Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, let's get our Bibles and go to the Book of Matthew, chapter number eight.
[00:00:06] Matthew, chapter eight.
[00:00:16] Matthew, chapter eight. We will begin reading. In verse number 28, the Lord takes a very brief visit on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. So in our last.
[00:00:37] The last time we were in Matthew, chapter eight, we saw that our Lord calmed the storm.
[00:00:42] And then he was crossing from one side of the sea to the other to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. But his excursion on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee did not last long. And that's what we're going to read about here this morning. Verse 28, the Bible says. And when he was come to the other side, into the country of the Girges, there met him two possessed with devils coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
[00:01:15] And behold, they cried out, saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus? Thou son of God, art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
[00:01:25] And there was a good way off from them and heard of many swine feeding. I think it's Mark or Luke, says that the swine were about 2,000. That's a lot of pigs.
[00:01:41] And it says, verse 31. So the devils besought him, saying, if thou cast us out, so suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
[00:01:49] And he said unto them, go. I like that geoperiod with this particular emphasis in this passage, that the fact that it's such a brief command is kind of emphatic. Verse 32. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine. And behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea and perished in the waters. And they that kept them fled and went their ways into the city and told everything and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts. Kind of an unexpected ending, wouldn't you say? Let's pray together.
[00:02:38] Our Lord, we just want to come to you and offer this service to you, this opportunity that we've had to meet together to sing songs to your praise, to look at your word. Lord, we offer this time to you. We ask you to use it for our good, for our benefit, for your glory, Lord, guide us as we study your word, Lord. Make these truths the words of your scripture to be perfectly plain and set before us this morning.
[00:03:12] Lord, give us hearts, even though we Might be weary because of the time change and our routine being off a little bit. Give us hearts that are inclined to your word, desirous to hear it, ready to receive it. Lord, help me to say what your people need to hear. Guide my very words and thoughts, Lord, because you alone know exactly what these people need. Lord, you're the head of the church.
[00:03:38] You are the one who. You're the Savior.
[00:03:41] We belong to you. So, Lord, we just commit ourselves to you, our service, our time here, our fellowship to follow, and the afternoon service. We commit it to you. We want you to be pleased and glorified through it.
[00:03:54] Help us, Lord, to profit and to grow from your word. This morning, in Jesus name, amen.
[00:04:03] So we will this morning we will look at the parallel passage in Mark and Luke in a little bit. Matthew, of course, all this particular incident is found in Matthew, Mark and Luke and Matthew is. His narrative of this incident is by far the shortest. He leaves out a whole lot of details.
[00:04:25] In fact, Matthew is the one where it says in verse 28, there were two that came out of the tombs. And Mark and Luke just mention. It doesn't mention. It says a man. It doesn't. A certain man. It doesn't specify how many. Some people have surmised that maybe it was a husband and a wife and maybe that's why they were mentioned together. I don't really know. But if there were two, there definitely were one. That's pretty plain. Right. And so this is also the first mention in our study of Matthew, the first account of our Lord confronting devils directly. Now it mentions he cast out devils, just kind of in general, in passing. This is the first instance where it's actually mentioned a personal confrontation with the devil.
[00:05:18] Now I want to kind of draw from this a little bit about the work of the devil. So. But let's take a peek here at Mark, chapter five. And I want to see the description of this man who has been so harmed by the devil.
[00:05:37] So look at Mark, chapter five, as well as in Luke chapter eight, if you want to go ahead and go there and hold your finger there and we'll come back to Matthew in a minute.
[00:05:48] So in Mark, rather in Matthew, it says that this man was possessed with devils. He was in the tombs, which is interesting. And remember the tombs, which in this place, in this case would have been like caves in the side of a hill kind of thing in the rock, the tombs. This is where he lived, all right? And that was, to the Jewish mind, that was an unclean place. Nobody would ever live There because you were not allowed to touch a grave because it would make you unclean. So there's that aspect of being unclean, the association with death that's there as well. And that. Well, we could apply that in a number of ways, right? The hardness toward death. And the kind of. What's funny is we have in our country, we have so many people that look so lightly upon death in some cases. But like yesterday was it yesterday, the man was executed by firing squad in South Carolina. Only the fourth person in the country executed by firing squad since the reinstitution of the death penalty by the supreme court. Only the fourth. And yet he's lamented because they spent $5 on 308 rounds to take the man out of the world. A man who by justice, did not deserve to live according to the laws of our country and the laws of righteousness in God's sight. Well, he's a Christian. Well, that's good. If that's true, that's good. But that did not take away what he had done. And the laws of God says. You know, it's funny because I was reading an article in wyff, the website, about that, and it quoted this man, this man who was executed as saying that the death penalty was in the Old Testament time. But we're in the New Testament time where Jesus says, this is the time of. Of mercy and grace. Well, it's easy for you to say considering you took someone's life and showed no mercy and no grace. But he forgot Romans where it says that the powers that be bear not the sword in vain. That's death. Sword is only used for death.
[00:07:59] Why did I say that? Because in our country and in our society and among human beings, you think of something like abortion, death, or infanticide or euthanasia, it's, oh, yeah, whatever. Just take them off the government dole, make sure they're not a burden to society, and that's no big deal. But somehow the death penalty is. And no mercy, no compassion is shown for the victims of the case at all. It's only for the perpetrator. Whereas where compassion should be shown, it's none. There's none.
[00:08:36] We are upside down, are we not?
[00:08:38] There's this love of death, this desire to be among death.
[00:08:46] Hebrews, chapter 2, verse 14 says that the devil had the power of death. He wielded it. He used it. It's no wonder someone who is actually controlled, possessed by him, would be found in that place, which is what we see.
[00:09:06] But notice in Mark, it wasn't Just death. It wasn't just that he was fierce.
[00:09:12] But in Mark 5, it says this, verse 3, who had his dwelling among the tombs. And no man could bind him, no, not with chains.
[00:09:23] Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains. And the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces. Neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself.
[00:09:41] Now, I'm not trying to say that everyone who attempts to harm themselves has a devil in them, but those that have devils in them do that. Does that make sense? Because Satan, our enemy, loves destruction. He loves to destroy. Even when these devils went into the herd of pigs, what did they do immediately? Destroyed them. Destroyed them, that is, he's in fact his name. The devil's name, Apollyon, means destroyer. That's what it means. So it's no wonder that in every way possible this is the effect of satanic influence is destruction. And that can include harming oneself.
[00:10:29] Listen, and I'll just say this.
[00:10:32] No thought to doing harm to yourself.
[00:10:36] No thought of doing harm to yourself ever comes from God, right?
[00:10:44] Because, listen, Satan puts thoughts in people's heads and tells them it's God.
[00:10:50] No thought like that. Consistent with any voice that the Lord might give, whereby the Lord might speak to us. So anyhow, let's move on.
[00:11:01] So he was cutting himself with stones. Now look at Luke, chapter eight, if you would. We're just kind of getting a background here. Luke, chapter 8, verse number 27.
[00:11:14] And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time. So this is not a recent thing.
[00:11:22] And wear no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs. Verse 29. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him. And he was kept bound with chains and in fetters. And he break the bands and was driven of the devil into the wilderness. You see this lack of restraint? There's no. It's not possible to restrain him.
[00:11:47] Now, let me just make. Going back to Matthew. Now, let me just make a couple of things perfectly clear, okay?
[00:11:54] What we have here is not. This is not something we would commonly see today, right, in our world. I did not say it is not a common occurrence. I said it is not something we commonly see like this. This is devil possession. Okay? Now let me make a. Let me make a comparison. All right? So you have. What you have here, these demonic, devilish Beings, right? Those under the direct power of Satan who have taken control of a man. In other words, he has ceased to be himself. He is now. His personality is that of the devils. Everybody follow me on that. Now there's another instance where this kind of possession happens, and that is of the Spirit of God. But it's manifested totally differently. Because the Spirit of God, when he dwells within us like this and he influences us, he does not do that apart from our will. He doesn't overtake who we are.
[00:12:54] He makes who we are. More like Christ, right? And his influence is brought to bear. But the devil, that's not the way the devil does it in this particular case. But I want to caution you though, that just because we don't see this particular kind of like manifestation of satanic oppression, which is actual demonic possession, we should not think that the devil is not actually our enemy. The enemy of our soul is not actually and really and literally at work in us and in this world, because he absolutely is.
[00:13:32] But there are many places in the world where this actual kind of thing happens, especially where paganism and paganistic doctrines, pagan doctrines start to take hold.
[00:13:45] Because here's something I want to show you from the Bible. If you'll look at Deuteronomy 32 and Revelation 9. I want to show you this because this is important to understand Deuteronomy 32 and Revelation 9.
[00:14:00] We're going to look at a number of verses today because I want you to see these things for yourself.
[00:14:08] Deuteronomy 32 and Revelation 9.
[00:14:16] Deuteronomy 32, verse number 17. The Lord speaking to Israel of the those that committed idolatry. Verse 16 says, they provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations. Provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God, to gods. Notice it uses gods and devils, parallel, equates them, you see that to gods whom they knew not. To new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. All right, go to Revelation, if you would. Chapter 9, verse number 20.
[00:15:06] Revelation 9:20 says this.
[00:15:10] And the rest of the men, this is during the tribulation. Now, the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands.
[00:15:22] Now, 9, 20, the verse we're reading right now is future right to us it's referring to the tribulation.
[00:15:29] And this is speaking of the inhabitants of the earth who are being judged by God.
[00:15:35] I want to tell you something.
[00:15:38] This applies to our world perfectly. You know, we get this idea that everybody in the world is like our. Like us here in South Carolina. And that is not true. Idolatry is everywhere. Everywhere, everywhere.
[00:15:56] He says this. Were not killed by those plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and of wood which neither can see, nor hear nor walk. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries. That's witchcraft. Nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. Now, I just want to remind you, even though you're an American and you live here, what, you know, missionaries. We have missionaries come and they talk about these kinds of things. This is all real in a lot of parts of the world. And there's idolatry. It might be Buddhism.
[00:16:35] It might be different forms of idolatry that is. That are absolutely practiced in Catholicism. It might be idolatry that's practiced in other religions, Hinduism and such. Listening. Billions of people worship using idols, right? You know, Eastern Orthodox, Russian Orthodox iconography. You know what? If you guys know what I'm talking about, pictures and images, that is nothing but idolatrous. Here's what the Lord says. That is actually satanic. That's what he's saying. To worship those things is to worship the devil.
[00:17:12] You know, in Cambodia, one thing.
[00:17:15] I'm trying to show you something here because. But hang with me. In Cambodia, that was one thing that was kind of difficult to nail down, because in Cambodia, they have different spirits. They were.
[00:17:28] There were, like, neighborhood spirits over a certain, like, area who would dwell in a. Just like you read in the Bible, exactly like you read in the Scripture, there was a God that would kind of be the God over a certain village, over a certain area, like the God of the mountains or the God of the plains, like we've read in the Bible. They had those. And then they had. Of course, they had Buddha, which is the statue inside the temple. And then they would also have ancestors, which was primarily from Chinese influence coming into Cambodia. And so they had those three different categories of spirits.
[00:18:06] And the ancestor worship was really the difficult one, because that's Granny, you know, that's Pappy.
[00:18:16] And it's difficult to describe because they really believed that they were giving honor and worship and burning incense to an actual ancestor. And one thing we. One thing over time, as I started to learn how to deal with it a little bit, is I knew the scripture says it's a devil because you say, well, I mean, they're just doing that. No, no, no, no. There is a Power there, it's not just something they're doing, there is an actual power at work. Just like with this man. When you see people practicing witchcraft and practicing idolatry and people doing things that human beings shouldn't be able to do and those kinds of things. And, and you know, I didn't have personal experience with, you know, confronting a person possessed of a devil, but I had missionary friends who did. And it was exactly as described here.
[00:19:05] And here's the thing, when dealing with the ancestors, it got kind of difficult. So what I would explain is knowing that they were actually devils, I would just describe it and it perfectly fit with the scripture after I reflected on it, is the devils would put on a mask and the mask would be granny, the mask would be pappy, it would be the ancestor, and they would put it on and they're getting the worship, they're getting the honor. That's not really that person's, you know, they're perished, they're gone, right, They've died.
[00:19:38] But the worship is going toward this devil, which is of course, that's the key, man. That's what they want, right?
[00:19:47] Here's the thing, the devil works in such a way that you can't always tell it's him.
[00:19:54] He hides himself even here. The only difference is here they immediately recognize the Lord Jesus and he immediately recognizes them. There's no hiding there. But in the way this is practiced in the world, it's exactly like that. It's hidden. Now they know, everybody knows there's a power at work, but it's hidden. But even just leave this particular instance aside, just think about more broadly the more familiar ways we see the devil work in our world. He is always trying to hide his identity. He's always trying to slip in unnoticed, like a spy and do his work without anybody knowing it's actually Satan, it's actually the devil, this is how he works. So here's why I'm telling you that although we might not see this kind of thing around us all the time, commonly, although it is on the increase, because paganism and eastern religion are on the rise and those things are demonic in nature, idol worship and spirit worship, things like that, they are demonic in nature. So with that comes this thing that we read in Matthew 8 on the increase as well. People directly and personally controlled and possessed by Satan, by demonic beings, alright?
[00:21:18] But what we more commonly run into is other works of Satan. Now that's what I want you to see, because he does the same thing for this guy. Completely controlled by the devil. Or in the case of the pigs, it was self destruction, it was self mutilation, it was an aversion for Christ. Right? It was nakedness, you say. Well, you don't make a big deal.
[00:21:45] Look, just say it. Look, the man who was controlled by the devil took all his clothes off. I mean, that's a fact, is it not?
[00:21:56] He dwelt in the tombs, the obsession with death, all of these things are, are part and parcel of satanic influence. But here's the thing. Even though we don't see this, Satan absolutely is at work here in our world where we live, around us.
[00:22:18] In fact, I would say this, that if you follow kind of the history of scripture, here's what you'll find. Wherever the, you'll find the gospel comes into a place, like especially in the book of Acts, you'll find two things. You'll find Paul and Barnabas and the ministers of the gospel confronting people actually possessed with devils like this.
[00:22:39] And you'll also see persecution, persecution. In fact, if you look at Revelation 2:10 tells us that the devil is the one responsible for persecution. The devil shall cast some of you into prison. The devil is the one responsible for persecution. So when the gospel, the gospel comes into a place, the ministers of the gospel are often confronted with those two things. Persecution and this kind of overt oppression of the devil. But as the gospel takes root, his tactics change, his tactics change. You don't have to look any further than the New Testament to see it.
[00:23:15] He switches from an overt oppression and outward obvious oppression and combat, if you will, to a clandestine kind of insurgency in which he infiltrates. I'm going to prove it in just a minute, okay. In which he infiltrates the church, he infiltrates the people of God. I'm talking about the devil himself, okay?
[00:23:41] I'm not just talking about bad people. I'm talking about Satan.
[00:23:45] Devils infiltrates the church, infiltrates the people of God, and infiltrates the doctrines of scripture. Rather than fighting it from without beginning of the book of Acts, he seeks to destroy it from within by sowing tares among the wheat. Matthew 13, in fact, Matthew 13 about the wheat and the tares. It actually says Jesus says he interprets the tares as the children. What does it say of the wicked one? That is a reference to Satan. Right? So they're not just bad people who have bad intentions. No, no. These are people who are put there by the devil among the wheat.
[00:24:25] So let's. I'm going to do a very brief overview. We won't look at all These verses. I will give you the verses if you're writing them down. What does the Bible describe as satanic activity?
[00:24:37] It's. You go from Genesis to Revelation. You see the devil doing certain things. This is a very quick Bible college course on demonology. Okay, here it is.
[00:24:48] Number one. Deception.
[00:24:50] The Garden of Eden. Deception. The temptation of Christ. Deception. Revelation 20, verse 10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire. Number two, the devil's involved in false religion.
[00:25:06] Revelation 3. 9 refers to the synagogue.
[00:25:10] Satan.
[00:25:12] Right. Religious word, synagogue of Satan. First Timothy 4:1 describes doctrines of devils. That is false teaching put there by the devil. Right. False religion. Well, they just, you know, they just have it. They're just. They're confused, actually. They're under the influence of Satan, who is corrupted. The truth of Scripture. All right, number three.
[00:25:41] Temptation to get people to sin. We'll look at this verse in a little bit.
[00:25:46] Number four.
[00:25:48] He infiltrates among the saints and servants of God.
[00:25:52] John 6:70. What did Jesus say? Looking at His 12 disciples, he says, one of you is a bad man. No, no, no, no, no. One of you is a what?
[00:26:04] A devil.
[00:26:06] This is what the devil does.
[00:26:10] I do want you to turn to 2nd Corinthians 2.
[00:26:13] I want to look at this one. 2 Corinthians 2, verse 10.
[00:26:36] Now, as we go through these three verses, I want to show you, I want you to note in your mind what the devil is doing. Okay? There's going to be a common thread between them. 2nd Corinthians 10. Notice what it says. To whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also.
[00:26:55] For if I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it for your sakes, forgave I it in the person of Christ. So what is he talking about? He's talking about forgiveness. Right.
[00:27:06] Lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.
[00:27:14] See that in the context of what? Forgiveness. Look at ephesians chapter number four, verse 25.
[00:27:36] Again, please note where you see the devil in the context here.
[00:27:40] Ephesians 4. 25. Wherefore putting away lying.
[00:27:44] Speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Verse 26. Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. What does that mean? That just simply means if you're angry and the sun goes down. That's all it means, you're angry. And while you're angry, the sun sets on it.
[00:28:09] Now, are you angry at God? What anger is this referring to? This is referring to the anger you might have. Toward another. Toward a person.
[00:28:17] Okay, so you're angry at someone else.
[00:28:21] I'm angry at someone else.
[00:28:24] The sun goes down, I'm still angry. Sun comes up, I'm angry. It goes down, I'm angry.
[00:28:31] Look at the next verse.
[00:28:34] What does it say?
[00:28:37] Neither Give place to the devil.
[00:28:40] Why does he say that? Neither. That word connects with the previous verse, right? Why?
[00:28:46] Something about that anger.
[00:28:48] Right.
[00:28:51] One more look at James 3.
[00:28:58] James, chapter 3, verse 13.
[00:29:15] Please notice again where the devil appears and in what context.
[00:29:20] James 3:13. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you. Let him show out of a good conversation with his works with meekness of wisdom.
[00:29:31] But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. See that?
[00:29:52] Notice the combination of the three enemies of the soul, the world, earthly, the flesh, sensual, the devil. Combine. Notice how he's using them.
[00:30:04] Right. To exert his influence.
[00:30:09] Here's what I want you to see. What is the devil doing?
[00:30:12] Where can you see his work?
[00:30:17] Those things I mentioned. I have a few more.
[00:30:20] One of the big ones is in resentment and anger. Unresolved anger and bitterness and lack of forgiveness. Make no mistake, if any of us have bitterness, resentment and unresolved anger in which we refuse to forgive a person who has wronged us, we are under the influence of Satan. He will exploit that vulnerability to do his work of destruction.
[00:30:54] He will do it.
[00:30:57] You are running. I am running a huge risk of being destroyed, of being devoured. It is. Listen again. You saw the verses. Second Corinthians, Ephesians, James. You saw the verses. Unforgiveness, anger and resentment and bitterness are the tools Satan himself uses to undo us.
[00:31:22] You want to know where he's at work.
[00:31:26] We don't have to go out and look for somebody who might be on drugs and isn't wearing clothes and dwelling in the graveyard somewhere. You don't have to look any further than this right here to see where the devil is working. But here's the thing. He's maybe using a different strategy, but his goal is the same as what you read in Matthew 8.
[00:31:48] Destruction of you, both physically and spiritually. First spiritually and also physically. Destruction of your family, destruction of this church, the destruction of your personal walk with God to devour you.
[00:32:03] So we talk about, oh, that's satanic. We might think of Ouija boards and spell. Whoa. That is not. That is not the whole of it at all.
[00:32:14] That is not the whole of it at all. We must not be ignorant of what he is doing.
[00:32:23] We must not be ignorant.
[00:32:27] He's not going to show his face. It's always going to be. And in this case, with bitterness, anger, resentment. Here's what it is. Somebody else's fault. It's some guy who did me wrong. That's not the problem. The problem is the devil is going to destroy you and me, if he can, with those things he is.
[00:32:49] He might even use a legitimate complaint or grief to do it.
[00:32:55] Can Satan work so and take a legitimate wrong, for which you have a legitimate complaint, and beat you to death with it? Oh, yes. Absolutely.
[00:33:10] Not only that.
[00:33:12] The devil has the power of death. Hebrews 2:14.
[00:33:16] The devil devours the saints by means of temptation. First Peter 5:8. The devil persecutes God's people. Revelation 2:10. The devil works miracles to deceive. Revelation 16, verse 14, among others. And the devil opposes the work and the will of God. Matthew 16:23.
[00:33:35] When Peter said, this shall not be unto thee. And he said, get thee behind me, Satan. Speaking of the cross. Right to this day, the enemy of your soul and mine continues his work of blinding the minds. Second Corinthians 4, 4.
[00:33:55] And of controlling what people think and people's response to the gospel. All of that. Take a look at Ephesians 2, if you would.
[00:34:16] Ephesians 2, verse number 2.
[00:34:31] Notice verse 1 says, and you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. What is verse two referring to? He's describing the course of the world. He's describing those that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, and us before we knew the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, we were controlled. He directed our course. That's what this world is doing. It's marching to the tune of a Satanic drum.
[00:35:09] You know what the devil is doing? He's using a tune that resonates with this world's values. And he's using a tune. He's beating a tune that resonates with our own carnal desires.
[00:35:26] Earthly, sensual, devilish. That's why people just flock after it, because it feels good, it sounds good. And the whole time behind it, he is in total control.
[00:35:41] We cannot be ignorant. We have to recognize his work and his attempts to influence us even as the people of God, because he's Got his target on us. He wants to take souls that do not know Christ to hell in whatever way he can. And he wants to destroy and devour you so that you make no difference to anyone around you and do not glorify the one he hates the most.
[00:36:06] Do not think that because you don't see people running around naked screaming things out, that Satan is not at work. He is. But I have good news.
[00:36:18] Whether the devil is at work through direct possession, like we see here, or whether he's at work in a more subtle way, like we more commonly see in our day, the power of Christ is present and able to subdue his influence. In both cases.
[00:36:39] Think of the power of Christ in Matthew, chapter eight, which is where we're going to go back to. Think of the power of Christ. Think of the power of Christ. It wasn't one devil, it was thousands. In Matthew and Luke or Mark and Luke, it describes legions, six to 8,000 soldiers in a legion, a Roman legion.
[00:36:58] Think about that. Six to eight thousand.
[00:37:03] And the Lord said, go, go. Now you think if they're 6 to 8,000, maybe they could team up and they would be stronger. Maybe they would have more power if just due to their number, like in an army as an example.
[00:37:24] Go at that word. They had no choice.
[00:37:31] Think of human beings. You know, compare us. Lord tells us what to do, we just ignore them. He tells what to do, we ignore him. Tell us what to do, we ignore him, Right?
[00:37:41] The Lord says to the devil, to a group of 6,000, one word.
[00:37:48] And they have no power to resist. They must do it.
[00:37:54] They must do it.
[00:38:00] This is the power of the Lord Jesus Christ over the devil. Even the prince of devils. Matthew 9:34. He had no power whatsoever in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:38:12] I guess that means they're not brothers.
[00:38:15] Some of you will get that in a minute.
[00:38:22] And in the same way that Jesus commanded the devils to depart this man, so the power of Christ overcomes Satan's work as it appears in our world today in whatever form it might take.
[00:38:38] I want you to look at two verses. I just want to share this. This is just an interesting truth. Hebrews 2 and 1st John 3. If you look at those, Hebrews 2 and 1 John 3, Hebrews 2.
[00:38:56] In 1 John 3 we're going to, just for a second, do a little bit of a deep dive here.
[00:39:03] Hebrews 2, 1 John 3, Hebrews 2:14.
[00:39:16] Hebrews 2:14 says this. Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part part of the same. Now notice the words. That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death. That is the devil. Now notice he says the devil, number one, had the power of death. Past tense. Okay? The devil had the power of death.
[00:39:43] So the devil controlled that. He was able to use it in a way to accomplish his will. Right, People. And it goes on to say how they're afraid to die, who through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage to the devil. Right? So there was this fear of death, and the devil used it. And it says that Jesus destroyed him that had the power of death. But how did he destroy him? How? What's the answer? In verse 14, what's the answer? How did our Lord destroy the devil who had the power of death through death.
[00:40:20] In other words, the Lord. The cross of Christ was the means whereby Jesus destroyed the devil. Which is interesting. Look at First John 3.
[00:40:33] First John 3, verse number.
[00:40:38] Verse number 8.
[00:40:46] This is a startling verse.
[00:40:49] Again, we think of the devil as Ouija boards and spells and human sacrifice. Hold on, hold on, hold on.
[00:40:55] First John 3, 8. He that committeth sin is of the devil.
[00:41:02] You see that. Is that not a startling verse?
[00:41:06] For the devil sinneth from the beginning for this purpose. Because of sin, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. So that tells us several things. Number one, the devil's. One of his primary desires in you is to make you sin.
[00:41:29] That's what he's trying to do with people who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as well. He's trying to make them sin. Because with sin, death follows close behind.
[00:41:38] That's how he uses death. He gets them to sin, which leads to death. That's how he. He has the power of death. In that way. He dangles temptation in front of people. It leads to death. And so that's how he does it. So what did Jesus do? Jesus came into the world to take sin away, to remove the sting that causes death. And he did. He forgave it.
[00:42:05] And he overcame it when he rose from the dead.
[00:42:09] You know what?
[00:42:11] Because our sin has been forgiven, we, you and I, can face physical death with absolute assurance that there is no sin on our account because of a. A Savior who was nailed to a cross in our place. It's all about the cross, you see? That's how he destroyed it.
[00:42:33] O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Why does he say that?
[00:42:39] The sting, the strength of sin, is the law. The sting of Sin is law. And the strength of sin is. I'm misquoting. You know what I'm talking.
[00:42:53] By the cross, the Lord destroyed the power of the devil over us by destroying sin and its effect.
[00:43:08] I'll just say this very quickly because I'm at my time now. But notice In Matthew, chapter 8, the testimony of the devil, he says this. The devil say, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? Remember, in the miracles. If you go back to the miracles that are in this chapter, we have the centurion's servant is healed.
[00:43:34] Jesus calms the sea. And now we have Jesus demonstrates his power over the devils. So in the first, Jesus shows his power over sickness, even though he's not even present, right? In the second, we see that Jesus has power over nature because he calmed the sea. And in the third, in this same chapter, we see Jesus demonstrates his power over the devil, over Satan.
[00:44:00] And the whole reason we have those three miracles. And in all three cases, remember what did the centurion, what was the key there? He says, I'm a man under authority. And I say, do this. And he does it. And I say, come here. And he comes, you are the Lord of all. And what you say is what happens. In other words, you are Lord of all. A question of who Jesus is, his identity. You get the storm. You go to the Sea of Galilee with the storm. What's happening?
[00:44:33] Jesus calms the storm. And what do the people say in response? They say, what kind of man is this, that even the storm obeys him? That's what they said in Luke 4.
[00:44:45] Again, who is Jesus? And here we are with the third one. The third one is Jesus commands the devils out of the man. Everybody sees it and they say. They say this.
[00:44:59] And they were all amazed and spake among themselves, what a word is this. For with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits. And they came out.
[00:45:10] So it's all about this, who Jesus is. And even the devils themselves give testimony to that fact. Who Jesus is, that's the question. Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus?
[00:45:22] What is his identity, in fact?
[00:45:29] But notice the devils are very orthodox their belief.
[00:45:34] Because James tells us that thou believest that there is one God. Thou doest. Well, the devils also believe and tremble. See that the devils are always orthodox. They always believe the Bible. They know what it says is true. They know. They know. So being orthodox and believing the right thing is not in and of itself an indication that someone is actually saved. For the devils are not definitely not saved. They know who Jesus is.
[00:46:00] But I'll ask you something. Knowing these demonstrations of Christ's power, and in each case seeing the power he has over different things, over illness, over the human body, over nature, over Satan.
[00:46:16] I want to ask you a question. In what instance or in what circumstance could there be that is outside of his power?
[00:46:26] What possible thing could happen to us that would cause us to despair of helping Him?
[00:46:34] In other words, he is our. In every case, no matter what it is or how big it is or what it involves, our default should be to turn to him because he has demonstrated his power over every.
[00:46:46] Every immense circumstance that could possibly be. He should be the Jesus Christ should be the one to whom we turn in every thing. What. What circumstances there be over which he does not have power.
[00:47:07] The last thing I want you to see is the saddest part of which is in verse number 34.
[00:47:13] And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.
[00:47:22] Luke chapter eight tells us that the reason they wanted him to leave is because they were afraid.
[00:47:28] I don't know what they were afraid of, but they were afraid.
[00:47:34] I just want to make this point and we're done.
[00:47:38] In the secret of the heart, people often do not like the effect of the power of Christ and the gospel, even though those effects are good.
[00:47:50] In the secret of people's hearts, often what they want is they want the status quo.
[00:47:55] Think about us.
[00:48:00] I think this is true of churches too.
[00:48:05] You know, we talk about revival, God stirring us up.
[00:48:10] I think probably one of the reasons that we don't see more of that is because we don't want it.
[00:48:19] Think about would mess up what we like too much.
[00:48:25] So we prefer not to have it. We give lip service to it, but we prefer not to have it.
[00:48:32] Ultimately, I know it's not up to us, but just think about the desire.
[00:48:36] Do you want God to mess up your life? Do you want God to overturn your life for good? They didn't.
[00:48:44] In fact, when he did and he started to, they're like, mm, mm.
[00:48:48] You know, that happens in churches, does it not?
[00:48:51] The Lord starts working in one place. What does somebody do?
[00:48:55] Throw a wet blanket on as fast as possible, lest we disturb the status quo.
[00:49:01] That's not the right response.
[00:49:04] The right response is, lord, do whatever.
[00:49:08] Do whatever in my life.
[00:49:11] I cannot stay as I am.
[00:49:16] I must not stay as I am.
[00:49:21] Stir it up, turn it upside down. Do something right. Do something in me. Do something in our church, even as we go toward our mission conference. That's kind of like what I'm praying, Lord, stir us up.
[00:49:33] I'm making a brochure for our mission conference to kind of introduce the missionaries to everybody. I'm going to, hopefully next week, give it out to everybody. So you know who's coming. You can learn about them and pray for them and think about them and stuff like that. But the front of it says, send me.
[00:49:50] You know what send me will do? It'll mess up your life, right?
[00:49:59] But most people want just the status quo. They want to retain what keeps them comfortable, even if that thing is evil. In other words, they love evil more than they do good, which is what Jesus did. He did good.
[00:50:12] One author I read said this. He said there's only two miracles that Jesus performed that were destructive.
[00:50:21] One is this one, the destruction of the pigs. And the other one was the cursing of the fig tree.
[00:50:35] You know what Jesus did where he wasn't welcome and his power wasn't desired?
[00:50:41] He left.
[00:50:43] That's sad, ain't it?
[00:50:46] That's sad. Do you think the Lord wants us just to be in the status quo? Do you think he wants satanic power over us and he thinks he wants us to settle down in these kind of spiritual melees? Do you think he wants that? No, no. He wants to stir us up.
[00:51:04] He wants us to be zealous. He wants us to be on fire and earnest in serving him and. But, you know, that's uncomfortable, is it not? It is.
[00:51:16] May God give us a heart that really does want the Lord to stir us, to stir us up.
[00:51:25] Let's pray.
