to expose themselves. They could no longer remain hidden, but realized that their enemies stood before them, and they knew how powerless they were before him. And so they shrieked out of pure terror that he is here.
41:06 And just like the light switch goes off and all the cockroaches come out, so it is when Jesus walked the earth for those three years. All these demons start just coming out and falling before him because they realize the holy one of God is here, which brings us to our last point. Yes. Demons are able to influence men. Demons are at war with the truth.
41:27 Demons also have a knowledge of God, but demons are rendered powerless before Christ. No matter how vicious or terrifying these beings may be, no matter what they've done to people's lives, no matter how intimidating they might have been, no matter what failed attempts to subdue them like the man in Mark chapter five, what we see here is that they do not stand a chance before the Lord. There is no competition here. Get it out of your mind that we have God and Satan and they're they're they're equal in their strengths. That that that they they have a tug of war with each other.
42:04 That is not the case at all. One brief command from the lips of the savior can send a horde of reluctant demons into whatever direction that he desires. One brief command. And what you see here in the life of Jesus is clearly a sovereignty over Satan early on and his minions, but you have to understand that that sovereignty has remained and will remain until the end of the age. It is no different now, and it will show itself in various ways.
42:30 And one of the ways in which we will even see it, we see it in the scripture, Is while Christ is in heaven, he still exercises his sovereignty. Not just bringing about deliverance in people, but these these demons who think that they can run rampant and and do what they want to do. Revelation shows us that that is not the case. I love it. I love it because you see during the tribulation period when the restraining force of God is removed, and the antichrist will want to do what he wants to do and feels like he has the most freedom that he ever had, and begins to bring about deception and destruction and false signs and wonders.
43:07 And you see, it's clear that this world will not see tribulation like then. And a great part of that is because of the demonic activity that will be so obvious. What's amazing is that you'll have these demons doing something at one point. It's in Revelation 16. I want you to see this as we close in a moment.
43:25 Revelation 16 and verse 13. Near the end of the great tribulation, as a return of Christ will only be moments away, look what happens. Look what these evil spirits will do and consider how it ties into the truth of the supremacy of Jesus Christ. In Revelation sixteen thirteen, and I saw, John says, coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, out of the mouth of the false prophet. How many how many was those?
43:56 What's the number there? Three. Right? You have the dragon, Satan. You have the beast, the antichrist.
44:03 You have the false prophet, right, who will help the antichrist. You know what that is? The unholy trinity. Right? Satan so wants to be like God, so wants to imitate God.
44:12 Satan understands the nature of God that he is one but three, and he wants to try to actually reflect that himself. So you have the dragon, you have the false prophet, you have the beast, and these these evil spirits are coming out of their mouths. And look at verse 14, for they are demonic spirits performing signs. Now look what they will do at this point in the tribulation, the great tribulation. Who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
44:44 These evil spirits who have the ability to perform false signs and wonders, at one point will will persuade the rulers of the nations to collaborate in their efforts to join forces, to come to that piece of real estate that has known trouble for centuries and and thousands of years. In their pride and in their foolishness to actually wage war against not one another, but God himself. They will be so impressed by these evil spirits. They will be so moved because of their own pride and their own openness and their own hatred of God that they will move together with all of their might and all of their military to park in, to park in Israel, in a certain valley, and to prepare to make war with God himself. And when you read the capabilities evil spirits, you can you can say that it is quite impressive to actually to come up with this kind of a concert, to deceive so many people and to bring into the same place, to line them up so that they can fight against God, is quite the effort, quite the accomplishment.
45:52 But what's amazing is that the prophet Zechariah who tells us of the same event, who describes the very same event hundreds of years before John penned these prophecies tells us something quite interesting. Here's our last passage, Zechariah 14 in the Old Testament. Notice what the prophet says on behalf of the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 14 verse one. Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst.
46:36 Verse two. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, And the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the woman raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Do you see it? Revelation 16 tells us that it will be these demonic spirits who will assemble the nations and bring them to Jerusalem to fight against God.
47:09 Zechariah speaking on behalf of God says in verse two, I will gather. I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle. Well, who is it? Is it the demonic spirit or is it God? Who who is leading this?
47:24 Who is in charge of this? Well, here's what you have. While Satan thinks that he is in control over the nation, God is the one who is actually orchestrating these events. He is using their rebellion to accomplish his ultimate cause. And while these demon spirits think that they are persuading and they are leading to fulfill their purpose and their agenda and their evil will, God sits in the heavens and he laughs.
47:50 Psalm two. As these nations come to rage against God, God is not taken by surprise. God is actually allowing and in his sovereignty, allowing and orchestrating these nations to come not to hurt him, but for them to be judged. So Satan, as much as he he displays power and destruction, is ultimately submitted to the sovereign will of our God. And this is what we see here.
48:16 I will gather them. You go to Revelation, you see the you think these demonic spirits are doing it. You think it's the the charge of the unholy trinity. No. The real trinity is in charge.
48:25 And they come now to this point in their rebellion only for God to accomplish his purpose. Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ. Should we not be amazed? Because we come back to Mark one and we conclude with verse 27, and they were all amazed so that they questioned among themselves saying, what is this? A new teaching with authority.
48:45 He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him. Yes. You should be amazed. I should be amazed that this one that we worship and love and adore, he he does not just have sovereignty over temptation. He does not just have sovereignty over things in this life.
49:03 Even demons tremble. Even they obey. Even they cannot resist. Even their ultimate plan to try to usurp the throne of Jesus, the physical throne in Jerusalem one day to initiate the millennial kingdom, even they have to obey. And you and I have this king as our master and as our Lord.
49:24 There is nothing to fear. He is with us and he is for us. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you that we have just beheld something of the majesty and the dominating power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank you that when you save us, you seal us.
49:56 And we thank you, oh Lord, that your word has given us much more light and confidence that we are in the truth. And we ask, oh God, that if there's any confusion that you would bring about deliverance from confusion. And if there is any demonic influence, temptation, attack, that you would bring about deliverance. And, Lord, we pray that as we move forward that we would have discernment, that we would realize that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Help us realize that we are on the winning side, and that you will prevail, and that nothing can stand before you.
50:50 And at the end of all, every knee will bow. Every knee in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We choose to do so. We choose to do so now. Thank you, oh Lord, that we can receive truth and know truth and that truth can save us.
51:12 But we think of these demons who know truth, but they cannot be saved. Thank you for your mercy and your love and your forgiveness. Lord, we worship you, the one who is sovereign over all, the seen realm and the unseen realm. You are Lord. And not just Lord, you are the Lord of lords, and you are the King of kings.
51:30 Blessed be your name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's stand and worship together.
