1 February 2009
U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris
Fortress Chapel
F.O.B. Sykes
Tall-afar, Iraq
BIG IDEA: Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth; He even gives orders to unclean spirits and they obey him.
REFERENCES: Fourth Sunday after Epiphany; Isaiah 14:12-15 (KJV) “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations”; Revelation 12:7-9 (KJV) And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon: and the dragon fought and his angels. And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Ephesians 6:12-13 (ESV) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm; Jesus in the Synagogue at Capernaum: Matthews 7:28-29 (ESV); Mark 1:21-28 (ESV); and Luke 4:31-37 (ESV); Deuteronomy 18:15-20 (ESV); Psalm 111 (ESV); 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 (ESV); Jesus Heals two Demon-Possessed Men – Matthews 9:28-34 – (28-29) And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?; Colossians 4:10a (ESV) Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas …; Luke 7:1-10 (ESV) Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant in Capernaum; Acts 19:13-16 (ESV); Proverbs 16:4 (KJV) The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil; Luke 10:17 (KJV) And the seventy returned again with joy, saying Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: Mark 1:21-28 (ESV)
II. READ THE PERICOPE: Mark 1:21-28 (ESV)
III. READ THE TEXT: Mark 1:27 (ESV) 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.”
IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to affirm to others that Jesus give orders to unclean spirits, and they obey Him.
V. SERMONIC THEME: “All Authority in heaven and on earth”
VI. INTRODUCTION: Welcome to the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany and the First Sunday in February. First Sundays are the Sundays that we, the members of COS Sykes Contemporary Worship Service commemorate the Lord’s Death, Burial, and Resurrection by way of The Lord’s Supper (or Communion).
As we have indicated, for the past three weeks, the season of Epiphany is about Revelation – and Opening our Spiritual Eyes and Ears - to see and hear who Jesus is, what he does, and what he says.
Neither the crib nor the cross alone can truly explain the significance of Jesus. Therefore, during the season of Epiphany, Christians everywhere discover the meaning of the “Crib” and the meaning of the “Cross” through Jesus’ life and mission.
For Jesus’ life gives us details of the meaning of the manger and the cross, while His Resurrection reveals the Significance of His life.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 1: John the Revelator reminds us in The Book of Revelation 12:7-9 (KJV) - … there was war in heaven:
a. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon:
b. … and the dragon fought and his angels.
c. And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
d. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, …
e. … and Satan which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
f. Satan’s pride and warped desires to take God’s place introduced sin into the universe.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 2: Still … Some believers remain unconvinced that there are evil forces at work in the world.
a. Movies are still being made exploring the topic, and books often portray evil as merely a product of the human heart.
b. The thought of supernatural demons moving among us … is frightening, but the Bible clearly presents evil as a real, … supernatural phenomenon.
c. The noted 20th century British writer and thinker C.S. Lewis addresses these questions in his imaginary/whimsical book The Screwtape Letters.
d. This novel is a fictional/imaginary collection of correspondences from Screwtape, a senior level demon, …
e. … to his nephew, an apprentice demon named Wormwood, ….
f. who has been given a human subject … to lead down the path of temptation.
g. Lewis uses dry humor and skits …to reveal the various and subtle ways …
h. … in which people succumb to evil in their everyday lives.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 3: Now, … my brothers and sisters, I can’t speak for you … but, I’m convinced that although there are evil forces in the world, today,; “All Authority in heaven and on earth” has been given to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
a. For who can ever forget the testimony of the Seventy (in Luke 10:17-20).
b. For don’t you remember … - in Luke 10:16 – Jesus had informed the disciples earlier - prior to going on their Missionary Journey - not to take spiritual rejection personal …
c. because … “Whoever listened to them, listened to him;
d. whoever rejects them - rejects Him;
e. … and whoever rejects Him;; rejects God..
f. Later, after the 70 Disciples returned from their mission of witnessing,
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 4:. … Subsequently … they reported to Jesus, in Luke 10:17b, “even the demons obeyed us when we gave them commands in your name!
a. Jesus responded – I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
b. Listen! I have given you authority so that you can walk on snakes …
c. … and scorpions and overcome all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you.
d. But, … don’t be glad because … the evil spirits obey you;
e. rather … be glad … because your names are written in heaven.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 5: Although, as believers, we are not to Underestimate the power and the influence the devil has over so many churched and unchurched folk.
a. We are to stand firm on the fact that … Jesus has “All Authority in heaven and on earth.”
b. In fact, His name along spells out Victory for Believers everywhere.
c. For who can ever forget the Story of “The Seven Sons of Sceva” in Acts 19:13-16
d. … where we are told of those who first underestimated the powers of demons.
e. For don’t you remember, The Apostle Paul was in Ephesus.
f. And God was performing unusual miracles through Paul.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 6: For the Bibles says that … even handkerchiefs and aprons that had been used by Paul
a. … were taken to the sick, and their diseases were driven away,
b. … and the evil spirits would go out of them.
c. Some Jews who traveled around and drove out evil spirits … also tried to use the name of the Lord
Jesus to do this.
d. They said to the evil spirits, “ I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches.
e. The Bibles tells us that the Seven brothers, …
f. … who were the sons of a Jewish High Priest named Sceva, were doing this.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 7: But the evil spirit said to them, “I know Jesus, and I know about Paul;
a. but you - - who are you?”
b. Then the man who had the evil spirit in him attacked the 7 Sons of Sceva with such violence that he overpowered them all.
c. They ran away from his house, wounded and with their clothes torn off.
d. All the Jews and Gentiles who lived in Ephesus heard about this; they were all filled with fear,
e. … and the name of the Lord Jesus was given greater honor.
f. So much so, that many of the believers came publicly admitting …
g.. … and revealing what they had done.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS ******
MOVE 8: Our Savior has “ALL Authority in heaven and on earth”!
a. Now, our text today is out of the Book of Mark.
b. Mark was written by John Mark the cousin of Barnabas and one who had travelled with the Apostle Paul on his First Missionary Journey.
c. Mark is traditionally viewed, by theologians, as being the most Concise Gospel of all. Although, it has only Sixteen Chapters, it is filled with substance.
d. By no mean is the Book of Mark a biography of Jesus Christ.
e. Mark draws for us a wonderful Character Sketch of our Lord and Savior.
f. For as you may recall, none of the Gospels are biographies.
g. All of the Gospels draw different types of Character Sketches of Jesus.
h. For instance, Matthew paints a picture of our Savior as King.
h. Therefore, in the Book of Matthew, you may find portraits of Jesus lineage as the lineage of Kings are extremely important.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 9: In the Book of Matthew, you may also find Baby Jesus being presented with gifts from the Kings of The Orients; as only a Child of a King would be subject to receiving.
a. In the Book of Mark, we find a Character Sketch of Jesus as Servant.
b. Therefore, it is in the Book of Mark that one would find our Savior “washing the feet” of His disciples;
c. demonstrating the value of Servant Leadership.
d. In the Book of Luke, we find Jesus portrayed as both human and divine.
e. For it’s in the Book of Luke that Jesus, like us, is faced with a multiplicity of trials and tribulations.
f. However, He (Jesus) does so without Sin and without failure to lean on God the Father.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 10: As a result, He is spiritually successful.
a. In the Book of John, we find our Savior characterized as Divine.
b. For it’s in the Book of John (1:1-3 ESV) we discovered that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
c. He was in the beginning with God, All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. The Book of John portrays Jesus as Divine.
d. Again, all of the Gospels draw Character Sketches of Jesus, …
e. … but Mark clearly paints our Saviour as Servant.
f. And in our text this morning our Servant Leader is in Capernaum.
******** TAKE 5 BEATS ******
MOVE 11: A large Galilean fishing village and busy trading center.
a. It’s special, to us as believers, because Capernaum is frequently mentioned in the history of our Savior – Jesus Christ. Peter, Andrew, James and John lived in Capernaum.
b. It was 2.5 miles from the Jordan River, and stood on the Northwestern Shore of the Sea of Galilee.
c. The Bible tells us, in Luke 7:1-5, that a Roman centurion built a synagogue in Capernaum for the Jews. The Centurion Servant was later healed by Jesus.
d. It was in this synagogue that Jesus delivered the sermon the bread of life, (in John 6:25-29).
e. It was the life of one of this rulers of this Synagogue that Jesus restored life.
f. This synagogue was near the lake,…
g. … and was built so that when the Jews prayed, they would be facing Jerusalem.
h. It was in this synagogue that our Lord frequently taught; and it was here – near the Modern shore of the Sea of Galilee – our Savior cured the demon-possessed man in our text today.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 12: In fact our text reveals that the first demon that Jesus cast out came from an apparently devout Jew in the synagogue on the Sabbath.
a. Christ first exorcism was in a church!
b. The man in our text, today, was certainly possessed because the demon spoke through his body.
c. Christ told the unclean spirit to “come out of him”.
d. The evil spirit shook the man hard, gave a loud scream, and came out of him.
e. The people were so amazed … they started saying to one another, …
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CELEBRATION:
|“What is this? Is it some kind of new teaching?
This man has authority to give orders to evil spirits, and they obey him!”
And so the news about Jesus spread quickly everywhere in the province of Galilee.
