If you will, take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Mark. Mark chapter 1. Lord willing, we'll be looking
at verses 23 through 28. And I want us to look at the healing
of this demon-possessed man. And it says here that he was
found in the synagogue where he preached and actually it says
in their synagogue and I found that very interesting that he
didn't say it was in his synagogue but in their synagogue. Demon
possession was manifested in all sorts of ways in the scripture. I know we, I have experienced
in my lifetime one man in particular who had murdered my uncle and
one of his daughters and tried to murder two of the little kids.
They got him, put him in jail, and he was in there for sentencing.
And I'll never forget going back there to his cell. We would go
down to the jail and preach on Sunday afternoons. And I went
back to his cell, and I didn't know who he was at the time.
And I went back there, and there was pieces of the Bible where
he had ripped it and just threw it. And it was stuck to the walls
and the bars and everything. And he just had this wild animal
look on his face. And I'll never forget thinking
to myself, that man's demon possessed. But demon possession manifests
itself in all kinds of ways in the scripture. Legion lived in
the tombs. That's where he made his home
with the dead. And nobody could bind him, nobody
could tame him. You couldn't keep him from doing
what he wanted to do or going where he wanted to go. You couldn't
bind him in any way. Put chains on him and he'd tear
those chains asunder. Put a rope on him and he'd break
the ropes. And they'd hear him out there
from time to time in the tombs cutting himself with stone. That's
over in Mark chapter 5. It talks about that man. And
then there was another demon-possessed man who would rob men. He'd steal
from men and just take whatever it was that he wanted and he
cast himself into the fire and oft times into the sea trying
to destroy himself. And yet others, they foamed at
the mouth and had the palsy and all kinds of things that was
associated with demon possession. But what I want you to understand
is this, when we consider this verse of scripture this morning,
that all of these possessions were pictures of our spiritual
condition before God. We all live among the dead. We all rob God. All of these
things are pictures of our condition before God. And under the universal
influence of Satan, men walk a path of self-destruction. They
need help. They're not going to make it
on their own. They're going to self-destruct. They're not casting
themselves into the arms of the great position, but they're casting
themselves into the sea. They're casting themselves into
the arms of Satan. And all of not only demon possessions,
but diseased people that come to
Christ or was brought to Christ that Christ might, or that Christ
might come to are altogether a picture of man's condition
before God. It's not just the demon-possessed
man alone, but demon possession, just a part of it. He said, you
had the Quicken who were dead in trespasses and sins. where
in time past you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air. And the first thing I want you
to see is how odd this event was and how out of the norm that
it was. He says in verse 23, and there
was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. This
was a synagogue of the Jews. And in all reality, probably filled with self-righteous
Pharisees in the synagogue. Everybody in there thinking that
they were close to God, that they'd made their right decisions
and based on their blood relations or whatever the basis of their
hope was, their obedience to the law and so on, that they
were walking in union with God. And to speak of a man being possessed
by the devil was just out of place in that kind of a synagogue.
This was out of place. And it doesn't say that this
man wandered in. Nobody knew that Christ was going
to be there on this day. This is his first time entering
into one of their synagogues. And he just entered in. So evidently
this man had been attending there for a while. And here was a man in a building
set apart for public worship. And what I want you to see in
this is how the spirit of Antichrist is set forth or manifested, if
you will, in this world. Now when we talk about demon
possession, we'll talk about one just like that man I described
to you a while ago. But in fact, demon possession,
if you look at it in a general sense, He's talking about these
preachers out here. And he's talking about those
deceived people who sit under them and swallow their lies and
deceive. That's what he's talking about.
We're in in time past you, he said. You that are now quickened
in time past. You walked according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit who now worketh in the
children of disobedience. You did what they told you to
do and you thought it was right. Why'd you do that? Because he
possesses you, that's why. He possesses you through his
influence. And this demon-possessed man,
he was out of place there. And I want you to see these things.
This man was not in an insane asylum. He was in a church. If we're going to look for somebody
demon-possessed, first place we'd go down to the insane asylum. No, that's not where you're going
to find him. You're going to find him in a
local church. That's where you're going to find him. He was not found walking the
alleys or walking around in the dark. He was found in their synagogue,
in their congregation, perhaps even a member of that synagogue. How does Satan work when he possesses
a man? How does Satan work? You ever
think about it? Well, he works, 2 Thessalonians
2, 4, by opposing and exalting himself above all that's called
God or worshiped. He exalts himself. What's it
mean by that? Well, he exalts his will. You
think about how many times in the scripture God talks about
his will. His unchangeable will, His sovereign
will. And declarations as plain as
words can be about His will. None can stay His hand or say
unto Him, what doest thou? He does what He will. And He
does what He will in heaven, earth, and all deep places. And
nobody can question him, nobody can stop him, nobody can swerve
him. He does his will. But what does
man do? Man who's deceived exalts his
will above the will of God. And he's not even eternal, Luke.
He was just born a few years ago. God's eternal. And this man's saying that his
will is more important than God's will. His will is more sovereign
than God's will. His will is more glorious than
God's will, and it's his will that's gonna make the difference
and not God's. That's demon possession. And
that's what he talks about over here when he talked in 2 Thessalonians
2. It opposes and exalts that man
above all that's called God or that is worshiped so that he
is God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that
he is God. And then Satan sits, not relaxing. When he says Satan sits, he's
talking about he sits in dominion. He sits as a king sits on the
throne. Satan sits. And not sitting in
the sense that, of relaxing, but in the sense that he reigns
in men. He takes them captive, 2 Timothy
2, 26, at his will. At his will. And Satan works deceiving men
into believing they have a power over God. Does man have some
power over God? Does he have the power to change
God or change God's mind? Religion says he does. God done all he can do, it's
all up to you. Isn't that a power over God? And even of wisdom, believing
that they have power to interpret the word of God. Well, it don't really mean that,
it means this. Really. Human reasoning, human authority. Satan works in men by causing
them to oppose God. You ever notice that they're
not opposed to anything else, they're just opposed to God. They're opposed to his grace.
They're opposed to salvation in Christ. They're opposed by
a gospel that's in the scriptures alone. They're opposed to God.
Anything and everything about God, they're opposed to it. And Satan also works. We're talking
about how he works, how this demon possession works in a man.
Well, it works in a mysterious way. It's called the mystery
of iniquity. It's mysterious how he works
in men. Here's a man possessed by an
unclean spirit. And he wasn't in the brothel,
and he wasn't in the alley, he was in a synagogue. Don't you
find that mysterious? That Satan possessed man being
in a synagogue? Comfortable in a synagogue. Relaxed in the synagogue. The mystery of iniquity. Iniquity
works through religion. And this man with his unclean
spirit was found there. All these drunkards and whoremongers
and thieves and murderers shall find their place in the torments
of hell, but they're nearly insignificant compared to the vast majority
of religious men and women who don't know God. Religion is the great red dragon
whose sole purpose in the world is to devour the Christ, destroy
the Christ, and draw as many of God's stars away as possible. Christ said to the Pharisees,
you are of your father, the devil, and the lust of your father you
will do. You'll do what he tells you to
do. Now here in Mark chapter one,
verse 23, the man was possessed, it says, with an unclean spirit. In 2 Thessalonians 2.10, it says
that with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they
might be saved. All this deceivableness of Satan
is in unrighteousness. Well, what's that talking about?
Well, that's talking about his being deceived into believing
that he's righteous, but it's an unrighteousness. In the book
of Isaiah, he said we are all as an unclean thing. Now listen,
and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. That's the unclean
spirit. He gives, he leaves you in unrighteousness,
but he deceives you into believing that it's righteous. It's righteous. What could be more righteous
than keeping the 10 commandments? Huh? Don't that seem logical? You keep the law, God'll approve
of you, He'll love you, you're doing what He told you to do.
No, you can't keep the law. You dishonor the law. And therefore,
even you're trying to keep the law, when the law's not there
for that purpose, the law is for unrighteous men. You know
what Scripture said? For wicked men, robbers and thieves.
The law's not made for righteous men. Our righteousness is through
Christ. So with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them, because
they receive not the love of the truth, they don't want God's
righteousness in Christ, they want one of their own making.
And that's an abomination before God. Satan deceives men with another
gospel and another spirit. A gospel of self-righteousness
and self-will and self-exaltation. I'll never forget this old man
down there. He was mowing the grass, and I took him out some
water to drink. He had on his bib overalls, and
he come up, and I started talking to him, and he stuck them thumbs
in behind them straps on the overalls, and he said, one thing
I can tell you, he said, alcohol never touched these lips. I won't tell you what I told
him. That's being deceived, isn't
it? That's unrighteousness. That's unrighteousness. That's
an unclean spirit. God's spirit wouldn't do that
to you. God's spirit would strip you. He'd bring you to know your
unrighteousness. He'd bring you to know your sins
and the curse and the total depravity of the flesh. But not this other
spirit. This other spirit He deceives. He deceives. He deceives men and women into
believing another gospel, and he deceives men and women into
receiving another spirit. And he deceives men and women
into believing that they can transform themselves into Christians
and heirs of God by their personal obedience to the law. They believe
they can turn over a new leaf and reform their lives to a place
where what they're doing pleases God. And it's rightly called here
in 2 Thessalonians 2, a deceivableness of unrighteousness. There's a
way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is destruction. Self-righteous religion, self-will
and self-exaltation and self-glory is the... It's kind of the chocolate fudge
of false preaching. It's that thing which attracts
men. It appeals to the flesh. And
they go after it like a fish after a bait. They just go after
it. It's appealing to them, and it's
contagious. And the more who are infected
with it, the more appealing it becomes. So in this synagogue
was the perfect place for a demon-possessed man. He fit right in. Fit right
in. I'm gonna tell you something,
and I pray that the Lord will enable you to see it. They were all demon-possessed
in that synagogue. Everybody in there, demon-possessed
in that synagogue. But only one of them knew it. Can you see that? Just one knew
it. While the rest kept silent, this
one cried out. And he cried out because the
Savior grew near to him and exposed him. All men are demon-possessed, but they don't know it until
God reveals it to them. And when He reveals it to them,
how do you know He's revealed it to them? They cry out. They
cry out. Our Lord said, this is the condemnation. Light came into the world. Men
loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
When light comes, wickedness is exposed. When truth is declared,
the lies are brought out into the open. And here was a man
who had gone unnoticed for no telling how long. But now the
Son of God draws near. And He draws near with the truth.
He draws near with His person and His power and His Spirit.
And this man begins to cry out. Now watch this. Hear what he
tells him. This is the Savior. They knew
it. Scripture calls them they. There
were evidently more than one spirit in this man. They said, let us alone. Let us alone. Now, that's what
the natural man says when he's confronted with the gospel. Leave
me alone. Isn't that what he says? Get away from me. I don't
want that. I want to hear that. That ain't
right. That can't be right. Leave us alone. And then listen to this. What
have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? What's our
part with thee? Why are you come to us? Why are
you exposing us? Art thou come to destroy us?
I know thee who thou art. You're the Holy One of God. Now this is where sin and Satan
and the mystery of iniquity is exposed. When it's confronted
with Jehovah's servant. That's right. That's when you'll
come to know something about sin. When Christ is set before
them as He is, then they know Him. They know who He was. They know
something of His person and power. He was the Holy One of God. When
this poor sinner first saw Christ, it ruined his ministry. Now I'm
talking about this one. It did, it ruined my, I was asked
to speak all over the place, play my guitar and sing, and
everybody wanted me to come over to their congregation. Then I
learned the truth and started preaching the truth, and when
I did, nobody wanted me. People in church I pastored didn't
want me. Nobody wanted me. There wasn't a church in the
association that I belonged to of Enterprise Baptists that would
have anything to do with me. And they barely let me sit in
the church that I pastored. One night, one of the guys preached,
and he preached the gospel to the congregation, and one of
the old, old pastors, one of the first ones who pastored that
church, he got up after he was done and he said, now what the
brother meant was this, and he took his points and he just destroyed
all, I think he had four points that night, and he just destroyed
all four points. when he said and my brother-in-law
got back up and hope he said no that's not what the poor brother
meant what poor america brother meant is what he said anyone
over the whole thing again christ is set before them as
he is then they know him they know him and uh... This is how salvation begins.
It begins when a fallen sinner's confronted with the Christ of
God. When he must acknowledge who
he is and who he's seen and who he's heard. And then watch this
in verse 25. Jesus rebuked him saying, hold
thy peace and come out of him. What's he telling him? Telling
him shut up. That's what he's telling him.
Shut up. Well, what does Christ do with
a sinner when he convinces him of sin and confronts him with
his glorious person? He shuts his mouth. Now, you
wanna know if God's really doing a work in a man, watch him. Because
before he does that work, he's just a jabberbox. He's got any
number of things to say to you about your message or about what
he believes and all this kind of, when God starts working in
him, that mouth goes closed. And he got nothing to say. Is
that right? That's exactly right. He got nothing to say. He got nothing to say because
that old man knows nothing about God or God's purpose of grace
or how God saves sinners. And Satan and his demon spirits,
they don't want any part of it. They don't want any part of it.
They'll do everything they can do to resist it. Now watch this,
verse 26. And when the unclean spirit had
torn him and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. Now I'm gonna tell you something.
It's a powerful thing when Christ takes down the strong man of
your house. It's a powerful thing. It's not
something that'll go unnoticed. I just don't know if God ever
saved me or not. Well, you probably not saved
him. Because I venture to say you'll know it if he does. Because
it's a powerful thing when he takes, when Christ takes down
that strong man. When he takes down everything
you trusted in and hallowed as the truth and strips you of all
your righteousness. Convinces you of your ignorance. You don't know anything. Here
you are arguing, you probably haven't read more than five verses
of scripture in your whole life and you're standing there arguing
with a man who spent his life studying the scripture. He convinces us of our ignorance,
and he takes away your cherished positions, your positions, deacons, pastors. And he takes away your associations. I'll never forget them old deacons.
I trusted them. Them old preachers, I trusted
them. And I started talking to them about the things of God,
and I listened to them, how they commented about these, oh, you
don't wanna go there, you don't wanna go there. And that made
the word of God sound like it was satanic. Now, I'm gonna tell
you something. If God declares in the word of
God that he predestinated a people, it's not satanic. But when a man denies it, and
it's clearly stated in the scripture, that's satanic. And I'll tell you, it's a powerful
thing when God begins to strip and tear down and separate and
divide. Come ye out from amongst them.
And that's what he does. That's what he does. And he said
this, know this, he said they hated me before they hated you.
And the reason they hate you is because I chose you out of
their midst and I called you unto myself. So when they despise
you, they're not really despising you, they're despising me. And it is, it's a painful thing,
but it's a necessary thing. Now listen to this, verse 27.
And they were all amazed insomuch that they questioned among themselves,
saying, what thing is this? What thing is this? What new
doctrine is this? For with authority commandeth
he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. Now here's what I wanted you to see
in this whole study this morning. The salvation of God's elect
is an amazing thing. We go down the road and I look
at these signs on these churches, 14 converted during vacation
Bible school, stuff like that. Does that seem amazing to you?
It don't to me. Had a revival, 22 made professions
of faith. Is that amazing to you that some
preacher who knows how to do it, he got up there and this
big Hollywood evangelist talked to a bunch of kids and walking
down an aisle making a profession of faith. Is that amazing to
you? It's not even amazing to them. They come down the aisle
chewing and popping their bubble gum and coming up front laughing
and poking each other. The salvation of God's elect
is an amazing thing. They were amazed. And I'm going
to tell you something, if it isn't amazing, it's not of God.
Everything He does is amazing. What is it about the salvation
of a sinner that isn't amazing? Don't you find that amazing that
the God of glory chose a people before the foundation of the
world? Don't you find it amazing that the invisible, eternal God
was born of a woman, grew in this bodily form, and grew to
a man? You don't find that amazing?
Don't you find it amazing that this man, this God-man, went
to a cross and was condemned before God and allowed to die
a death on that cross? Don't you
find that amazing? Don't you find it amazing that
while the whole world wanders after the beast, God transforms
this man and calls him out of darkness, calls him to his son,
and he turns and comes? That's amazing. Now what these
people been sitting at synagogue seeing is the people who come
to see land to make one proselyte after themselves. They saw proselytes
being made. They never saw demons cast out
of a man before. Oh, I find everything about the
salvation of God's elect amazing. But there's nothing amazing about
religion. Talking with men and women into
coming down an aisle, joining the church, signing a pledge
card. I don't find anything I'm not
struck in awe and wonder somebody trying to reform their lives.
I tried to do that myself. But that's not what they said.
They said, what thing is this? Who's ever seen anything like
this? This is amazing. All right, I'm
out of time. I'm going to stop. Thank you.