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[0:00] Take your Bibles and turn to Mark chapter 1, the Gospel of Mark, our second Gospel, Matthew, Mark in the New Testament.

[0:15] We'll continue reading from the first chapter, verse 21. Jesus has just called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to join him in his ministry of fishing for men.

[0:35] They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority and not as the teachers of the law.

[0:58] Just then, a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?

[1:12] I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Be quiet, said Jesus sternly. Come out of him.

[1:25] The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, What is this? A new teaching?

[1:42] And with authority? He even gives orders to evil spirits, and they obey him. News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

[1:59] Let's hear God's word. This was anything but an ordinary day at church in the synagogue at Capernaum that day.

[2:14] And from our passage, I want to point out four primary things, four main things. And the first is the primary activity of Jesus' ministry.

[2:25] If we could have the overhead, please. We saw last week at Jesus' baptism and temptation down in Judea, which is down here where he was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, and then was tempted by the devil.

[2:45] That when John was put into prison, the Lord Jesus went north into Galilee. This is that yellow-greenish section right there.

[2:59] And as he was walking along the Sea of Galilee here, he called four fishermen, Andrew and Peter and James and John, to follow him, and he would make them to become fishers of men.

[3:14] And then Mark tells us in verse 21 of our text, then he went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.

[3:24] Capernaum is right along the northern shore of the Lake of Galilee, or the Sea of Galilee. He had been rejected in his hometown of Nazareth, and he moved to Capernaum, and Capernaum becomes something of the headquarters from which he operates as he enters into this ministry, the Galilean ministry.

[3:52] Now, Galilee was not that large, about 30 by 30, actually the size of Marshall County times two.

[4:02] So you understand just what a small area we're talking about here in Galilee. You could get anywhere in Galilee from north to south, east to west, within two days' walk.

[4:17] Thank you, Ollie. That's enough. But if you wanted to find Jesus on the weekly Sabbath day, all you needed to do was to go to synagogue. That's where you'd find him, worshiping God.

[4:31] Now, Jesus was a rabbi, a teacher, and so he soon was asked to teach in the synagogue. And that's what we find him doing here in our text today.

[4:42] That when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. And here we see the first thing. The primary activity of Jesus' ministry was teaching.

[4:55] We saw this back in verse 14, that after John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.

[5:06] Preaching, proclaiming the word of God was Jesus' main activity. We'll see it the very next day, after the Sabbath, Jesus' disciples wake up, and they go out, and they find Jesus already up praying to his father.

[5:22] And they find him, they say, Lord, everyone's waiting for you. And Jesus says to them, let's go somewhere else, to the nearby villages, so I can preach there also.

[5:37] That's why I have come. Now, Jesus for sure did more than just preach and teach. As we'll see, he also cast out demons and worked many wonderful miracles.

[5:52] But his primary activity was teaching and preaching the word of God. Reading God's word. Explaining God's word.

[6:03] Illustrating God's word. And applying God's word. This, Jesus said, is the reason I have come. Men and women, boys and girls, need above all else to know what the living God says to them.

[6:21] They need to understand what he means by his words. They need to believe and obey it. Jesus' primary ministry was to teach and preach the word of God.

[6:37] And that's why in our worship, the primary activity, the primary activity, is the reading and preaching of God's word. That's why we have Sunday school classes for all ages to teach the word of God to them, each at their own level of understanding.

[6:55] And we have them for adult class as well. Are you taking advantage of that? I trust you are. Sadly, the primacy of preaching is being cut short in many churches of our day.

[7:07] And it's being replaced by all kinds of other things. Some good things, but lesser things, according to our Lord. Entertaining things sometimes, and sometimes even trivial things.

[7:21] No, the ministry, the preaching of God's word was Jesus' primary activity. And that's what he calls us ministers of the gospel. Our primary work is the ministry of the word of God.

[7:33] And if that's what our primary ministry is, then your primary duty is to be here and to receive that ministry.

[7:45] Are you giving it the priority that we see in our Lord's life? Hungry? Are you hungry? Are you thirsty to know what God says?

[7:58] How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to God's word. That's the way young ladies keep their way pure. And old ladies and old men.

[8:10] It's the word of God, as we saw on Sunday school. It's the word of God. This word from heaven that is able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. It's the Bible that sanctifies us by the truth.

[8:26] Your word is truth. We're born again through the living and abiding word of truth. We're warned in the scriptures and in the keeping of it, there's great reward.

[8:40] And so the primary activity of Jesus' ministry was preaching and teaching the word of God. The second thing we note is the primary note of his teaching.

[8:54] We read in verse 22 that the people were amazed at his teaching because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

[9:08] Now there were many things about our Lord's teaching that made it stand out as unique. There was his graciousness for his lips were anointed with grace.

[9:19] There was his clarity, his clear logic, his common sense, his simple illustrations from everyday life, the important topics that he dealt with.

[9:31] Not how to how to tithe your mint and cumin leaves, but rather where you will spend eternity in heaven or hell.

[9:42] Your eternal destiny. Weighty, important things. Yes, all of these things mark Jesus' teaching, but when the Bible gives summary statements of Jesus' teaching, more than once we see that the primary note, the one thing that stands out above all others is the authority of his teaching.

[10:08] Now, he said things that no other man had ever said. He said, whoever believes in me will live even though he dies. Whoever said that? He said, whoever believes in me will not perish but have everlasting life.

[10:23] He said, I and the Father are one. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I've come from heaven and I say only the things that my Father told me to say.

[10:36] And I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father except through me. And there is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words.

[10:49] The very word which I spoke will condemn you at the last day. These were things no one else had ever said but Jesus said them with authority.

[11:02] And it was not only the matter but the manner in which he taught. The people were amazed at his teaching because he taught them as one who had authority not as the teachers of the law.

[11:17] How did the teachers of the law teach? Well you see it in the Sermon on the Mount. They would drone on and on about Rabbi so and so says this but then again Rabbi so and so says this as if it's really up for debate and discussion.

[11:37] As if there's no objective standard of truth. just the interpretation of Hillel or Gamaliel or some other famous rabbi. But an altogether different note was struck when Jesus sat down and began to teach.

[11:54] You see it there in the Sermon on the Mount over and over. He says you've heard that it was said but I say to you I say to you.

[12:06] No one ever talked like that. As if his word was the ultimate authority on the matter. Who is this Jesus? He wasn't posting 95 theses on some door for debate among the rabbis.

[12:22] No. He was giving the final word on the matter. He was the end of all debate. The true interpretation. The true application.

[12:33] and even the inspired Old Testament prophets never spoke like Jesus did. When they would introduce something that they were going to say or write it was thus saith the Lord. Ah but now the Lord is here in the flesh.

[12:48] And Jesus as Lord says but I say to you. He spoke with an authority that amazed the people. The word means shock them.

[12:59] It astonished them. They were dumbfounded. They were they didn't know what to do. Spellbound. They never heard teaching was such authority before. A little later in the history of Jesus ministry when Jesus was teaching at the temple you remember that the Jewish leader sent the temple guards to arrest Jesus.

[13:21] They didn't like what he was teaching and so the temple guards went to arrest Jesus. When they came back they were empty handed and the scribes and Pharisees said why didn't you bring him in?

[13:35] And he said no man ever spoke like this man. The authority they went to arrest him and his words arrested them.

[13:49] They couldn't arrest him. They couldn't keep from being arrested by his words and gave testimony to it to these high ranking leaders of the Jews.

[14:02] The sheer weight of his word clothed with a divine authority for he spoke the very words of God.

[14:14] He is God and the Holy Spirit was upon him without measure and that word came with all authority as he spoke it. Are you amazed at the authority of Jesus words?

[14:29] The Bible? Does it astonish you? Does it grab hold of you and say there's nothing like it anywhere else in all the world? Any philosopher, any teacher, any wise man?

[14:41] There's nothing like this. It's unique for its authority. Or do you respond to the words of Jesus with a ho-hum?

[14:54] Okay, I've heard that before. Mark is revealing the identity of Jesus in his gospel. He is God. And he speaks with the very authority of God.

[15:09] So we've seen the first two primary things and the primary activity of Jesus' ministry. It was teaching and preaching. And the primary note of his teaching was authority, divine authority.

[15:23] And as these weighty words of Jesus were amazing to people in the synagogue that day, just then, immediately, a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, what do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

[15:39] Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. And in this event, we see the third primary, thing, the primary enemy of Jesus.

[15:53] Now, here's Jesus. He's speaking the good news from heaven, the way that people can be saved from eternal torments. And at once, opposition arises.

[16:07] Isn't that interesting? Here's people perishing in their sins. Here comes Jesus, the light of the world, with the good news from heaven. You can be saved. And as soon as he's preaching that message, there's this cry of an evil spirit to oppose him in his primary ministry of preaching.

[16:29] Now, we're going to see that the Jewish religious leaders from all the different camps were going to oppose Jesus. They didn't like what he said. The Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Herodians, the scribes, the Pharisees, they were all turned against Jesus.

[16:45] But what Mark wants us to realize right up front in his gospel is this, that behind all human opposition against Jesus stands the primary enemy of Jesus.

[17:01] And that is Satan and his kingdom of darkness, a spiritual kingdom that you cannot see, but it's real. Now, a bit of Bible history and teaching is important here.

[17:18] We share the universe with spirit beings. Human beings aren't the only ones in the universe. There are supernatural angelic beings, a higher order created by God, created good by God and upright.

[17:37] Spirit beings in that they have no bodies, though when they come to earth and appear to man and bring messages, they often took on a body.

[17:49] Satan is such a spirit being. He was an angel of God of high rank, but he grew proud and was not satisfied with his rank, and so he rebelled against God, his creator.

[18:03] And many other angels joined him in that rebellion against God. These are the fallen angels that Jude 1.6 says did not keep their original rank, their original position of authority, and together they comprise this kingdom of darkness with Satan as their prince and ruler.

[18:25] So these fallen angels are sometimes called demons, they're sometimes called unclean spirits, they're unfit for God who is holy, or they're sometimes called evil spirits, and that is all to distinguish them from the holy angels, or the elect angels as they're referred to in the Bible.

[18:45] Those who never fell and are the ones that God sends to minister to those who will inherit eternal life. The kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of light.

[18:59] Well, these evil spirits were not content to just rebel against God in heaven, but they've come down to earth to spread their rebellion here. You remember it in Genesis 3, Satan takes the form of a serpent and came and deceived Eve, and through her got Adam, the representative of the whole human race, to join the rebellion and to sin against God, and thereby sink the whole world into sin and death and condemnation.

[19:27] 1 John 5, 19 says that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. That's where Adam's sin has plunged us, under the control of the evil one.

[19:48] Satan's a usurper. The kingdom of this world does not really belong to him, but he seized it for himself in a coup d'etat, bringing all men into this spiritual bondage and imprisonment of sin, and all of it in such a deceitful way that people think they're really free.

[20:10] Bondage? I'm not in any bondage. I'm doing whatever I want. I'm not listening to what anyone says to me. And that's just the lie the devil wants men thinking.

[20:23] Thinking they're free, when in reality they have chains stronger than the strongest chains that you've ever seen on earth. Chains of sin. Because when you answer the question, well, what is it that you are doing?

[20:37] You are doing exactly what the devil wants you to do. You're sinning against God. You're rebelling against. Can you not see? You're under the control of the evil one, and you do not even realize it.

[20:50] He wants you sinning against God. He wants you ignoring Jesus Christ, being content to live without him, lest he should lose a slave to the kingdom of Christ.

[21:03] Now, all of this is under God's sovereign rule. Yes, Satan rules over this earth. That's all a part of God's plan.

[21:15] God and Satan are not equals. Satan, as Luther says, is God's Satan. He created him for a purpose. He is fulfilling the purpose of God.

[21:26] He's doing nothing but what God's permission and purpose have ordained for him. He's given this time of control and rule over the world. But you remember, as soon as Satan got Adam and Eve to sin against God and to join his hostile rebellion, God announced his eternal plan to send a redeemer to rescue people from that kingdom of darkness.

[21:52] Genesis 3.15, God says to Satan, I'm going to put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.

[22:05] You see, it had been Adam and Eve and God over here in the garden and the devil and the devil comes in by temptation. He gets Adam and Eve to join him in that rebellion.

[22:17] And now the hostility is between Adam and Eve and Satan against God. Romans 8.7, the natural man is hostility against God.

[22:29] And so that's how it was after Genesis 3. And God says, now I'm going to put the hostility not between the woman and God. God says, I'm going to put the hostility between you and the woman.

[22:44] Here's the hostility. That's what my redeemer is going to do. He's going to bring them out of that dominion of darkness and bring them back to the father's side.

[22:56] That's what he announced as early as Genesis 3.15. And this redeemer will crush your head, Satan, and you will bruise his heel. Mark is saying that redeemer born of woman is here.

[23:16] He's Jesus. As Jesus proclaimed, the time has come. The kingdom of God is at hand. The king is here. He's here to crush the skull of Satan.

[23:31] First John 3.8, the reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. He's come to destroy him. He's come to bring the kingdom of God to earth and to establish his kingdom in the hearts of men who will hear him and obey him and trust him and love and serve him.

[23:54] But as he comes into the world, he finds all men's hearts are bound by Satan. And what does this tell us? Well, it tells us that Jesus is going to have to establish his kingdom in enemy territory on the rubble of Satan's kingdom.

[24:14] Everyone in the kingdom of God comes from the kingdom of Satan, the usurped kingdom of darkness. Ah, but Colossians 1.13 says that he rescued us out of the dominion of darkness and put us in the kingdom of the son of the father whom he loves.

[24:33] And how does he do this? Through the preaching and teaching of the gospel from God, calling men to turn from darkness, to turn from sin and Satan, and to come and to trust in Jesus to save them.

[24:46] And so as Jesus comes into Galilee, preaching that message, that gospel of salvation, of people sitting in darkness, we're seeing a great light.

[24:58] And at once, Jesus runs into stiff opposition from Satan's kingdom. And even in the very synagogue where God was to be worshipped, there Satan's demon has entered into and possessed this poor sinful man.

[25:17] He's not about to let the kingdom of God claim this one for the kingdom of light. This demon has occupied, written over this man's heart.

[25:28] No room for you, Jesus. He's mine. Suddenly, this man cries out with the demon speaking through him, what do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

[25:42] Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Notice the demon knows the identity of Jesus of Nazareth. The people don't even know his identity.

[25:57] That's why Mark is writing the gospel. That's why Jesus is preaching and doing miracles. You are the Holy One of God.

[26:11] You know, the other demon possession accounts in the gospel reveal the same thing. They call Jesus the Son of the Most High. They call him the Son of God. Here it's the Holy One of God.

[26:24] These are identifications of the full deity of Jesus. They know he is the eternal God, the Son. In other words, they know and confess what liberal scholars today will not confess.

[26:44] They know and confess what the religious leaders of the Jews rejected. That Jesus is God in the flesh. The man from Nazareth is the God from heaven.

[26:57] The God-man. God. And not only do the demons know the identity of Jesus, they also know something of his mission. Have you come to destroy us? That is exactly why he's come.

[27:09] Remember? He's come to destroy the works of the devil. They know that. They were told that back in the garden in Genesis 3.15.

[27:20] They know their destiny is destruction, that eternal torment day and night without relief awaits them. they know that Jesus has come to crush the serpent's head, their prince, and to crush his kingdom, including them.

[27:38] And for that, they both hate and fear Jesus. And they continue to do all they can to oppose him and his kingdom. If you're without Jesus Christ this morning, you are the battlefield on which this battle is being fought.

[27:53] It's a fight for your soul, your everlasting body and soul that will spend eternity in heaven or hell. And what we see here is still true.

[28:05] This unclean spirit comes to oppose the gospel. Where? Right in the synagogue. Remember Jesus' parable of the sower? And some seed fell on the hard-packed ground.

[28:18] And as soon as it hit the ground, the crows came and snatched it away. This is Satan snatching away. Where? In church. He's ready to pounce on the very words I'm preaching to you as soon as you hear it to distract you, to carry your thoughts elsewhere so that that word will not take effect.

[28:36] Do you see the hatred of the kingdom of darkness for your soul, my friend? They work overtime to keep you out of heaven, to make your heart sermon-proof.

[28:51] To crowd it out with other thoughts of what's going to happen later today, this week, what happened last week. Anything but consider your great problem of sin that's bringing to an eternal hell.

[29:07] Anything to keep your thoughts from learning about the wonderful Savior Jesus Christ sent from heaven to save you from your sin so that you might not perish but have eternal life.

[29:18] no, no, that must be kept out of your mind. You say, well, I'm not possessed by a demon like this man. He doesn't need to possess you if he has you believing the law.

[29:31] Why does he need to do that? You're just thinking, I'm okay, I can make it without Jesus. Jesus. There will come a time when you will need Jesus and you face this holy God.

[29:51] And if your sins are not washed away in the blood of Jesus as we said, you have a hell to pay for sin. Oh, but why when Jesus has come and has died in the place of sinners?

[30:04] sinners. Did you know that God never sent his son? He never sent a Savior to save the fallen angels. These spirit beings, higher beings than us, yet when they fell, God did not send a Savior for them.

[30:23] Hebrews 2 specifically says that. That Jesus did not take the form of an angel to come and to save angels. But he did take our form. He became a human being to come and save sinful human beings.

[30:38] Isn't that amazing? He bypassed the fallen angels, but he comes to you, my sinner friend, with a Savior offering eternal life to you.

[30:51] Oh, how good God is. Jesus. So these fallen angels, they know their salvation is offered to you.

[31:06] Salvation is offered to you. They don't want you to hear it, consider it, think about it, do anything about it. And they do all that they can to occupy you with anything but Jesus.

[31:18] If you die without Christ, my friend, your punishment will be doubly deserved, doubly devastating. First, for rebelling against your good and gracious creator.

[31:30] And secondly, for rejecting the one and only Savior he sent to save sinners. sinners. Why?

[31:41] When he's so willing and able to save you. Well, the primary enemy of Jesus is Satan and his kingdom of darkness. And if you're outside of Christ, you need to get into Christ.

[31:55] Today, now, now is the time. Well, the last of the four primaries is the primary lesson of this miracle. Jesus, we see, is not at all flattered with the demons.

[32:07] His confession of who he is and his mission. We'll see this again next week. But Jesus does not want advertisement for the gospel from a demon, from the kingdom of darkness.

[32:20] Neither is this the time for his full disclosure as the Holy One of God. And so Jesus immediately rebukes him. It's a sharp word. Be quiet, Jesus sternly says, and come out of him.

[32:32] Hush up and get out, Jesus says. The demon obeys at once, even though it's against his will. And he shows that with a final burst of rage.

[32:45] The evil spirit shook the man violently, convulsed him and came out of him with a shriek, a kind of shriek that would send shivers up our spine if we heard it in this room today. And the response of the people was what?

[32:58] More amazement. Amazement. I mean, they were amazed before. It's just his teaching. But now, verse 27 says, the people were also amazed and they asked one another. What is this?

[33:11] A new teaching. Yes, Jesus has come and said, the time has come. This is the age of fulfillment. All that the Old Testament was saying was come. Here's the newness. I'm here.

[33:22] Messiah's come. A new teaching. And with authority. What kind of a... He even gives orders to the evil spirits and they obey him. There were no incantations.

[33:36] There were no formulas or spells such as the phony Jewish exorcists would use. Just a few words. Hush up and come out.

[33:52] But what power? They had to obey. They couldn't resist this authority. And out the evil spirit came. And they were left amazed at the authority of Jesus' words taught and at the authority of his words driving out demons.

[34:11] And it's the same authority. You see, it's one and the same authority. It's the authority of God. God is speaking. God is more strong than Satan and his kingdom. So that's the primary lesson of the miracle.

[34:23] That Jesus' power and authority as God is more great than Satan's kingdom. So on earth is not Satan's equal, but here is a man from heaven who is more than his equal.

[34:40] And that's the lesson of this expulsion. Demonstrating the power of God in Christ's spoken word.

[34:53] Now, demon possession greatly increased during Jesus' public ministry. It's like all hell broke loose to rise up to oppose Jesus when he came on his mission. And so we'll see casting out demons was not just this first time in Capernaum that Mark records, but it's a significant part of all of Jesus' earthly ministry.

[35:16] And these were signs, Jesus' expulsions of these demons were signs that the kingdom of heaven has come. It clearly showed Jesus' dominance over Satan and his demons.

[35:28] So this is the first miracle that Mark records in his gospel. And it reveals something about Jesus' identity, who he is, the Holy One of God.

[35:40] and his mission, to destroy the works of the devil and undo what he has done. And though the devil is strong, Jesus, the king, is stronger.

[35:53] Just a word, and the demons obey him. In Luke's gospel, we have in chapter 11 these words. Jesus said, if I drive out demons by the finger or the spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

[36:08] You can know it's here. The king's here with greater power than Satan. He goes on and says, when a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions inside are safe.

[36:21] But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils. And Jesus is giving an illustration of what we don't see with our eyes.

[36:33] It's this struggle in the unseen world. The spiritual struggle. And here's what it's like. It's like a strong man standing on his front porch and there's his house and every window and doorway is barred and he stands fully armed with all the ammunition he needs to keep out anyone from coming to release the prisoners inside or from them breaking out of his prison house of sin.

[37:03] And so that's the situation that Jesus finds as he comes into the world. Satan guarding his subjects, keeping them prisoners to sin.

[37:17] Oh, but Jesus says, but when a stronger man, a stronger man attacks and overpowers him, he then takes away the armor in which the man trusted and he goes in and he spoils him.

[37:33] He divides up the spoils. That's what Jesus is saying I'm doing. When you see me casting out demons, I'm the strong man from heaven and I've come to destroy the devil and his works and I'm going into his kingdom and I'm laying hold of captives and bringing out prisoners.

[37:49] That was foretold in the Old Testament, Isaiah 61, that the spirit of the Lord is upon him. To do what? To set the captives free. He's not talking about going into some prisons somewhere.

[38:02] He's talking about you and me. We were prisoners to Satan and he's come to set us free. Bless the Father for sending the strong man from heaven to set us free.

[38:16] And dear Christian, Satan is not only Jesus' primary enemy, he is your primary enemy. That's the teaching of the New Testament in Ephesians chapter 6. Don't think that it's some person, this one or that, that's your real enemy.

[38:32] No, the real enemy is not physical. It's not flesh and blood. But it's authorities, powers, spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

[38:47] And maybe he's, and he can't possess you. If you're a child of God, you are occupied. There's no, no way in.

[38:59] The Holy Spirit fills you. The evil spirit cannot occupy you. You cannot be possessed by an evil spirit, but you can be oppressed by an evil spirit.

[39:11] You can be depressed by an evil spirit. You will be tempted by an evil spirit, harassed by evil spirits, condemned and excused by evil spirits with all kinds of strategies to get you sin, to get you to sin, to make you miserable, and to make you a miserable advertisement for Jesus, the Redeemer.

[39:32] You're not up for the fight. He's a supernatural being with supernatural demons.

[39:44] So be strong in the Lord and His mighty power. Take on you the full armor of God with which you can withstand all the stratagems of the evil one. So that having stood against Him in that day of evil and temptation, after you've done everything to be found standing.

[40:06] There's our answer. He may be tempting you to anxiety, to worry, to anger, to lust, to greed, to pride, to unbelief.

[40:22] But take heart, brothers and sisters. You have a strong Savior, more mighty to save than Satan is to tempt. Greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world.

[40:34] So, this was the event. These are the primary things that we learn. What is the response required of us? Well, it's nothing less than the obedience of faith.

[40:47] You know, it's not enough to know why Jesus, who Jesus is and why He came. It's not enough to know that Jesus is the Son of God, that He's the Savior of sinners, died on a cross, rose the third day, ascended in heaven, coming back to judge the world.

[41:00] The demons know this and tremble because of it, but they are not saved. Don't rest in a bare head knowledge of biblical facts.

[41:11] That is not faith. Sadly, some preachers are saying all faith is, it's just nodding the head to those facts about Jesus. The demons were nodding. The demons were confessing.

[41:22] They know. J.C. Ryle says, the distance between heaven and hell is about 12 inches, the distance from your head to your heart. If all you have is head knowledge about Jesus, but you have not believed in Him from your heart, you're still lost.

[41:43] Come to Jesus. Surrender to Jesus. Entrust yourself to Jesus. That's what true saving faith is. You see, you may have a life-threatening disease and be blessed to have the medicine for that life-threatening disease.

[42:01] It may be as near to you as your bed stand, but knowing that that will save your life doesn't save your life. You have to get that inside of you.

[42:13] And it's that way with the gospel. You can know everything about Jesus Christ. He's the only Savior from hell there is. He's come to save sinners. Sinners like me.

[42:27] I can know all of that. He's done enough on the cross. He's done enough to make me a child. But that's not going to say I have to receive Christ, you see.

[42:38] I have to receive Him as my Lord and Savior. I have to trust my whole being unto Him to be my Savior. So it's not enough just to know the facts about Jesus.

[42:52] The demons do. And they're not saved. Neither is it enough to be amazed at the authority of Jesus. It's not enough to be amazed that, wow, He speaks with authority.

[43:04] Wow. The demons obey Him. He has a divine authority. He has a divine authority. These very Capernaian slave or churchgoers, in the end, most of them did not receive Jesus.

[43:23] They heard Jesus preached. They heard who He was. They were even amazed. They saw His miracles. They were even amazed at His powerful authority.

[43:38] But they did not believe. They did not commit themselves to that Savior. They did not bow in repentance and turn from their sinful way and trust Jesus to save them.

[43:49] As privileged as they were to hear His teaching and to see His authority, they did nothing about it. They just continued on in their way. And that's what Jesus tells us. What do you need to do to be damned?

[44:02] Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Your sins have already condemned you. No, what you need to do to be saved is to throw yourself upon the mercy of God in Christ.

[44:17] But if you do nothing, you stay in a state of condemnation. This is how Jesus put it. He began, Mark 11, 20, Jesus began to, this is later, began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles had been performed because they did not repent.

[44:35] Why did He denounce them? Not for something they did, for what they didn't do. They didn't repent. They heard Him. They were amazed at Him. But they didn't repent. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies?

[44:46] No, you'll go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you, it'll be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.

[44:59] Oh, be sure you get into Christ. Be sure that you receive Christ as Savior and Lord. And not just rest in the fact that you know a whole lot about Jesus and that you're even amazed and astonished at what He's done.

[45:17] The gospel is not God sent His one and God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son into the world that whoever is amazed at Him should not perish. It's that whoever believes upon Him puts all your weight upon Jesus.

[45:34] well, the news about Him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee. You know, that same news about Jesus has made its way all the way over here to our land.

[45:47] Think how far we are from Galilee and that news has come. What have you done with it? Have you embraced it? Have you believed on this Savior? There are demons at work to keep you from believing.

[45:58] Oh, press into the kingdom. It's being taken by violence. Those who are, I'm going to stomp on everything between me and Jesus. I've got to get to Jesus.

[46:09] He's my only hope and He's more willing to save you than you are to be saved yourself by Him. He is the Lord of hosts.

[46:20] That's what Lord Sabaoth means. Lord of the armies of heaven and earth. Romans 16, 20 says, the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

[46:33]  The grace of your Lord Jesus Christ be with you.