Mark chapter one, we will be reading verses 21 through 28. Be reminded that this word reveals the thoughts and intentions of men. Mark chapter one, starting in verse 21. Hear now the breathed out word of God. And they went into Capernaum. And immediately on the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching. For he taught them as one who had authority and not as a 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. This ends the reading of God's word, let's pray. Lord, we thank you that that this good word is able to read us. But Lord, it is not merely provide a diagnosis, but it gives us everything we need. Lord, we thank you that you have shown yourself in your word. Help us, Lord, to As we hear your word preached to worship you in spirit and in truth, help us, Lord, confront us with Jesus Christ. Help us, Lord, to see that Jesus Christ is our only hope. We ask this for your sake, amen. All right, please be seated. This evening's message entitled, A Power Encounter. I shamelessly lifted that title right out of one of the commentaries I was working with. There's no more fitting way to summarize exactly what happened in this passage. That is, that those unsuspecting synagogue attendees and that demon had an encounter with true power, with the ultimate authority. The Greek word behind what we see here as authority is is sometimes translated power and other times authority. But indeed, Jesus wields not only ultimate power, but ultimate authority. Those things are hand in hand. Well, we saw a few weeks ago in the calling of four disciples how the authority and power of Jesus was exercised over those four disciples. He simply spoke these words, follow me. And they dropped everything exactly where it was. The nets that they were holding in their hands, they dropped. They didn't have one last meal with their families. No, Mark records that they dropped everything to follow Jesus. And as Mark continues in this passage, what we see is that Jesus exercises authority over the Bible, the very word of God. That he's exercising and demonstrating his authority over all of history. And indeed, he is exercising authority over even the spiritual realm. And so taken together, these are clearly Devices Mark is using to show us, to corner us in, to hem us in that Jesus Christ has ultimate authority over every single thing. So our doctrine, let's look at it first, Jesus exercising authority over the meaning of the Bible, over history itself. We see this in verses 21, 22, 27, and 28, but especially in verses 22 and in 27. The text reads, and they were astonished at his teaching. They were flabbergasted. It was categorically different than anything that they had experienced up to that point. And then, After casting out a demon, the people, Mark records, were all amazed. so that they question among themselves, saying, what is this? It was a completely different category. They'd never in their entire lives witnessed anything quite like it. And certainly, as the text records in verse 22, nothing at all like the teaching or preaching they had received thus far from the scribes. So Jesus begins. He enters the synagogue on the Sabbath, and then he teaches. And what he does is he's explaining what the Bible means. And of course, the Bible he's working with was what we now call the Old Testament. But Jesus was not simply teaching what the Bible taught. Jesus was going far beyond simply the what, but He was teasing out all the implications that were contained within God's Word. Jesus was showing the connections. He was bringing out the so what. Not just the what, but why does this matter? And lastly, Jesus did not simply teach people the what of the word. He did not simply tease out all the implications, but he brought it near to his hearers. He was teaching them what it meant for them, for their lives, for their minute to minute, hour to hour, whether it's in the home or in the workplace, their Sabbath worship, regardless, their fishing, their tax collecting, whatever it was, he was applying these truths directly to them. And he taught as one who had authority. His authority was unmistakable. And after all, the Scriptures are God-breathed. And when you consider that God is the One, the very One who wrote the Bible, it's not hard to then picture the God-man Jesus teaching with authority. Some of you may have read, as I did in high school, Lord of the Flies. As my high school English class read this book by William Golding, we were discussing what the meaning was of this work of fiction. What William Golding was trying to convey. The smart aleck I was, I thought that it was just a good story. Why try and load into it all sorts of meanings? but I had to really put my foot in my mouth when upon finishing the book our teacher rolled out a television monitor and popped a VHS in and the figure of William Golding comes on the screen and he starts discussing the meaning behind his novel. Now, William Golding would not have had to reveal himself as the author in order for anybody in the audience to be able to tell this man speaks with authority. It's self-evident when the very author of a work is teaching from, is interacting with his own work. Jesus taught with authority, and one of the reasons he did so is because it was his. He knew it. He knew it intimately. He was able, but he didn't just know it for himself, he knew it so deeply he could readily communicate to even a young child the meaning of the text. And so the people sensed it, that this man is speaking from the word of God like no other person they'd ever heard. See, Jesus wasn't just a smart guy. He didn't just have it figured out. He didn't just have the substance right. And he wasn't even just the author, but his entire life was utterly consumed He was always and forever about his father's business. He was always, every moment, about fulfilling the word. And his audience sensed that. He didn't just have the intellectual key that unlocked it, but they could see it just coming out of his pores. He was passionate about it. It meant something. Life or death was on the line. All of God's word is for all of life. They could tell that he was earnest for their souls. He was pleading with them. Again, the scribes had never ever pled with them. We see that Jesus has authority over both the physical and the spiritual realms, and we see this, of course, through this encounter with a demon-possessed man. Now, Jesus will do this throughout his public ministry, but Mark, more than any other gospel author, features these exorcisms, these casting out of demons, these unclean spirits. And Jesus is able to do this with simply words. Be silent and come out of him, he commands the demon. I just want to ask a question, who has more authority? First, a physician who performs surgery on a paraplegic patient, that surgery enabling the patient to walk, to regain what he had lost. Is it the physician or is it a person who simply commands the paraplegic to walk? The command having the effect of enabling that paraplegic to stand up and walk away. Who has more authority? See, Jesus simply commands the demons. He doesn't have to, he's not operating only in the physical realm, as in the obstacle is something to be shoved or lifted or otherwise moved. but his authority has real physical implications. But he affects this change by simply a word. Simply a word. Be silent and come out of him. And the demon is absolutely hopeless against this kind of authority. Now, quick note on the demon here, the phrase What would you to have with us? Well, it's actually not so much of a question, but it's a figure of speech common in that day that basically amounts to, what are you doing here? It's perhaps an underhanded way of saying, get lost. Get out of here, you don't have any business here. And so the demon is not asking a earnest question. And then the demon asks, this may be more earnest, have you come to destroy us? And here the demon is likely asking a more earnest question on behalf of Satan and all the demonic realm. So this could be a legitimate probing of Jesus, trying to figure out what's going on. You see, Satan, of course, is absolutely unsettled by the appearing of the Messiah. Satan is not forgotten when he was addressed in the garden in the wake of his enticing Adam to sin. Satan is, he knows that something is afoot. Thousands of years have passed, but now the Messiah is here. And Satan is desperately trying to figure out, what can I do to thwart, to put a cog in the wheel? What can I do to derail God's purposes? And so he asks, have you come to destroy us? Well, even though the demon makes a startling confession, acknowledging Jesus as the Holy One of God, we need to be reminded that every lie is a twisted truth. And Satan does not gain credence. He does not have sway over us by coming in with just pure, 100%, 200-proof lies. But what Satan loves to do, is soothe us into a sense of complacency by giving us true things and then just subtly twisting. Satan flatters, he speaks measures of truth. If doing so, he's going to catch his audience off guard. Of course, the demon knows ultimately he's no match for Jesus. But if he can take one or two down, these are Satan's devices. But Jesus, of course, will have nothing of it. He does not answer the question with a question. He just simply shows that by a simple word, the demon is defeated. Well, that's our doctrine, that Jesus is the authority over all things. And we see it in our passage by Jesus exercising authority over the Bible, the meaning of the Bible, the meaning of history, and also over the spiritual realm. but the physical as well. We have to remember this demon that possessed a man, there were real physical implications for that man. And when Jesus cast out that demon, it wasn't just like the spiritual realm is over here, and the physical is over here, and near to the tween meet, no. That act in the spiritual realm is connected to the physical realm. Let's not be Gnostics. When Jesus cast that demon out, it changed that man's life. Not just spiritually, but physically. Demons afflicted the people who they possessed. So this brings us then to our duty. Well, how does this doctrine challenge us? How does the authority of Jesus Christ over all things challenge us? What are our duties in light of this doctrine? Well, let's think the doctrine is that the authority of Jesus Christ is ultimate, and it's ultimate in both its breadth and in its depth. It's complete. So there's no place where his authority does not operate, and there's no corner or recess. There's no, his authority does not just operate an inch deep. And so for you and me, there are areas in our life where yielding to the good authority of Jesus Christ might be actually, it might come fairly easy. Perhaps with our words, we're not blaspheming with our mouth, we're not tearing people down. We might even, with our speech, we might even encourage and edify, generally speaking. but perhaps our thought life is not as sanctified. So perhaps we've given Jesus the authority, his laws, his commandments, we have allowed to change a certain aspect or element or area of our life, but we may have something else over here where we have refused his authority, where we've said no. So there may be entire areas of our life where we insist on being self-governing. And so the complete lordship of Jesus Christ, the complete authority needs to extend to every area. One Christian author has said that there is no Christian position on abortion in the ballot box. Brothers and sisters, that is demonic. Jesus is Lord. He has authority over our actions and our activities in the public square, in the privacy of the ballot box, in the privacy of our own prayer closets, in public worship, in our family life. There is no decision that you could possibly make where you can escape out from underneath the authority of Jesus Christ. Now, brothers and sisters, I hope you understand that it is not by our law keeping that we are made right, that we are reconciled to God. May it never be. But brothers and sisters, Know this, that the authority of Jesus Christ over every single aspect, every area of your life, to the fullest extent, is good news. That is good news. The authority of Jesus Christ will reap fruit will reap happiness and joy and peace far more than if you exercise or attempt to exercise your own authority over those areas in your life. If you insist on becoming the authority, on being the authority, whether it's our words or our thought life, our sexuality, our political engagement, our spending, our use of time, His ways lead to flourishing. Our ways will always fall short. Well then, what is our delight? How is the authority of Jesus Christ over all things? How is this our delight? Well, brother, sister, if you're in Christ, then there is nothing that can possibly happen apart from God willing it to be so. Now we gave thanks and praise that 63 Chinese Christians whose very lives were on the line, and perhaps more, they probably have family and friends that they left behind. Their lives could now be on the line. But know this, whether or not those 63 Chinese Christians were released into friendlier hands, were given refuge, Whether that happened or whether they died by firing squad, were burned at the stake, a good, kind God is governing all things. When I started my seminary education, I told my wife that I think there's a good chance that pursuing this will one day land me in prison. Now, I don't know the future. I hope I'm wrong. But you and I, brothers and sisters, there could be a day very soon where to claim the name of Christ may get us prison or worse. And if there's anything that's gonna be able to sustain you in that time and place, it's trusting in a God who's sovereign, who has authority over all things. We need to know, as we're wasting away in that prison cell, staring down torture, perhaps having our families taken from us. We need to know that this too is not out of the authority of Jesus Christ. And we may not have all the details worked out. How is this working? How is this working, oh Lord, for my good and for your glory? We don't always know, we don't always get the answer. But the Bible provides us over and over examples of where dear saints throughout the ages have had no idea how God is going to redeem this situation. But what does he always do? Is there one place in all the word of God where we see a saint, where we see a believer suffer needlessly? It doesn't exist. They can take our bodies, but they can never, ever take from us the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. They can never take our soul. And so the authority of Jesus Christ over absolutely everything It's our joy that we get to press into that, that His design is good no matter what. Let's pray. Lord, there are mysterious things that we face in this life. There are even terrible, terrifying things that we face in this life. But Lord, please give us the grace to confess that you are always good and that you do everything for the sake of your people and for your own glory. That there is not one rogue molecule, there is not one moment in history that is going sideways. One moment in history, there's not one ruler who is sovereign over you, there's not one demon who can do anything apart from your permission. Lord, please, we do ask that you would protect us and keep us and hold us and give us our daily bread and shelter and raiment and protection against demons, against powers and principalities, against people who would do us harm. But Lord, in all of it, we cry out to you. Holy, holy, holy. We give you all of our worship and praise for your sake.