Today we're going to deal with two topics that can be somewhat controversial within the church: the demonic and healing. We're going to dive into the Word of God, lay some proper foundation today, and let's pray first because that's where we need to go. Father, we come before You. We thank You for the opportunity to break open Your Word. Father, we ask that You would speak with authority, with power, Father, that all who hear what You have to say today would be transformed by hearing Your voice. And Father, I pray that we would not leave this place the same as we entered. Father, we would not settle for a life that is powerless, but Father, that we would learn to operate and live in the authority of Jesus Christ. Father, I pray today that You be glorified and exalted in this message, and we ask this in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.
So, we need to backtrack just a little. As we studied last week, Jesus was in Nazareth. He was teaching with authority—it sounded different. Ultimately, He gets run out of town because He declares who He is. And so now, He has gone from Nazareth to Capernaum. When it says in verse 31, He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, topologically it is down; it's going from a high point in that countryside down to an area on the seashore. But here's the thing we want to notice: He was teaching them on the Sabbath.
The one thing we need to remember about Jesus when He began His ministry is that He started teaching. Teaching was the priority. Remember, John chapter 1, verse 1 says this about Jesus: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." When we talk about the Word of God, the authority of scripture, we need to understand that is who Jesus is.
He was teaching on the Sabbath, and they were astonished by His teaching, for His word possessed authority. Now, we need to understand this a little better, so if you'll turn with me to Matthew chapter 7, verses 28 and 29, we're going to get a little better glimpse of what was so authoritative about the words that Jesus was speaking. It says, "And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes."
See, here's what was happening in Jesus' day—it's not much different than what's happening in our world today. The scribes were more interested in furthering religious tradition, and so you would come to synagogue, and what they would do is they would quote their favorite scribe or thought leader, and they would perpetuate religious practice. But religious practice doesn't carry authority, and the reason this is so critical today is that you can go to many churches in America and never hear the Word of God. It's more like a personal development conference with a cross somewhere in the building. The only difference is at the end of the conference, they don't tell you to rush to the table and back to pick up the next conference, but it's very similar. There's no power in it, but there are churches all over America today, "Hey, five methods to live a happier life." But what do I need church for? I go, get the book. It's not going to change anybody's life permanently. It's not transformative.
See, the difference is Jesus was quoting scripture; He was quoting the heart of God, and it carried with it an authority that the teachings of the day did not carry. It was different. You just read a passage together; we're going to read it again, Matthew chapter 28, verse 18. This is part of the Great Commission where Jesus is sending His disciples out, and He says this, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."
See, these individuals had been sitting in synagogue week after week, year after year, feeling good about themselves. They're good religious people; they go to church every week, they give their money, they even have a Bible in the house, they don't ever read it, but it's there. And yet, their lives were untransformed, and here comes Jesus, and He begins to preach with authority, and they've never heard anything like it. What is this? This is life-changing.
When I first started in the ministry many years ago, the popular church growth book was "The Purpose-Driven Church" by Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church out in California. And so, it was not uncommon to hear more pastors quoting Rick Warren than actually quoting the Word of God. I myself, as a young pastor, was guilty of that. I'm going to preach good, seeker-sensitive messages, and people are going to get saved, and guess what happened? Absolutely nothing. So one day, my wife and I were driving to Oklahoma City to see her relatives. She's driving; I'm in the passenger side. God's dealing with me: "You sugarcoat the gospel, Carl." And so, I made a dangerous thing. I turned to her, and I said, "Hey, Carol, do I sugarcoat the gospel?" And she said, "Yes, you do." And I went, "Ouch." So I said, "God, what would you have me do?" "Preach the Word, in season and out of season, nothing more, nothing less." I began to preach chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and I began to watch God do amazing things in people's lives.
Why do we preach chapter by chapter, verse by verse, here? Because you don't need Scott's opinion, you don't need my opinion, you don't need a commentary; you need the Word of God. That's where the authority is at. So notice what happens as he begins to preach with authority. In the synagogue, there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, "Ha! 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, this always interested me. When I was younger, I would go like, "Well, why would a demon go to church?" As I've gotten older, I've realized it's a great place to hide. Make no mistake, Restoration Church was planted in January of 2012. The devil planted a chapel in the same place, with some of the same people. You go, "That's weird." No, it's not. The devil loves religious practice because religious practice is not transformed. It is not sealed by the Holy Spirit. It is not indwelt with the very power and presence of God. Religious practice is a convenient place to hide.
Interestingly enough, this message—we've talked a lot this week on staff about this message because our staff comes from a variety of different denominational backgrounds. We're a non-denominational church, but the one thing that really came out of those conversations is the majority of our encounters with the demonic in our own experiences has been in church. People just sitting there, like you, and the authority of the Word of God comes out, and all of a sudden, the demon can't sit still because the authority of Christ is present, and that's what happens in this situation.
So we need to understand a couple of things that happen. Let's go to Matthew chapter 8, verse 29. The first thing that happens is this demon starts to declare the identity of Jesus Christ. So, Matthew chapter 8, verse 29, if you'll turn there with me, you see this happen in another demoniac experience. Jesus encounters the Gerasene demoniac. Verse 29: "And behold, they cried out, 'What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?'"
So, Jesus shows up. See, here's the thing: demons know the Bible better than most church attenders. How do you know that? Well, we studied a few weeks ago, Satan comes to tempt Jesus. Jesus says, "Satan, let me throw some Scripture your way. I'm not listening to you." Finally, Satan goes, "Oh, we're going to play the Scripture game, huh? Let me throw some more back your way." Sadly, over the years, when I've asked church members, "Hey, how many of you have read the Bible cover to cover?" it's about a third. Can I just share something with you? If you've settled for going to battle with a third of your equipment, you're going to get your clock cleaned. Even if you read a chapter a day until you've gotten through it, even if you buy a one-year Bible and get through it, get through it, because you are unarmed in an armed confrontation, and you're asking to get hurt.
How do we know that? Well, let's go to Acts chapter 19, verse 15. One of my favorite accounts in Scripture: in that day and age, there were Jewish rabbis and sorcerers who their deal was, "Hey, I will get rid of demonic evil spirits that are pestering you with my incantation and my spells and my whatever else I use." And so, Acts 19 records there are sons of Sceva, there are seven of them. Sceva is an itinerant Jewish priest; that's what he holds himself out to be. And word has gotten around that when the Apostle Paul uses the name of Jesus, amazing things happen. And so, they find someone who's demon-possessed, and they say, "In the name of the Jesus that Paul speaks about, come out." And verse 15 says this: "But the evil spirit answered them, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?' You read further, he then beats them up, and they run out in the street naked. Sounds pleasant, doesn't it? That's what authority looks like.
Jesus I know. The question is, do they recognize you, or are you in the 'Who are you?' category? I hope you're not in the 'Who are you?' category. My prayer is that when you step on the field every day, hell gets nervous because you're a threat. See, religious people, hell doesn't care about you; you're not a threat to anything. But when you operate in the authority of Jesus Christ, when you declare His name openly, hell gets nervous because prisoners are going to get set free. Things are going to start to happen.
Remember, these demons are wanting to know, "Why are you bothering us?" If you study this in the Greek, the real translation is they're asking Jesus, "What business do you have with us? Why are you meddling with us? Why are you interfering with us?" But the demons know that when the end comes, their eternal destiny is the lake of fire, an eternity of torment. So the question is, "Are you here to enact that now? Is now the time? Is that what you're doing here?" How do we know that? Let's go to Revelation chapter 20, verse 10, towards the end of the book.
Revelation 20, verse 10. This is what these demons are so afraid of. Jesus is on the scene. Is it time? Because if it's time, things don't go well for them. If it's time, they're going to suffer. If it's time, they are going to be tormented through all of eternity. And of course, it's the one page that won't open. There it is. And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Even the demonic knows truth. Sadly, many people in church today don't know truth, but the demonic knows truth. Jesus, oh yeah, He's the Holy One of God. He's not a prophet, He's not a teacher, He's not a good man; He is who He says He is.
However, some of us get cornered. "Hey, is Jesus God?" Well, we should be as bold, we should be as quick to declare His holiness as a demon is under compulsion. Scripture teaches us that even the demons believe and tremble. See, there's a difference between being a true believer in Jesus Christ, washed in His blood, indwelled by the Holy Spirit, and being a "I believe in Jesus" church attender. There's a big difference. The difference is authority.
Philippians chapter 2, verses 9 through 11, if you'll turn with me there for a moment. The Apostle Paul is speaking to the church in Philippi, and he's discussing these types of spiritual issues. So, Philippians chapter 2, verses 9 through 11: "Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Even the demons know this. Do we?
Let me tell you a little story. It was September of 2009. I was in southern India, the state of Kerala, which is in the very tip of the Indian subcontinent. They asked me to preach, but because it's a Communist state, and there's a lot of radical Hinduism in that state, they asked me to preach late at night, next to a river. It was about 10:30 at night. I was preaching through Second Kings, and the story of Naaman, the warrior who was cured of his leprosy. And in the translation of Scripture I was reading, there comes a place where Naaman declares, "Yahweh, He is God." And as soon as I said "Yahweh," there was this horrible splashing, because the demon had manifested in a man in the audience and thrown him in the river, hoping to kill him.
Now, the great thing about Jesus, just like we see in verse 35, when the man with the demon manifested, Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him." And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. That night in southern India, the guy didn't drown. They pull him out of the water, they explained the gospel to him—this is who Jesus is, this is the name that the demon responded to. They led him to faith in Christ, and then his entire family. The demonic has no authority when it comes to the kingdom of God. What the demonic likes to do is to scare you with shadows.
In the 23rd Psalm, it says, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." I don't have to be afraid of shadows if I walk in authority. Problem is, too often, we don't walk in authority. What's interesting about verse 35, you have to remember, Luke is a physician by trade, and he makes a point to let us know, after the demon threw him down, and the way the Greek describes it, it's almost like a convulsive episode. He's on the floor, flopping around, but Luke makes sure to let us know, but he was unharmed.
The Gerasene demoniac, Scripture says he sat at the feet of Jesus, clothed in his right mind. The demon couldn't hurt them once it's under authority. So, we need to talk about two things. There's two terms that get thrown around when we talk about the demonic: possession and oppression. What's the difference? Let's talk through that for a minute.
As a born-again, saved follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The presence of God is within you, which means there's no room for anything else. You as a believer, a true believer—and I want to be clear on that, not "I go to church and say I believe in God," but someone who has truly repented of their sins, given their life to Jesus, washed in the blood, indwelled by the Holy Spirit—you cannot be possessed. That being said, if you decide to be a knucklehead and open doors to things you shouldn't be opening doors to, and play on playgrounds you probably shouldn't be playing on, you can be oppressed, which means that demon rides on your shoulder and says, "Hey, Carl, let's go do something else stupid today." And you go, "Okay, off we go." There's a difference.
Why does the demonic love religious people? It's a good place to hide and work all sorts of horrid things. Remember what Jesus said, "I have come that you might have life, more abundantly." But He also says, "The devil comes to steal, to kill, and destroy." Well, goodness, religious people are a great playground for that, because then your witness is shot. Here's the problem with the church in America: America has heard the stories of Jesus, but they're wondering where the power is, because they watch the lives of religious believers, and they see no transformation. You claim Christ, you say you're a person of prayer, you say you're a person of the Word, but you live a defeated life. Where's the authority?
So, church, I want to challenge you today. Are you living in authority? Are you living in weakness? Are you being religious, or are you being transformed? When you step on the battlefield every day, does hell tremble? "Jesus I know. I've heard of you." And then there's this other group, pretenders. Who are they? I don't want to be in the pretender group. The sons of Sceva, it didn't go well.
Let's look at verses 36 and 37. So, all of this happens, and they were all amazed and said to one another, "What is this word? For with authority and power, He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out." And reports about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region. First of all, they never heard teaching with authority. It's different. Second, they never seen authority at work. Our world's not too different. There are people that tell you, "Hey, you got a demon bothering you? Here's what you need to pray. You need to rebuke. You need to rebuke the spirit of sniffles, the rebuke the lumpy mattress spirit. You need to rebuke every spirit that you can think of." That's not what authority does. Authority says, "You have to go. Get out. It's absolute. There's no playing. We don't need to know what its name is. We don't need to know how many there are. We just need to say, 'Get out. Leave. You have no dominion here.'"
Let's keep moving, verses 36 and 37, where we get some emphasis on the power. Matthew chapter 12, verse 28. Let me give you a little background to this verse. Jesus has been doing what Jesus does—the miraculous. And the religious leaders say, "Well, he's probably doing that because he's demon-possessed." And Jesus says, "Well, now, if I'm demon-possessed, how could I cast myself out? That doesn't work." But then He says in verse 28, "But if it is by the Spirit of God...so, if only God can deal with what is evil, that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. You now have a decision to make. You've been confronted with the absolute authority and presence of God. What are you going to do with it? Receive it for what it is, or look for excuses?" And that's the place that Jesus is challenging the people.
Let's go to verses 38 and 39. As soon as this takes place, He leaves the synagogue and He goes to Simon's house. This is Simon Peter. Simon Peter is married; his mother-in-law is ill with a high fever, and they appealed to Him on her behalf. And He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. So again, He's operating in authority. Peter's mother is down with a high fever. Now, who here's had like a 102, 103 fever? No fun, right? Now, when it breaks, the first thing you want to do is go grab your vacuum cleaner or your chainsaw and go do some work, right? No. But when Jesus heals, it's absolute, it's immediate. There's no lag time. There's a difference.
The authority of Christ is different. It looks different. So, when we look at this, we need to understand, well, why does Jesus heal people? So, let's go to Mark chapter 2, verses 9 through 12. It's the parallel of this same account. Mark chapter 2, verses 9 through 12. And we're going to see something that's very important here. Excuse me, this isn't the parallel. This is a different account. So, in this account, there is a paralytic man, whose friends want him to be healed. Jesus is teaching in a house; it's crowded, and so they cut a hole in the roof and they lower the man down in front of Jesus. And I've always thought that's got to be pretty cool. You're sitting there, and all of a sudden, the roof starts falling in on you, and here comes a guy down. That's got to be kind of an interesting deal.
But here's what happens. The religious leaders are looking for a way to come after Jesus. And so, he makes this statement to them: "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," He said to the paralytic, "I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home." And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this."
God heals people to demonstrate His authority, but the truth is, they're still going to die. What He's demonstrating is the power to forgive sin. If I can do this, I can forgive sin as well. Now, does that mean He doesn't still heal today? Sure, He does. Is it all the time? No, it's not. And so, I just want to take a little side journey for a minute and talk about praying for healing, and this is something I found this week. I think it'll be helpful to some of you. I've seen God do some amazing healing things. No formula. There's no, what are the magic words? They're just days I pray for people, and something amazing happens.
Now, I will give you a little secret. When I pray for people, if you've ever had me pray for you, I always stop for a second. But what that stop is, is me asking God, "What would You like me to pray over this person?" It's not necessarily what you're asking for. I'll give you a quick story, and then I'll get into this. Probably about 12 years ago, a friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer. Came to church, said, "Carl, would you pray for me? I've been diagnosed with cancer." I stopped. "Lord, what do You want me to pray over him?" And the answer was very clear. "I want you to pray for his testimony because it's going to affect his children and grandchildren." Okay, that's what I prayed for him. His eyes got, you know, huge. "What did you just pray over me?" "I prayed for your testimony. You're probably not going to get healed today. God is using your illness to impact your children and your grandchildren." Not what he wanted to hear, but that's the prayer that was given.
So, I want to give you this thought for a minute. When you're praying for healing, first, you have to look at your motive. Is it God's glory or your comfort? God's glory has to be first. Philippians 1:20. Second, you have to submit to the Lord, who knows better than you what is best in your situation. Paul thought it would be best to get rid of the thorn in his flesh, but God knew otherwise. Second Corinthians 12:7-10. Third, don't limit God by your unbelief. Mark chapter 5, verses 5 and 6. God is able to do the impossible if it's His will. So, pray for miraculous healing, believing that God is able, but recognize that it may not be His will.
Fourth, look for the spiritual lessons God is trying to teach you in your trial. There may be a sin you need to confess. James 5:13-16. You may need to learn to trust in God in a greater way. Second Corinthians 1:8-9. You may need to learn to focus more on the things above and the hope of heaven. Colossians 3:1-4. You may need to rearrange your priorities. Matthew 6:33. God uses affliction to conform us to the image of His Son, and so, instant miraculous healing is not always His will. Luke 4:31-44.
We have to remember, Jesus is Lord of all, even if it doesn't fit our hope and expectation. We have to trust that He has a better plan, even when we don't see it. The truth is, there are times we pray for people to be healed, and God's healing, as He takes them home. Well, that's not really what I was praying for, but which is the better healing? We have to see things as God sees them.
Let's finish out here, verses 40 and 41. Now, when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him. Let's stop there. Here's the reason they waited till sundown: it was the Sabbath. It was against the law to bring your sick people for healing on the Sabbath. That's where religion goes askew. That's not the heart of God. That is religious. So, they had to wait till the sun came down, and then they brought everybody to Jesus. He's just demonstrated His authority, but the rules are getting in the way.
Are you letting some religious rules get in the way of truly experiencing Christ in your life? Maybe some religious baggage you have to let go of? Let's take a look at the rest of this. He laid hands on every one of them, and He healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, "You are the Son of God!" But He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was the Christ. So, we need to understand, this is a unique time in history. Jesus lays hands on every single sick person, and they are healed. We need to understand why that happened.
Because even if you have a spiritual gift of healing, not everyone you pray for is going to get healed. You have to understand the way God is working here. We need to go to Matthew chapter 8, verses 16 and 17, to see why this is happening. And this is important. And just so you understand, in the Gospels, Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience, so much of the Gospel of Matthew is connecting dots where Matthew will say, "Jesus did this to fulfill this Scripture." This is one of those cases. Matthew 8:16-17 is the retelling of this same story, and in verses 16, it says, "That evening, they brought to Him many who were oppressed by demons, and He cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick." This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases." So, Matthew is connecting the dots for his Jewish audience. Jesus was doing this at Capernaum, at Peter's mother-in-law's house, to fulfill this prophecy in Isaiah that was made several hundred years earlier, so that men would know He is the Messiah.
That was the purpose. When healing happens today, it is to testify that He is Lord, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but He does not do that in every circumstance. We have to understand that God's plans are bigger than our understanding. So, as we finish out this little section of Scripture, I want to close out with this thought for you: Are you operating in authority, or have you chosen to be a weakling, ill-equipped, not in the Word, not praying, not in fellowship, but hey, you're good because you got all the religious part knocked down? I'm in church once a week. I get my injection of Jesus.
Can I tell you something? Evil is kind of like COVID. It morphs. One injection probably isn't going to cut it. Your weekly Jesus injection does not equip you to go to battle. You have to daily surrender to His authority. You have to daily dwell in Him as He dwells in you. You have to daily remember, "The Word became flesh." If it was so important to Jesus to have the Word at his disposal, it's probably important to you. But if you're not spending time in the Word...Alright, get your clock cleaned. It's going to happen because you're real equipped. You're not ready for battle.
