Jesus Christ, present with us, as one who speaks with power, who brings wholeness and life the same experience through the ministry of the Spirit that the very first disciples had, and that Lord in the midst of all the changing words that are part of this generation, we would now be able to hear the unchanging word of God personally and as a congregation. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. We're going to look at the Gospel of Mark this morning. Some of you may remember before I took my mini paternity leave and a few Sundays away, that we were looking at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus and the call of the first disciples and the great power and authority that Jesus Christ had and demonstrated in his ability to draw a person no matter who they were, to himself and make them new and different. Now we see an encounter with evil itself and the reading is in Mark 1, verses 21 to 28, a Texas printed inside your bulletin. Jesus in his disciples, they went to cavernium and when the Sabbath came Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, what do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Be quiet, said Jesus sternly, come out of him and the evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were also amazed. They asked each other what is this? A new teaching and with authority, he even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him and news about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee. This is the word of the Lord. There was a bit of a fewer in the international art scene last week because of an interactive art exhibit at the Trapphold Museum in Copenhagen. The exhibit was one of ten goldfish swimming in their own separate containers in water and their own containers. That wouldn't be controversial except the containers were blenders and the audience visiting the exhibit had the option if they so desired to puree. Now this of course elicited outrage from the animal rights community and before they managed to shut it down five of the four fish met a creative but certain end. Now I thought as I thought about that you know that is actually a picture that comports with the biblical worldview of the nature of reality. Now from our perspective very often we're in a comfortable environment. We look out and everything looks fine but metaphysically that is behind reality rather than everything really being benign. As a matter of fact reality can be malicious it can be malignant and there's a few people in here who know what it is to be pureed not on parade but pureed pureed pureed by life to realize that the reality we live in can actually be a real taste of evil and suffering and the agent world knew this, knew this clearly and I think there's a temptation now when we read something as stark as this this account of evil spirits attacking somebody we want to say you know isn't this really come on let's let's demothologize this and think about it like modern people what you know these people had two rats syndrome or they had epilepsy or they had you know some other common illnesses is obviously what's going on well it's it's not so easily dismissed as a matter of fact the text consistently not just with mark but the other gospels treat this work of evil of evil spirits as something separate from illness and the text here itself in verse 32 for example if you have a Bible you see that they brought to him those who were sick and demon possessed and those who were sick he healed but those who were demon possessed he didn't heal people who were possessed of a demon but he did was he made the demon go away he delivered them he made them leave he made the evil spirit go away and even then that was still a matter to be determined whether this person would in fact become a follower of Christ or not just as it would have been with someone who was healed but what are we to make of this now unfortunately I say unfortunately because of I can't take it right now unfortunately because of human curiosity we would love for the Bible to tell us a lot more but it doesn't the Bible does not tell you where the great tempter that's called Satan or the devil the accuser or the the one who marines and deceives doesn't really tell us where he comes from don't they have some ideas but the Bible doesn't really tell you it doesn't tell you where demons come from and it doesn't tell you contrary to a lot of bad fiction and creative minds it doesn't even tell you what they look like it doesn't give you much information at all beginning with the Old Testament especially the attention is very scant indeed in a handful of places it's it's assumed that in a handful of places book of Deuteronomy chapter 32 we're told that those who offer worship to any reality other than the true living God any other worship is a worship of demons New Testament asserts the same thing in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 it says those that for example who get involved in paganism earth worship this sort of thing 1 Corinthians 10 20 says that they offer sacrifice to demons and not to God and it's this credible for thinking person now I know there's got to be at least two here today who wonder is it credible what you have in scripture I think is a reasoned and complex picture of reality of a fallen world that is a good world not a dualistic world with good and evil both eternally battling it out as the ancients so often thought but a good world human beings created with hearts that long for truth and justice and beauty a good world that has fallen and gone wrong and what you see in that fall is a mess that consists of both simple human activity that is human hearts that are totally you're totally responsible and of your own free will you follow after sin and we are capable of doing unbelievably horrible things and a world where there is spiritual evil involved in all of that now John Updike one of my favorite writers in the New Yorker once wrestled with this John Updike came to faith in Christ but for several years he thought this devil's stuff is just ancient holy and then until he lived a little longer and Updike wrote and basically said this for him he said the realization that life is flawed seriously flawed admits the possibility of a fall therefore of a cause behind the fall therefore of Satan and so when we look out at the world when we look at genocides and holocausts the abuse of women the abuse of children we look at economic economic injustice that is something that defines every century we've ever had we're saying that this is not just the survival of the fittest or tough luck but there is really something evil at work in our world now the biblical picture again doesn't give you a lot of details but it does tell you a few things with certainty first of all evil is real evil is real a lot of eastern thought in different ways encourages people to deal with evil this way to say it's an illusion and it's less real somehow than the good and so therefore treated as an illusion and live in the world of the real the biblical world view in no way suppresses evil is not being real it's as real as that beautiful nose on your face with a pimple on it okay that's the nature of evil I should have a good looking nose but it's breaking out on me that's that's the view of evil it's it's a good world but there's something really wrong with it but not only is a real it's orchestrated it's not random there is a personal malicious intelligence at work in history we don't know much about him but we know enough about him that he's the enemy of God and his people and he's real and therefore reality and I might my dear my dear friends if you've lived long surely you have some some anticipation that this something like this must be true reality is not benign there's a dangerous place to live there are many many things that can go wrong now we are responsible for our actions and there's a great distortion of biblical teaching on good old-fashioned TV religion around today that sees a demon behind every bush and people you know delivering themselves of you know demons of insomnia and whatever such nonsense scripture never ever ever speaks this way or speaks as though you have a clue of what's going on in this world it simply tells you that it's there look out it's real it's orchestrated and personal but the overarching point of the gospels is that this evil being this evil conspiracy is being defeated it's being defeated that's why you don't need all that data and information because it might keep you from getting the point and that is the point you're given a lot of information about the only one who can deliver you Jesus comes into this earth he walks on the earth and we're told that it is backed his and he's not only anointed with water but he is anointed with the power of the spirit and when he begins his ministry with power he begins to call people to himself and he speaks not just for God but this authority that his disciples are seeing he has authority over the whole creation over anything that's gone wrong in the created world this is why the disciples are going look at this authority he can speak over anything he speaks as God Jesus comes into the world and the demons you one thing you can say about them they're perceptive guys because this demon cuts to the chase when he interacts with Christ verse 24 he says what do you want with this Jesus of bansworth have you come to destroy us ding ding ding ten points you know what what does he say Jesus himself claims in his ministry Matthew chapter 12 one of the other gospel writers tells the story where Jesus says this if I drive out demons by the spirit of God then the kingdom of God has come upon you he's not talking about something in the future he's talking about right now if you see me doing this then know this I the king have come and in my presence the kingdom is coming and I am driving out the spirit I'm driving out the evil one I'm driving out the power of evil so the Apostle the early Christians could believe even though they lived in the jaws of evil persecuted dispersed around the world nonetheless the power and life of Christ was so real to them that they still believe that that was what had happened in Jesus the Apostle John who would later be exiled to the island of patmas writes in his first epistle chapter three verse 18 the reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work what does that mean let me just submit to you that what you see happening in the gospels which in some ways looks like you know a series of Linda Blair movies you know you got all this demonic activity right and left that there's something new going on here there's something distinct and once for all that happened in the ministry of Jesus when you read the Old Testament it just but plain doesn't read that way and yet Jesus enters the world and it's like He lands in a hornet's nest when He gets here all of a sudden there is just demonic activity everywhere the demons are going bananas and people and all sorts of things then you see them go to the cross raise from the dad ascend to heaven send a spirit and they pop up once or twice in the book of Acts but they don't really characterize the ministry of the early church what is uniquely going on in the ministry of Jesus what's something new the gospels are the battleground where Jesus is laying the death blow to our enemy the devil and his minions the demons one of my favorite stories is in the gospel of Luke chapter 10 where Jesus is not only gathered these 12 close disciples but he's he's gathered 72 that he's equipped to send out and preach in his name well the team comes back in and they're so excited and they say Jesus the demons so even the demons are submitting to us in your name this is unbelievable and Jesus seeing what is taking place in their ministry and his name says yeah I saw Satan fall like lightning that's what's happening in my ministry I'm seeing Satan fall like lightning my power is absolutely declawing and defanging his power now what does that mean what kind of power you see throughout the whole of biblical the biblical story a good world is created in human beings rebellions God and the biblical picture is that therefore we become a slave to sin doesn't mean that we're not still capable of glorious works of art or works of humility and compassion but we were created to be like God and we become sinners and we become powerless to deliver ourselves from sin and we become pawns of the evil forces we cooperate with the evil that's it work in the world that's the biblical picture Israel was called out of that into a relationship with a living God but not just so that somebody would get out they were called out to be a door a way to bring this news of liberation and new life to the whole world they failed in that calling and as Jesus Christ came fulfilling the calling of Israel to do that Israel became the hinge on the door that was Jesus Christ and when Jesus comes into the world his great proclamation is that this kingdom is for the whole world it's for everybody and it doesn't matter who you are or what you've done or what what you feel like is controlling you this revolution is for you Jesus in his ministry puts it this way now this is John chapter 12 now is the time for judgment in this world now the prince of this world will be driven out he's not talking about the future he's saying now the prince of this world we've driven out and when I am lifted up I will draw all men to myself what is he saying he's saying in as far as before Satan held the nation's captive to lies before there was really only one group of people who began to hear the word and follow it now he is being driven out in his capacity to do that and the result of the death and resurrection and the proclamation of the gospel is that the world is going to hear and believe the gospel of Christ all over the place all the time you know this is this means that evangelism is not just a program an actual program in the church it's the victory of Christ in the world it's at the center of Jesus ministry and it's the center of any church that's worth a plug nickel I'm not even sure what a plug nickel is but if it's worth it it's get the center of who he was and it's a center of what we're called to be the apostle John there on patmas describes the church in between the two comings of Christ this way he likened it to a thousand year reign of Christ and his picture is this an angel came down from heaven and sees that dragon the ancient serpent who is the devil or Satan and bound him for a thousand years and threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it over him to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years are ended why are we listen this is what Jesus is saying now is he driven out now am I binding the strong van and now will I plunder plunder beating what now will I bring this deliverance to the world we live in the age where Satan is being bound and the gospel is setting people free you know I keep torturing the church with stories from the chronicles of Narnia because I'm reading them to my children and we're slow and undisciplined so you may keep getting these for a long time before I finish but Narnia if you read these wonderful stories by C.S. Lewis throughout the whole series of seven or so books it's a world where yes there is sin yes there is suffering yes there is the possibility and the reality of evil but there is a marked event in one of the first stories the lion the witch and the wardrobe you see when the story when the fall happens an evil witch who's like the devil jadis comes and takes over Narnia and what she does is she freezes it in deep freeze so that the it's locked in and we're told that it's always always winter and never Christmas and really the expectation is that Sunday God will move aslan the great lion the figure of Christ is going to come on the move and deliver us from this winter now that is that sort of the world before Christ now aslan comes and what he does is this he takes the place of a traitor and he gives his life being sacrificed on a stone table but not only does he die in his place but he is resurrected and when he comes back he breaks the table the winter ends and the deliverance begins and all the rest of the stories you see yes there's still sin there's still suffering there's still all these things but aslan tells the children not to forget something and this is what he tells them he says the witch knew the deep magic but there's a magic deeper still which she did not know her knowledge goes only back to the dawn of time but if she could have looked a little farther back into the stillness and darkness before time dawn she would have read there a different incantation she would have known that when a willing victim who was committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead the stone table would crack and death itself would start working backwards this is what Christians proclaim we are not surrounded by minions of demons that we need to fear we live in a world where yes there is an enemy yes there are evil spirits but the word of the day is victory and deliverance because aslan has is on the move and now death words backwards now the word of affirmation is life to all who will receive it how foolish to forget that let me say this there are really two kinds of people two kinds of people and I'll close with this there are those who hear anybody talking about devils and demons and such such things as the forces of evil and it makes you afraid and then there are some people who hear it and you're totally unafraid let me just say this those of you who are afraid need to not fear and those of you who are totally unafraid maybe you need to get scared let me explain this let's say you're afraid you're afraid of these forces and powers let me just tell you something you don't need an exorcism you don't need to call a priest like they do in the movies you don't need special objects you don't need a special course and demon exorcism you don't need to start using the name of Jesus or the blood of Jesus like some pagan incantation what you need to do very simply is this believe the gospel and you will be delivered from anything and everything that the enemy has to unload on you the word of the new testament to everybody is this you want freedom believe faith do you know what faith is faith has trans historical power and the new testament faith is the ability to look at what Jesus Christ did on the cross to take all these powers principalities human nature and sin itself take it all upon himself all of it in the book of Galatian says he took it and put it to open shame made it a public spectacle and triumphed over it that's what he did on the cross and when he rose again he guaranteed that now death works backwards well faith means that is true for you is certainly as you believe trans historically right now if you believe in Christ you can say I died when he died to those powers and I live over them just as he lives over that is the power of faith all you need to do is believe and put your trust in him you don't need a witch doctor you need a savior and he is faithful and into any who call upon him and there's some of you here who are unafraid and I'm not just talking about people who may be skeptical I'm talking about believing Christians let me ask you something are you living your life in the presence of the powerful protecting life of Jesus Christ Christian are you daily seeking to live with the truth of his word in your heart in a meaningful way are you seeking to be in relationships that truly encourage and remind you to be a follower of his to be accountable in the way you the way you enact your marriage the way you raise your kids the way you use your money all of these things are you passionately seeking to know Christ through the church and through the means of grace we have in the word prayer and sacraments there are some of you who I think are probably playing with marital problems you're not taking them seriously there are some of you who have the setting sins and somewhere you have heard the lie of the enemy that says it's really not a problem and you can control it and you don't really need to deal with it this is when the scripture says be very afraid your enemy the devil roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he made a hour there's some of you here you have all you've been hiding here for years you participated in program after program after program for the fact is you don't want to get close enough to anybody to find out what's really going on in your heart I beg of you stop hiding believe the gospel walk with him give yourself into relationship with other believers so that you can begin to experience the delivering power of Jesus Christ one last little story I came across something this week from the second century and as we encourage people to go into deeper community relationships with one another I came across this from Ignatius of Antioch and he wrote this as the bishop of a church he wrote the congregation and said when you meet together frequently for prayer and one another's homes the powers of Satan I see are being overthrown and his destructiveness is nullified by your oneness in the faith and that be true for us let's pray father I pray that we would see here in this church what the apostle Paul told the church around to expect that we would see Satan crushed under our feet may that be the case I pray for people who right now are still uncertain of what they believe about Jesus Christ that they would begin to read the gospels begin to look and listen at what Jesus said about the nature of reality and what he promised for those who would follow who would turn from their sin and follow him I pray for believers who become cynical about the power of sin in their life who become cynical about churches who become cynical about maybe the person they're married to or their children or or that anyone can change I pray that the presence of the living Christ would lead us into relationships of oneness and faith and service so that we see him crushed under our feet we pray this in Jesus name