If you'll turn with me in your Bibles to Mark chapter one. Mark chapter one also as you're turning there let me just remind you for those of you who came in perhaps a few minutes late that there will be a if anybody would like to come. BJ is opening his home this evening at 5 p.m. to come over and have dinner there and Just if you come, bring a side of some sort. He'll provide the main course, but it's a nice place to fellowship there, and you'll get to meet his feisty chickens in the backyard. Just don't lower any food too far low by your hip, because they'll jump up and get it on you. It's a nice time, and he's just inviting anyone, so please feel free to come over there if you'd like to at five, and if you need directions, we can get that to you. BJ is in the corner over there today, so he's in trouble, he's in the corner. So we put him back there. No, just kidding, but he will, after service, just get his address, and you'll be able to find out how to get there. Mark chapter one, verses 21 through 28. Let's hear the word of the Lord. And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. But Jesus rebuked him, saying, be silent and come out of him. And the unclean spirit convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, what is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. Let's pray. Father, as we look into your word this morning, we do pray that you would be gracious to us and minister to our hearts. Father, we confess, as we look back on this week, that we have failed you in various ways. We have sinned and yet we are thankful, Father, that your love is constant toward us. We're thankful that in the covenant that we have with you, that nothing has changed as far as our position, and that we can come to you and continue to confess our sins and be confident that you receive us. So please forgive us for our sins today. Give us grace, Father, to focus on you, to lay aside our other worries and burdens and cares, and to think upon your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and our Savior. We ask now that you bless us and grant us your spirit, so that we can do these things in Christ's name. Amen. And so the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we've been following in the book of Mark, is now underway. Last time we saw that in anticipation of his coming death, he had begun to call his first disciples, who would soon be his apostles, and they would be trained to lay the foundation of the church following Christ's departure back to the right hand of the Father. Well, this morning we move on to consider Mark's first detailed recording of a healing sign. This is Mark's first recording of a healing sign. It doesn't mean it's the first healing miracle that Jesus did, but it's the one that Mark records first of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in this particular sign, the Lord will reveal His authority and power over those who oppose Him from the heavenly places. Here he will heal a man who was possessed by an unclean spirit. So let's look then at our text beginning in verses 21 and 22. And they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one who had authority and not as the scribes. Now when we had begun our study of the book of Mark, You might recall that in the introductory sermon that I had preached, I spoke about how Mark, seeking to validate the authority and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, would intersperse the teachings of our Lord with his miracles. You would see teachings, and then signs, and teachings, and then signs, because those signs were used to authenticate the teaching. And in fact, Mark didn't have to go out of his way to creatively do this. He wasn't taking creative license, because that's exactly what happened historically. The Lord would teach, and then a sign would be performed in some way to affirm that teaching. Oftentimes, the teaching of Jesus, which was seen as quite radical to the multitudes, and which was viewed as a hindrance to the religious leaders, It was followed by his performing of various signs and wonders which were used as a means of further authenticating and validating the truth of his teaching. It was God's way of putting his stamp of approval upon all that the son spoke at a time when Judaism looked virtually nothing like the true religion of Moses. And so the Jewish teachings The Jewish religion had gone quite a distance astray. The Pharisees had turned it into a system of self-righteousness, added a lot of their own traditions and laws. Most of the alleged sinners of society were barred from fellowship with the people of God. It was a hopeless, dead religion. And so God would put a stamp on the teaching of Christ through those signs and wonders. Well, here we find a case in point example of this sequence of teaching followed by authenticating sign, boldly pronounced. So in this one text here, we see this come out very clearly, the teaching and the sign that follows. Notice in this instance, we're not specifically given the content of the teaching in this text. So others of the Gospels probably have more details of some of the teaching that went on maybe in this context. But here Mark doesn't even tell us specifically about the content of that teaching. Because Mark is seeking to emphasize the particular way in which the Lord taught. And that, especially in contradistinction to the Jewish religious leaders, describes. So here he's not really emphasizing the teaching itself at this point, but he's emphasizing the quality or the way in which Jesus taught. The reality of the contention that existed between the Jewish leaders and Jesus is something that all of the gospel writers must deal with and they must deal with it, begin to deal with it early on in their accounts. They all deal with this issue as they seek to compel their respective audiences to believe the gospel, a gospel which was rejected by the majority of the Pharisees and the scribes. How do you overcome that reality? Jesus comes in, claims to be the Messiah with the New Covenant, and yet the very people who you would think would affirm him, the religious leaders, are opposing him. And so explanation has to be given to expose what was really going on here and how far the Pharisees and the Scribes and the Sadducees had veered away from the truth. And so here Mark speaks of Jesus going into a synagogue in Capernaum Capernaum is not too far from the Sea of Galilee. And he goes there to teach. And this was his customary Sabbath practice. Jesus would do this regularly. He would make a circuit around the different synagogues throughout Galilee and throughout all the different regions of Galilee. And he would do that with the intent of beginning to draw an essential mark of distinction between his own ministry and the scribes concerning the way in which he taught. Now Mark is going to emphasize that but Jesus would teach the truth and you would also see how there was a clear distinction between what he taught and what was being taught presently by those back in Jerusalem who came to the synagogues to teach. And the miracle that follows serves to all the more validate the Lord's teaching, especially because it was so qualitatively different than the teaching of the scribes. So the miracle all the more is important because it authenticates his teaching as opposed to the scribes and Pharisees' teaching, which was so different. And so what was it that profoundly stood out concerning the Lord's teaching? beyond the content itself. The content was different. But what was it that really stood out beyond the content? What was it about his teaching style that astonished them and that which stood out as quite different from the scribes? Well, we're told here in our text. And they were astonished at his teaching. And then we have that word for here, which is going to explain or clarify what was just said about them being astonished. They were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one who had authority and not. as describes. And so we find here that the Lord taught the Word of God with a strong sense of authority. There was a certain exclamation point and a stern level of conviction behind his teaching which was absent from the teaching of the religious leaders. Now this observation which astonished the people obviously spoke very highly of the Lord. and not so highly of the religious leaders of the day. To be sure, we would expect the Lord to speak with a greater authority, that's true, we would expect that, but it seems as well that Mark is showing us that there was such a laid-back and casual method of teaching that came from the scribes, which didn't speak too well of the religious pulse of the day. So the Lord would speak with greater authority, the Messiah, the Son of God. That's a given. But it also seems to be something that spoke of the casual nature of the teaching of the Pharisees and the scribes as well. All of that said, there are at least two implications that we can take from what we're told there, two things we can think about. First, there must have been a fervent passion behind our Lord's teaching. So many people say they wish they could have heard a sermon preached by Charles Spurgeon. And certainly I would love to have heard Charles Spurgeon preach. I believe he was gifted with an amazing sense of oration, ability of oration. But I can certainly say as well, even more so, how much it would have been a blessing knowing what we know now to go back and see the Lord Jesus Christ preaching, projecting his voice, speaking to thousands at a time with a great passion coming out of his soul. When you read through any lengthy recording of the Lord's sermons, and the one particular one that we have that is the most lengthiest recording is the Sermon on the Mount. And so when you read through the Sermon on the Mount, the words themselves clearly imply that what was said was anything but casual, right? You don't have to hear a tone or a voice to read those words and say, this was spoken with a sense of passion. You can just read the words. The Lord came with a message from his God and father, and he came with a message that would show the way for condemned sinners to be reconciled to this God and being such an ambassador of the living God, carrying such a weighty message from God, compelled his soul to make every use of every physical faculty that he had to pour forth that message with a fervent fire behind it. I believe there was a fire in the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean his voice was always raised in an angry sense, I don't mean that, but there was a passion to his preaching. This wasn't some speech at the Oscars or a lecture at a college given by a teacher at a college. This was a message that held eternal life and death in the balance. And Jesus proclaimed that message as such. that there are preachers today who can nurse out fuzzy homilies and nice little fun stories solely trying to tickle the ears of the listeners so that no offense would be taken is a sad testimony to the fact that they themselves hardly believe the truth of the message of God and the urgency behind that message. How can you preach these truths and believe them in some casual, ho-hum fashion. How can you do that? Now, I'm not talking about loudness or loudness of tone, but I mean without any passion. If we really believe these things to be true, how can we preach that way? How can they be proclaimed in any casual or blase storytelling, sitting down with Uncle John type fashion? Simply put, The word of God moved the Lord to preach with fervency, sternness, and passion. And this astonished his listeners. He was never casual with God's word, nor should we be. But secondly, and that's not the only implication here, secondly, he also taught with a firm sense of certainty regarding the truth that he brought forth to the extent that he stood as in the place of God like no other individual when he taught. And so there is a uniqueness Even beyond the distinction between him and the casual nature of the Pharisees and the religious leaders, there's a uniqueness to his teaching that spoke more of who he was. You see, Moses and the prophets, and even the preachers of our day that would proclaim the word of God from the word of God, can say things like, thus saith the Lord, with a sense of fervency and urgency. However, the Lord alone can say, But I say to you, you have heard it said that a man shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that if you even look at a woman and have lust in your heart, then you have committed adultery with her in your heart. See, I'm not comfortable saying I say to you in that sense, with that kind of authority. I'm more comfortable saying that Jesus spoke in that way and had a right to. He said things like, I tell you. Most assuredly, I say to you. Truly, truly, I say to you. And so our Lord spoke with an authority that assumed a divine position, a position equal to that of God Himself. So it was distinguished from the Pharisees as far as the passion of it. But it was distinguished from all other preachers as far as the sense of authority that He had being the God-man. And for that reason, the people we're told were astonished at his teaching. But such passion and such personal certainty were more than warranted. This was not at the fault of the Lord, this was proper. And the Father himself by the Holy Spirit affirmed both by enabling our Lord to perform the miraculous sign that followed. See, that's the importance of the sign. without following our Lord's teaching, because he spoke with such passion, because he spoke in a way that distinguished himself from the religious leaders, including their false teachings. The miracle was God's way of saying amen to the Lord Jesus Christ. And to this end, we find here that the extent of Jesus's authority, this is the theme of this message today and of this passage, authority. The extent of his authority was not even limited to the visible realm. His authority was deeper than that. Notice verses 23 to 26, what we're told. And immediately, there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the holy one of God. But Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent and come out of him. And the unclean spirit convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice came out of the man. And so here we find that as Jesus is teaching in the synagogue with authority and the people are amazed at his teaching, there is a man there who is present who has an unclean spirit. He is demonically possessed and he is among the worshipers. Now, as I was studying this text this week, something hit me for the first time. That I haven't really thought about. That this demon-possessed man was actually in the synagogue on the Sabbath day among God's worshippers. Kind of struck me thinking about that. I don't know why, but I didn't really think about that before as much. I didn't really focus on the location of this man. This demon possessed man was in the synagogue. Now, brethren, perhaps by way of brief application, we can say this. The devil is not afraid to enter into the church, and we ought not to be surprised to find him there or even making his home there in some cases. This man was possessed and controlled by a demon, and yet he was in the synagogue when Jesus was teaching. Would we expect to find anything less in our day and age in the churches? When anyone's preaching, faithful or not, that there could be demonic presence in some sense. And the demon's words here are very telling, aren't they? The words spoken by this demon, representing other demons as well, because he speaks of us here. If Jesus were not of divine origin, think about this, if he were not fully God as well as fully man, could a demon, or a demon representing a group of demons, Say such things as this or we can reword the question this way as well What human being from Abraham to Moses to David to Daniel to the godliest of men who ever walked the face of the earth? What human being could ever be spoken to by a demon in this way? Think of anyone else who would ever be the recipient of this kind of response from a demon Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the holy one of God. Think about those words. See, Jesus was not just your ordinary man in that sense. Now he was fully mad, but there is much more going on here that is revealed in this text. These demons are aware of something, something more that those who are surrounding them are not aware of. And Mark wants his audience to see this, especially as he is seeking to affirm that Jesus is both the Messiah, remember verse one, and the Son of God. This demon knew that Jesus was a threat to him and his companions. And he knew that Jesus had the authority to destroy them altogether, let alone cast them out of the man that they had possessed. and affirming that the demon's fear was warranted in case we might question, is that an exaggeration of some sense? Jesus, we're told, rebuked the unclean spirit, commanding him to be quiet and to come out of the man, and immediately the spirit obeyed Jesus' words. He had no choice but to obey Jesus. Now, why was this the case? Because Jesus had the power and authority to do with this demon as he pleased, even by a simple spoken word. He had the authority to do whatever he wanted to this demon, even with a spoken word. And later he gives that authority to the apostles, doesn't he? And so immediately. We're told that the demon convulsed the man and we look in the parallel accounts and throws the man down, but the man is uninjured. But then the demon cries out with a loud voice as he is forced to leave this man. In simple terms, Jesus ordered the demon to shut up and get out of the man and the demon immediately did both. Now, toward the end of the chapter, we will further address why Jesus did not want this demon to reveal who he was at this point. There's a reason why he says, be quiet, when he says, I know who you are. You're the Holy One of God. Jesus is trying to quell the demon from saying that at this point. And we're going to address that a little later on in the gospel. So I'm not going to address the reason for that. at this point. I believe I did address it a little bit earlier on in the teaching of the Book of Mark, but we'll get into that further soon enough. But notice the response of the synagogue worshipers then as they're viewing this. They're seeing this happen. They witness this as they Witness this, we find that it connects, right, what happened here, it connects to the original context where they were amazed at how the Lord taught with such great authority. We see that theme of authority carry over to the end. It begins with they were amazed over the teaching, astonished that he taught with authority. We're not given the content because the emphasis is on the quality of his teaching with authority. This miracle takes place with Jesus doing what? Exercising authority over demons. And then in the end, they're amazed because he taught with such authority. So that authority aspect comes back full circle. The casting out of the demon actually served as a visual demonstration that affirmed that our Lord's authority was not merely something attached to his speech. See, some of us at times, all of us at times. can seek to take on a level of authority that's not really ours. We may speak in a way that's exaggerating about ourselves and our authority and our background or our finances or whatever it is. And we say to people like that, that it's all just words. It's easy to say those things. See, but with Jesus, his words were not mere words. He spoke with such authority because such authority truly belonged to him and still belongs to him. And this is the main point that Mark is trying to get across to his Gentile audience here. Remember, sometimes we can get so lost in the narrative that we forget that this book is written to an audience. And there's a purpose here. And so he's trying to get this point across to the audience in the recording of this particular sign at this particular point in the book. In verses 27 and 28, we're told, 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. And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. And so we come full circle. The Lord has taught as one having authority unlike the scribes. There's that distinction beginning to be made between him and the religious leaders. And the people are amazed at this. Affirming the reality of that self-presumed authority, the Lord orders a frightened demon to be quiet and to leave the man whom he was possessing. Immediately honoring that authority, the demon leaves the man, helplessly crying out as he makes his exit. And the people are amazed by the teaching and authority of the Lord with the displayed authority affirming and solidifying the authoritative teaching, and the mission of God is accomplished in that particular event. Now, at a time and place, brethren, today, where we don't commonly witness demon possession, at least in our culture here, at least knowingly, we don't generally see it. I'm not saying it's not there, but we don't see it as common. It's hard to appreciate the effect that this had on the people. But demon possession being much more common in that day and naturally incurable, this understandably sent the people off to do what? To share this amazing news with others. They were blown away by what they had witnessed. And it is no wonder then, of course, that many more demon possessed and physically injured and maimed people are then brought to the Lord in greater numbers. So people begin to bring numbers of people who are sick in different ways or possessed to Christ to them, for him to heal them. And others come to him to seek him out. Now, brethren, as we move toward concluding our time for this morning, I want to leave you with a few applications that we can take from this event, a few applications that we can take for us so that we can apply this in a very relevant way for us. First, by way of application, recognize the present day implications of what Mark has recorded here for us. This is not just information for that day. It's for us. The scriptures do clearly teach us to be on the alert at all times. We're to walk closely with the Lord. We're to guard against the temptations of the devil. He lurks about like a roaring lion. Seek him, he may devour. So we need to be aware that there is an enemy who we cannot see, who is against us. And we need to know that he has minions and companions that fight with him to tempt us and to seek to draw us away from the Lord. We need to be alert and awake. We need to be cautioned to fight the good fight to finish the race that is set before us. We cannot sleep through or sleepwalk through our Christian faith. And yet. At the same time, we ought to be encouraged. To know that with absolute certainty, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, has authority over all realms in heaven and on earth and under the earth. That authority belongs to him. Jesus has authority over every wicked demon that exists, including the devil himself. Christianity. and sometimes it's treated like this, is not a yin-yang religion. Where good and evil carry an equal weight in the battle of life. And sometimes good gets the upper hand and sometimes evil and this kind of both of them have an equal way of progressing in some sense. That's not Christianity. Christ has authority over all realms. The circle is completely white. And by His cross, as our faithful mediator and high priest, He has been given total and complete dominion over all things. Isn't Mark already pointing to the fact that when Jesus is raised from the dead, He will be given all authority in heaven and on earth as a man? so that he can send out his ambassadors in his name to call people, to call out disciples, to baptize them, and to teach them all that he commands. We don't have to fear the demonic realm, let alone the physical realm. He's been given dominion over all things. This being the case, brethren, while we ought to be cautious and alert, concerning the wiles of the devil. Again, we can't sleep. It's a battle. We have absolutely no reason to fear him or his minions. We have no reason to shake or to sweat in that sense. We don't communicate with him as some foolishly do. Going around trying to command demons and devils to do things and throw oil all over the place. There's a word for that, it's called insanity. We don't do that. We don't boast against Him, or tamper with Him, or try to in some way invoke Him. But we have full confidence that as we fix our eyes on Christ, aware of His schemes, we have nothing whatsoever to fear about our enemy, because the Lord Jesus Christ has complete authority over Him. And everything Everything that the devil himself does is ultimately ordained by God and used unto the good of accomplishing his holy will, even though the devil means all that he does for evil. Doesn't Job teach us that? Have we forgotten Job? The devil appears before God, and God says, have you considered my servant Job? Well, let me touch his flesh. He's wealthy, you put a hedge about him. And then we'll see him curse you to your face. Okay, let me let the leash go loose. Go ahead, touch his flesh. Touch his material possessions first. Touch his family even, but don't touch his body. And the devil goes as far as the chain allows him to go, and he does. And it's a painful experience for Job, but Job still honors his God. And he comes back before the Lord. And Job doesn't know this is going on, but the Lord says to him, have you seen that my servant Job is still faithful? Well, all that the man has is in his life. Let me touch his body now. Extend the chain. Let my leash go a little further, Lord. And I'll touch his body and I'll see him curse you to his face. And that's exactly what God does. He says, okay, the chain goes out a little further, but don't take his life. And he obeys. See, he is under the authority of God. He means evil. His intentions are evil. But God is using him to accomplish his good. And Jesus has authority over him. To this end, brethren, we can take every risk necessary to fearlessly represent Christ as his ambassadors, taking the gospel far and wide, knowing that the gates of hell can and will not prevail against us. The gates of hell will not prevail against us. What does that mean? That's not talking about the gates of hell coming against us offensively. That's saying as we go offensively into the realm of hell, as it were, to rescue sinners, we will not be prevented by the gates of hell from entering into Satan's territory because Jesus has all authority. We can rescue sinners. The signet ring of all authority. Over every realm, visible and invisible, belongs to one person, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. We see that picture so well in what happens in the book of Estadoni with Mordecai. When Mordecai, the king, gives that ring right first in that case to Haman, whoever has that ring has authority. Joseph from Pharaoh. God gives, God gives that ring to Christ. And brethren, if such is the case with our dealings with invisible, powerful spiritual beings, what fear are we ever to have of visible, physical particles of dust? What fear should we have of physical governments and ruling powers? in this world that come from the same dust that we are, that have been born 50 and 60 and 70 and 80 and 90 years ago, maybe at most. The devil's ultimate power himself is in His ability to accuse fallen sinners. That's His power of accusation. Because our sin is what separates us from our Holy God. That is the power that He has. Sin has separated us from our Holy God. God cannot accept sinners because God is holy and just. And He uses that to point out the sins of His people and of others to accuse. But the Lord Jesus Christ being Himself without sin, Retains his dominion as the last Adam and taking our sin upon himself. He has crucified our sin in his body on the tree and he is buried in the tomb and he was raised up apart from it, bringing about our full justification in the sight of God. We stand justified in Christ at all times by faith in Christ. So that he can accuse, and Paul can tell us in Romans, who will bring a charge against God's elect. Who's gonna bring a charge against you? And notice Paul doesn't say, because you're sinless. Because you can look back at your biography and see a nice clean life. He doesn't say that. He says, it's Christ God who justifies. And it's Christ who stands at the right hand of God. If somebody has a problem with you, if the enemy has a problem with you and wants to accuse you, beloved Christian, he's got to go see your lawyer. And your lawyer is at the right hand of God. And your lawyer has given you his righteousness. And he has to accuse that righteousness. He has to accuse Christ. And his lips are shut. And so the enemy is disarmed. And brethren, we are more than conquerors in Christ who loved us and gave himself for us. You ever think about that? Isn't it a good thing to be a conqueror? This person is a conqueror. How do you even begin to become more than a conqueror? When you're in Christ, you're even more than a conqueror. You're beyond conquering. There's no element of anything that takes you away from the Lord in any sense for even a moment. You are more than a conqueror. The Lord Jesus Christ has total dominion over every realm. And even the demons must do as he says. And they tremble before him. And he controls and commands everything by the mere speaking of his words. What a powerful savior we have. You look in Revelation and that description of the Lord Jesus Christ there, he has, where is his primary weapon? It's the fire of sword that comes from his mouth. He speaks and he calls. Finally, if you're not a Christian here this morning, if you're not a Christian here this morning, you must recognize that in many ways, You are presently like that demon possessed man prior to Jesus having delivered him. You need to see that in these miracles, these signs. You are like that demon possessed man. You are like the blind man, the deaf man, the lame man, the leper. There's pictures in those physical infirmities of spiritual infirmities. You see, you are like that possessed man because you are under the deceptive sway, the spell of the devil. You're deceived with the rest of the world heading straight for eternal judgment and condemnation. The word of God is very clear. If you're not in Christ, you are deceived by the devil. You say, well, I don't see that. That's because you're deceived. That's what deceiving means. You ever stop and think, unbeliever? If you're a non-Christian in this room, you have to stop and think. Just stop and say, wait a second. I have all these desires that are ruling my life. I want all these sins that can never satisfy in the ultimate sense for but a few moments. And yet I still want them. And I'm unwilling to repent and turn to God, the God who is so obviously displayed His glory throughout this entire world and in my own soul. And I want nothing to do with him because I want this sin that doesn't satisfy. And you say, well, I'm not deceived. That's as deceived as deceived gets. And there are gravestones all over the place surrounding us, showing you your future. It's not like we have someone living among us who's 500 years old anymore, or even 150, or even 120. You go back in your family line and you say, yeah, I can only go far back as grandpa, maybe great grandpa. And the rest, where are they? And that's my destiny. And I'm not getting any younger. And time seems to be moving faster. And yet I'm going to cling to my sin. And I'm going to hold on to these things that don't satisfy and don't fulfill. And I don't want to think about God who created all these things and his son who he offered for sinners. But I'm not deceived. The devil owns you. You're possessed onto a life of pursuing material things and lustful desires that never can or will ultimately satisfy. God created you and you're searching for fulfillment that only God can bring. You're empty in yourself and you're still looking to fill it with garbage. when only God can fulfill. And you're always one step, one breath away from eternal judgment, standing before God. You desperately need the rescuing power of Christ to deliver you and to free you from the guilt and power of your sins. You need Christ in your life like this man had who was possessed. He couldn't control himself in that sense. He was possessed by this devil. Until Jesus came in there and said, Be quiet and get out of him. You need Christ to come into your life and to deliver you from that deception. That has overwhelmed your life and is heading, bringing you straight to hell. May God give you the grace if you're outside of Christ to think about these things, to be honest with yourself and where you stand right now and to have dealings with him through his son, Jesus Christ, who died. and was raised again for sinners who came into this world and became a man so that he could purchase us through his own body and shed blood and was raised again unto victory. God give you the grace to see that this morning. Let's pray. Father, we give you thanks again for your word that as we look at this text, we find the Lord Jesus Christ Authority affirmed. An authority that doesn't simply end with the visible creation. But goes beyond that to the powers that lie behind it, to the rulers of darkness in the heavenly places. We thank you, Father, that we can walk confidently, not arrogantly, but confidently and secure in Christ. knowing that his words protect us, that his power is upon us, that he never loses sight of us for even a moment, and that he is able to raise and will raise us when we die. Oh, Lord, give us a boldness as your people to proclaim your gospel. And we ask that you would rescue many more from within the gates of hell and be pleased to build the great kingdom for your son. and rescue some this morning or even here today who do not know you from their influence and deception. And we pray that you would bless us now as we take of the supper in Christ's name. Amen.