Now, if you'll find in your Bible
again, Mark chapter 1. Mark chapter 1. Verse 21. Mark 1, 21. And they
went into Capernaum, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ and His
four disciples, these five men. And straightway on the Sabbath
day, He entered into the assembly of the Jews, this synagogue.
This Jewish church, we could say. And He taught them. He taught them the truth. He
taught them the Word. Our blessed Redeemer was ever
about His Father's business. He came on business. Even at
a very young age, you remember He said, I must be about my Father's
business. His business was preaching the
truth. Preaching the Gospel. of God's
sovereign and saving grace in Christ Jesus. If you'll notice
in this same chapter, verse 38, he was about his father's business,
declaring the truth of God. You see verse 38? And he said
unto them, Let us go into the next town, that I may preach
there also. For therefore came I forth. That's why he came, as God's
prophet, to declare God's gospel, God's truth. He came doing the
Father's will in accomplishing all of God's purpose in honoring
the law, preaching the gospel, dying for the sin of His covenant
people, and demonstrating by countless indisputable miracles
of power and mercy that all He said and all that He did, gave evidence to the fact that
all he said was true and all he did was sent, and he was sent
doing God's purpose, God's will, and he confirmed that all by
these powerful miracles. All that he claimed to be, he
demonstrated that by these miracles of grace. Not only that, he had
all power and all authority And He designated that power and
that authority in a measure unto these specially chosen men He
calls His disciples, or we know them as the Twelve, the Apostles. If you'll find Mark chapter 3,
He gave the Apostles that power and authority in some measure
to confirm their message, it was true, and gave evidence that
they did speak for God. Gave evidence of their credentials
as the apostles. Mark chapter 3. Notice verse
13. He goeth up into a mountain and
calleth unto him whom he would. Mark 3 verse 13. And they came
to him. Notice sovereign mercy. He calls
whom he would. Whom he would. Whom he will.
And they came to him and he ordained twelve. that they should be with
him, that he might send them forth to preach, and to have
power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out demons, devils. Now he gave that power to these
chosen men, so when they went preaching the gospel, they had
credentials to prove they were sent of God with God's message.
But now listen to me. Those who pretend today to have
these special apostolic gifts to perform miracles as the Lord
did or as the apostles did are just that, pretenders. Pretenders. I don't know if you
watch those clowns on TV. I don't because it nauseates
me. But this man called Benny, who has that white suit and has
those people come up and he hits them in the head and they fall
out and all that stuff. What is all that? It's nothing
but junk. Don't watch it. He's nothing
but an imposter. He's a pretender. God still performs
miracles of power and mercy in saving sinners and He does so
in our day, not through those signs and wonders but through
the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, which
is the power of God unto salvation. Now listen to me, each time we
meet as the body of Christ, as believers, each time we meet
and the gospel is preached, we have a worship service, and by
His grace, we do have a healing service. He's still healing sinners
today. with his gospel. How are we healed?
In Christ. Let me show you. Find Isaiah
53. You see, the healing I need is
spiritual healing. And that spiritual healing comes
through the gospel of the Lord Jesus. And that's why he says
here in Isaiah 53, verse 4, Surely He hath borne our griefs, carried
our sorrows. We did esteem Him stricken of
God, stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. He was wounded
for our transgression." You see, He took our sicknesses. He was
bruised for our iniquities. And the chastisement of our peace
was upon Him. And with His stripes, we are,
what's that word? We are healed. We are healed. With His stripes. You see, He
took my sins. my infirmities, my iniquities
to Himself and put them away. He gives us a perfect right standing
before God. We call that righteousness. Don't
turn. Let me just read it to you again.
Luke chapter 4. Our Lord said, The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me because He hath anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal broken
hearted people. To preach deliverance to the
captives. and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, and to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. We are accepted in the Beloved.
You see, the healing I'm desperately interested in for you and for
me is not physical. It's spiritual. It's spiritual
healing. Don't turn. Let me just read
it to you here in Isaiah 1, 18. Our Lord said, though your sin
be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be
red like crimson, crimson they shall be as wool. That's the
healing I'm interested in. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all our sin. Now here's the first point in
this message. The Lord Jesus was that teacher,
that preacher, that prophet that God said that He would send,
that He promised to Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse
18. Now notice, the teaching of our
Lord in verse 21, Mark 1, 21, He entered into the synagogue
and He taught them. And they were astonished at His
doctrine, for He taught them as one that had authority, not
as the scribes. He taught them with all authority. It says in Luke 4.32, they were
astonished at His doctrine, for His Word was with power. Now
find another Scripture here, Matthew 7. Matthew chapter 7. He taught them with all authority
and power. Someone said in Scripture, his
testimony was, no man ever spake like that man spoke. In Matthew
7. Verse 28, and it came to pass
when Jesus had ended these sayings, when he had taught that sermon,
we call the sermon on a mount, when he had ended these sayings,
the people were astonished at his doctrine. For he taught them
as one having authority, not like those religious people.
His teaching was different. His teaching was different. Now
I ask myself and you this question. Why is his preaching and teaching
so powerful? Why was it so much different
than the scribes and the Pharisees? Why is his teaching and his preaching
so powerful? I can answer it in one word.
Truth. Truth. Truth. You see, there
is no saving power in falsehood. There is no saving power in lie,
but there is great power in truth. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. It is
the dynamite. That word power is dynamite.
Boy, you better handle it carefully. Dynamite. Dynamite. Why is his
teaching so powerful? Truth. There is great power and
truth to the salvation of his people. Now turn with me a couple
places. John chapter 6. John chapter
6. And notice what he says here
in John chapter 6. He said, The words that I speak unto you.
The words that I speak unto you. John 6, verse 63. It is the spirit that quickeneth
the flesh, profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. their life. Turn to John
8, 32. You see, our Lord said, You shall
know the truth. I speak nothing but truth. He
is the truth. And He can't speak anything but
truth. Can He? John 8, look at verse 31. Verse 30, He spake these words
and many believed on Him. Then said Jesus to those Jews,
which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then you
are my disciples. And he said, You shall know the
truth, and the truth, it will make you free. Why do I need
freedom? Because by nature I'm born in
sin. I want to show you the flip side of falsehood. John 8, you're
right there in John 8, look at verse 44. And here's a contrast. The truth
will set you free. What about lies? What about falsehood? Will it set you free? No, it
will deceive you and condemn you. Where do they come from?
John 8, 44. You are of your father the devil. Now he's addressing the same
religious crowd, self-righteous, going about to establish their
own righteousness. And the lust of your father,
will you do? He was a murderer from the beginning.
He abode not in the truth. Because there's no truth in him,
when he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar.
He is a liar. He's a father of lies. Lies won't
set us free. What will set us free? I need
to be set free. Truth. The Lord Jesus Christ
is that truth. Last week as I traveled, find
1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. As I traveled down to Kingsport
for the evening service at six o'clock, I stopped into a little
fruit market and I was looking for some fresh strawberries.
And I stopped in there a week or so ago and he had some good
fresh berries, but I wasn't able to pay him because I had no money.
And he didn't take, I had my debit card, but he said, I don't
do that. I said, okay. So as I went down
there last week, I went prepared. I took me a check, a paper check.
He said he'd take checks. But as I went down there, I had
my jacket off, but I had my shirt and tie on, and the owner of
this market said, where are you headed? I said, well, I'm going
down here to Kingsport and I'm going to preach an evening service.
He said, oh, you're a preacher. I said, yes, yes, I'm a preacher.
And he said, well, I hope you preach a spirit-filled message.
I asked him, I said this, I said, how do you do that? I know what
he meant. How do you do that? He said,
uh, uh, uh, I said, you tell the truth. I tell you preach
a spirit filled message. This is what the apostle says
here. First Corinthians two. 1 Corinthians 2, and I, verse
1, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech
or wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God, not my
feeling, not my experience, I come to you declaring the testimony
of God. Now that's truth. The testimony
of God is absolute truth. And I'm determined not to know
anything among you, save except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Salvation to a crucified Redeemer, substitute, satisfied God, and
I was with you in weakness and fear and in much trembling."
He said, don't look to me. My speech and my preaching was
not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. Now how's that done? By telling
the truth. that your faith should not stand
in the wisdom of men, but rather in the power, power of God."
Why was the Lord Jesus Christ, why did they say He taught them
with authority? They recognized something was
different because of truth. Because of truth. Why is His
teaching so powerful and not as described because of truth?
Secondly, why is His Word so powerful and full of all authority?
Because of who He is. Because of who He is. We read
in this scripture, the demon said, you're the Holy One of
God. He is that just One. The Holy
One. He is truth personified. He can't
speak anything but truth because He is truth. He's truth personified. He said, I am the way, the truth,
the life. All He speaks, He speaks in absolute
truth. He speaks not as a mere man.
But as God who is manifest in the flesh. Turn to Psalm 29. Psalm 29. Psalm 29. You see, He is truth incarnate. He is truth personified. Psalm
29, given to the Lord, verse 1, O ye mighty, given to the
Lord, glory and strength, given to the Lord, glory due unto His
name, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. For the voice
of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of glory thundereth,
the Lord is upon many waters, the voice of the Lord is powerful,
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty, the voice of the
Lord breaketh the cedars, yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars
of Lebanon. His Word is strong. It's full
of majesty. It's full of power because of
who He is. God Almighty. God in whom dwells
all the fullness of a Godhead bodily. How powerful? Let me
show you one example of this. His Word. In Mark chapter 4.
Turn over there. Mark chapter 4. The disciples
were out in a ship with the Lord. And the ship was going down,
and the ship was taking in water, and the ship was sinking. And
they were very concerned. And they said, Lord, we're going
to perish. Mark chapter 4 verse 39, He arose
and He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Peace be still. Now you go out some day and speak
to the wind and say, just stop. He did, and the wind ceased. You see, He controls all things.
And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. The water stopped
rolling. It was a calm. And He said to
them, Why are you so fearful? I control all things. How is
it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly.
Said one to another, What manner of man is this that even the
wind and the sea, they obey Him? You see, He is more than just
a mere man. He is God Almighty over all things,
the Absolute Sovereign. No wonder someone said, never
man spake like that man. Why is His Word with such power
and authority? Because of truth and because
of who He is. Who He is. Here's the second
thing I want to bring out in this message. The second point
in verse 23 and verse 24 back in our text. And there was in
the synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. He was a man demon-possessed. And he said, the demon cried
out, the devils cried out and said, leave us alone. What do
we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to
destroy us? I know who you are. You're the
Holy One of God. Salvation. Now here's my point.
Salvation. It says down in verse 34 too,
in Mark 1, He healed many that were sick of different diseases
and cast out many demons, devils, and suffered not the devils to
speak because they knew Him. They recognized Him. They acknowledged
Him. Salvation is more than acknowledgement
of true facts. Now they acknowledged who He
was. The demon, an unclean spirit, knew the Lord and publicly confessed
it in the synagogue. Yet the Pharisees didn't know
Him. The religious leaders didn't know Him. They discredited His
ministry. They discredited His miracle.
They even said that what He does, He does in the name of Beelzebub. Who is Beelzebub? Turn over here
to Mark chapter 3, verse 22. You see, they didn't recognize
Him as God, they didn't recognize Him as the Sovereign Lord, yet
the demon spirits knew Him and acknowledged that. Were they
saved? No. Look at Mark 3. The Pharisees discredited His
ministry and discredited His Word. Mark 3 verse 22, And the
scribe which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and
the prince of devils casteth he out devils, by the prince
of devils. They accused him of being in
league with Satan. The demon spirits acknowledge
his sovereignty, They acknowledge His sovereignty. They acknowledge
His Lordship. They acknowledge their coming
condemnation. Are you come to destroy us? We're
getting just exactly what we deserve. We are unclean spirits,
devils. Yet they didn't know Him savingly,
did they? Now listen to me carefully. A
mere belief and acknowledgement of Bible doctrine and Bible facts
is not salvation. This is no more than the faith
of devils. To just believe Bible doctrine
and Bible facts. The devils believe that. Let
me show you scripture. I want you to turn and see this.
And mark it in your Bible. James chapter 2. James chapter
2. You see, there's no agnostic
devils. Every devil believes that God
is God. But yet, folks in religion, they're
blind. They're blind. Look what he says
here in James 2, verse 17, "...even so faith that hath not works,
obedient, is dead being alone. Yea, a man may say, O thou hast
faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works, and I'll show you, demonstrate my faith by my works. Thou believest there is one God?
Well, you do well. The devils also believe, and
they tremble. Now listen to me carefully. True
saving faith is more than head knowledge of historical facts,
although head knowledge is involved. True saving faith is heart love
for Him. It is more than just knowing
about Him. You see, these demon spirits
knew about Him, but they didn't love Him. It's more than just
knowing about the Lord Jesus Christ. It's trusting Him. It's
rejoicing in Him. It's receiving Him lovingly into
your heart by God-given faith. You remember the old reformer,
Martin Luther, who gave his life for the gospel?
This is what he said. True Christianity, which is true
salvation, consists in possessive personal pronouns. Preacher,
what do you mean? Here's what he said. Martin Luther
said this, it's one thing to say Christ is the Savior. And that's what the demon spirit
said. Didn't they? They acknowledged His sovereignty,
His Lordship. Luther said it's one thing to
say Christ is Savior. It is quite another to say He
is my Savior. He's my Lord. Do you see the
difference? See what he's saying here? The devils can say the
first, He's Lord. Only a believer can say in his
heart and love Him, receive Him, He's my Savior. He's my salvation. He is my righteousness. Do you
see what I'm saying? Can you say that in your heart?
He's mine. The Lord Jesus Christ is mine. Remember what Thomas said when
the glorified risen Lord appeared to him? He said, you're my Lord
and my God. The demon spirit couldn't say
that. They could acknowledge His sovereignty and acknowledge
His Lord, His Lordship, but they couldn't say, He's my God and
my Lord. The Apostle put it this way,
I know whom I have believed and am persuaded He's able to keep
that which I've committed unto Him against that day. Well, here's
my third thought. I think that second point there
is something we need to think about. Salvation is not just
acknowledgement of Bible doctrine and facts. It's a vital union
with the living Lord Jesus Christ. It's to receive Him. As my old
preacher friend Maurice Montgomery used to say, it's hugging up
to Christ. It's loving Him in your heart
and receiving Him in your heart. Well, here's the third thing.
The Lord of Glory not only said He had all authority and power,
He proved it. He proved it. He demonstrated
it. He exercised His power, His authority. You see, He was manifested to
put away our sin and He was manifested to destroy the works of the devil.
He's my Lord and He's my God. Now, in this man, in this man
being healed, in this man being healed. In verse 25, 26 and 27, the Lord
of glory not only said he had authority and power, it's one
thing to say that, but it's quite another to demonstrate it and
to prove it. The Lord said in verse 25, Jesus
rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace. Come out of the man. And
when the unclean spirit had torn him, threw him to the ground,
this man, demon-possessed, and cried out with a loud voice,
he came out. And they were all amazed in so much that they questioned
among themselves, saying, What thing is this? What new doctrine
is it? For with authority he commandeth even the unclean spirits.
And they do obey him. Now, in this man being healed,
this man was helpless. Now you think about this. This
man went to the synagogue every Sabbath day. And the religion
of the Jews could do nothing for him. He just remained religious,
and he was just in that Jewish synagogue, and he was still demon-possessed. He was helpless! They were helpless!
Until the Master came on the scene. And in this man being
healed, we see how God, through Christ, saves sinners by His
grace, power, and purpose. You see, we all by nature, all
of us, whether we realize it or not, all of us by nature have
a fallen spirit. The Scripture says we're dead
in sin, spiritually dead. We all have this fallen Adam
nature that loves ourselves and is contrary to God, His Word
and His Gospel. We're all by nature captive of
sin under the dominion of Satan and under the bondage of the
law. That's us by nature, guilty before God, unable to do anything
to improve our condition. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Before we are conquered, before
we are conquered by His grace, we see no need for the Lord Jesus
Christ. We see no need for righteousness. We think we're pretty good folks.
We see no need to have our sin put away. You know, I've just
done a few things wrong. No, we've sinned against God. Before we are conquered by grace,
we see no need for Christ. We see no need for the gospel.
We say with this demon spirit, why don't you just leave me alone? I tell you, I pray that none
of you ever, ever say that in your heart. God, leave me alone. What a desperate, desperate condition
that must be. But before we're conquered by
grace, that's our attitude. Just leave me alone. I tell you,
but after God saves us by His grace, our prayer is, Lord, never
leave me alone. Never leave me alone. Here's
the last point. Thank God, He is a mighty conqueror. This hardened, depraved, wretched
sinner was no... was no... I'm trying to think
of the right word. He was not a case that was desperate
beyond help. With God, all things are possible
with God. Thank God, He's a mighty conqueror.
Thank God He doesn't leave us to ourselves. Thank God that
He conquers us and overcomes us by His grace. Find Colossians
chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2. There's
no sinner beyond God's power to save. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. Colossians chapter 2. What he
says here, he is the mighty conqueror. He is the one who is mighty to
save. He is the one who has all power in heaven and earth to
give eternal life to as many as God had given him. He is my
mighty God and conqueror. Colossians chapter 2, verse 13,
And you being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you
all trespasses. blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us.
He took it out of the way and nailed it to His cross. Having
spoiled, conquered, victory over principalities and powers, He
made a show of them openly, triumphing over them Himself. He is our
mighty Conqueror. There is no case too desperate
for the Lord. Well, who then can be saved?
The disciples asked. He said, with God, all things
are possible. We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us, thanks being to God who has given us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord commanded that unclean
spirit to come out, and he came out. God commands our salvation. Sinners are saved by the command,
the sovereign command, by the purpose and grace of Almighty
God. It's God who saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to God's own purpose
and grace, given us in Christ before the world began. And it
says, they were all amazed, saying, what is this? I'll tell you what
it is. It's salvation of the Lord. What
is this thing? What is this new thing? That
any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, a new creature. Old things are passed away and
behold, all things are become new. Aren't you glad he is a
mighty conqueror? Aren't you thankful that he was
able to subdue you and to conquer you and to save you by his sovereign
grace as he did this man? And we're going to see all through
the Scripture, if we study through the book of Mark, you're going
to see this over and over repeated over and over and over again,
demonstrating how He saves sinners just like you, by His purpose
and grace in Christ Jesus. And immediately fame spread abroad
throughout all the region, round about, Galilee. Okay, we'll end
our message there and next week we'll work on the remaining part
of this chapter. Mark chapter 11.