Mark Chapter 1. The title that stood out to me in reading this is this, DEVIL KNOWLEDGE VERSUS SAVING KNOWLEDGE. The devil said, that unclean spirit, which is the devil, said, I know you. I know exactly who you are and yet you're not saved. They know all about God. That unclean spirit in this verse has been around at that time 4,000 years and he's still around. He's been around a long time.

DEVIL KNOWLEDGE VERSUS SAVING KNOWLEDGE. I WANT SAVING KNOWLEDGE. I don't want a knowledge of FACTS. I don't want to know about someone just as a casual meeting, not the Lord. I want to know Him intimately by experience. There is a DIFFERENCE between INTELLECTUAL KNOWLEDGE, KNOWLEDGE GOTTEN BY STUDY, and revealed knowledge, knowledge gotten by revelation. The knowledge that we have as God's children, He's given to us by revelation. He has opened His Word up to us. This book is a closed book until He opens it, until He reveals Himself in His Word. We won't know any more than just facts. That's all there'll be to us.

Paul called this kind of knowledge, excellent knowledge. This is excellent knowledge. He said in Philippians 3.8, Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. whom I've suffered the loss of all things." He said, I count all things but loss for this knowledge. In comparison to this excellent knowledge, everything just pales in comparison to this knowledge of Christ, this KNOWING Christ.

Now in verse 21, And they went into Capernaum, straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught our lord our lord never goes to learn he goes to teach he's the teacher he's the preacher he controls the service he's not controlled by the service he controls the service Now the Lord and His disciples, they go together to Capernaum. And when I read that, the scripture in Matthew 11, 23 and 24 came to my mind. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and the day of judgment than for thee.

They saw a lot of miracles. We'll see it, we'll see this as we get to the end of this chapter. He cast out many devils, He healed many diseases, but evidently not many believed. Not many believed. But now listen here, our Lord it says here, they went straight way straight way on purpose on purpose to the meeting they went there for the purpose of attending the synagogue where the word of god was read every sabbath the word of god would be read they might be reading isaiah they read isaiah 53 not know what they're talking about but the lord did Remember he picked the book up and he read in Isaiah, I believe it was 61, he said, THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME. HE IS ANOINTING ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL.

And then he closed the book after he said those words and said, THIS DAY IS THIS SCRIPTURE FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING, IN YOUR EARS. But our Lord went there, they went straight away to where the Word of God was read. And our Lord often taught in the synagogues, it said in Luke 4, 16. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. Wouldn't you have liked to have heard Him read? It wouldn't be like hearing me read. No, this is God reading. This is God reading His Word. This is God speaking His Word. All right, but listen here.

Our Lord put great emphasis on public worship. Forsake not the assembling of thyself together. Every Sabbath He would go to the synagogue if at all possible and He would be the one to do the reading. and he put great emphasis on public worship as his custom was. Let it be said of us that it is our custom to be at the worship service every time we absolutely possibly can.

We are here, you are here, we're here to worship the Lord, to hear His Word read one more time, THE READING OF SCRIPTURES AND PRAYER WAS FIRST AND FOREMOST IN THE SYNAGOGUE? HERE'S WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. THE READINGS WERE DONE BY QUALIFIED MEN FROM THE JEWISH COMMUNITY UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF THE RULER OF THE SYNAGOGUE. AND WHEN OUR LORD, EVERY TIME HE WOULD GO, HE WOULD BE THE ONE DOING THE READING, EVERY TIME. AND NO DOUBT, NO DOUBT WHEN THEY READ, They would quote some elders after reading a passage of scripture, they would say so-and-so, elder so-and-so made this comment. Just like I say John Gill said this, or I say Henry said this.

They would do that. Our Lord never did that. He never did that. They were ASTONISHED verse 22, at His doctrine for He taught them as one that had authority and not as the scribes. See those scribes would just read it and try to give some kind of interpretation of it. Our Lord did not give anyone else's interpretation of the scriptures.

There He is. Listen to Matthew 5, 27, 28. He says this to those Pharisees, You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you, He didn't say, Thus saith the Lord, because He is the Lord. That really jumped out at me today. YOU HAVE HEARD THIS SAID, BUT I SAY TO YOU THAT WHOSOEVER LOOKS ON A WOMAN TO LUST AFTER HER HATH COMMITTED ADULTERY WITH HER ALREADY IN HIS HEART." He never said, Thus saith the Lord.

He said, I say. I say to you, this is what it means. This is what it means when I wrote it, had it written. Christ gives the correct interpretation for this is His Word. It's His Word. This book is His Word. I say, I say, thus saith the Lord. He never says that. He just says, I say. It's My Word. We ask Him to reveal His Word to us because it's His Word.

Christ spoke with authority. HE IS THE SOVEREIGN! he speaks when his word is read and when he speaks it comes it goes with authority he said my word will not return unto me void it'll accomplish the purpose whereunto i sin it his word tonight will accomplish exactly in every one of us for the purpose he sent it this night some of you will say you'll get something out of this and some will be something out of that and it'll be different things but you'll get something His Word will accomplish what He sends it to do.

And this is one of the ways I believe you know God's preacher. I have heard some preaching that was really no different than a scribe standing in a pulpit. And I've heard some preaching with POWER. I mean POWER. YOU KNEW GOD WAS SPEAKING. YOU KNEW THAT MAN WASN'T JUST THE ONE SPEAKING, THAT GOD WAS SPEAKING THROUGH THAT MAN. YOU KNEW IT BECAUSE HIS POWER WENT WITH IT. And I tell you this, this is one of the ways you know God's preacher. He speaks with AUTHORITY. He does NOT speak apologetically. He does NOT speak like a scribe. He speaks with AUTHORITY.

Because that's God's Word and He backs His Word up. Now, there's a man possessed with an unclean spirit or a devil. In verse 23, There was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out. As I have often said, Satan does his greatest WORK OF EVIL IN RELIGION. That's where he does it. And here we have a demon-possessed man in the midst of this religious gathering. And this is not the first time he's been there. I'm sure this was a place he frequented. And I doubt that anyone there knew he was possessed. I don't think he came in with red eyes and carrying on, he came in shaking hands and knew everybody.

There are a lot of unclean spirits in religious gatherings. In false religion, EVERYONE there has an unclean spirit. If it s false religion, everyone there has an unclean spirit. They believe a false gospel, You can be sure there's an unclean spirit in that or there's a false gospel preached.

But here's a question I asked myself in a study. Are we before regeneration any better? Are we any better? Isaiah 64 6, but we are all as an unclean thing. and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. But we are all as an unclean thing." Here's an unclean spirit in an unclean man, in an unclean thing. There's just nothing clean about this. And a person who's unregenerate, it's unclean, isn't it? Isn't that person? He's unclean. He or she is just unclean. None good. No good. No good.

And after Christ spoke, the devil could not keep quiet. He could not keep quiet. He had to disturb the service. And he says, here's his saying, verse 24, let us alone leave us alone and we leave you alone just leave us alone leave us alone that's the one thing you don't want god to do is leave you alone and we're going to see we're going to see SAVING SOVEREIGN MERCY in this situation. As soon as light walked in, darkness was revealed and it cried out. There were many possessed in that region because He says here, LET US ALONE. He wasn't just talking about that crowd right there he's talking about all those devils in that region because our lord later cast out many devils there in capernaum he cast out many but he's saying just leave us alone leave us alone they didn't want to be dispossessed of their prey devils like this flesh THEY LIKE THIS FLESH LIKE MAGGOTS ON SOMETHING DEAD!

THEY LIKE IT LIKE A MAGGOT ON A ROGUE KEEL! THAT'S WHAT THEY LIKE! THEY LIKE THIS CORRUPT NATURE WE HAVE! IT GOES RIGHT ALONG WITH THEIRS! THEY DO! DEVILS FEEL RIGHT AT HOME IN DEPRAVED SINNERS! THEY HAVE A LOT IN COMMON! THEY ARE MORE WELCOME, AND I TELL YOU THIS, THEY ARE MORE WELCOME THAN CHRIST IS! Christ is not welcome in the home of a depraved sinner, and He is not welcome in the presence of devils at all. What have we to do with THEE? As a Savior, they had NOTHING to do with Him! They had NOTHING to do with Him!

They know they are DOOMED! They know that! They know, you know, how many times have I preached over the years to people who are who are lost? And I tell them, you know, so many times, you know, it's pointed to me and wants to die. And after this judgment, don't think a thing about it. But the devils know they're doomed. They know they're doomed and they acknowledge it. In another place, they said, have you come to torment us? Have you? Because THEY KNOW that ALL JUDGMENT IS GIVEN TO THE SON. HAVE YOU COME TO TORMENT US BEFORE THE TIME? And here, WHAT HAVE WE TO DO WITH THEE?

WE NEVER READ OF ANY DEVIL ASKING FOR MERCY. You know, I've said this to you several times lately, but Christ must SAVE A SINNER BEFORE THAT SINNER WILL ASK FOR MERCY. or you're not going to ask for mercy. You're not going to ask God to save you until He does. Until then, you're just fine being lost. You're just fine being in your sins, walking in your sins, walking in darkness, you're just fine until He opens your eyes, until He gives you life.

HERE'S AN ACT OF SOVEREIGN MERCY, GRACE. CHRIST SAVES THIS MAN DESPITE HIS UNWILLINGNESS TO BE SAVED AT FIRST. THIS IS WHY I SAID THE LORD HAS TO SAVE YOU BEFORE YOU'D EVER WANT TO BE SAVED BECAUSE THIS MAN DIDN'T WANT TO BE SAVED. HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE SAVED. IF YOU AND I WERE THERE WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO TELL WHO'S TALKING, THE DEVIL OR THE MAN. YOU WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DISTINGUISH WHO'S DOING THE TALKING. BOTH ARE. BOTH ARE IN AGREEMENT WITH EACH OTHER.

BUT THE LORD CAME TO SAVE SINNERS, NOT DEVILS. AND HERE'S A SINNER HE'S GOING TO SAVE. AND THIS SINNER DOESN'T WANT TO BE SAVED. THIS SINNER IS IN LEAGUE WITH THE DEVIL SAYING, GET OUT OF HERE! WE DON'T HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU! HE'S IN FULL AGREEMENT, HE'S IN FULL AGREEMENT WITH THAT UNCLEAN SPIRIT. GET OUT OF HERE! But the LORD is the Sovereign, not us. He's the Sovereign. And He says here, WHAT HAVE WE TO DO WITH THEE, THOU JESUS OF NAZARETH?

The devil knew where Christ was from. He knew where He was from. They watched Him closely. Christ had their full attention. He had their full attention. And the devil says, Jesus, he calls Him Jesus of Nazareth, supposing to discredit Him. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?

HERE HE IS TRYING TO DISCREDIT HIM. ART THOU COME TO DESTROY US? NOW I THINK THE PEOPLE, I MEAN THE MAJORITY OF THEM, THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT HE'S SAYING. THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT HE MEANS, COME TO DESTROY US. HE'S TALKING ABOUT THE DEVILS. YOU COME TO DESTROY US UNCLEAN SPIRITS, US DEVILS? THEY'RE PROBABLY LISTENING IN AND THINKING HE'S TALKING ABOUT THE PEOPLE THERE IN THE SYNAGOGUE. HE'S TALKING ABOUT US UNCLEAN SPIRITS, US DEVILS.

I KNOW THEE WHO THOU ART. I know who you are, the Holy One of God. That's who He is. The devil made it clear that he did know the Lord. The devils know exactly who Jesus Christ is. They know His POWER over all things. They know He's the Redeemer. They know He redeemed a people. They know he's the Messiah. They know that. They know that. I'll tell you what else they know.

James said it over in James 2.19.

They believe there's one God. James said, Thou believest that there's one God, thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. How many people do you know, and I know a lot of people, that believe there's one God? and they don't tremble, they don't give a second thought. But the devils know Him far better than men know Him, and women know Him that are lost. It says they tremble. This one is trembling.

Have you come to torment us, to destroy us, to damn us before the time? But what is the difference between devil knowledge and saving knowledge? What DEVIL KNOWLEDGE is DAMNING KNOWLEDGE. What he KNOWS is going to ADD to his CONDEMNATION. As the scripture says that the preaching of the gospel is a saver of life unto life to some and a saver of death unto death to some. It adds death to their death, judgment to their judgment. The more knowledge one has, and turns away from Christ the greater the judgment.

He said it to Capernaum. He said it's going to be better for those Sodomites in the day of judgment than it's going to be for you. You saw the miracles, he said. I walked among you. I preached the gospel to you and you've rejected me. He said if I had done that in Sodom and Gomorrah they would remain to this day. And here is an act of God's sovereignty. Why didn't He do it? He said, if I had done it, they would have remained.

But He didn't do it. First of all, that's an act of God's sovereignty. Secondly, He gives no account of any of His matters. That's none of our business. That's His business. Our Lord does as He will, when He will, with whom He will. And He makes no mistakes. And He's righteous, it says, in all His works, in all His judgment. So devil knowledge is damning knowledge. They know who Jesus Christ is, the Holy One of God, but they do not look to Christ for salvation. They don't look to Him for anything.

They do not love Christ with their hearts. They do not love Him. IT'S NOT HEART FAITH. THEY DON'T HAVE HEART FAITH. THE FAITH THEY HAVE, THE BELIEF THEY HAVE IS NOT OF THE HEART. It's not of the heart. Romans 10, 10, For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. A FAITH THAT DOES NOT EMBRACE CHRIST IS NOT SAVING FAITH. If it does not embrace Him, it's not saving faith. You know, people can be brought up on the gospel from a child, from a child and never believe the gospel. But they'll argue, they'll argue, they'll argue with somebody about election and particular redemption and yet never confess Christ at all. That's a scary situation. IT'S A FAITH THAT NEVER EMBRACES CHRIST SAVINGLY. INTELLECTIONALLY THEY KNOW CHRIST IS GOD, BUT AFFECTIONATELY THEY HATE HIM. THEY HATE HIM. THEY HAVE THE SAME ENMITY THAT IS IN THE MIND OF EVERY UNREGENERATE MAN AND WOMAN. Now, look at saving knowledge. SAVING KNOWLEDGE IS TO KNOW GOD AND JESUS CHRIST WHOM HE HAS SENT. NOW, THIS IS NOT TO KNOW GOD AND JESUS CHRIST WHOM HE HAS SENT IN THE SAME WAY THE DEVIL KNOWS. It's in John 17 3.

It is knowing God in Christ as our Reconciler, as our Substitute, as our Redeemer, and we embrace Him as such. We embrace Him. We love Him. We love Him. It's to receive Christ by faith as He's revealed in the Scriptures. As it says in John 1 12, As many as received Him, to them gave He the power or the right to become the sons of God. TO THOSE WHO RECEIVE HIM BY FAITH. LORD I BELIEVE, HELP MY UNBELIEF. To receive Christ is to believe on Christ, it's to embrace Him. It's to embrace Him in your affections.

Peter said, LORD YOU KNOW ALL THINGS, YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU. No devil ever said that and never will say that. THEY HATE HIM, THEY HATE HIM WITH A PURE HATRED. THEY HATE HIM. THEY ARE NOT EVEN CAPABLE OF LOVE. THEY ARE NOT EVEN CAPABLE OF LOVE. AND JESUS REBUKED HIM, SAYING, HOLD THY PEACE AND COME OUT OF HIM. THE LORD REBUKED HIM. NOW, THE LORD SAID, BASICALLY, HERE'S WHAT THE LORD SAID, SHUT UP! That's what he said. People don't think he's very polite, but that's what he said. That's what he said. He said, SHUT UP! And come out of him. He didn't argue with him. He didn't compromise. He just said, SHUT UP and come out.

You see, when the strong man of the house takes over, the weaker one must go. And this is what's happening. We're watching it here in the Scriptures. THE STRONGER MAN IS CHRIST, THE STRONG MAN IS SATAN, BUT HE'S COMING INTO THE HOUSE, AND HE'S TAKING THE HOUSE OVER, AND HE'S GONNA BIND THE STRONG MAN, AND HE'S GONNA SPOIL HIS GOODS. THAT'S WHAT IT SAYS. LET ME READ IT TO YOU. IN MARK 3 27, NO MAN CAN ENTER INTO A STRONG MAN'S HOUSE AND SPOIL HIS GOODS.

THAT'S WHAT THE LORD IS DOING. HE'S SPOILING HIS GOODS. HE'S TAKING THE MAN. Satan counted this man as his goods, his prey. And no man can enter to a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man. You know how the Lord binds him? With His Word. That's how He bound him.

I'll show you that here in another one. first anyway bind the strong man and then he will spoil his house you see christ is this stronger man and he binds satan and he kicks him out and when jesus saw that the people came running together there mark 9 25 he rebuked rebuked the foul spirit saying to him thou dumb and deaf spirit i charge thee come out of him and enter into him no more he's mine And I bet he did not enter into him anymore. The Lord said, he's mine. You're gone. This is my house. This is my house.

But the devil, listen, the devil never gives up his prey willingly. And when the unclean spirit had torn him and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. Now over in Luke 4.35 it says this same situation says He heard him not. He didn't tear his limbs or cut him. No, the Lord didn't let that happen. But what He did do is He's come out screaming. Screaming in disgust. In disgust and hatred of Christ the devil came out in rebellion but He came out.

It's like, you know, when I was a kid growing up, there's things I was told to do. I did it. I did it in rebellion. I did it in rebellion. I didn't want to do it, but I did it because my dad said to. And consequences were worse. And Christ says, you come out and he comes out in rebellion. Don't you see that same spirit in unbelievers? You see it in children. They'll do it, but they're just rebellious. Just rebellious. That's the same SPIRIT right here. Here's the same SPIRIT. He cried out in REBELLION. Our Lord said this in Matthew 12, verse 34. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." That rebellion comes right out of the heart against God. That's that natural enmity we naturally have before regeneration. We have this natural enmity and it just comes out. We despise authority. We naturally despise authority.

You do 100 miles an hour, you get pulled over and they're going to give you a ticket and you get mad for getting the ticket. YOU DESERVED A TICKET! But it made you mad. It's that spirit, it's that satanic spirit, we're under that spirit of darkness that we are under until God saves us, and we're not under that no more.

And they were ALL AMAZED! I started to title this, I STAND AMAZED! But they were ALL AMAZED! WHAT THEY HAD HEARD BECAUSE HE PREACHED FIRST! OH THIS IS IMPORTANT! HE PREACHED FIRST! HE READ THE WORD OF GOD! AND THEY SAID NO MAN, YOU KNOW, HE SPEAKS WITH AUTHORITY AND POWER! HE PREACHES FIRST AND THEN HE HAS HIS CONFRONTATION WITH THE DEVIL!

THIS MAN HEARD HIM PREACH! they were all amazed in so much that they questioned among themselves saying what thing is this what new doctrine is this for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits there's plural unclean spirits and they do obey him You remember, I'm trying to think of scripture here before I go on, you remember when the, I think it's in the book of Acts, when they, some Pharisees, some Jewish, some Jewish men, I think they were Pharisees, they tried to do an exorcist, and they went in to try to catch this demon out, and that demon said, Paul I know, Jesus I know, but who are you? and it leaped on them and sent them out of there naked, beat them up. Sent them out of there naked. He said, Paul, I know they know every one of God's servants, every one of them.

And Jesus Christ, I know. But who in the world are you? You are nobody. Nobody. Oh, they said, what new doctrine is this? Well, THE GOSPEL IS NOT NEW. THE DOCTRINE IS NOT NEW. IT'S BEEN SINCE THE BEGINNING. IT'S NEW WHEN YOU HEAR IT FOR THE FIRST TIME. IT'S NEW WHEN YOU FIRST HEAR IT, YOU REALLY HEAR IT. IT'S NEW TO YOU. AND IT'S NEW TO YOU EVERY TIME YOU HEAR IT, ISN'T IT? stuff to me this is new every time i hear it every time i read the word of god it's like reading it for the first time when the lord is with me when the lord's with me i'm not always here sometimes we're just dead heads but i tell you what when the lord blesses when he's with you it's like reading it new for the first time but it's old it's old as eternity this goes way back there into eternity WHAT NEW DOCTRINE IS THIS?

For with authority commandeth He even the unclean spirits, and they do obey Him. This is my confidence when I preach, when I preach, and there's people that listen that do not believe the gospel, is that He will command life. He will command Satan to loose Him and let Him go. He'll command that. I can't command that, but He does. He's commanded it for some of you here.

There was a time that every person in here did not have an interest in the gospel. We did not have an interest in Jesus Christ in any way, shape, or form. And then we had an interest. Then we began to hear. That's the Lord commanding. His Word, His Power. And Satan has to let you go. HE HAS TO LET YOU GO. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN AMAZED WHEN YOU HEARD THE GOSPEL? PEOPLE LEAVE THIS WORLD BY THE THOUSANDS EVERY DAY AND PERISH. AND GOD SAVE ME. I STAND AMAZED. Do we have a song, I Stand Amazed? Did we sing that, I Stand Amazed in the Presence? I think we sang that, didn't we? Yeah, I already covered that. HERE WE SEE THE MESSAGE AND THE POWER OF CHRIST WORKING TOGETHER TO SAVE A SINNER. NOW WE KNOW WHY HE WENT STRAIGHT AWAY TO THE SYNAGOGUE THAT MORNING.

THERE'S A SINNER THERE. HE'S GOING TO MEET SATAN HEAD-ON. AND WE'RE GETTING, IT'S LIKE HE'S PULLING THE CURTAIN BACK FOR US. AND WE'RE GETTING TO SEE, WHEN HE SAVES A SINNER, WHAT TAKES PLACE. YOU'RE CUT LOOSE FROM THE POWER OF DARKNESS. You're cut loose from Satan's power and you're now under the power of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He's had to turn you loose. Our Lord has taken over the house.

And this is how we see the message and the power working together when the gospel comes in power. And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout the region round about Galilee. Good news travels fast among the sick. You let somebody be sick and they find the doctor that's got the right medicine, the right cure, and everybody else that they know that's sick, you need to go see him. You need to go see him. All right.