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Date: 4th Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Mark 1:21-28
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 the first chapter. They went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath Jesus 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, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. 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 of him and all were amazed so that they questioned among themselves saying, What is this?
A new teaching with authority. He commands even unclean spirits and they obey him. And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. This is the gospel of the Lord.
In the name of Jesus. Amen. Demons in church. I always find this to be a fascinating topic. I think a good way to look at this synagogue appearance by Jesus is that the synagogue was the Old Testament's version of a church gathering together to hear God's Word.
And Jesus shows up and one of the fellows manifests a demon in church. Now, I know a thing or two about the ancient city of Capernaum. Small town. Small, small town. When we think of small towns, it's easy to think of like Oslo, Minnesota, don't you know?
It's easy to think of a small town like that. Here's what we know about small towns. In small towns, everybody knows what everybody else is doing. It's just this weird thing that goes on. Everybody knows everybody.
And so in this small town of Capernaum, we have this fellow manifesting a demon. And I have to wonder if the synagogue leader afterwards, after that particular synagogue service, was scratching his head going, You know, I didn't even know he had a demon.
That kind of explains a lot. That's the reason why that guy was always contradicting me when I would rightly handle God's Word. You know, stuff like that. And so we'll note here that as we consider this particular topic, especially in light of our Old Testament text, that's where we're going to really focus our attention today as far as teasing out the themes of this text.
We must recognize that Scripture explicitly teaches that demons, the demonic, the satanic is real, and it is vehemently opposed to the preaching of Christ. It is vehemently opposed to the right handling of God's Word.
As Martin Luther once said, where God establishes a church, the devil builds a chapel right next door. And the whole point is to undermine the Word of God and to get people to believe falsely, to do falsely, to cast God's words behind them and for them to replace them with their own words.
In fact, there are so many Biblical texts that warn us about these things. One of the things I would like you to consider is this, that of all of the books of the New Testament, there is only one, there is only one book in the New Testament that doesn't provide us with a warning about false teachers and false prophets, and that is Philemon.
Every other book of the New Testament in one way or another warns us about false teachers and false prophets. In fact, Paul prophesying rightly, we'll note the Apostle Paul really had the ability to be a prophet and to speak on behalf of God as a spokesman, and the words that God gave him never fell to the ground.
In fact, I would note that Paul in 1 Timothy chapter 4 says this, he says,. That sounds a lot like today. There are a lot of people who are insincere liars, whose consciences are seared, who are out there teaching all kinds of bizarre doctrines that Christ never taught, the Apostles never taught, the prophets of the Old Testament never taught, and Scripture is clear here that when we're dealing with these types of deceivers, these are not misguided brothers or those who are just errant brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Scripture says that they will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the teachings or the doctrines of demons. Departing the faith means that they are no longer Christians.
As John writes in his epistle, 2 John, that if those who do not abide in the teachings of Christ and go on beyond it, that they are no longer our brothers in Christ. And it's in this context we must take into consideration the sheer quantity of false prophets that have arisen in our days and we must recognize that the devil is a deceiver and that none of us are immune from the deceptions of the devil as it relates to false belief or enticing us away from the true faith and devote ourselves to doctrines that do not have their origin in the mind of God, that have their origin instead in the schemes of the devil.
Each and every one of us, we are susceptible to these things. And I must confess that I am a repentant sinner in this regard. I have followed teachings and teachers and false prophets and believed that what they were saying was true.
And you'll note that in the year 2020, here in Oslo, Minnesota, we have a lot of farmers. In fact, if you were ever to visit Kongsvinger at Lutheran Church, you would note that we're kind of in the middle of, well, farm fields.
There's sugar beets planted over there, I don't even know, beans I think over there, and wheat was over there this last season. And so you'll note, even though we're kind of in the middle of nowhere, bumper, bumper crop in that regard.
But I would say that the year 2020 was, if we were using an agricultural term, the year 2020, it was a bumper crop in 2020 of false prophets. And the thing is, is that you do not have to travel anymore to hear these false prophets, to listen to them, to come under the sway, to be enticed by their false teachings.
All you have to do is turn your computer on and tune into their channel on YouTube, or steer into their website, or stream one of the television channels that they broadcast on. You don't even have to have a TV antenna anymore.
You can stream it on your devices. You get the idea. So note that we live in a day where it's very easy, and very easy for us to be tempted along these lines to listen to these yahoos. But the reality is this, is that all of them, to a person, prophesied that Trump would become the President of the United States in a second term.
They said that he was going to win the election in November of 2020. That didn't really work out. And when they didn't prophesy correctly that he would win, then they claimed that, don't worry, God's timing is different than man's timing, and he will be installed in office rather than Biden on the 20th of January.
And when that didn't happen, now they're making allusions and missing the point of Scripture, and saying, well, just like Elijah was on Mount Carmel, and he said to go ahead and drench his sacrifice with water, the fact that Biden is in power is the equivalent of that, but don't worry, the fire is still going to fall, and Trump is going to be the President of the United States again.
And it's very easy for us to spot this now and say, you know, I think they actually might be false prophets. And this is where I have to engage in some behavior that we don't like. It's not polite in our society, but I would note this.
The Apostle Paul did the same thing, so I'll stand in his shadow and say, well, I'm just following his example. And the impolite thing to say is this. I told you so. I know it's kind of weird. You know, if you guys want to impeach me next week, go ahead and lodge the charges.
But the reality is this. For more than a decade, in fact, almost 13 years now, I have been warning the body of Christ through my podcast and then now on my YouTube channel, and pointing out that these people who we can obviously see now are false prophets, that they are, all of them, incapable of rightly handling God's Word.
To say that they are unskilled exegetes would be deceiving because none of them actually put on any pretense of being an exegete. And I have been warning the church for more than a decade that these people are false teachers and that they are deceivers, and now people are finally paying attention and saying, you know what, I think they may be a false prophet because they got it wrong regarding Trump.
But let's just put it this way. The house has been burning for a long, long time. And it's in that regard, consider then the words of the Apostle Peter in relation to the days that we are living in. And you're going to note that Peter prophesied correctly regarding the days that we find ourselves in.
Peter writes in 2 Peter 2 talking about the children of Israel, that false prophets arose among the people, and indeed they did. And he's referring to the prophets who arose among the people in the times of Isaiah and Jeremiah, folks like that.
And then he says this, just as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction, many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blaspheme.
Peter, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speaking the true words of God, telling us what the future would be, and I would say that the present currently is, warned us that a day would come when many false teachers, many false prophets would arise.
This dovetails with what Paul prophesied in 1 Timothy 4, people who will depart the faith, follow the doctrines of demons, that these people will follow sensuality, and many, many, many people would believe them and follow them in their deceptions.
And because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. One of the things that I've really been loath to do the past few weeks is to steer into some of the atheist channels to see how they are covering the false prophecies of men like Ken Copeland, Kuhneman, Zaddai, Kat Kerr, Lance Walno, the list goes on and on and on and on, and Jeremiah Johnson and others.
And let's just say that the atheists have had a complete heyday with this. Saying, here's proof, here's proof, definitive proof, Christianity is completely bunk. Jesus doesn't exist, God doesn't exist, these wackerdoodles are out there saying that God is speaking to them and they couldn't even get a 50 -50 bet right when it came to who was going to be president.
And then don't even get me started with how the Middle East is using this. Muslim countries are playing it on their television stations. All their news channels are covering the fact that these false prophets prophesied falsely and they're saying this is proof that Christianity is corrupt, that it is untrue, and the persecution of Christians has intensified in some Middle Eastern countries because of this.
So because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed. And then listen to this. In their greed, they will exploit you. Hmm. In their greed, they will exploit you with false words. You know, false words like, God told me to tell you to sow a $1 ,000 seed offering into my ministry.
Make your check payable to X, Y, Z. And that when the check arrives and God sees that you have faith and that you've sown this seed of faith and true faith, then God will bless you a hundredfold. It's an investment.
You send me $1 ,000 and you're going to receive $100 ,000 or $1 ,000 ,000 in return. But you're going to note, this isn't something new that's been on the scene just recently. This has been the standard message that has gone forth as the face of Christianity on Trinity Broadcasting Network for decades.
Going all the way back to when I was a teenager. But Scripture here, you're going to note this, Scripture again, Peter again, the Holy Spirit again, does not consider these people to be erring brothers who just need a little correction, maybe a dose of humility.
No, Peter says this, their condemnation from long ago is not idle and their destruction is not asleep. Nowhere in Scripture are Christians condemned in this way. Only unbelievers, false teachers, and false prophets.
And then he goes on, this next portion of 2 Peter is quite extensive because Peter's going to pile on the imagery. And he notes this, if God did not spare angels when they sinned, and he didn't, and note this, God is not a respecter of persons, nor is he a respecter of creatures.
And angels, we human beings, are a little below them. And so it says, if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment, if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, notice the ancient world was judged with the destruction of our planet and only eight survived.
It was seven others when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.
And if he rescued righteous lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked, for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard.
And you'll note here, Peter, dogpiles with angels who went to hell in chains, to the world that was destroyed by the flood, to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, all of these are invoking the future judgment and condemnation of God against these false teachers who are bringing to us doctrines of demons.
It says this then, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, especially of those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and those who despise authority.
That is interesting. And so you'll note, Scripture does not consider them to be erring brothers, but those who will invoke the great judgment of God. And we should be sober minded because here's the thing, the reason why all of this has happened is because so much of the church has been so lax in listening to the actual word of God and they have emboldened and they have underwritten the ministries of these false teachers and these false prophets who have just filled their ears with nothing but greed and sensuality.
Now in our day it's really easy to then ask the question how then are we to know? How then are we to know what is true and what is false? Because it really seems that there are a lot a ton, if you would, of false teachers running around the landscape.
I don't know if you've noticed, it's become harder and harder and harder to find churches where the pastors have the mindset they will bring nothing except for God's word, rightly divided and proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and properly divide the word between law and gospel.
It's becoming more and more difficult. Well, that being the case, note this, that even Pastor Roseborough has to be tested by Scripture. Don't ever take my word for it or give me the benefit of the doubt.
Always listen with an open Bible rather than an open mind. But let me give you an interesting test as it relates to people who claim to be prophets. It's found in the book of Revelation chapter 19. And in Revelation chapter 19 you'll remember that John, the apostle, has been taken up to heaven and he's seen very many marvelous as well as disturbing things while he is in heaven.
And in chapter 19 there is an angel who is showing him certain things in heaven. And the angel says to him in verse 9, write this, and listen to these words, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb and he said to me, these are the true words of God.
Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb and these are the true words of God. Keep this in mind. We're going to put a pin on that. We'll come back to it here in a second. And upon hearing these words the apostle John fell down at his feet, the angel's feet, in order to worship him.
But the angel said to him, you must not do that. I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. And then these important words, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Now, I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet, and apparently my prophetic activation didn't work either. So, that being the case, I have to rely on bringing a prophetic word to you week after week after week.
But that prophetic word that I bring to you, you can follow along. It's an open book prophecy, if you would. I proclaim to you the words of Christ. And I would remind you that Jesus himself said to the unbelieving Jews in John chapter 5, you diligently search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, yet there are various scriptures that testify about me and you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
So, let me ask the question, who did the prophets write about according to Jesus? Jesus, right? And it's true. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Now, who did the apostles write about? They wrote about Jesus.
You'll note that both the Old Testament and the New Testament seem to be obsessed with Jesus. The Old Testament foreshadowing and prophesying of his coming. The New Testament prophesying of the fact that he had come.
And consider then that this then is exactly what the point of our Old Testament text is. Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 15, Moses writing and proclaiming to the children of Israel in the wilderness, Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers.
It is to him you shall listen. Just as you desired of Yahweh your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh my God or see this great fire anymore lest I die.
And Yahweh 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 and I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
And so you'll note that Moses seems to be, well, prophesying about Jesus because he is prophesying about Jesus. And the one thing I can tell you with almost like zero exceptions is that all of today's modern prophets who are running around the internet landscape claiming that God has given them words, that the people that they preach about are themselves.
That's really what it comes down to. I over and again think about one particular example of a woman who claims to have a prophetic ministry and is somebody who can train people in the prophetic and at the end of her training offers them a prophetic activation.
That when she talks prophetically, the only person she's talking about is herself. In fact, on one occasion she made the point, she claimed that she was in Australia preaching at a women's conference when all of a sudden she was teleported in the spirit to Nova Scotia, Canada.
Whereby she found a fellow who had driven his car up to a cliff and was considering suicide and wouldn't you know it, she hopped in the car, shared the gospel with him, he repented of his sins, she saved his life, and then whoosh, she was taken back to Australia.
It's an interesting story, but that's not the testimony of Jesus, is it? That's the testimony of her. And then of course, don't even get me started with men like Benny Hinn and others, who every time they talk about the manifestations of the spirit and they condemn people who say, you know, the apostolic sign gifts and the revelatory gifts have ceased.
They always like to say, no, no, I know that it hasn't ceased because, and then they go on and talk about their particular exploits, as if they're the little saviors of the world. Always and again they preach about themselves, but here Moses is given a prophecy by God talking about a prophet who would arise and Jesus is our prophet, he is our priest, he is our king, and note, I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers.
I will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak to him all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. Now we'll note this is also the same text, Deuteronomy 18, talking about presumptuous prophets, those who claim to be spokespeople for God because that's what a prophet is.
They are speaking on behalf of God, they are God's spokesmen, that those who presume to speak a word that God has not given them and they prophesy that something is going to take place. If it doesn't take place, Deuteronomy 18 makes it clear, that's a word that God has not spoken.
They have spoken it presumptuously. In other words, they are false prophets. They are not what they claim to be. They are not bringing to you the words of God. So 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.
Now, in the New Covenant we do not stone false prophets. But I would note this, you are sinning against a holy God when you send them money. When you endorse them, when you make excuses for their false doctrines and their false prophecies, you are going against the expressed warnings of God that he's given us in all of Scripture, especially the New Testament.
But it's in that context, then, I want you to consider the other aspect of our Gospel text. In our Gospel text today, Christ is preaching in the synagogue of Capernaum. And here upon hearing the words of Christ, the prophet whom Moses said God would send, upon hearing them, the people there recognized that Jesus was teaching in a way that they had never heard before.
He was fulfilling the prophecy that Moses had given in Deuteronomy 18, and it says that they were astonished at his teaching. For he taught them as one who had authority and not as the scribes. If you want an example of how Jesus speaks with authority, Jesus speaks as if he's God himself.
Think back to the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says, you have heard it said, but I say. You have heard it said, but I say. Jesus is speaking as if he has authority. But remember the prophecy of Moses.
If you will not listen to the words of this prophet, God himself will hold you accountable for that. Let me ask the question, what are the words that we need to hear from this Jesus? The one whom God sent.
The one whom we need to listen to. The one whom God the Father had put the very words that he preached into his mouth. Answer. Listen. Christ says, I have not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved.
Jesus says, repent and believe the gospel. Jesus says that all who believe in him will never perish, but have eternal life. Jesus says that the work of God is to believe in the one whom the Father has sent.
And Jesus is also the one who, while bleeding for your sins and mine on the cross, said it is finished. Father, forgive them. And so note that Jesus has not come to condemn us. Is it any wonder then that the devil is doing everything he can through his false teachers and false prophets to paper over the words of Christ?
To cover them up? To brush them aside? Because the devil knows full well if you hear these words of Jesus, you might dare to believe that somebody as sinful as you can be forgiven by God and have eternal life.
All is a gift. Because what Jesus said is true. And so I would note that Christ wills for you to repent. He wills for you to be forgiven. He wills for you to have a hope of eternal life. He wills for you to believe in him and to receive from him grace upon grace and mercy, forgiveness, and life.
And all of this because he has bled and died even for all of your false belief, all of the heresies you've endorsed and even promoted and spoken with your mouth. Jesus is the Savior of the ungodly, including the penitent, false teachers, false believers, and heretics.
And so Jesus wills for you to be saved. And note then that the Apostle Paul in Titus chapter 1 and 2 makes it clear that God wills that those who are teaching doctrines of demons be silent. And so you'll note Jesus' words to the devil in church were, be silent.
Come out of him. Jesus is not going to allow the devil to proclaim who he is in his church. And so Jesus wills that the doctrines of demons be silenced. And that's going to require us to call out for strength and mercy to speak the truth and love and call those who are deceived to repent.
And this is an important thing that we need to do right now. We need to preach the words of Christ to give the real prophetic words, the ones that proclaim the testimony of Christ to those whose faith has been destroyed by these false teachers.
To reach out to them in love and let them know that it's not that Christ had failed them. It's that these deceivers deceived them. But they actively participated in their own deception and that there is forgiveness and mercy even for them.
So brothers and sisters, Christ has not only commanded that the demons be silent. Christ has also commanded that you be forgiven. So let us take confidence in this one who had authority. All authority.
All authority in heaven and earth. The one who had authority to silence the demons, to heal the sick, to give sight to the blind, to raise the dead. This same Jesus has also promised to raise you to eternal life.
His words are true. Trust him. Believe him. Pay attention to his words. He wills that you be saved. And in that context again, hear again the words of the angel of the book of Revelation chapter 19. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
These are the true words of God. And so they are. So then take rest, brothers and sisters. Christ has forgiven you of your sins and you are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. So hear the words of Christ this morning.
You who believe you are blessed in Jesus. These are the true words of God. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
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