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Mark 1:21-28 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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If you have a copy of God's Word, I invite you to open with me to Mark chapter 1.
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Mark chapter 1.
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We've been tracking with Jesus through the book of Mark over the past several weeks.
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And in case you've missed it, or just to refresh your memory, I want to catch you up to where we are thus far,
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and where we've been thus far in the book of Mark.
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And to do that, I want to use a map.
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Sometimes it's good to see a geographical context of where we've been and where we are.
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So we could get that map up there.
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This map that we're using is a map of the upper region of Galilee.
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Galilee is a region. It's not a town. It's not a country. It's a region.
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A lot of times people get confused about that.
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Over here is the Mediterranean Sea, just to kind of give you a geographical context.
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This is in modern-day Israel.
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And where we've been thus far is, we'll come down here and we'll see that Nazareth is right there.
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Nazareth is the town where Jesus grew up in.
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It wasn't where he was born, but where he grew up.
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But we've seen Jesus move from Nazareth over to this region over here, where it's the Jordan River.
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The Jordan River flows between these two bodies of water and actually flows south of here as well.
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But the Jordan River is right here where Jesus was baptized.
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And then we see Jesus come down from the Jordan River to the shores of the banks of the Sea of Galilee,
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where he's called his first four disciples.
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So far we've seen Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John.
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And this week we arrive in a little fishing village called Capernaum.
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It's right there.
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If I can hold the thing on there just right.
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It's Capernaum. It's a fishing village.
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It's a very prominent fishing town of this time.
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And it's actually the hometown of Simon Peter.
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And this is really where we pick up in verse 21 of chapter 1 of Mark.
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It says,
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They went to Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and began to teach.
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I want to pause here for a moment because Clay last week pointed out something that's really important to us
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as we track through the book of Mark.
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Mark likes to use words indicating immediacy,
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or things that show quick action from one place to another.
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In fact, we see this word immediate no less than ten times in the first chapter alone of Mark.
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So Jesus, we see, immediately is compelled to go into the wilderness after his baptism.
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Simon and Andrew immediately drop their nets to follow Jesus.
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And here Jesus gets to Capernaum and immediately begins to teach.
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So Mark is really, by using these words and using this immediacy,
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he's really showing the urgency of the task at hand,
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that Jesus' ministry is one of urgency.
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It's one of necessity.
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And we move from places very quick in the book of Mark.
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And so, Jesus gets to Capernaum, likely with the first four disciples,
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and says,
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Man, that was a tough hike.
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I'm feeling pretty tired today.
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I think, since it's the Sabbath, we're just going to take a break and just kick up.
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No, that's not what happens.
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Jesus gets to Capernaum and he says,
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Does somebody say it's the Sabbath?
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Surely there's got to be somebody at the synagogue.
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Let's get to work.
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And Jesus begins to get to work.
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He begins teaching in the synagogue.
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By the way, the reason why Jesus is able to do this is because there is a Jewish tradition
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in the synagogues of that day where traveling teachers could go into a synagogue and begin to teach.
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They did that so that they could hear from other teachers.
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And if somebody happened to be traveling, then it was a great thing to be able to hear from different people.
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And so they allowed traveling rabbis and known teachers to be able to teach within the synagogues.
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So Jesus is using that right that he has to go into these places and teach when he's teaching there.
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Verse 22, it says that they were amazed at his teaching.
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For he was teaching as one having authority and not as the scribes.
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So there's something different about the way Jesus taught.
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He was different than the scribes and the teachers of that day.
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This is really important.
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We're going to come back to that.
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Verse 23, then there was a man in their synagogues with an unclean spirit.
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In other words, he was demon possessed.
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This demon possession and men filled with unclean spirits is synonymous in the New Testament.
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And he cried out saying, what business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth?
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Have you come to destroy us?
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I know who you are, the Holy One of God.
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Now notice here, the demonized man was in the synagogue, which is essentially the old covenant equivalent of the church gathering place.
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It would be like somebody coming into this room or into this building and creating a scene and shouting out loud during the teaching time.
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So don't think for a minute that in the church all the people there are great,
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and that the people outside of the church are the only ones who are demon possessed.
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Because I would almost guarantee you, I can't know for certain, but I would almost guarantee you there are people all across our nation right now
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who are entering into church buildings with demon possession.
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Jesus called them wolves in sheep's clothing, and the enemy loves to enter into these places.
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He loves to infiltrate our camps.
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He loves to infiltrate our churches.
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And they cause all kinds of division and strife and conflict within the flock.
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And that's what's happening in this text.
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Jesus is bringing in the kingdom of God.
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The kingdom of God, we already know, is at hand.
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And as the kingdom of God is ushered in, the kingdom of darkness is lashing out against it.
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They rightfully don't want Jesus there, because he is disrupting their world.
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He's disrupting their mission to destroy people's souls and destroy people in a very dark way.
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This time, however, they're messing with the wrong person.
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As we continue on in verse 25,
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So three primary truths that we're going to focus on this morning.
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And the first thing that we see in this passage is that Jesus had authority in his teaching.
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There's something different about Jesus when he taught than the teachers of that day.
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Jesus didn't bore people with the Bible.
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That's one of the greatest travesties a teacher of God's Word can commit,
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is teaching in a boring way.
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And it's happening all over the country this morning,
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where preachers and teachers are boring people with God's Word.
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And to bore people with this Word that's so rich, is so meaningful,
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is so powerful and authoritative, sharper than any two-edged sword,
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and able to pierce as far as joint and marrow, according to Hebrews 4.12.
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Jesus didn't just get up there and read some passages and just kind of make a few comments here and there,
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like most of the teachers of that day did.
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We've seen already some examples of Jesus' teaching,
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and examples of how he taught with authority.
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Last week, we saw where he said,
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The time is fulfilled.
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The kingdom of God is at hand.
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Repent and believe in the Gospel.
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It was foretold that this would happen, by the way,
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in Isaiah 11.2.
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It says that,
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So we see Jesus teaching with authority,
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and always in such a way that spurred his followers,
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the people who are listening to him,
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into action somehow.
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And he was compelling in a very unique way.
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Now, when I was in seminary,
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I had the opportunity to listen to a lot of preachers and teachers.
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When you're in a place, if you can imagine,
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in a place where you have three chapel services every week,
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in addition to your Sunday night, Sunday morning, and Wednesday night,
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activities, you hear a bunch of sermons,
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and you get to hear from a lot of different people,
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which for the most part, is a really, really good thing.
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It's good to see the different dynamics and teaching styles.
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It's really good to be able to see how they divide the Word of God differently.
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But every now and then, you run across someone who's in it for themselves.
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And they're in it to make a name for themselves.
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And oftentimes, you'll see these guys on TV.
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And the primary reason is because they have made it a mission and a goal in their lives
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to make a name for themselves.
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And they have placed themselves in a position where they are in front of people.
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And oftentimes, they're in front of people.
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And they're on the news.
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You see them on CNN sometimes making incredibly unbiblical comments.
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It's because they've built themselves up to the point,
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and they think that they are just going after it.
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And these guys are really good communicators, by the way.
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They'll tickle your ears.
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They'll make you laugh.
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But when it comes down to the content of what they're saying,
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it's man-centered truth, not Bible-centered truth, and not God-centered truth.
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And I want you to hear this this morning.
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The deal is that good preaching never leads to man-centered praise.
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Good teaching, good Bible teaching will never lead to man-centered praise.
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As a teacher of God's Word, I almost cringe.
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And I hesitate to say this because I don't want to discourage anybody.
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But I almost cringe when people say,
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Good job, Kyle.
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That was a great sermon.
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And it's not because I don't like that.
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And if you've said that before, it's not a big deal.
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I don't want to make a big deal out of just that fact.
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But the reason why I cringe is because it seems like I'm taking credit where credit isn't due.
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Because if there's anything good about something that I say or the way I preach,
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it's not because of me.
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It's because of the Spirit that works in and through me.
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And God deserves the glory, not man.
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I'd much rather have preached in such a way that people don't say,
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Great job, Kyle.
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I'd rather preach in such a way that people say,
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Wow, what an amazing God we serve.
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Because He is amazing.
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And preaching should lead to God-centered praise, not to man-centered praise,
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with the exception, by the way, of one preacher
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who deserves all the praise and the glory that we can give to Him.
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And I'm not talking about Spurgeon or Whitfield or Jonathan Edwards.
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We like those people too.
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But it's Jesus.
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He speaks as one with authority because He is one with authority.
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He speaks as one with authority because He is the authority.
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As one writer put it,
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Jesus' teaching is different than the scribes of that day
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because His teaching is tied to His very character.
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And that's just it.
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Everything about Jesus is holy.
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Everything about Him is God.
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He is 100% God.
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When He speaks,
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every single word that comes out of His mouth
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is the Word of God.
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And people are rightfully amazed by Him in this context
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because He is amazing.
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He is the spoken, living, breathing Word of God.
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And so we clearly see that Jesus had authority in His teaching
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and He was rightfully authoritative in His teaching.
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When I teach, or when Nathan teaches,
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or when other people here,
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Clay last week and Chris is speaking next week,
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when we teach,
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we teach on the authority of the Word of God.
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We don't want to teach on our own authority.
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We teach on the authority of the Word of God.
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So we see that Jesus was authoritative in His teaching,
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but Jesus also had authority over demons.
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We see that very clearly in this text,
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that Jesus has authority over demons.
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So that brings up the question,
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is spiritual warfare and demons, are they real?
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But some people in our culture will tell you,
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no, they're not real.
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But it's written all over the pages of Scripture,
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that yes, spiritual warfare is real.
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Demons are real.
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Satan is real.
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C.S. Lewis wrote a good little book called Screwtape Letters.
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Anybody in here ever read that book?
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A few of us?
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It's a tough read.
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Sometimes it's hard for us to read that
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because C.S. Lewis kind of gets into the mind
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of what it's like to be a demon
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or to be on the dark side of spiritual warfare.
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It's a crazy book.
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And it's amazing how he's able to write it.
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Now, it's not truth.
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It's fictional.
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But he does write some truth in there.
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And he makes this interesting little statement
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in the Screwtape Letters that goes like this.
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He says,
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There are two equal and opposite errors
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in which our race could fall about the devils.
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One is to believe in their existence.
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The other is to believe
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and to feel an excessive, unhealthy interest in them.
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And so what he's saying here is that people,
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when they hear demons,
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when they hear about spiritual warfare,
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what they often do is they resort to one of two things.
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Oftentimes they'll either go,
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I don't want to see them.
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I don't want to hear about them.
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I don't believe in them.
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I just want to ignore everything the Bible has to say about them.
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You're making me feel awkward by even talking about them.
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So some of you might be going there right now.
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You might be like,
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Kyle, I'm just kidding.
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I'm feeling awkward even talking about it right now.
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Others of you will have an unhealthy,
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inordinate obsession with them
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where you blame everything that happens
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that's bad in your life on spiritual warfare.
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I've heard some pretty crazy stuff.
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I won't tell you exactly what I've heard,
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but it's just crazy stuff.
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Kind of like somebody would say,
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you know,
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my coffee is hot,
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hotter today than it was yesterday,
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and hell is hot,
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so that means that the demons of coffee
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are trying to scorch my tongue,
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and they're trying to punish me today.
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And I've heard some crazy off-the-wall stuff.
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I've heard people blame Satan for their sin.
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Satan made me do it.
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Let's call sin what it is,
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and it's an act of our own act,
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our own choice to commit an atrocity against God,
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to go outside of what God's Word has told us.
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That's what sin is.
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It's not anybody making us do it.
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It's our own wrong.
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It's our own decision.
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So to deny spiritual warfare is wrongful,
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and to overemphasize it is wrongful as well.
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But spiritual warfare does exist,
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and demons do exist,
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and Satan does exist.
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So what does that mean for us?
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It means we're at war.
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We're constantly at war
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in a lot of different ways.
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We're not just at war spiritually.
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We're also at war with our flesh,
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according to Scripture.
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We know that spiritual warfare is going on,
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and any good soldier,
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in order to learn how to defeat the enemy,
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has to know his enemy.
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And so we see here that we need to know our enemy.
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Scripture reveals much to us about Satan and demons.
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We're not going to go into everything about that.
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We don't have time this morning.
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We could spend weeks on learning about our enemy.
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So we're just going to stick to what does this text tell us
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about demons and spiritual warfare.
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The first thing that we should note here
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is that Satan and demons can speak,
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and that they are crafty.
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They're smart.
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They don't just come to us dressed in red,
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holding pitchforks,
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saying,
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I'm a demon,
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and I'm here to destroy your soul.
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Right?
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They come to us very subtly.
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In this case,
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a demon is coming into the synagogue,
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into God's camp, so to speak,
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and he is disguised inside of a human.
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They're not just going to come to us
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and make us fearful of them.
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Satan came to Adam and Eve as a serpent.
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And the way these evil spirits often operate
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is they'll come to you in the context of truth.
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They'll begin to twist that truth
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and turn it into a lie.
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And then they'll begin to promise goodness
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apart from God.
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We talked about this in our college Bible study
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a couple of weeks ago,
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where the lie that Satan tells Adam and Eve
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in the garden,
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it's just a mere,
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it's a simple atrocity.
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I mean, it is just an affront on God.
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He tells them that by eating the fruit,
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they will be like God.
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And here's the lie.
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Adam and Eve,
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when they were created,
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they were already like God.
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They were created in God's own image.
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He states it more than once in Genesis chapter 2.
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And so we see that the Satan,
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in the context of truth,
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he twists that truth
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and turns it into a lie.
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The reality was for Adam and Eve,
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they became less like God.
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when they sinned.
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Because before,
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they were able to commune with God.
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They were running to God.
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They were enjoying His presence.
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After they sinned,
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it became a whole different story.
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They're running from God
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in sheer terror of God.
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They became less like Him in reality.
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So we need to recognize the enemy's schemes
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and resist him.
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The next thing that we need to recognize
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and understand about our enemy
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is that even though they may be crafty,
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that God is creator
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and they are creature.
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Which means that God is sovereign
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and Satan and demons are subordinate.
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You look at what happens in this passage.
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Verse 25,
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And Jesus rebuked him saying,
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Be quiet and come out of him.
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There's no magic formula there.
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There's no sprinkling of holy water.
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There's no priest standing over him
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reciting incantations.
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Just a simple command,
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but firm command
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that Jesus gives.
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He says,
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Be quiet and come out of them.
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And we see that demons recognize
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Jesus' authority over them.
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Not only that,
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but they respond in immediate.
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They have to respond
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in immediate obedience.
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Verse 26,
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Throwing him into convulsions,
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the unclean spirit cried out
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with a loud voice
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and came out of him.
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And just like that,
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the demon has to be obedient to Christ.
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His authority and his rule
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are too much to overcome.
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So it's important for us to understand
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because we often think of spiritual warfare
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like dualism.
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Dualism is what we see
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in a lot of our stories
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and a lot of our movies
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that we come to
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where,
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like in Star Wars,
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where you have
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the evil emperor
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who shocks people
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into submission.
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And you have this incredibly evil,
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just everybody under his control
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is incredibly evil.
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His sidekick,
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Darth Vader.
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And everything that's happening
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is just evil
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from their side of things.
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Then you come over
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to the light side
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and you have Luke Skywalker
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and the last remaining Jedi.
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And you have all the goodness
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and they're fighting for the good
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and trying to save the universe.
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And oftentimes in our stories
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you see this picture
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where you have the evil side
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and the dark side
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are equal and opposing forces
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that are going against each other.
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That's not what we see
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in the text of Scripture
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when it comes to spiritual warfare.
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This is not dualism.
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This is total domination.
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This is God supreme
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and Satan subordinate.
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God as the ruler of all things,
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demons subject to his rule.
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And when the time comes
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for Jesus to return,
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these guys are done.
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They're just done.
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You get the revelation
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and it's all over for them.
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Because the day will come
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when God says,
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enough is enough.
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We're moving forward
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with Operation Christ Return.
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And when that happens,
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Scriptures already told us
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that the God of peace
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will soon crush Satan
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under your feet.
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And on that day,
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whether rich or poor,
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whether angel or demon,
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whether lost or saved,
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every knee shall bow
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and every tongue confess
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that Jesus Christ is Lord.
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And our God will reign
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as He always has
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for the rest of eternity.
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And demons,
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they come into contact with Jesus
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and they know the authority
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that Jesus has.
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Verse 24 saying,
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What business do we have
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with each other,
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Jesus of Nazareth?
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Have you come to destroy us?
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And the demon recognizes
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Jesus' authority
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and His ultimate ability
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to destruct
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in the spiritual realm.
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This demon recognizes
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that Jesus has the power,
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if He wanted to,
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to destroy Him.
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And if that's not enough,
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he further declares,
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I know who you are,
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the Holy One of God.
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And I love the fact,
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and hopefully you'll get this with me,
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but I love the fact that demons,
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every ounce that is within them,
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they hate and loathe
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everything about Jesus.
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And yet at the same time,
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they have no,
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they are powerless
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to do anything apart
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from His sovereign authority,
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His sovereign command.
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It's just amazing.
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It's good to be on Team Jesus.
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It's good to be
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on this side of the cross
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and to be able to see
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the power and the authority
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that He has.
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Satan can do nothing
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in this world.
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The minions,
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His minions can do
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nothing in this world to you
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apart from God's divine authority
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and apart from what God says
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that they can do.
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Satan is a lion,
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according to 1 Peter 5,
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but he is a lion
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that is on a leash.
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And the leash is being held
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by the Son of God
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who takes away
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the sins of the world.
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It would be one thing
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if this just happened one time,
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but it doesn't.
21:07
This happens over and over
21:08
and over again
21:09
where Jesus encounters demons
21:11
and spiritual warfare
21:13
and over and over
21:14
and over again
21:15
they submit to His authority.
21:19
I can't help but see
21:20
a contrast here.
21:22
I want you to think
21:22
about this with me.
21:24
Demons have fear
21:26
because of their belief.
21:29
They know who Jesus is
21:32
and they're scared
21:33
out of their minds.
21:34
They believe in
21:35
and know that Jesus
21:36
has authority
21:37
and that's why they're scared.
21:40
But we're the opposite.
21:42
Oftentimes, not always,
21:43
but oftentimes we fear
21:44
because of our disbelief.
21:45
And if we could only realize
21:47
what the demons realize
21:48
about Jesus,
21:49
then we can experience
21:50
security
21:51
and understand
21:52
that we have no reason
21:53
to fear.
21:55
He is the Son of God
21:56
who takes away
21:57
the sin of the world.
21:57
He came to us.
21:58
He walked among us.
21:59
He ate and drank
22:00
like we do.
22:01
He had a power over disease.
22:03
He had a power over nature.
22:05
And ultimately,
22:06
He sacrificed Himself
22:07
on the cross
22:07
so that we can come
22:08
into communion.
22:09
We can have a relationship
22:10
with Him.
22:12
And that same God
22:14
is holding us
22:15
and we can feel safe
22:17
and secure
22:18
in His arms.
22:20
You know,
22:20
this kind of reminds me
22:21
of this whole concept
22:22
of us not really
22:23
having that faith
22:25
in Christ.
22:25
It reminds me
22:26
of when He was
22:27
with His disciples
22:28
and they were out
22:28
on a boat
22:29
and the storm came
22:30
and the waves were rising
22:31
and the wind
22:32
was coming up upon them.
22:35
And Jesus was asleep
22:36
in the boat
22:36
as you recall.
22:37
And the disciples,
22:38
they are just rightfully
22:39
just like out of their minds
22:41
scared.
22:42
They're just scared
22:42
out of their minds.
22:43
And Jesus wakens
22:45
and He calms the sea.
22:47
He rebukes the wind
22:47
and the waves
22:48
and says,
22:49
Be calm.
22:50
And immediately,
22:51
nature calms
22:52
when He speaks.
22:55
And then,
22:56
He rebukes the disciples
22:57
and says,
22:58
O ye of little faith,
22:59
there's been a time
23:03
in my life
23:03
when I've been scared
23:04
out of my mind
23:05
just like the disciples.
23:07
It was on Palm Sunday,
23:10
1994.
23:11
My brother was there
23:13
with me.
23:14
My brother's sitting
23:15
in the back
23:15
and his family
23:16
and my dad
23:16
and they're all here.
23:18
It's good to have them
23:19
here this morning
23:19
with us.
23:20
If you disbelieve
23:22
anything about this story,
23:23
go and talk to my brother
23:24
afterwards
23:25
because he was there.
23:26
It was me and my brother
23:27
and my mom
23:27
were at home.
23:28
Anybody remember 1994?
23:29
Anybody from Lumpkin County
23:30
remember what happened
23:31
in 1994
23:32
on Palm Sunday?
23:33
Maybe not.
23:36
Craig remembers.
23:38
Okay.
23:40
That day,
23:42
Lumpkin County
23:42
was ravaged
23:43
by a series of tornadoes.
23:46
Our house
23:47
was the first
23:48
of the tornadoes
23:49
to come through.
23:51
We were eating
23:52
a late lunch that day
23:53
and we usually
23:55
ate around noon
23:55
but we were eating
23:56
more like 2 o'clock
23:57
that day,
23:57
I believe.
23:58
and we were
23:59
finishing up with lunch.
24:00
We had observed
24:00
all throughout the day
24:01
how strange
24:02
the weather was.
24:03
It was just
24:04
a weird weather day.
24:06
We saw the clouds
24:06
racing and sometimes
24:07
they were kind of
24:08
colliding into each other
24:09
which by the way,
24:10
if you see that,
24:11
it's time to get
24:11
to the basement
24:12
because,
24:13
I mean,
24:14
that's a good sign
24:16
that there's tornado
24:17
weather coming.
24:18
And we even made
24:18
the comment that day
24:19
that hey,
24:20
this looks like
24:22
a lot like tornado weather.
24:23
just to give you
24:25
kind of a picture
24:26
of how weird things were,
24:27
there's a cloud
24:28
we observed that day.
24:29
There's a cloud
24:30
up in the sky
24:30
that just had
24:31
lightning just
24:32
surging through it.
24:33
It was like
24:34
unending lightning
24:35
just surging
24:35
through this cloud.
24:37
Never seen anything
24:38
like it before
24:38
in my life.
24:39
So we already knew
24:40
how strange
24:41
the weather was
24:41
that day
24:42
and so Craig
24:42
goes out on the porch
24:44
and out into our yard
24:45
just kind of observing
24:46
the weather
24:47
one more time
24:48
and we'd already
24:49
been out there
24:49
several times
24:50
but he went out there again
24:50
and he's kind of
24:51
looking over to the east
24:52
and kind of
24:53
looking up to the clouds
24:54
just kind of,
24:54
man,
24:55
this is so strange
24:55
and he looks
24:56
toward the west
24:58
to our next door
24:59
neighbor's house
25:00
and there was a tornado
25:02
just standing there
25:03
moving toward us
25:06
and beginning to rip apart
25:07
our next door neighbor's house.
25:10
Now,
25:11
I want you to know that
25:12
because you need to know
25:13
why my brother
25:14
was acting
25:15
the way that he was.
25:16
He's not normally
25:17
scared of a lot of
25:18
things but he came
25:19
bolting in the house
25:20
yelling at the top
25:22
of his lungs
25:22
get down to the basement
25:23
everybody get down
25:24
to the basement
25:25
and so he and I
25:27
it was the three of us
25:28
in the house at the time
25:29
it was my mom
25:30
me and my brother
25:32
and my dad was
25:34
somewhere else
25:35
serving in the community
25:36
but the three of us
25:37
were there
25:38
and so Craig and I
25:39
just bolt down
25:39
and we get to the bottom
25:40
of the basement
25:41
and we're standing there
25:42
looking at each other
25:43
where's mom?
25:45
Mom was not down there yet.
25:46
I don't know how
25:47
she could have missed
25:48
him yelling
25:48
get down to the basement
25:49
but somehow she did
25:50
and apparently we found
25:51
out later that she
25:51
was upstairs
25:52
turning lights off
25:53
and closing the garage
25:54
door while a tornado
25:56
was barreling
25:56
towards our house.
25:58
So,
25:59
we get up to the top
26:00
of the stairs
26:01
and we said
26:01
mom get downstairs
26:03
and we get down there
26:04
and by the time
26:05
that we got to the basement
26:06
we're sitting
26:07
on the basement floor
26:08
we're kind of
26:09
in a triangle
26:10
huddled together
26:11
we start to see
26:12
the effects
26:12
of this thing.
26:13
I didn't see
26:14
the tornado
26:15
personally
26:15
my brother did
26:17
and so
26:18
this is how
26:18
is it okay
26:19
if I tell them
26:20
how you're reacting?
26:23
So,
26:23
he's going
26:24
oh no
26:25
look at the trees
26:26
let me tell you
26:26
what the trees
26:27
were doing
26:27
the trees
26:28
would be sucked
26:29
toward the tornado
26:30
they'd be blown over
26:31
and then they'd suck
26:32
back and just
26:32
snap off
26:34
I'm talking about
26:35
big trees
26:36
just snapping off
26:37
and flying away
26:38
I've never seen
26:40
power like this
26:41
before in my life
26:42
just sheer power
26:44
of wind
26:44
and he's going
26:46
oh no
26:46
look at the trees
26:47
oh no
26:48
look at the
26:48
look there goes
26:49
the fence
26:50
and I mean
26:50
he was just
26:50
like we're observing
26:51
everything
26:52
we're looking
26:52
out the windows
26:53
seeing everything
26:54
that's going on
26:54
it is utter chaos
26:56
mom's to my right
26:58
and she's going
26:59
it's going to be okay
26:59
it's going to be okay
27:00
it's going to be okay
27:01
and then Mr. Future Preacher
27:03
man I'm over here
27:04
in my corner
27:05
of the triangle
27:05
going let's pray
27:06
let's pray
27:07
let's pray
27:08
and finally
27:10
I said
27:11
let's pray
27:12
now
27:12
and I just began
27:14
to spill out words
27:16
out of my mouth
27:16
I don't remember
27:17
everything
27:18
that I prayed
27:19
but I remember
27:20
specifically asking
27:21
that God would place
27:22
a dome of protection
27:23
over our family
27:24
and over our house
27:25
after I got done
27:28
praying
27:28
Craig prayed
27:29
and mom prayed
27:30
and by that time
27:32
the tornado
27:33
had moved on
27:34
and we could see
27:35
outside
27:36
that there was
27:37
no more wind
27:37
at least there
27:38
were no more
27:39
effects of the wind
27:40
at the time
27:40
so we thought
27:41
well hey
27:42
we're okay
27:43
right now
27:43
at least we're alive
27:44
and we're very grateful
27:45
and thankful for that
27:46
we walked up
27:47
the steps
27:48
from our basement
27:49
our basement door
27:51
kind of opens up
27:51
into the foyer area
27:53
of our house
27:54
and we saw that
27:56
for the most part
27:57
our house is intact
27:58
and we're grateful
27:59
again
28:00
all over again
28:01
that we didn't know
28:02
what we were going to see
28:02
when we went up
28:03
to the next floor
28:04
we had no idea
28:04
if we had a house
28:05
above us
28:06
or if we had a roof
28:07
above us
28:07
or if there was
28:08
anything there
28:09
but we're grateful
28:10
that at least
28:11
our house was intact
28:12
so we walked
28:12
out our front door
28:13
and we looked
28:15
to the west
28:15
to that house
28:16
that Craig saw
28:17
with a tornado
28:18
hitting it
28:19
at that time
28:20
and it's leveled
28:22
all but one wall
28:24
the only one wall
28:25
was left standing
28:26
in that house
28:27
and we realized
28:30
how fortunate
28:31
we were at the time
28:32
it wasn't until
28:35
a couple weeks later
28:36
when somebody
28:37
came into my dad's pharmacy
28:39
and told him
28:41
what they saw
28:42
that we realized
28:43
the gravity
28:43
of what happened
28:44
that day
28:44
because they said
28:46
when I saw it
28:47
coming through
28:47
your neighborhood
28:48
I saw the tornado
28:50
split into two
28:52
different funnels
28:53
it's a phenomenon
28:53
that they call
28:55
the double vortex tornado
28:56
and they'll split
28:58
into two different funnels
28:59
there's a funnel
29:00
there's damage
29:01
on the back side
29:02
of our house
29:02
in the backyard
29:04
there's damage
29:05
to the lot
29:06
across from us
29:07
now there were
29:07
some damage
29:08
to our house
29:08
but structurally
29:09
speaking
29:10
it stands today
29:10
like it stood
29:11
before the tornado
29:13
structurally speaking
29:15
it was pretty sound
29:17
and the only way
29:18
to explain it
29:19
is that the God
29:20
who can calm
29:21
the wind
29:22
and the waves
29:23
place a dome of protection
29:24
over our house
29:25
and he is sovereign
29:27
there is nothing
29:27
that we should fear
29:29
and let me tell you
29:30
something
29:30
even if we had
29:31
died that day
29:32
our eternal security
29:33
rests in Christ Jesus
29:34
so either way
29:35
no matter what
29:36
had happened that day
29:37
we were secure
29:38
in him
29:39
so whom shall we fear
29:43
Paul puts it this way
29:44
he says
29:45
for I am convinced
29:46
that neither
29:47
death nor life
29:48
nor angels
29:49
nor demons
29:49
neither the present
29:51
nor the future
29:52
nor any powers
29:53
neither height
29:54
nor depth
29:54
nor anything else
29:55
in all of creation
29:56
will be able
29:57
to separate us
29:58
from the love
29:59
that is in
30:00
Christ Jesus
30:01
our Lord
30:02
we have nothing
30:03
and no one
30:04
to fear
30:05
because Jesus
30:07
has all authority
30:08
last but not least
30:10
what we see
30:11
in this passage
30:12
and I want us
30:13
to see this clearly
30:14
is that Jesus'
30:15
authority
30:15
his sovereign
30:16
authority
30:17
leads us to
30:18
total allegiance
30:20
to him
30:20
I'm going to say that
30:22
again because
30:22
that's kind of wordy
30:23
I didn't know
30:24
how else to word it
30:24
but Jesus' sovereign
30:26
authority
30:27
leads us to
30:27
total allegiance
30:29
to him
30:29
this particular passage
30:31
is bookended
30:32
with the people's
30:34
amazement of Jesus
30:35
they were amazed
30:37
first by his teaching
30:38
and then at the end
30:40
of this passage
30:40
they were amazed
30:41
by his authority
30:42
over demons
30:43
this word amazed
30:46
here in the text
30:47
is a compound form
30:48
of the Greek verb
30:49
pleso
30:49
and what pleso means
30:51
it literally means
30:52
to strike
30:53
or to smite
30:54
and so we're
30:55
talking about
30:55
a very strong
30:56
word with
30:57
very strong
30:58
meaning here
30:58
so the picture
30:59
is here
31:00
is that
31:00
the people
31:01
weren't just
31:02
amazed
31:02
they were
31:03
dumbfounded
31:04
they were
31:04
astonished
31:05
they were
31:05
shocked
31:06
in other words
31:07
Jesus may have
31:08
caused a few
31:09
jaws to drop
31:10
that day
31:10
what we know
31:12
for sure
31:13
and don't miss
31:13
this is that
31:14
people who were
31:15
there that day
31:16
were compelled
31:17
to go and
31:18
spread the news
31:19
about him
31:19
all over the
31:20
region of Galilee
31:21
you see one
31:23
thing Jesus
31:24
never had to
31:25
do was to
31:25
beg people
31:26
for followers
31:27
or to follow
31:29
him
31:29
he never had
31:29
to beg
31:30
people to
31:30
spread the
31:31
news about
31:31
him
31:32
he was just
31:33
amazing
31:34
he amazed
31:34
people
31:35
and in their
31:35
amazement
31:36
of Jesus
31:37
they went
31:38
out and
31:38
they shared
31:39
the truth
31:40
about him
31:41
the good
31:41
news
31:42
about him
31:42
last week
31:44
we saw him
31:44
approach four
31:45
fishermen
31:45
he said
31:46
follow me
31:46
there's no
31:47
begging
31:47
there's no
31:48
pleading
31:48
he just said
31:49
follow me
31:50
and it says
31:50
they immediately
31:51
dropped their
31:51
nets and
31:51
followed him
31:52
the picture is
31:54
the same
31:55
this week
31:55
Jesus didn't
31:56
ask him
31:56
people to
31:56
spread the
31:57
word about
31:57
him
31:57
they just
31:58
do it
31:58
out of
31:59
their
31:59
amazement
31:59
their
32:00
amazement
32:00
led them
32:01
to action
32:01
and those
32:04
followers
32:05
told other
32:06
followers
32:06
and those
32:07
followers
32:07
told other
32:08
followers
32:08
until Jesus
32:09
just has
32:09
these crowds
32:10
of people
32:10
who are
32:11
following him
32:11
around
32:12
everywhere
32:12
so brothers
32:14
and sisters
32:14
in here
32:15
this morning
32:16
I exhort
32:17
you
32:17
if Christ
32:19
has done
32:19
anything
32:20
amazing
32:21
in your
32:21
life
32:21
if you
32:23
are counted
32:23
among the
32:24
redeemed
32:25
then go
32:26
out and
32:27
share
32:27
what he
32:28
has done
32:29
for you
32:29
there are
32:31
plenty of
32:32
people all
32:32
over north
32:33
Georgia
32:33
and all
32:34
over the
32:35
state of
32:35
Georgia
32:35
and all
32:36
over the
32:36
United States
32:37
and to the
32:37
ends of
32:38
the earth
32:38
there are
32:38
people who
32:39
do not
32:39
yet know
32:40
Jesus
32:41
as their
32:41
Lord and
32:42
Savior
32:42
there is a
32:44
mission field
32:45
right here
32:46
where we are
32:47
in northeast
32:48
Georgia
32:48
so if you
32:50
are counted
32:51
among the
32:52
redeemed
32:52
it's time
32:52
that we
32:53
act as if
32:54
we're redeemed
32:55
and out of
32:55
the joy
32:56
that overflows
32:57
in us
32:57
through what
32:58
Christ has
32:59
done for us
32:59
it's time
33:00
that we go
33:01
and share
33:01
that with
33:03
our lost
33:03
people
33:04
to share
33:04
it with
33:05
our neighbors
33:06
to proclaim
33:07
it in your
33:08
workplace
33:08
to proclaim
33:09
him in your
33:10
schools
33:10
or on your
33:11
campuses
33:11
to proclaim
33:12
him to
33:12
the nations
33:13
he is
33:15
worthy
33:15
to be on
33:16
our minds
33:17
he is
33:17
worthy
33:17
to be
33:18
the topic
33:18
of our
33:18
conversations
33:19
more than
33:21
football
33:22
and more
33:22
than TV
33:23
shows
33:23
and more
33:24
than politics
33:25
he is
33:26
worthy
33:26
Jesus
33:27
is worthy
33:28
may his
33:30
name be
33:30
glorified
33:31
as we go
33:31
out from
33:32
here
33:32
and as we
33:33
go into
33:34
our communities
33:34
and we go
33:35
to the various
33:36
spheres of
33:37
influence that
33:37
we have
33:38
may his
33:38
name
33:39
increase
33:39
because of
33:40
our
33:40
amazement
33:41
in him
33:42
and because
33:42
we are
33:43
willing
33:44
to share
33:45
the gospel
33:45
with a
33:46
lost
33:47
and dying
33:48
world
33:48
let's pray
33:49
together
33:50
together