What influences direct and dominate your life?
This is a question that raises the issue of Authority. The whole issue of authority brings some
interesting dynamics…
The recent generations have been said to be generations with an ever increasing level of ‘authority
issues’… a deep resentment and rejection of the roles of authority in our lives.
The tendency is to simplify this as simply those who reject authority… because we don’t want it.
But I believe that the truth is a little more dynamic… that we both resent authority… and long for
it at the same time.
We resent those who have abused and abandoned their healthy authority in our lives…and long for
those who can bless and empower us.
We attach ourselves to our sense of freedom in being independent individuals… who can choose
whatever we want… but long for the voice that can speak from outside our own internal
limitations.
The truth is that we often live between this pseudo independence and the longing to be approved
by someone outside ourselves.
Voices will come lead… whether fashioned with from the accumulation of the past… or those
we hope can save us in the present…. whether human or spiritual.
> We need one transcendent voice that can rise out of the myriad that live within us.
Good news….
Mark 1:21-28
They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began
to teach. 22The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had
authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed
by an evil spirit cried out, 24"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!"
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"Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!" 26The evil spirit shook the man violently
and came out of him with a shriek.
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The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching--and
with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." 28News about him spread
quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
Here we see the very nature that broke through in the coming of Christ… one of Divine authority
was entering a world under the reign of darkness and deception.
If you recall from the initial text from last week…the first words Jesus spoke came as a news flash
that “the time is fulfilled,” as if to say, “Time’s up! You’ve been waiting how many years for
the Messiah to show up? Well, I’m here.
Jesus then makes a cosmic announcement… that “the kingdom of God is at hand.” “At hand”
meaning, within reach, but not quite in the hand yet. The word translated “kingdom” here
comes from the Greek word basileia, and it means first, the authority to rule as a king and, second,
the realm where that king exercises his authority.
So when Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is at hand,” He is announcing His authority. In
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those days when King So-and-so invaded a land, he dethroned and overthrew the reigning power
and released any prisoners that the ex-king had captured. King Jesus walks into Galilee. His
objective is to dethrone and overthrow Prince Satan, and to free His people from the power of evil
and death. Satan would have shuddered, listening to this sermon about the kingdom of God, but to
the captive’s ears it would mean freedom and allegiance to a Savior and King who loved
them and would rule wisely and justly. Unfortunately, the Jews didn’t read Jesus’ announcement
correctly. When Jesus took His message into occupied Israel, where Roman soldiers could be
found patrolling every street corner, most of the Jews read “political revolution” into the
phrase “kingdom of God,” but that was not what Jesus had in mind at all. His kingdom has to do
with His reign in the lives of His people. And He has not lost His desire to reign in our lives, to
reign over us, and to use us to change our world for Him.
Lets consider the nature of his authority…
‘The went to Capernaum’… the town that becomes something of a ‘base of operation’ for Jesus’
ministry during this time.
‘On the Sabbath…. they go to the synagogue’…There’s fascinating and formative in those few
words… for this wasn’t just part of some unique agenda for that particular day… his disciples
write that it was his regular pattern. Here we have “God in the flesh”… God with us… and he
made weekly corporate worship a part of his pattern and rhythm for life.
And as one who had emerged on the scene as a profound teacher at the very least… the rabbinic
role of teaching the Scriptures… reading and commenting… was extended to him.
> What came out was an authority that transcended the human perspective…
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The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had
authority, not as the teachers of the law.
Amazed at his teaching because teachers of law gave rulings based on various human ideas and
interpretations… but Jesus quoted nobody. He spoke the definitive heart of heaven because he
embodies it.
John 1:1, 14, 17
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of
the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
…For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
He is the “Living Word of God.”
The people of Israel… understood that the Torah represented the defining Word of
God…welcomed it’s authority because it’s what set them apart.
FREEDOM IS ACTUALLY FOUND IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD
“The freedom to be fully human is found, strangely, not in perfect independence, but in
submitting oneself to the Creator. Keeping … the Torah is therefore viewed as an exercise
in freedom. Nothing restrictive and limiting is associated with the divine law. It is a
liberating guide, setting people free to assume responsibly God’s definition of themselves.
The ironic tragedy is that one can choose not to be what he or she was made to be. Hence…
liberation to full humanity is always a "freedom to" rather than a "freedom from." The
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secret of playing one’s life to its fullest is found in submission to the divine rules of play.” -
Norman Porath
Matthew 5:17 (MsgB)
"Don’t suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures—either God’s Law or
the Prophets. I’m not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together…”
It has been said that the scribes spoke from authority but that Jesus spoke with authority.
Christ breaks through with …
1. An authority that transcends natural ideas and collective wisdom.
The Bible speaks of the people of this age as ‘always learning but never able to acknowledge the
truth.’ (2 Tim. 3:7)
Last year, Americans spent more than two billion dollars calling the Psychic Hotline, going to
fortune tellers, and buying tabloid magazines on the subject.
-Christ for All Nations, 1997 Letter
We long for a voice that can transcend the plethora of opinions… that can rise above even the
gallop poll of collective opinion… and help us take hold of something definitive.
Some today say that this is why people will give themselves to religious dogma… that it’s a
desperate attempt to escape the growing uncertainty and the reality that there is no absolute truth.
The problem of such a position is that it defies itself… by claiming it’s own view of there being no
truth as true.
> The choice is never freedom from authority… but what authority we give ourselves to.
Charles E. Hummel -
“… when we get beyond freedom from restraint and ask about freedom for a purpose can we
understand its true meaning. Only then will we understand the basic elements of limitation and
responsibility inherent in the nature of freedom itself.
Freedom is a condition in which something can fulfill the purpose for which it is designed. This
principle is evident in everyday life. For example, an automobile is designed to run swiftly on a
paved road. Yet it is free to do so only as long as it stays on the road.
We can understand the meaning of human freedom only when we know the purpose for which we
were designed. What are we set free for? We are free to obey God; free to express his love to
those around us; free to take care of the earth and its creatures.
But according to both the Old and New Testaments, something has gone radically wrong. Taking
our destiny into our own hand’s. We have turned off the road of God’s will into the ditch of
self-determination. The results appear on the front page of the daily paper, on the TV news
and in the fractured relationships all around us.”
John 8:31-32
Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching… you will know the truth, and the truth will set you
free."
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Here Jesus is not talking about the simple acquisition of knowledge. Wrenched from its
context, the motto "The truth will make you free" is chiseled in marble over library doors on
dozens of campuses across the country. The idea that our basic human problem is ignorance
is a prevalent myth. Yet knowledge itself liberates no one; our chief enemy is not ignorance
but sin. C.S. Lewis noted that higher education often enables people to become more clever
devils.
It means a life of commitment to his teaching, acting on what we already know.
Saint Augustine expressed a paradox of the Christian life: "Slavery to God is perfect
freedom." In other words, commitment to the will of God-the purpose for which we are
designed-offers freedom to become the person we are meant to be.
-Charles E. Hummel-Freedom From Tyranny of the Urgent: Pages 29-30+
Consider the broader meaning of authorty
Authority … “somebody or something with official power…. or the ability to gain
the influence or control over what people think and do.” (from Encarta
Dictionary)
What is at work to have authority in our lives… what seeks to influence and control us?
Continue to see in text…
Evil spirit… is affected by the very presence of Jesus…
23””
Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out…”
For some of us here today… the reality of demons or demonic powers is a little hard to
embrace. Our modern western culture seems to have ‘cleaned up’ the messiness of evil
spirits…
We’ll engage this reality far more in the weeks ahead… today I want to maintain the central
truth of authority related here… but I would suggest that any hesitation ought to be sobered
by noting a few things…
• Those from so many other cultures… tend to see and share the raw version of such control.
• Most would say that evil itself is still quite alive and loose… with souls acting out in the most
horrendous of ways…which shouldn’t make a spiritual entity seem so strange.
• The supernatural…especially related to evil, is clearly on the rise with many of the top new
shows of this season… and with it a very real rise in witchcraft and the like.
Still is today.
Tries to take control… by naming
The demon doesn’t confess the dignity of Jesus, but uses words of opposition in an attempt to
disarm Him…
Seems strange… superstitious… but in many respects the idea that we can contain the God of all
creation by telling Him who He is… and trying to contain Him with our words … continues today.
The demon faced a reality that every created being must face… you can’t control
or contain God.
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The issue before us is not a matter knowing of the authority of God… but choosing
it… submitting to it… surrendering our own authority to it.
James 2:19
“You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.”
It’s not a matter of knowing who he is… but our posture towards that reality…
What will we do with his authority?
Tries to tell him to get away…
The cry of terror from the demon is laden with the language of defense and resistance.
…basically what the demon says is: “You have no business with us!”
And this is the same thing that the powers of evil shout today…
This is none of your business…. don’t interfere with our business!”.
It is the language of entrenched power everywhere,
Of oppressive governments,
Of shifty diplomacy.
It is the language of unrestrained individualism—
“I will live my own life according to my own rules—You have no business with us Jesus of
Nazareth…Holy One of God!”
But to this cry of the demons Jesus answers, “Be quite!”
“Come out of them!”
Christ breaks through with …
2. An authority that transcends the powers of evil and cannot be contained by
them.
Perhaps you sometimes feel that the work of evil in this world is just too great… the 11 o’clock
news is hardly inspiring.
What Jesus was revealing is that evil is at hand… but that he came to reveal that
EVIL IS NOT SOVEREIGN AND SUPREME.
When Jesus silences the demons we get a glimpse of a conflict that has cosmic dimensions—it is
the ongoing encounter of the Son of God with Satan!
Every time a person decides to repent, turn from their evil ways, and ask Jesus to take over their
lives…demons are silenced and expulsed.
It’s the very purpose for which He came into this world…
…which is to confront Satan and reclaim humanity for the glory of God.
Christ breaks through with …
3. An authority to SET US FREE from the darkness of deception and the
demonic powers that take control there.
At first we may read this as two very different and unrelated experiences and expressions of
spiritual authority… one as a great teacher… the other as confronting demons. But there is far
more relationship between them.
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> To Jesus it was a ministry of delivering us from the control of evil.
He bears the authority to cast out the darkness of deception and the demonic powers that
take control there.
And in this process… it’s important that we don’t reduce our role…
The reality that Scripture makes clear is not one in which some type of evil spiritual force
simply embodies people... or controls them despite their own will. God reveals that as
humans created as His image bearers we have great power in our choice.
The spiritual realm operates in relationship to OUR HUMAN POSTURE and
will.
1 Tim. 4:1
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving
spirits and things taught by demons.
Ephes. 4:26-27 (NLT)
And "don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you." Don’t let the sun go down while you are
still angry, 27for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil.
The Great Wall of China was penetrated at least three times by the enemy, and EACH
TIME it was because the guards were bribed!
> The devil is looking for an associate.
Jesus engages the interplay of our human desires and disposition (the ‘flesh’) with the deceptive
and destructive nature of an evil spiritual force (demonic)…. as well as the whole shared culture
and corporate system that gives itself to the reign and rule of darkness (the ‘world.’)
In Christ we hear the authority of the ‘Original Voice’ which re-claims our true dignity and
destiny.
Towards this end...
1. We must RECOGNIZE that we live in enemy territory… with evil as a pervading and
controlling influence.
2. We must RESIST the powers of evil as we choose His authority.
James 4:7
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
What’s got or is getting control of us?
(Not a one time question… but one we do well to consider in any season of life.)
Three questions that may be helpful…
Is there a particular fascination that is becoming a controlling influence?
Is there a perceived “need”… whether material or relational… that is gaining a controlling
influence?
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Is there a bitterness that is at work in your attitude?
Hebrews 12:15 (NIV)
“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause
trouble and defile many.”
Bitterness defiles many!
3. We must RELY on Christ’s authority His established Reign.
