This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. If you have your Bibles, let's open up to the Gospel of Luke, please. The Gospel of Luke chapter 4. We're picking up in verse 31. This is the reading of God's word. And Jesus went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and he was teaching them on the Sabbath. And they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. And in the synagogue, there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ha, 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 when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, what is this word? For with authority and power, he commands the unclean spirits and they come out. And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever and they appealed to him on her behalf. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever and it left her. And immediately she rose and began to serve them. Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him. And he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many crying, you are the son of God. But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ. This is the reading of God's word. Go ahead and have a seat. I thought about saying, how can we stand for the Luke chapter four? I didn't think that would work. Let's open in prayer. Father, you are glorious. And what a privilege it is for us to spend time with you. What a privilege it is that you spend time with us, that you wouldn't dwell us, care for us, walk with us, bless us, change us. What a privilege that we look forward to that certain hope of all the barriers removed and being with our God. Father, your needy people needs you once more. Bless us, please. Work through your Holy Spirit. Do what we cannot. We pray that our hearts would be hearts that worship you even as we listen. And we pray that our hearts would be transformed and made to look like Christ himself because of the time we spend right now. We pray this in Jesus's name, amen. So another fun passage. I can't help reading some of these narratives and just thinking, this is a cool story. I hope you haven't lost that sort of wonder at reading what Jesus has done. It's like what we were talking about this morning, that sometimes you get so familiar that you lose the wonder of the thing you're familiar with. And these stories are wondrous. This early in the gospel, I mean, everything is still introductory. Luke is introducing Jesus to us a layer at a time. showing us who this Messiah is. Everything he shows us is one more insight into who Jesus is and what he is here to do. Now, what we had last time is he was rejected. Jesus was rejected in his hometown, driven out, and now he's moved on. He's moved on from his hometown synagogue where he was rejected onto a synagogue now in Capernaum. And then you just have this really interesting story unfold. You pick up in 31 and 32. Again, introductory, but what you have here are these reports that the people were astonished, astonished at the teaching of Jesus because his word possessed authority. His word possessed authority. It's not always easy to understand how it is we describe when someone has authority. It's not easy to say, to measure how authoritative someone is, but the truth of the matter is you know it when you see it. You also know what lack of authority is when you see it. And they could tell. The word of Jesus possessed authority and it stood out. You wonder how, how did his authority sort of show itself? And one certain way is that he teaches them, he speaks to them as the source of authority and not just someone who is citing authority. You follow that? He doesn't need any references. He didn't need any commentaries. He could just speak. He didn't cite anyone. He was the source of authority. And contextually, for your broader understanding, that would have stood out because the style of teaching, it almost always was, and so-and-so said this before me. And the traditions before me likewise agree with this. And so that was the manner of teaching. So you have someone who can just speak, who can just say what is. And I think even the novice would recognize this one is doing something different. He speaks as one who has authority. And we can see it in a bigger picture, too, when Jesus, who is the Word of God, speaks the Word of God. I mean, no wonder that it stands out. No wonder that he does not seem like any rabbi they had ever heard before. Hearing Jesus's teaching, they were astonished. They were amazed. The word means to be caused to be filled with amazement to the point of being overwhelmed. I put this into my own kind of, you know, scenery, and I think this is just kind of jaw dropping moments. Whoa. You know? Whoa. He has authority. Their jaw kind of drops when they hear this sort of teacher. What you find is Jesus is standing out, not because he's some flashy novelty. Jesus stands out because he speaks with authority and everyone can tell. And that by way of introduction gets us into sort of the action of the story. When you pick up in verse 33 through 37, We now see the authority of Jesus revealed in a brand new light. It turns out, not only does he teach with authority, he can command demons with authority. So what you have there is a man in the synagogue has the spirit of an unclean demon. Verse 34, to remind you, it's just interesting trying to read this. You're like, how do I read this evil enough for this occasion? And I just can't do it. But here, Ha! 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." And it's just dripping, dripping, not with respect or something, but just with evil and this evil recognition. The demon understands who Jesus is. The people of the synagogue don't understand it. People don't really, at this stage, understand who Jesus is, but the demon He knows. He knows that Jesus is the Holy One of God. And he knows that Jesus has come to destroy the works of the devil. You take it back, actually, when we're talking about the temptation, Jesus, our champion, defeating the champion for the armies of evil. You just imagine somehow word gets out. Satan lost. Satan lost. Word has to get out. They know what Jesus is here to do. They know who he is. They know what it means for them. It means the destruction of the works of the devil, the destruction of evil. And if you at all get yourself into sort of the shoes of this demon, it's really sort of unsettling all he knows. The demon can call Jesus the Holy One of God. The demon knows at least some of, if not all, some of the core truths of our faith. He knows them. And yet, he is an enemy of God. He knows the truth, and yet he is an enemy of the truth. What we see in this case is that knowing the truth is way different from humbly submitting to the truth. In his letter, James chapter two, verse 19, he'll talk about how demons know truth. He says they even know truth and they know it so well that they shudder. They shudder knowing about God, but they are not saved by that knowledge. What a demon knows only increases its condemnation. To knowingly, willfully sin in the light of the truth that they have, that's going to bring terrible judgment. And you better believe that that truth, that principle will hold true for all of us. It will hold true for all of us. What we know of God demands that we live in a light, in light of that knowledge. What we know of God demands that we live in light of that knowledge. Accurate facts are not the sum of the Christian life. Accurate facts are not the sum of the Christian life. I repeat that because this is a good reformed church. and reformed folks like being accurate. They're known for being the brainy types who are really, really excited about doctrine and knowledge. But we can't become so enraptured with knowledge that we skip the basic need of living in the manner that we are called to. You do not get to skip that one. Facts and doctrines are not an alternative to faith-filled obedience. The gross sin of the demon is that he knows Jesus and yet he opposes him. Our gross sin is that we know profound depths of God, yet without knowing the profound basics of the life of trust in and obedience to God. Did that make sense? We know profound things, but you don't always look at our lives and say that is a profound Christian life. It's really important. Ask yourself on a regular basis, how your knowledge of God is being worked out in your life. How does your knowledge of God work itself out in your life? Do you follow him more passionately because you know him better? Do you love him more fervently because you have glimpsed glorious doctrines? Do you find greater strength and motivation in that daily battle against sin because of the depths of your knowledge of what Christ has done on your behalf? Does God's ancient and enduring love for his people spur you on to just love your neighbor? What you learn and what you know about God must always have implications for your walk with God. Knowing God, it can't be some cold compartmentalized pursuit. Good theology, truly knowing God, those things bear fruit. And if you can look at yourself and realize that all of your learning has really just been feeding your curiosity or growing your pride, repent. Repent. The demons, the demons have a knowledge of God that does not glorify God. And it does not change how they live. Instead, it shows them for how guilty they truly are. Brothers and sisters, be sure that your doctrine is truer than a demon's. Live the life that goes with true doctrine. So verse 35, back to the text, you see the demon has sort of an unexpected tactic. He wants to declare for all to hear that he knows who Jesus is. Unexpected, huh? But that's his goal here. I'm going to blab as much as I can before you stop me. Jesus having none of it. He rebukes the demon. That's the kind of stuff. It makes me smile. Like, yeah, my savior rebukes demons, right? There is something just obviously inherently mighty about the one who is able to rebuke demons. Job 26, 11, describing the rebuke of God says that the pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. Just picture that, that scene of all of, you know, the cosmos and there's these pillars that hold everything up. God rebukes and they shake. All of reality shakes at the rebuke of God. So, to Jesus, a demon is just another creation. It's not some mighty effort for Jesus to rebuke it. It's just a matter of a word to our Savior. Just a word. Jesus silences the demon and makes him come out. He is so powerful that, you know, the demon, like he wants to get out of there and cause as much damage as he can, throws him on the ground. He can't even hurt the guy on the way out. That's how powerful Jesus is, that the demon cannot even do the man any harm. And all the while, you just, this is all taking place in that synagogue. They were already impressed. They were already noticing, wow, that guy, he speaks with authority. Well, then that guy goes and follows it up by casting out a demon in front of them. You can just picture that their amazement is just exploding at this point. Who is this? Who is this? That he commands unclean spirits and they have to listen. They have to obey the voice of this one. Who is this? Beyond doubt, Jesus spoke with authority. Now the scene continues. Luke shows us how Jesus continues the minister across that day. Verses 38 through 41, his works continue. First with Simon's mother-in-law. There she is sick with a high fever. This story is actually also found in Matthew and Mark. It's the physician though, who throws in the word that it's a high fever. Just interesting little details of studying your Bible. It's a high fever. And so they appeal to him on her behalf and he stands over her and he rebukes the fever. He rebukes the fever. Have you ever tried rebuking a fever? Sometimes, right? You're just so irritated with being sick. You probably have tried something like that. Get healthy. I'm done with you cold, right? It doesn't work. It does not work to try and rebuke diseases and illnesses. Jesus stands in front of this woman and rebukes her fever and it's gone. And it's gone to such an extent that she just gets right up and helps them. She's so grateful. She can serve him right away. She's so well. There's no, there's no like here, take a few days, you know, watch some movies, read some magazines, have some chicken soup, and then you'll be up to serving the Messiah. No, his word is so powerful. She gets up and right to it. He can rebuke a fever as well as a demon. Verse 40, the word is getting out now. The word is getting out and people are bringing him, the sick and the possessed in mass. And Jesus, you have to remember, he is a human in the true sense of that word. It's the end of a long day. And he's just helping, helping, helping. They bring these people to him. And what's he want to do? He wants to lay hands on every one of them and heal them. I mean, isn't that something? that he wants to lay hands on them all. If people were bringing you hordes of sick people, is your impression, let me touch all of them? It's not, is it? And frankly, he's already shown he can do this without touching anyone. He didn't touch the guy with the demon. He didn't touch the mother-in-law. He can do this with a word. So why? Why the hands? It's an action of one who cares. It's an intimate gesture. It's him saying, I want to be closer to you than just rebuking your illness. I want to put my hands on you and show you that I care. We should marvel the truth that God cares. God cares. See, Jesus wasn't above sickness. He certainly wasn't above any people. You find Jesus in his ministry among the broken and the sick. Jesus cares about people's comfort in their times of difficulty. It would be really easy to believe that the one who possesses all authority is impersonal about it. You know, just walks by, be healed and walks off. Hardly cares, hardly bats an eyelash, right? His authority is far from an impersonal authority. His authority, it turns out, goes hand in hand with his heart, his wholehearted love for his creation. And what's interesting is Luke pairs this with another thing that's going on. At this very same time, demons are being cast out in mass too. So, on the one hand, in his authority, he's compassionate. He's intimate. He touches the people and heals them. And at the same time, in that very authority, he's forcefully casting demons out. It's just fascinating. You wouldn't think the two things would go together. These intimate gestures, as well as these forceful actions. And yet, this is what his ministry was like. And so there he is just casting demons out in mass. And what you see about this time and you realize is that Jesus is encountering demonic opposition to an extent that was unprecedented and frankly is unrepeated since. Demons aren't that big a subject until Jesus. And then they show up in mass against the King. And as I thought about that, you know, you ask, I wonder why? I think it makes all the sense in the world. Jesus is here to accomplish the ultimate work of redemption. He's already defeated their champion. And now every step closer to the cross is a step closer to the ultimate defeat of evil. And I think the demons understand their danger. I think they understand that he's coming to destroy them. So they may as well mass and see if they can hit him once. And Frank, I'm pretty sure they know it's hopeless. I think they just must know. They know too much to think, hey, we've got a good shot at this. I think they know their opposition is ultimately going to be hopeless, but their goal is to see if they can make it as unpleasant a process as possible on the way to their defeat. So their approach, they're going to come in mass declaring that Jesus is the son of God. Again, weird tactic, isn't it? But Jesus, he's not going to have his plans interfered with by a bunch of demons. He's certainly not going to have them announce his ministry into the world. The good news is not going to be spread by the lips of demons. And so, Jesus doesn't even allow them to speak. Again, this picture of his power compared to theirs. Demons are not even allowed to speak without the Savior's permission. Talk about putting them in their place. The reason I do all these stories together is because every one of them seems to be Luke telling us, communicating to us that Jesus wields authority. Jesus wields authority. It's woven in every story. And that point about his authority, it shouldn't be lost on us. Jesus wields the very authority of God. No one, no one in all of creation can wield authority like he does. If I told you to picture authority, picture someone who wields authority. If you're not thinking of a God, then I guarantee you're thinking of an imitation. In the big scope of things, all other authority is like this pale imitation next to Jesus. That's whether it's the most powerful political leader in the world, whether it's the police officer pulling you over, whether it's your parents grounding you, I don't know. But all of those things, all those people, their authority is like the faintest shadow next to the authority that Jesus wields. Jesus doesn't even break a sweat when he wields his authority. His authority is effortless and it is natural. He's the one, He just makes it all look easy. That's how natural it is. I think you really see the huge difference between the authority of Jesus and any one of us or anyone in all of creation when we try or someone else tries to do something that just belongs to God. I mean, what do I mean by that? I picture lofty and sought after speakers, you know, and they're out there talking so eloquently and persuasively about the meaning of life. They're talking about the nature of the soul and spirituality. They're talking about transcendent principles like love and justice. And I just think the harder they try, and the higher up they try and reach in the way they're talking, the more their imitation authority shows itself. When the world speaks, if you stop and you listen, what you hear is the echo of the emptiness underneath it all. When the world speaks and they try and speak on a subject that belongs to God, what you are hearing is the total inability of humanity to make reality out of its desires. They are completely unable. You put that next to Jesus. When Jesus spoke, he spoke reality into being. I just don't know how to do that any justice, just to say, he spoke reality into being. I mean, let that sink into your brain, into your heart. A savior's word establishes reality. So we see it in the small ways. He speaks and a demon gets cast out. He speaks and diseases are healed. At other times in his ministry, we're going to see him speak lots of things. He's going to speak forgiveness into being. He's going to speak judgment over people. He's going to speak hope, true hope into people's lives. Jesus's words made things happen because Jesus spoke as one who possessed true authority. He spoke as one who had authority. There is no one and there is no thing in all of creation that can speak with the authority that Jesus Christ wields. Jesus' authority is the reason that he can talk on a number of subjects like he does. I mean, you take salvation, salvation, how is it that he can talk like he does? I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. How can he say that? You see here, that's a bunch of amens. Out in the world, that's a total offense to anyone who hears it. And the question will always come back to, the debate will always come back to, who is Jesus to say things like that? And it always comes back to authority. He is the one who has the authority to speak about how salvation is accomplished. The nature of salvation is not decided by a vote. The one who saves says that salvation is only through him. See, it's not some guy, just merely some guy trying to impose his opinion on us. See, the world has no authority to dictate to God or to anyone else regarding the nature of salvation. It's just way beyond their pay grade. But Jesus is the author of salvation. He is the one who possesses the authority to say what salvation is. And Jesus, in his authority, it's not limited to just what comes after death. Jesus, in his authority, speaks to day-to-day life. I mean, we can amen that easy, right? Amen, he speaks to day-to-day life. As long as that's an abstract sort of amen, The challenge is then that we have to follow our amen with a life lived in accordance with his authority. Our lives and our theology, they're supposed to be in sync. The authority of Jesus truly should touch every part of our lives. If Jesus and his word possess authority, Are you living in light of that authority? Is it obvious in your life? I mean, let's be honest. We are totally capable of amending the authority of God and then just going our own way. If I asked you even right now, this is just on the spot, if I asked you to say, is there something in your life that you are sure you are not honoring the authority of God in? I bet you 97% of you on the spot. You can think of it. We are well capable of just living our lives contrary to the authority of God, no matter what we say about it. And all the while, that just undercuts it, doesn't it? That undercuts us saying, oh yeah, I believe in the authority of Christ. Does your life reflect the truth that you are one who is under authority? And it's, I want to encourage you. Clearly there's kind of a hammer to that last statement, but I want to encourage you to, that, Christ's authority has more to do with than just your daily obedience. I think it can touch any given subject, but your trust in God, your obedience to God, your joy in God, it all flows out of the authority of God. The one who has authority is alone to be trusted. The one who has authority is alone to be obeyed. The one who has authority alone tells you where joy is and where purpose is and where peace can finally at long last be found. The authority of Christ, it turns out to be the bedrock upon which our souls and our lives depend. You see, Jesus didn't just have authority over sickness. and demons, we have staked our entire lives and our eternal destiny upon the one who rose from the grave because he had the authority over death itself. Nothing in creation is outside the authority of Jesus Christ. and brothers and sisters, that is good news. Let's pray. We rejoice, Lord, in our Savior who had authority. We rejoice that even in his words, his authority was obvious. We pray that we would be those who rejoice in that authority, who find comfort in that authority, who find that our lives are shaped by that authority. We don't want to be the lawless rebels who know better than we live. Lord, we want to be those who know the glories of you and live glorifying lives as a result. Please help us. We pray this in Jesus's name. Amen. We hope you've enjoyed this message from Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. To receive a copy of this or other messages, call us at area code 775-782-6516 or visit our website gracenevada.com.