The Gospel of Mark 1:21-34

For e you all hello well good morning church it's good to see you all here in the house of the Lord this morning you know it really makes my heart glad that it becomes harder and harder to you know get the microphone to sound over your cheerful voices talking to one another that's that's a good thing it wasn't that long ago whenever it was just dead silent so it's a good and joyous thing to be together at this time I'd invite you to Bow your heads and close your eyes and ask the Lord to prepare your hearts for worship it's this is a time that is it's special God has called us here together to praise His holy name together and so I just take a moment to ask God to prepare you Lord as we come before you this morning I pray that you would help us to focus on who you are and what you've done for us Lord I pray that you would help us to throw off the things that would distract us this morning I pray that you'd help us to Worship in spirit and in truth Lord because that's what you desire from us today a sacrifice of praise God I pray that as we worship through through song and as we worship through hearing your word preached and even as we worship as we go out of here Lord you would be on the Forefront of our minds it's in Jesus name we pray amen I'd invite you to stand and join me as we sing together [Music] come behold the wondrous

Mysty in the dawning of the king he the theme of Heaven's Praises robed in brail human in our longing in our Darkness now the light of life has come look to Christ who condescended took on flesh to Ransom [Music] us come behold the wonderous myy be the perfect son of man in his living in his suffering never Trace nor state of sin see the true and better Adam come to save the Hellbound man Christ The Great and sure for fulfillment of the LA in him we [Music] stand come behold theous mysty Christ the Lord upon a tree in thead of Ruin sers H the lamb in Victory see the price of our Redemption see the father's plan unfold bringing many sons to Glory Grace unur love [Music] un come behold the wonderous mystery slain by death the God of life but no grave could restrain him praise the Lord he is alive what a foraste of Deliverance how unwavering Our Hope Christ inow were resurrected as we will be when he comes what a for Taste of Deliverance how unwavering Our Hope Christ in power resurrected as we will be when he comes what a foraste of Deliverance how

Uning our hope Christ in power resurrected as we will be when he [Music] comes you can be seated good church church and thank you being our we ask this in Jesus name we pray amen Matthew 28 vers 18 20 and Jesus came up and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in and on Earth go and make disciples of all the nations the name of father and the Hove all that I command you and I am with you always this next song that we're going to sing is a new song for you probably it's going to be our song of the month and it's called Lord have mercy it's a song of confession a song where we just pour out our hearts to God about the our missteps the sins that are in our lives and ask him for forgiveness and we know of course that if we are in Christ the price has been paid but repentance is still a part of the Christian's walk and so I thought a song of repentance is something that we need so I'd like to teach you just the chorus if we can skip over to the chorus Larry I didn't tell him I'm doing this so that's on me here it is Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us Lord have mercy Christ have Mercy Lord have mercy on us so it's pretty simple I think you'll get it when we get there but I invite

You at this moment you can stand or sit or kneel in prayer whatever you think you need to do to be worshipful this [Music] morning for what we have done and left undone we fall on your countless meres for sins that are known and those unnown we call on your name so for eny and pride for closing our eyes for scorning our very neighor unth thought word and deed we failed you our King How Deeply we need a Savior Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have us for what you have done your life of love you perfectly lived we praise you though temped and DED you fixed your eyes you finished the work God gave you and there on a tree a king among th you bled for the world's [Music] betrayal you love to the end a merciful friend how pure and forever faithful Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have mercy on us Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have

On [Music] for hearts that are cold for seing control for scoring our very maker in thought word and deed we failed you our King How Deeply we need aord Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have mercy Mery on us Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us Lord have mercy Christ have mercy Lord have on us How Deeply we need a Savior and how great that Savior [Music] is do you feel the world is broken do you feel the Shadows deepen we do but do you know that all the dark wanton stop the light from getting through do you wish that you could see it all made new we do is all creation [Music] groaning is a new creation coming is the glory of the Lord to Be The Light Within our

Midst it is it good that we remind ourselves of this it is anyone Worthy is anyone [Music] anyone is anyone able to take the seal and open the scroll the lion of Judah who conquered the grave he David's root and the lamb who died to Ransom the slave is he Worthy is he worthy of all blessing and honor and glory is he Worthy [Music] does the father truly love us he does the spirit move Among Us he does and is Jesus our Messiah hold forever those he loves he does our God intend to dwell again with us he [Music] does is anyone Worthy is [Music] anyone is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll the lion of Judah who conquered the grave and the lambed to rans the from every people and tribe every nation and Tong he has made us a kingdom and priest to God to rain with the sun is he Worthy is he worthy of all blessing and honor and Glory is he Worthy is he [Music] worth He [Music] is he Worthy is he worthy he is

He [Music] is amen Lord you are so worthy beyond our comprehension beyond our imagination God we thank you this morning for the great gift of Salvation that even in our weakness Lord you have redeemed us Lord even though we still struggle with sin we can have a great confidence in the Savior who is worthy who lived a perfect life that we couldn't live and died the death that we deserved so that we might be reconciled Lord I pray that you would help us to continue worshiping this morning as we hear from your word as we go out among the people of camon Lord that they might see our worship and wonder it's in Jesus name we pray amen okay children it's that time I see some of you got into my candies prematurely I got a good lesson for you then it's on Authority I'm just kidding it is on though all right yeah so today the theme is Authority and so I want to do a little lesson and teach you guys what that is okay and just for the sake of what we're trying to do here basically Authority gives the right or power to someone or a group of people the ability or right or power to create rules guidelines laws and then to enforce them okay and so I'm going to show you guys a couple pictures of different authorities I want you to tell me what they are and what they might be used for what's that police and what do they enforce prot yeah they protect us from villains that's right okay so that would be under that's a type of authority yeah who's this

What's this a parent a parent and what's he doing he's teaching his kid a Lon yeah he's he's proba and what I like about this picture is he's teaching him okay he's got his own arms out open and the child is receiving his instruction okay that's good now this one's my favorite what's this I couldn't find a good picture of a Baptist preacher exercising Church Authority and by disciplining a member so this was the next thing yes this is the pope exercising his authority and disciplining Frederick II by stepping on him okay and it's a wonderful picture we don't do that we don't do that here in the Souther Baptist Churches no we don't all right okay all right well the point that I'm trying to make here guys is that God has given all of these authorities to us for our own good but they all have their limits okay so for example Oliver would I be able to go into your home at 6 o'clock in the evening and say Oliver it's time for bed there's new rules in the fuel household and bedtime is six o'clock and but you get to eat as much candy as you want okay would I be able to do that no why not because God hasn't given me that right I am not your father mother yeah what about I would be a weirdo what about what about the church what if a pastor from another church came in here in the middle of Cody's Ser Pastor Cody's sermon is like uhuh that's all wrong he took the mic and said hey he took the mic and said nope you need to be this is all wrong and on top of that you need to start gathering on Saturdays do you think another Pastor could just come in here and do that why not he doesn't have that Authority God has given that to the local leaders here in this congregation that's right and of

Course if the government came into our household and said you're only allowed to have one child or came into the church and said you can't Worship On this day or that day do they have that right as the government no because God has given them limited Authority that's right well there is someone who does not have these limitations do you guys know who that is it's Jesus specifically Jesus what does he say we read it this morning can you guys read that together all authority in heaven Earth has been given to me that's right all authority in heaven and on Earth that means Jesus is Lord over your parents okay that means he's Lord over the church leaders that means he's Lord over our government and everybody is accountable to him and he has something to say within each of these different areas of authority but for you guys let's talk about you guys you guys have it real easy okay who is your Authority right over you immediately it's your parents and you know what God says if God has given all these different authorities over us does he do that for our good or for he does it for our good right because he loves us and you know what you're and because Jesus loves you he has given you guys one simple commandment to honor your mother and your father because he wants you guys to grow up to be good he wants you guys to grow up to and be safe and to be healthy okay and your parents do a good job at this right they help you guys they teach you guys and so we want you guys to understand that it is a good thing to honor your mother and father so that comes from the Lord now I'm going to give you guys some candies and as a lesson you need to go and talk to your authority to see if you can have one okay I have one all right

Let's pray first dear heavenly father we thank you so much for these children we thank you for just the gift that they are the Innocents sometimes not so innocent but Lord they are a blessing from you to us Lord help us to Steward them and to teach them and to exercise our Authority with fear and reverence from you knowing that you have given charge of them to us Lord help us to hear from your word this morning open up our hearts we pray these things in Jesus name amen okay come over here what a blessing to see all these kids amen hey Lily go give yours to one of the little ones no yeah give her one all right well if you have your Bible and I hope that you do turn with me to Mark chapter 1 verse 21 as you guys know we are talking about Authority and for even us adults there are many authorities in our lives for children and teenagers you might have parents or teachers if you're an adult maybe it's your boss or perhaps your husband if you're a married woman could be the elders here at FBC as Thomas pointed out could be police officers or leaders in governments they are physical representatives of authority of some kind although in a limited way and all of these examples of authority are very frail comparisons to the true Authority that Jesus Christ has and today in our passage we are going to see Christ's Authority revealed in three different areas and as Fallen creatures we are often times tempted to overthrow The Authority that God has placed in our lives remember that was Satan's greatest sin to attempt to overthrow the Lord of

Heaven and that did not work well for him it's why wives desire things that are contrary to their husbands because it's an authority issue it's why men go to war it's why children disobey their parents it's a desire for wrongly placed Authority but as we will see today when people that God he has given all authority to Jesus Christ you see when people do not rightly regard Authority what happens is it leads to conflict wives may attempt to lead their husbands which is sinful amen some of you women are like that's Medlin right there but it's also just as sinful as a husband that does not lead his wife amen and a lot of you husbands didn't say Amen very loud there either church members they may buck up against pastoral Authority which is just as sinful as when a pastor abuses that Authority that's been given to him amen woo could be people assaulting officers which is just as sinful as officers abusing that Authority but as we will see Christ he has genuine Authority not Authority that's been given to him by a population or even a higher power because Christ is fully God there is no higher power it is authority of his own that we're going to be studying about today and so if you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read Mark chap 1 starting in verse 21 through 34 God's word says this and they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching and they were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one who had Authority and not as the scribes and

Immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit and he cried out whatat have you to do with us Jesus of Nazareth have you come to destroy us I know who you are the Holy One Of God but Jesus rebuked him saying be silent and come out of him and the unclean Spirit convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice came out and they were all amazed so that they question among themselves saying what is this a new teaching with authority He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him and at once his Fame spread everywhere throughout all the rounding region of Galilee and immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John now Simon Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever and immediately they told him about her and he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up and the fever left her and she began to serve them that evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons and the whole city was gathered together at the door and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons and he would not permit the demons to speak because they knew him let's pray together so God this morning as we talk about Authority we pray that you would help us to fully submit to your Authority your lordship your kingship Lord over every aspect of Our Lives if there are areas in our lives that are not under your Authority I pray that we would hear in our hearts mine and may that be your voice Lord and that you would declare that authority over them and over myself Lord as you've just dealt very sternly with me this week over this passage God Lord I pray that we would experience a bit more of your Authority and that as we submit more and more that we would see greater

Blessings and that you would just continue to sanctify us according to your word help me as a poor preacher so many times I just stand up here and I just feel like I'm babbling Lord but I pray that your Holy Spirit would take my babblings and transform them into good seeds that fall on good soil God we love you we thank you for your kindness in Jesus name amen well as you guys may remember last week brother Nick one of our deacons he preached an awesome sermon last week didn't he did a fantastic job and so I stepped it up this week for you guys to kind of compensate for I'm messing with y'all messing with you Nick love you brother but Christ he called Peter and Andrew and James and John to himself along the coast of the Sea of Galilee that now this City this Village of Capernaum it's a city that is situated on the north side of the river this is the city of Capernaum you can go there today it's pretty much all just desolate right now you see the cypress trees are growing up there you see just it's it's just ruins now but those are first century ruins it was a population of about 1600 people at the time of Christ it pretty pretty large export of fish that's our main export at this time and they had a Roman tax polling station there that was in use during the time of Christ it also had a synagogue this synagogue if you can't tell those are actual steps well actually chairs that are right there where Jewish people would gather they would hear and they would hear the law read and scribes they would explain the text in synagogues they came into use during the intertestamental period That's a period after the Book of Malachi and before John the Baptist comes on to the scene it's a period of

Silence from God for 400 years there are no new prophets there are no New Revelations and what happens is that the Jewish people they set up these little teaching centers all around Israel for the regular e expounding of God's word and that's what would happen after the Jewish people came back from the Exile and they set up places to hear the law of God read they had all these different teachers that would go around and then the teachers started getting specialized and that's where we get the scribes from and we'll talk about the scribes at length throughout the Book of Mark so we won't go too deep into that right now but the synagogues they were lined on both sides this is just one side of the synagogue it wraps all the way around and the preacher would just stand in the middle of everyone and that's how he would expound the text and he would explain the text and when scribes would preach they would preach and say things well Rabbi halel says this about this text or Rabbi Joseph explained it this way and wrote this and what happened was that the scribes pretty much became the professionals and instead of expounding the text plainly for the people to hear they committed what's called theological hearsay in other words instead the text changing their hearts and wrestling with the Lord over his word the scribes they would just impress people with their knowledge of commentaries and what people had said it was like a college professor who is teaching about Europe but has never gone to Europe has never held an artifact in his hand and never seen where William the Conqueror walked and all it is it's just all in the head and never dealt with in the heart but on the Sabbath day the people they gathered to hear Jesus Christ of Nazareth this Prophet priest

And he was teaching them and the people were astonished by his preaching and why is that it's because and you were going to want to write this down if we're if you're taking notes sorry the authority of Jesus in teaching when people heard De Jesus teach it would have inspired a bumper sticker that said something like Jesus said it that settles it right and in fact this word Authority it's the Greek word exusia which means power it means jurisdiction it means ruler it's a compound word that word X is like exit it means to proceed out of to go out from X and then the root word is usia which is being Divine truth and so it's proceeding out of his divinity this Authority and this authoritative declaration of this is the word of God and so Christ's Authority it's not superficial it is very real it was on Earth then and it's still reigning now because Christ has all authority Jesus has substance when he speaks it is weighty and it moves the heart of his people to consider exactly what it is that he's trying to say it's not needless it's not flowery it's direct and it's out of a position of Truth and this was completely different teaching this is why the crowds they listened intently and they hung on to every single word that was proceeding out of the mouth of Christ because they had never heard anything like that when Jesus's most famous sermon ever preached it's a Sermon on the Mount he said I you have heard it said but I say to you and why is that it's because they have been taught by the scribes you've heard it said this but I say to you because I come from a place of authority you've heard it said by scribes you've heard it said by rulers even in the Old Testament Scriptures but I say to you why because Jesus has all

Authority especially in teaching and what he did was he clarified the spirit of the Old Testament law for our benefit because Jesus was not just teaching about the word of God Jesus was teaching God Hudson Taylor the great missionary to China he said this he said there are three great truths firstly that there is a God and secondly he has spoken to us in the Bible and thirdly he means what he says I understand the irony of talking about scribes quot a bunch of people get it but Christian when you are faced with God's word have you ever been tempted to skip over portions that you don't particularly like are you tempted to gloss over the uncomfortable Parts the hard Parts the theologically difficult Parts because they really don't jive with what you necessarily agree with and when that happens that is an opportunity for you in your walk with the Lord to submit to his authority and say to God I don't understand how all of this fits together I don't I don't understand it but what I do know about you is that you are always righteous that you are always loving that you are always just and so God help me to believe what you've said about yourself and to submit to your Authority it's part of the reason why I preach like I do get compliments on how I preach and why do we take a book and we just go through it well it's because many times what pastors and preachers have done in the past is they just take texts by themselves and they just preach around all of the difficult stuff and they never deal with it when we take a book of the Bible you know we got to talk about Daniel 70 weeks and the different views we got to talk about Esther and all the hard things as we

Go through Mark we're not going to skip over the different passages that we may feel that are uncomfortable and you know what happens is that makes us better Believers why well it's it's because we have to wrestle with the text it's easy to do a topical sermon to take a subject throw in some funny stories and illustrations and put some Scripture in to prove a point but that's not preaching preaching is opening the text preaching the text proving the text applying the text that's preaching and in the midst of this Authority something happens a man with an unclean Spirit begins to shout out and for the sake of the children I won't go into all the details of what that means but we have and we'll have plenty of opportunities in Mark but one has to wonder why we don't see that kind of activity in the Old Testament it's not very common even in the works of the Apostles in the books of Acts it's very rare that pops up Even in our own modern modern world it's not like we see it everywhere very clearly although we do see the effects of it but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen this was uncommon before Christ's Ministry because it's as though when Christ enters the scene all hell breaks loose quite literally Satan and his forces forces they unleash an allout assault on the Creator and it began with the Temptation Of Christ and it continues here listen to what this man with an unclean spirit says he says what have you to do with us Jesus of Nazareth have you come to destroy us I know who you are the Holy One Of God now the crowds of people they referred to Jesus in all sorts of different ways as Lord as teacher as son of David as Master the unclean spirits they addressed him as the Holy One of

God the Son of God the son of the most high God they're just they're identifying Jesus as the Divine Son of God and so what's happening here is that and this is clear based off of Jewish literature that when someone uses their real name their their their full proper name that is a way to exercise authority over the person it's a way to gain control it's like when my mom or dad would yell my full name I listened right away because I knew something was wrong it's also clear that the clean Spirits had spiritual Insight that the everyday people did not have notice that there was an acknowledgement of Truth they agreed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God but it's very different to know all the right answers and acknowledge truth and have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ those are very different things it's about the relationship that you have with Jesus in the Old Testament Jacob he wrestled with the Lord in Genesis 32 and they wrestled all night long and before the sun rose the angel of the Lord touched Jacob's hip and set it out of socket dislocated his hip but Jacob continued to cling to the Lord he continued to wrestle and to fight and Jacob he demanded a blessing which prompted the Lord to say what is your name and why is that because it showed that the Lord had gained the victory that the Lord had Authority it also showed that Jacob admitted that he was defeated and when the Lord blessed him Jacob he asked the angel what is your name if you ever wondered why he wouldn't give it's it's a way to show someone that you're submissive but our Christ is not submissive he is not a pansy he has Authority all authority in heaven and on Earth has already been given to him therefore we don't have to be afraid of anything we don't have to be fearful for our world

Anymore and some of you are going Cody you have not been watching the news to which I would say well Christian you haven't been reading your Bible what does Jesus say to that man with an unclean Spirit he says be silent in polite conversation that would be the same as shut up the Greek word is it means to be mled muzzled sorry put a sock in it William Lane he writes to have allowed the defensive utterance of the demon to go unrebuked would have been to compromise the purpose for which Jesus came into the world to confront Satan and strip him of his power I want you to notice secondly the authority that Jesus has over Darkness it's worth noting that Christ Reveals His Authority firstly in his teaching and then over Darkness why I believe that's because Jesus he came and he says this quite often Jesus came to preach and teach that was what Jesus came for and so they recognized his authority in teaching but then through his authority over different things that people didn't have any hope of overcoming he exercised complete Authority which validates what he said about the kingdom of God Jesus he exercised perfect Authority and there is no Rebellion that can overcome our God there is not one Adam in all creation that is not under the Sovereign authority of Jesus Christ if God tells an angel to destroy a city the angel carries that plan out according to God's plan and according to his command there is no Disobedience with that angel even the unclean spirits must obey God's commands did you know that in the Old Testament there's there's at least three different instances that we see God commanding unclean spirits to do things and they

Obey we'll go through these real quick the first one is in First Kings 22 there was a great prophet his name was Mah and there was this very Wicked King Ahab who he hated the prophet Micaiah why because Mah was not a yes man he kept prophesying evil against King Ahab said I don't want to have anything to do with you I'd rather you be dead so I'm going to set up a bunch of these yes men and false prophets and here's what the prophet Micaiah said in First Kings 22:23 it says now therefore behold the Lord has put a lying Spirit a lying spirit all right there's no way to get around Spirit there okay it is just the Hebrew word for Spirit in the mouth of all these your false prophets your Prophets The Lord has declared disaster for you notice the authority of Jesus Christ over the unclean spirits King Saul he resisted the Lord he disobeyed God's commands and even sought out witches for necromancy and we read 1 Samuel 16:14 now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and a harmful Spirit from the Lord tormented him that word harmful is the word raah which means bad evil malicious and what a terrible judgment that is but notice that the authority that God has even over the unclean spirits and don't forget about ailec ailec who deceived his relatives in the city of sheam and killed 70 of his relatives it says this and God sent an evil spirit between ailec and the leaders of sheam and the leaders of sheam dealt treacherously with ailec that the violence done to the 70 sons of jeruel May might come and their blood be laid on ailec their brother notice again the authority of God over unclean spirits as a result of all these events and deliverances and things like that Christ's them spreads everywhere throughout that region of Galilee and then Jesus he left the synagogue he and

His four disciples and they go into Peter's house this is according to Scholars that out like there in Capernaum this is Peter's house it's what's left of it and they know this because of graffiti so Christian graffiti artists I see you out there okay there you go that's what you can see like it wasn't didn't say like Peter was here it's House of Peter it actually had a really large Atrium as you enter in a large Gathering area that about 40 people could come into and sit comfortably okay so it was a very unique Place where Christ was able to do his ministry that we read about in this it's actually just a Stones Throw from the synagogue of and so really interesting archaeological facts for you because we have a historical and reasonable Faith amen so praise the Lord for that but on this sabbath day there was someone sick in that home and it was Peter's mother-in-law just a quick Divergence remember that the Roman Catholic Church they belied that the that Peter was the first pope which kind of sets up a rather embarrassing thing for them because they believe that their clergy cannot be married but the first pope had a mother-in-law and she was even still alive at that point even further on into like this you know 50s 60s ad because the in 1 Corinthians 7 Paul he writes about Peter's wife and so they actually knew her and so just a quick segue there I'm glad to count myself among those who are married and in clergy so but Christ he enters the home and he comes to Peter's mother-in-law and he takes her by the hand he lifts her up and there is complete and instant healing this isn't like what you see from so-called Faith healers where they have these invisible ailments and deliverance and all that

Kind of stuff it's recognizable in instant healing Jesus doesn't tell her hey sit down and recoup your strength for a little while you've been sick you know all that kind of stuff she stands up and she's like wow I haven't Felt This Good in years in Luke 4:39 it says that Jesus he stood over her he rebuked the fever and it left and as we see in the Gospels Jesus he has all authority and he healed people through his words sometimes hands sometimes he would spit and make a paste out of mud he sometimes he just sent out his Apostles to do the healing why did he do that it's because he didn't want to draw people's attention to the method of the healing he wanted them to be drawn to the message of healing that Jesus Christ has come the promised Messiah and that he was going to make a way for his people to be saved that they could escape from the Wrath to come that they could flee from the Judgment of God and that they could rest in the Cross of Christ that's why Jesus healed the way that he did if he gave a prescription of this is exactly what you do every single time then we would be terrified because we would have to do that process the exact same way over and over again instead we pray for the Lord to heal and we trust in him that he will heal according to his will and don't we see a picture of Salvation here there is Peter's mother-in-law laid out she's got a fever her body is racked by it's affecting every part of her person she cannot get up she cannot do anything to help herself and yet Jesus when he enters the scene Everything Changes he's the one that reaches down he's the one that has compassion he's the one that rebukes the fever and he's the one that helps her up salvation is of the Lord and praise the Lord for that I want you to notice thirdly Jesus's authority over sickness Jesus he rebuked the fever and

It left it's gone it's a thing of the past Peter mother Peter's mother-in-law she immediately gets up and she starts serving everyone and what a blessing it is when Christ when he invades our lives and he makes us whole of course we should note that her first thing wasn't when she was healed her first response wasn't thanks I'm gonna go do my own thing now she began to serve this is the same word used in the beginning of Mark when the Angels were ministering to Christ she was getting around them she was feeding them she was cooking for them she was doing everything that she could because she was so grateful for that undeserved gift of healing and she serves the Lord and that's exactly what you and I are called to do because of what Christ has done in our lives but word is spreading about Jesus something crazy happened at church today you just got to hear about this but people they just don't go and visit homes on the Sabbath day they got to watch their steps they can't they can't go too far otherwise they could get excommunicated from the synagogue and so they had to be careful and sun gets to begins to set and what happens is that as the sky grows darker according to the Old Testament custom at this time you had to wait until the Stars started to come out and there was one star two star and on the third star then you could walk then you could go and you could travel and I want you to imagine that 1,600 people in the city of Capernaum and all around the area of Galilee this famous story about Christ delivering people healing people teaching with authority well let's go get Uncle Rob he's not feeling good and we're very concerned for him let's load him up this person that has this

Sickness who is this that has such Authority who is this that can command the wind and waves who is this that can rebuke sickness and it goes away who is this that can just with a touch heal the worst the unclean spirits though they were they were angry they antagonized Jesus they abandoned their host at his word but with people I want you to look at what the people did every time that Christ was working firstly if you're taking notes write this down well the answer of the people sorry the answer of the people that's the fourth point but how did the people respond they were astonished people were astonished at Jesus's teaching this is the word PLO which means to nearly lose your mind all right it's like when you see a knockout in UFC fight oh my gosh it's crazy that's the kind of reaction that the people had with Jesus's preaching and teaching oh my gosh that's crazy have you ever been so aw struck in the Lord's work that you just try to keep up when we see God working I mean sometimes it leaves us feeling flabbergasted you ever been in a sermon where the preacher just preaching right at you and everything is just going straight at you and you're just like why is he watching me I know that he's been spying on me all week it's like he knows what you're what you're going through and what you're dealing with and God reveals something that you need to change imagine never having that happen ever people in Capernaum had never experienced that but Jesus he spoke directly to their hearts secondly the people were amazed they were amazed this is a different word this is thio which means to look at and

Wonder never before had something been so awesome and also terrifying that someone could deliver with a word and do these different things it's wonderful and yet where did this power come from and just as Christ Works a miracle here Christ he still works miracles in the lives of people see when a sinner repents and believes in Christ it's more wonderful and more amazing than when a person with an unclean spirit is delivered which is easier for Christ to send out an unclean Spirit or to raise a soul from Death the answer is it's easier to send out an unclean Spirit Christ could do that with a word but for a soul to be raised from Death required his own blood his body to be pierced for him to be mocked and scorned and all of those different things it required his own death yet many people they yawn at the work of God go yeah that's nice did they mean it last year we celebrated 11 baptisms praise the Lord amen 11 people taking public Steps of Faith finally look at this the people they approach Jesus they approach Jesus because of his authority and because of his affection this is why they gathered at the doors of Peter's house they wanted something from him let's be frank they wanted something from them and he knew the motivations of their hearts but he also reveals the compassion that the father has for those that are in desperate need didn't matter what their ailment was didn't matter what their background was he met them in the midst of their needs and he ministered to them right where they were at listen to me if you've ever thought I can't follow Christ I have this sin or this habit that I need to stop before I can be acceptable to him listen that's

Not what Jesus says Jesus he encourages us to come to him just as we are he takes care of the rest he's the one that cleans us up he's the one that gives you Grace to overcome the sinful habit the addictions and so you come to him just as you are for forgiveness and for salvation the Bible says that we are dead in our trespasses and sins that you and I we're not able to clean up our souls we can't become better we can't become more acceptable to God by stopping habits or making promises to do better or making deals or whatever you think it will be to save you God sent Jesus Christ to save sinners like you and I so that we can come to God through Jesus Christ the Bible says that if you repent of your sin and you trust in Christ that you are made clean and whole and so that means that you agree that God is God and that you need his forgiveness and so you turn from sin you come to God that's salvation it's as simple as that I can't make it any more simple than that trust in the Lord Jesus Christ come to Christ because he has all authority and as you submit to his authority you will notice him working in truly powerful ways in your life the poet Bob Gotti he said my friend as we battle in this war only God's Authority will endure in a battle opposing God's enemy we must stand on his authority for that true Victory is only assured through Jesus Christ Our Lord this as we wage battles in this life in the authority of Jesus Christ and so to recap Jesus he has all authority in teaching what God's word says is the final answer for all of life's biggest questions Jesus he has all authority over Darkness therefore we don't have to we don't have to fear Satan or his Roars even his Roars are permitted by the Lord and God invites us to rest in him for strength and power to resist him it reminds me I for totally just remembered this in the Pilgrim's

Progress there's a Christian he comes up to this big mansion and there's two lions that are chained at the entrance to this house and they're big and they're scary and they're roaring and as Christian is coming up he meets a couple of other people that are turning away from the Narrow Path because they were so terrified from the Lions but Christian continues walking and what he doesn't know is that the lions are chained he didn't notice that until he got closer Christian Satan is Chained we do not have to be afraid of him the illnesses that you may feel you are totally outside of control you have no control over that guess what God has control God it's not like it caught him off guard that cancer that chronic illness and yet God he uses them to fulfill his purposes and so in the midst of it glorify God even in the hard times even when it's difficult in fact you may be astonished you may be amazed just like that crowd what God does through your sickness and he invites you to approach him right now headart hand head I want you to know that Christ has claimed authority over all things Christ he won the full victory over Satan at the cross Jesus during Holy Week he asked the father to glorify his own name the father own name and a voice thundered from heaven and in John 12 the people said that an angel spoke from heaven and here's what Jesus said this voice has come for your sake not mine now is the Judgment of this world now will the ruler of this world be cast out and I when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all people to myself when Christ gave up his Spirit at the cross guess what Satan lost the war he lost Authority he has no Authority and sure it may seem like he does

Sometimes especially if you watch the news which may be in the hands of the evil one we're going to revisit this topic multiple times throughout the Book of Mark but we have no reason to fear Satan because Christ has conquered that foe his head is bruised and I just look forward to him cutting it off so heart I want you to believe that Christ has authority over every part of your life if Christ has all authority then that includes over you as well and if that's over you then that's every aspect of your life there's not one place that Christ does not Proclaim mine and I want you to consider if there are areas that you need to surrender to Christ's Authority are there parts of your life that you haven't surrendered to the Lord I want to encourage you to ask the Lord for the grace to surrender that area to him if you would please stand and pray with me and we'll respond in worship so God we do ask that you would help us and give us the grace that we need to surrender to you and if there's anyone here maybe they don't know you as Lord and Savior I pray that today would be that day that they make it public Lord that they surrender completely to your dominating Authority God and yet you do it with such love and with tenderness God help us to rightly strike that balance Lord and to submit to your to your loving hands that are both at the same time strong and tender God if there's people here maybe they just need to surrender something maybe it's a habit or an addiction or maybe an attitude Lord I pray that they would get that right so that they could go out and they could Proclaim your Authority in a world that need needs the hope of the Gospel of your son help us Lord as we respond in worship to you in Jesus' name [Music]

Amen hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest frame but holy Le on Jesus name on Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand all other ground is sinking [Music] sand when darkness V to hide his face I rest on his unchanging Grace in every high and stormy Gale my anchor holds within the veil on Christ the solid rock I stand all of the ground is sinking sand all other ground is sinking he shall come with trumpet sound when he shall come with trumpet sound oh may I then in him be found dress in his rightousness alone forless to stand Before the Throne on Christ the solid rock I stand all of ground is sinking sand all of sand on Christ [Music] theid