I've entitled this message, What
New Doctrine Is This? Look at verse 27. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned
among themselves, saying, What thing is this? What new doctrine
is this? For with authority, commandeth
he even the unclean spirits and they do obey him. A very similar statement is made
in Mark chapter four. Would you turn with me? Verse 37, and there arose a great
storm of wind. And the waves beat into the ship
so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part
of the ship asleep on a pillow. And they awake him and say unto
him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he rose and
rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased. And there
was a great calm. And he said unto them, why are
you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly and
said one to another, what manner of man is this? that even the
wind and the sea obey him. What is this? What new doctrine
is this? And they made a mistake when
they asked, what new doctrine is this? This doctrine is as old as God. It's His eternal doctrine. It's
new in that it's fresh. You know, when you hear the gospel
and the power of the Holy Spirit, when the Lord gives you grace
to hear, it always comes as news, doesn't it? You might have heard
it a thousand times, but it comes just as powerfully as it did
the first time you heard. It comes as news. So this is
news. But it's not new in respect of
time. If something is new, it's not
true. Did you know that? If something
is new, it is not true. What they were calling new doctrine
was in fact the divine fiat. The same words that were used
in the creation of the universe. Whatever he says must come to
pass. Let there be light. And there
was light. He created the universe from
nothing. I love what the wise man said
in Ecclesiastes chapter three, verse 15. For I know that whatsoever
God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it, nor
can anything be taken from it. And God doeth that men should
fear before him. That which hath been is now,
and that which is to be hath already been. New doctrine? No, it's eternal doctrine. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in the heavens. Now this miracle that we read
of that took place happened directly after those verses we considered
last Wednesday night. Verse 21, and they went into
Capernaum, and straightway on the Sabbath day, he entered into
the synagogue and taught, and they were astonished at his doctrine. For he taught them as one that
had authority, not as the scribes. I love the way the Lord never
said, they'll save the Lord. He always said, I say unto you. And that is the divine authority. Now, the time was after he preached
this sermon in the synagogue at Capernaum, and that's the
city wherein he did most of his miracles. Did you know that?
Most of his miracles were done in this city. And he said to
them, thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, and what
blessings they received in the Lord being there and performing
these miracles. He says, thou shalt be brought
down to hell for if the mighty works which had been done in
thee had been done in Sodom, you remember Sodom, it would
have remained to this day. But I say unto you, it will be
more tolerable for the land of Sodom on judgment day. than for
you, you who have seen my works and rejected my person." Now,
we're not given the contents of the message in Mark or Luke's
account that he gave in Capernaum. When they were so amazed, they
said, what? He speaks with authority, not
like the scribes. He speaks with authority. We
are not given the contents of this doctrine in either account,
but we know it was the truth. When the Lord spake, we know
it was the truth. And they came to this conclusion,
the truth carries with itself divine authority. He spake as
one having authority. When somebody hears the truth,
listen to me, when somebody hears the truth, they know it's the
truth. Let me give you a couple of examples. If you know who
God is, if you know something about his character, You know
election is true. You just know it. When you hear
it, you know it so. This is who God is. If you know
who Christ is, you know that He must be successful in whatever
He does. You know that. When you hear
the truth concerning His atonement, you know it's true. No doubt
about it. You see, truth carries with it
the force of authority. And you know it is truth. The truth doesn't need to be
embellished. It doesn't need to be dressed up. It recommends
itself. There is authority with the truth. And when they heard him preach
the things he said, they knew this was the truth. He spoke
as one having authority and not as the scribes. Error needs to
be dressed up and made attractive. flowery oratory, psychological
manipulation, fleshly appeals, but the truth is its own authority. The things Christ said concerning
His Father, the things Christ said concerning Himself, the
things Christ said concerning man, the things Christ said concerning
salvation, when people heard it, they might not have loved
it, they might have hated it, but they knew it was the truth. to think of hearing Him speak. Now, another part of His authority
in speaking was He was one who had never sinned. You're listening to one speak
who's never told a lie. You're listening to one speak
who has kept God's law perfectly. Who's never had a sinful thought?
Who's never had a sinful word? One who knows God intimately? Pharisees couldn't do this. He spake as one who never sinned. The authority of one who could
say which of you convinces me of sin? Can you imagine being
able to say that to anybody? You know when you read that Psalm
40, the very first line, I waited patiently for the Lord. Can anybody
here say that honestly? You ever waited patiently for
the Lord? You've waited impatiently. You've been scared, unbelieving,
grumbled, things aren't going your way. Yeah, you've waited
impatiently, but there's only one who could say, I waited patiently
for the Lord. And this is the one who's speaking. And oh, with what authority he
speaks. I think it's interesting that
Luke's account of this. What word is this? For with authority
and power. He uses both those words. With
authority and power. He commands even the unclean
spirits. and they do obey him. Now he performs this miracle
to emphasize what the people said about his doctrine. Here's
the reason there's authority in my doctrine because of who
I am, who is saying it. Now we read what in some respects
is the most remarkable miracle in all of the New Testament. And I hope you understand why
I say that as we consider what's taking place. Look in verse 23,
and there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. He was demon possessed. I think
it's interesting that You have things about demon possession
in Acts and in the epistles, but very little is said. And
in the Old Testament, we have examples of demons that came
out, but very little is said. But when our Lord walked on this
earth, we read much more about it, much more. I think there's
something about him being there that brought it out more. And
he, is there a demon possession today? Why? Yes, if there was
then, there is now. I don't understand all that.
Don't wanna understand much about it. All I want is for it to be
found in Christ. And I don't wanna understand
much about it. I don't wanna go there. But this man had an
unclean spirit. Now that's associated with immorality. That's associated with sexual
impurity. That's associated with all kinds
of bad stuff. This was a bad man. There was nothing good about
it. He was a man with an unclean spirit. And as you go on reading,
you notice he says, let us alone. Well, is it the man speaking
or is it the demon speaking? Can't tell, can you? Can't tell
the difference between one voice and the other. Let us alone. Now this man typifies every lost
man. This man is a picture of me.
This man is a picture of you. Now some seem relatively clean
on the outside. Some do not. But it's the state of all men
by nature, by choice, and by practice. This describes me. This describes you. The prophet
said in Isaiah chapter 64, we, me and you, everybody in this
room and everybody outside of this room, we are all as an unclean
thing. And I righteousnesses, are as
filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and there's none that
taketh hold upon thee." That is the description of this man.
And let's go on reading about this man. What I notice is that
he wanted nothing to do with Christ. And there was, verse
23, there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit,
Interesting, he's in the synagogue. What was he doing there? Well,
I think in a lot of religious gatherings, you have a lot of
people with unclean spirits. Maybe he felt more comfortable
there. But all of a sudden, he didn't feel comfortable anymore
when Christ came in. He interrupted things. He cried out. He cried
out. He knew who Christ was. He cried
out, saying, let us alone. Leave us be. We don't want to
have anything to do with you. Let us alone. Like Israel, God said concerning
Israel, they would none of me. They didn't want anything about
me. I love that song. Enwrapped in
thick Egyptian night and fond of darkness more Madly I ran
the sinful race secure without a hiding place. That was this
man. Let us alone. He that doeth evil, hateth the
light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds be reproved. The scripture says the carnal
mind. Now that's the mind you were born with. That's the mind
I was born with, the fleshly mind. We inherited from our father
Adam. The carnal mind doesn't say it's
at enmity against God. It said it is enmity. It is enmity itself against God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither indeed can be. This man knew who Jesus Christ
was and wanted nothing to do with him. Let us alone. We don't desire you. We don't
want your salvation. We don't want to have anything
that has anything to do with you. This was the man and this
was the demon. Now look in verse 40 of this
same chapter. And there came a leper to him. beseeching him,
and kneeling down to him, saying unto him, if thou wilt, thou
canst make me clean. Now look at the way this man
approached him, this leper, and then look at this fellow. He
didn't come asking for mercy. All he had to say was, let us
alone, leave us be. And then he said in verse 24,
Let us alone. What have we to do with thee,
thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. Now, what do we have in common? Please say. Absolutely nothing. I love sin. You hate sin. I'm unholy. You are holy. I'm darkness. You're light. I'm good. I'm bad. You're good. There is no connection
between us. What have I to do with thee? Same thing the gathering demonic
said when he saw the Lord, he said, what have I to do with
thee, Jesus, thou son of the most high God? We have no connection. And this man understood this.
This demon possessed man understood this. Both of them understood
it. He wasn't even suspecting mercy.
Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the
Holy One of God. You know, these demon possessed
men always show more understanding and respect and reverence to
who he is than the religious people do. I know thee who thou
art, the Holy One of God. He had this knowledge, but it
did nothing for him. That's scary, isn't it? Look
at the knowledge he had. I know thee who thou art, the
Holy One of God. But it didn't make him desire
Him. It didn't make him want to be saved by Him. All he could
say is, leave us alone. Leave us be. Stay away from us. Now, that's bad. There wasn't anything about this
man that would encourage you that he's going to be somebody
the Lord would save. He had no desire at all for the Lord Jesus
Christ. I don't know that humanly speaking,
we have a more hopeless case in all the word of God than this
man. Leave us alone. Verse 25, And Jesus rebuked him. Now that is commanded him. That's the word. He charged him. He rebuked him. He charged him.
He commanded him. Now I don't read anywhere in
the word of God where Jesus Christ gave a command and somebody disobeyed
it. It doesn't happen. Jesus Christ
rebuked him. And there's two things he said.
He said, hold your peace and come out. Now this is what is
called the effectual call. This is what is called irresistible
grace. This is what is called invincible
grace. As I said, the Lord is saying, this is my will
for you to do, and do it you will. Even though there was nothing
in this man, if the Lord commands him to do it, you know what he's
gonna do? He's gonna do exactly what the Lord says. You know,
that's the kind of grace I need. That's the only kind of grace
that'll do me any good. Invincible. irresistible grace. Are you saying that if God has
grace toward me, I can't resist it? That's exactly what I'm saying.
That's exactly what I'm saying. You see, if God has grace toward
you, you're going to find Jesus of Nazareth irresistible. You will not be able to stay
away from him. Now, it is evident from this
case, that the power of Christ to save does not lie in the person
who he saves. Isn't that clear? This man, there
wasn't anything hopeful about him. There wasn't anything good
about him. He wanted away from Christ. He
didn't want Christ to save him. Leave us alone. There's nothing
in the one who he saves that has anything to do with the salvation.
It's the Savior himself. It's the Lord himself. He's going
to have mercy on this man. As bad as he is, he's one of
the elect. He's somebody Christ came to
save and saved he must be. You know, the only kind of grace
there is is saving grace. By grace, you are saved. Through faith, and that not of
yourselves, it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any boast. I love what is said in the Song
of Solomon. Draw us. We understand our need
of him drawing us, don't we? And we pray that. Draw me. Draw
us. You know what happens when he
draws us? Draw us and we will run after thee. Now, what is the first thing
the Lord said to this man? Hold your peace. I know it's not polite to say
to somebody, shut up. But that's what he's saying to
this man. Shut up. Turn with me for a moment to
Romans Chapter 3. Verse 19, now we know that what
things soever the law saith, It saith to them who are under
the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
may become guilty before God. Now here's what this means. When the Lord teaches you who
you are, like Job, you'll put your hand over your mouth. You don't have anything to say.
You don't have any way to justify yourself. You don't have any
way to vindicate yourself. You don't have any excuses. There's
nothing to say. You stand guilty, subject to
the judgment of God. Now whenever I hear people sit
in judgment on the Lord. And they disagree with the way
He is. Well, how could it be fair for Him to elect some and
pass by others? How could it be fair for Christ
to die for some and not die for others? How could this be fair?
Sitting on judgment on God, here's somebody whose mouth's never
been stopped. They've never held their peace. If God ever reveals
Himself to you, the first thing it'll do to you is you won't
have anything to say. Guilty as charged. That's it. Guilty as charged. Whatever he does with me is right. That every mouth may be stopped. Now, if my mouth hadn't been
stopped, the Lord's never spoke to me. It really is that simple. And then he says something else.
He says, hold your peace and come out of him. Come out of
him. Now, the devil came out. You know, the Lord doesn't make
commands and people disobey him. If you don't bow to him, he never
commanded you with this effectual grace, this invincible grace.
You see, everybody he commands, they bow, they do what he says.
He's the Lord. He speaks with authority. He
speaks with power. And this demon came out of him
in obedience to the command of the Lord. Now, when God saves
somebody, and I wish I knew how to explain this the way it ought
to be explained. And I can't, but I'll give it a shot. Something
comes out. And it's not your old nature. Your old nature is
still there. And it's not improved, it's just
as bad as ever. And if you're a believer, you
know that. You know that's true about yourself. You know what you're
dragging around. I don't know how to explain this, but this
is so. I'll tell you what comes out, the sin. But I still commit
the sin. I know it. I realize that. I
wish I could make sense of this, but I believe that the sin came
out. But you know how I know that? Because He bore our sins
in His own body on the tree. And sin can't be two places at
once. If He bore my sin, I don't bear it. It's gone out. God has
taken it away and charged it to His Son, and His Son put it
away. He was manifested to take away
our sins. Did He do it? Absolutely. And in Him is no sin. Now, explain to me how it is
that my sins have been taken out of me, and yet I still sin.
I don't know how to explain that, but I know it's so. I know it's
so, and I'll just leave it at that. Be still, quit making objections,
come out. In Luke's account, turn with
me to Luke chapter four, same story. Verse 33, and in the synagogue,
there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil and cried
out with a loud voice saying, let us alone. What have we to
do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked
him saying, hold thy peace and come out of him. And when the
devil had thrown him In the midst, he came out of it in obedience
to Christ's command and heard him not. I guess there must have
been some kind of convulsing going on while this was taking
place, but he wasn't hurt. The Lord wouldn't let that happen. And they were all amazed and
spake among themselves saying, what a word is this? For with
authority and power, He commandeth the unclean spirits, and they
come out. Now, that's important. What is power? This word means inherent power. Power that comes from within. And me and you don't have any
of that. Not a drop. Any power you have
is borrowed power. It's what he gave you. If you
have power to believe, it's because he gave you power to believe.
You don't have any of yourself. This is that power that created
the universe. This is that power that births
one into the kingdom of heaven. This is the power that raised
up Christ from the dead. Only the Lord has this power. Power belongeth unto the Lord. He's the only one that has it.
Inherit power. The power to do whatever he is
pleased to do. Now, authority is the right,
the liberty, to do as one pleases, freedom of action. Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with my own? Not only does he have the power
to do what he wants to, He's got the right to do what
He wants to, and He does do exactly as He wants to all the time. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did He, in earth and sea and in all deep places. Now, power plus might equals sovereignty. The sovereignty of God. I love
the sovereignty of God. I love the God who's sovereign.
I mean, I love him being this way. He's absolutely sovereign. He created the universe simply
as an act of his will. And everything that takes place
in time right now, his will's the cause of it. Everything. Somebody says, well, are you
making God the author of evil? I'm saying He's God. I've got
no problem with that. He's God. He controls everything
and everybody. He's Lord both of the dead and
the living. He's God. He's in control. Whatever He does is right. Yes,
He said, I form the light, I create darkness, I make peace, I create
evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. Shall there be evil in
the city? And that's talking about something
bad that happened, and hath not the Lord done it? He is in control. He's Lord of providence, and
here's what is so glorious about this. He's gonna bring good out
of evil. I mean, you can't do that. He always does. And most especially, he's Lord
of salvation. That means salvation is utterly
and completely in His hand. It's not in yours in any way,
to any degree. It's up to Him as to whether
or not you'll be saved. But beloved, that's good. That's
good because if it's up to you, you won't be saved. You'll be
just like this fellow. Leave us alone. What have we
to do with you? That's going to be me. That's
going to be you. Don't think of the Lord as being harsh this
way. No, He's good. He's good. And this is the only
hope any sinner has of being saved. Yeah, the leper understood
this. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. And there isn't anybody that's
ever prayed that prayer that he turned away. And Jesus moved
with compassion, said, I will be thou clean. Now, the people questioned among
themselves, but he didn't. He knew what happened. Now, any teaching that does not
clearly state his power and his authority is evil. It's not true. didn't come from
him. You know, the doctrine of free will is nothing
less than an attack against his authority. It's not just being
improperly informed and believing something. Oh, if you really
believe free will, It's because you hate his authority. And free
will is a declaration of independence from his authority. Now, the next thing I'd like
to say is we need never despair. No one is outside of his reach. If there ever was one that would
be outside of his reach, it would be this fella. But he wasn't,
was he? He didn't have anything. that was even encouraging about
him. The Lord saved him. No one is
beyond his reach because of his power and because of his authority. How confident we ought to be. He's the Lord. What's there to
worry about? Whatever's happening is His will.
There's nothing to worry about. In everything give thanks, for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And this one who has this authority, If a human being was given all
authority, trouble, trouble, trouble. You've heard that saying,
power corrupts absolute, power corrupts absolutely. Well, it
would with a human being, but not this one. This one who has all authority,
when that leper came to him, look what it says back in Mark
chapter one. Verse 40, and there came a leper
to him, beseeching him and kneeling down to him and saying unto him,
if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, what are
those next three words? Moved with compassion. That is the one who has all this
authority. You come to him and he is moved
with compassion. Now, what a reason to preach.
The Lord said, all power is given to me. He's got a monopoly on it. All
power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore,
and preach the gospel to every creature. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
power and the glory. And the authority. And the majesty
of our Redeemer. He who. Thought it not robbery. To be the equal. Lord, give us the grace. To rest
completely in him. and to trust what He has done
on Calvary's tree as all that's needed to make us holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in your sight. We give thanks for the Savior,
His glory. In His name we pray. Amen.