Authority, True Authority

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, chapter 1, verses 21 through 28.

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, not as the teachers of the law.

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? I know who you are, the

Holy One of God. Be quiet, said Jesus sternly. Come out of him.

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 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. In the name of Jesus.

So pay close attention to where today's Gospel account unfolds.

It unfolds in the first century Old Testament counterpart to church, the

Sabbath. Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. Also note what happens in this church service.

There are a lot of moving parts and we're going to examine a few of them this morning. So what happens near the end of this church service where Jesus is the preacher?

Answer, a demon manifests itself in a man who it was possessing.

There were zero indications prior to this that the man was possessed. The demon cries out,

What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the

Holy One of God. This happens right there in church.

I mean serious. It's as if Jesus has done his preaching and his teaching and the demon can contain himself no longer.

Can't handle this message and who the one who is delivering it. So it can't help but manifest itself, make itself known and oppose

Jesus. Listen to what it said. Have you come to destroy us?

As if Jesus is somehow a dangerous person. Well he is to demons but he's not to humans.

So Jesus says sternly, Be quiet, come out of him. The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

Now this account from Jesus' life and ministry should give us pause. It shows us a few things.

Now I'm not usually prone to doing three -point sermons but my sermon today has three points. Normally there's 52 or 56, somewhere in there.

Point number one. Let's get this out on the table. Demons are real. This is not a fictitious account.

This is history. Demons are real. One of the reasons why many of the churches in the mainline denominations have gone off the rails biblically is because many of their teachers and professors and seminary scholastics somewhere in the time of modernity thought that they were too smart.

We've kind of gotten away from the dark ages and this idea that demons exist.

This is foolishness. It's utter foolishness. And it leads to an unraveling of the authority of the word of God.

Now let me give you a modern day example. A person whom I know who is also one of the major leaders in what was known as the emergent church movement which is a postmodern version of liberalism that really cropped up over the last 10 -15 years.

His name is Tony Jones. Here's what he wrote a few years back regarding demons and the idea that demons existed.

Listen to this opening sentence. Jesus held an incorrect cosmology,

Tony Jones writes. Now, cosmology is a big word. I don't want you to have to Google it.

I'll give you an idea. Cosmology is basically a constructed theory of the beginnings and the origins of the universe and how the universe operates.

So Tony Jones, who is an author of popular

Christian books, for years was a conference speaker at all the major evangelical youth conferences.

In his writings, he writes, He continues,

It's probably wrong as well, or at least it's incomplete, how humble of him to say this.

But that doesn't make Jesus' cosmology any more right. Both Jesus and John the

Baptist seem clearly to have embraced that ancient Hebraic belief in Sheol, Gehenna, and Hades, i .e.

a physical place of fires that bodies of the damned are thrown.

And he faults Jesus for believing this. It seems merely wishful thinking when

Thomas Aquinas argued that Jesus had full and perfect knowledge of all things and wrote, quote,

Tony Jones continues. So we're left with this conundrum. What do we make of Jesus' teaching on heaven and hell if he believed that he existed in a geocentric universe and lived on a flat earth?

To which I would say, show me a single passage in Scripture that Jesus believed in a flat earth.

And I'll show you the Psalms and other passages where it talks about the circle of the earth. Jesus is the one who made the earth, and he knew perfectly well that it was round, and he never said it was flat.

But notice what he's doing here. He's attacking Jesus. And this is a guy who many look to to get their theology from and learn from as far as what they're going to teach and preach in the church.

So, let me go back. He says, What do we make of Jesus' teaching on heaven and hell if he believed that he existed in a geocentric universe and lived on a flat earth?

This is not unlike the conundrum regarding the gospel writers and Jesus diagnosing legion with demon possession, when today we would most likely consider him beset by schizophrenia.

To conclude, Tony Jones writes, I don't believe in demons.

You can buy his books at Christian bookstores today. Why would anyone want to buy this?

So those preachers and teachers and authors within the visible church who tell you that demons don't exist are actually doing the work of demons.

They're undermining and attacking God's word. And like Tony Jones, they have the audacity to think that they know better than Jesus.

And in their foolishness and blindness, they think they have the authority to correct

Jesus. In other words, they're saying, Listen, don't listen to Jesus.

We have better words and a more accurate understanding of how the universe operates than Jesus.

So listen to us, don't listen to Jesus. That's what these people are doing.

And unfortunately, Tony Jones is not some isolated incident of one guy gone awry like this.

Men like Tony Jones are rampant throughout the church. So let's make this perfectly clear.

Our gospel text says that the man was possessed by a demon. You know what that means in the

Greek? It means he was possessed by a demon. It doesn't matter if it's

Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, or Portuguese. It means he was possessed by a demon. This literally happened.

Now, let's get the diagnosis right as to what's going on here. Notice that the demon knew exactly who

Jesus was. The people in the synagogue and church, not so much. There's a reason for this.

The Gospel of John in chapter 1 reads this, starting at verse 9. The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

This is Jesus. He was in the world, and the world was made through him. Yet the world did not know him.

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. This tells you of just how blinding sin is.

We are born dead in trespasses and sins, and dead means dead. By nature, we do not fear, love, and trust in God.

By nature, we don't even know who God is. We know that he exists, but we don't really know him.

And the tragedy of the situation is that Jesus, who is God in human flesh, came and dwelt among us, and the people who were living at that time didn't even recognize him for who he was.

But listen to the Gospel of Mark chapter 5, the story of Legion, which Tony Jones referenced.

He says this. This is verse 1, chapter 5. They went across the lake to the region of the

Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit, that would be a demon, came from the tombs to meet him.

And listen to the condition of this poor man. This man lived in the tombs. No one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.

For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart, broke the irons on his feet.

No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day, among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

Sure, this sounds like mental illness, doesn't it? It could potentially be that. Then watch this.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him, and he shouted at the top of his voice,

What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me.

How does a crazy person, somebody with schizophrenia, from a distance know that Jesus is the Son of God?

The people whom Jesus was walking among, they didn't know who he was. This demon -possessed man, this is the one who had the legion of demons, he knew exactly who

Jesus was, and he knew his name. And he knew this just by spotting

Jesus from a distance. Coincidence? Not on your life.

Demons exist. Here's point number two. Demons operate in the church.

Notice again where our story unfolds. There was nothing to warn anybody that this was about to happen.

And there, sitting in the pews, or the first -century equivalent of them, was a man who, for all intents and purposes, looked like anybody else.

And there, Jesus is preaching, and he's teaching, and that sets this demon off.

He manifests himself and opposes Christ in church, and right there in church, there was an exorcism.

And it says that demon left with a shriek. If something like this happened at Kongsvinger, believe me, the community would be buzzing.

Something spectacularly bizarre has happened, and no one saw it coming.

But see, understand this. This is where Satan operates. Jesus warns us that there are wolves in sheep's clothing in among the sheep.

That Satan masquerades as an angel of light. It doesn't say that Satan comes to us dressed up in a red union suit with a pitchfork.

That would be easy to spot. But I want you to consider now this concept that we're talking about, demons operate in church, by looking back with me at our text from Deuteronomy 18.

And I'm going to add two verses to it. Our text this morning ended at verse 20, but I want to add two more verses.

Here's what it says. Yahweh, your God, will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers.

Notice our Old Testament text begins with a prophecy that Moses is giving, that the

Lord will raise up for the people of Israel a prophet like Moses from among them.

It is to him you shall listen. Hear those words. It's to him you shall listen.

Just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, Let me not hear again the voice of the

Lord my God and see great fire any more lest I die. And the Lord said to me,

They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers.

This is a prophecy again regarding Jesus. I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I have commanded him.

And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name,

I myself, Yahweh, will require it of him. But along with the prophecy comes this.

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, no sooner does the

Lord give a prophecy regarding Jesus, the true prophet that we're to look to, the one who we have to listen to and if we don't,

God himself will require it of us. No sooner are those words out regarding this great prophet who will rise, then comes the warning.

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name, oh, there's false prophets too.

Satan operates in the church. The prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.

And if you say in your heart, how may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?

When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word the

Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

And believe me when I tell you, the church is full of people claiming to be prophets today who speak words coming from the

Lord. The Lord has told me. The Lord has showed me. Do you want to know what the

Lord is doing in the year 2015? And they're all crackpots and false prophets.

And they would have us listen to them rather than listen to Jesus. This is why

Jesus warns us and God's word warns us. In the last days, it will be a proliferation of doctrines of demons.

Let me give you another cross -reference by looking at a portion of our epistle text. Our epistle text in part read 1

Corinthians 8 verses 4 through 6. So then about eating food sacrificed to idols. We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no

God but one. For even if there are so -called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords.

Notice what God's word says. There's no other God. There's no other

God. And we live in a society that says it's all about being tolerant.

But our society doesn't tolerate one message, the one that says that there's only one true

God. They will tolerate every other message except for that message. Even in the past weeks,

I've read stories coming out of Europe. There was a Christian school shut down just this past week in Great Britain.

You know why they were closed down? They were closed down because the government discovered that the kids there were taught that Islam is not a true religion.

There's a man in the Netherlands who literally is being raked over the coals in the media in the eastern part of Europe.

Why? Because he as a pastor had the audacity to say that Allah is not the same

God as the God of the Bible. But what does

Scripture say? What does God say? An idol is nothing.

There are many so -called gods in heaven and on earth. For us, there is but one God, the

Father from whom all things came and for whom we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.

Let me give you a cross -reference to this. Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 10, verses 14 -22.

Therefore, my dear friends, flee idolatry. I speak to sensible people.

Judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?

Notice the reference to the Lord's Supper. And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?

Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

Consider the people of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?

Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything or that an idol is anything?

No. But the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.

This is an exclusive religion, not an inclusive one.

We cannot shake hands with Muslims or Buddhists or Hindus and say, you are my brother in Christ.

They're not. Scripture says, and this is a tough saying, that their sacrifices are offered to demons.

Demons exist. They operate in the church. This is the reality of the situation, and anyone who tells you otherwise is not speaking the truth.

Remember, for us there is one God, only one, the Father from whom all things came and for whom we live.

And there's only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. So the one who says, and listen carefully, because we're talking about idolatry, the one who says he knows better than Jesus and knows better than God's Word, he makes himself, just like Lucifer did, into a

God who claims to be higher than God. That is the ultimate idolatry, self -idolatry.

Listen to these words from the prophet Isaiah that described Satan. How you are fallen from heaven,

O day star, son of the dawn. How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid low the nations.

You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God. I will set my throne on high.

I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

I will make myself like the Most High. But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.

So when we talk about idolatry, don't think for a second we're only talking about people who worship false gods.

When you make yourself higher than God, and you make yourself into your own idol, and you make your reason stand above God's Word, and you dare to say, well, this isn't possible or that's possible.

I refuse to believe this, but I like that. You have made yourself into a God. And that's exactly what

Lucifer did, and that's why he fell from heaven. Point three. Jesus has authority.

Our text says, Jesus said sternly, Be quiet. Come out of him.

The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

The people were all so amazed, they asked each other, what is this? A new teaching and with authority.

He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him. Of course they do.

He's God. Remember our Old Testament. The Lord your

God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers. It is to him you shall listen.

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

Whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Or as Jesus says in Matthew, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

All authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Jesus. So there is no one with greater authority than Jesus.

For us, there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. This same

Jesus who cast the demon out of a possessed man during a church service is the same

Jesus who bled and died for your sins, who rose bodily from the grave on the third day for your justification.

And he's the same Jesus who's coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead, to create a new heavens and a new earth.

This same Jesus, by his great and unsurpassing authority, has washed away your sins in the waters of your baptism in which you were also buried with Christ and raised with him.

This same Jesus, by his great and unsurpassing authority, this morning feeds you with his very body and blood in the

Lord's Supper that we're about to partake in. In, with, and under this bread and wine. And he does this for the forgiveness of your sins.

In all of these things, this same Jesus, by his great and unsurpassing authority, has declared you.

That's right, you. All of you. He's declared you who were born children of the devil.

You who were born dead in trespasses and sins. You who were born in slavery to sin and death and who by nature were objects of God's wrath.

This same Jesus, by his great and unsurpassing authority, declares you to be forgiven, pardoned, and set free.

This same Jesus, by his great and unsurpassing authority, has given you eternal life. Not as a wage that you've earned, but as a gift.

Purely by his grace and his mercy. If you want to talk about spiritual warfare, then understand this.

Jesus is the legend. I just recently saw that movie,

American Sniper. It was an interesting movie. Difficult at times.

One of the things I thought was interesting is that Chris Kyle, the man whose story is based on his life, this is a man who holds the record in U .S.

military history as the guy, as a sniper, who's killed the most people. And he became known as the legend.

That's what he was called. They called him legend. But see, our text this morning and all of the

Scriptures teach us that sinful men are not the legend.

Jesus is. He's the legend. He's the hero. He's the conqueror.

He's the one who has crushed and defeated Satan and he's done it for you. And he's done for you what you cannot do for yourself.

He's set you free. So don't listen to those who exalt themselves above Jesus and question and challenge

God's Word and challenge His actions and try to cast doubt on them. That's the devil's trick.

That's the same tactic the devil used to deceive our first parents in the garden when he tempted them with these words.

Did God really say? Eve should have said, you bet He said it.

And just been done with it, right? So if you've been listening to the voice of the false teachers and the false prophets or even that voice inside your head from your sinful flesh that says you know better than God's Word, repent.

Repent and pray for Christ's mercy. Even now, He will forgive you. For us, there is but one

God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

And the text says the people were amazed. And they asked each other, what is this? A new teaching and with authority.

He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey Him. And news about Him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

Think of all that Christ has done for you. And go and tell Oslo. Tell Alvarado.

Let the people of Warren know that we have a God and His name is Jesus. And He has died for their sins and risen again.

So spread the news to your neighbors and your friends and your family members that this Jesus has the authority to forgive their sins.

To make them new and to give them eternal life and to cast the demons out of their life. He's silenced the demons and He's crushed the head of the serpent.

And all of this, He has done for you. In the name of Jesus.

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