"A Life that Demands Attention!"
Falling in Love with Jesus…all over again! An epic journey through the Gospel of Mark (message #7)
Pastor Jerry Ingalls
February 27, 2011
Jesus Christ's life demanded attention. Does yours?
For a message entitled "A Life that Demands Attention!", God's Word from Mark 1:21-28. Let's read this out loud together: "They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. 22 They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!" 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" 26 Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." 28 Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee." [prayer]
Let's examine what made Jesus famous throughout the region of Galilee. First, A LIFE THAT DEMANDS ATTENTION TEACHES GOD'S WORD!
Let's examine the testimony of Mark 1:21-22, "They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."
Who is the "They" in verse 21? The question is answered in the previous verses, Mark 1:16-20. "They" is Jesus and the four selected disciples. Are you ready for a pop quiz? Can you name the first four disciples? Take a moment and write down the answer. Let's list them in order Simon, Andrew, James, and John. We must know our Bibles (God's written Word!) with the same hunger we desire to know Jesus Christ (God's living Word) if we are to be His disciples!
Why is the "they" significant? "They" is significant because one of the central themes of the Gospel of Mark and a key to understanding God's Master Plan to reach all the people of the world is discipleship! This one word "they" reminds us of how Jesus Christ made disciples!
In your sermon notes you will see 4 letters with spaces after each: M.A.W.L. (It's an acronym.) If you pay attention to Jesus' life then you will see that He teaches you how to make disciples. As the one making disciples you do these four things:
1. Model - Jesus lived before all people the way they should live their lives. Jesus models what it means to be human and to follow God. We have to first follow Jesus Christ in our own lives! Are you following and modeling Jesus to all who watch you? Are you contagious?
2. Assist - Jesus did more than say, "Come and See". Jesus said, "Follow Me" (Mark 1:17). The key to Jesus' disciple-making is that He invited people to learn God's Word by walking with Him in everyday life. Discipleship is an everyday life-on-life activity--as you are going you teach how to handle everyday life as a disciple! Are you intentionally investing in the lives of new followers by inviting them into your life?
3. Watch - Jesus said, "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men" (Mark 1:17). Jesus sent out His disciples on short-term mission trips to do the ministry so He could ensure learning. The final exams are in the field! That's how He grows us and we must do the same for those we teach by going into the mission field together to learn outside the classroom! Are you training disciples to do the ministry themselves or have you kept people dependent on you?
4. Leave - The baby eagle is eventually thrown from the nest to learn how to fly on their own. Jesus sent His disciples into the world to complete the mission of God! You learn as you go, and you go because you have learned! Who have you sent out to make disciples?
Are you a spiritual parent or grandparent? Who are you discipling in your life? List four people…[pause]
When Jesus Christ took the four disciples with Him to the synagogue, He did so intentionally! He was teaching them about the Kingdom of God in a way of teaching that was different from all they had ever grown up with.
Jesus took them with Him to the synagogue and His teaching astonished or amazed the faithful Jewish men of Capernaum. Why did it astonish these men? Mark says, "for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."
Because Jesus Christ taught with the authority of God's anointing, the Holy Spirit empowering Him. This harkens back to the authority of Moses and the prophets. More directly in this situation though, Jesus taught through the authority of the Scriptures themselves. Jesus is contrasted with the teachers of the Law (the scribes). The scribes did more to codify the Scriptures into rules and regulations to live by, than to teach the Scriptures within their inherit authority. In other words, the scribes commonly used man's authority, quoting previous teachers of the Law to make their point.
Jesus taught with authority as with the finality of the voice of God! When you teach God's Word knowing it is inspired (God-breathed) then your life demands attention because God's Word is given to us with power and authority! From 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Do not be like the scribes and fall back upon man's authority. Religious men seek to regulate lives and create conduct codes from the Bible so that people will conform to their interpretations, their church's rules, their denominational DNA. No!
Man's interpretation is not the rule of our life; God's Word is our authority! Let's not codify it, but let's know the Word so well that our lives are transformed! Are you teaching the Scriptures or what you have read or heard someone else teach? Who is your authority?
Let's move to our next teaching point from this famous trip to the synagogue. A LIFE THAT DEMANDS ATTENTION HAS AUTHORITY TO DEFEAT EVIL!
This may be a disturbing or confusing passage to you, but we are witnessing nothing less than a firsthand historical account of real spiritual warfare including dialogue between Jesus and an evil spirit. Let me explain a bit about this story as I read it to you again. Mark 1:23-27 records, "Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean [evil] spirit; and he cried out, saying, 'What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? [the evil spirit is either addressing himself in the plural or referencing evil in general] I know who You are--the Holy One of God!' [The evil spirit is rightfully scared because he recognizes Jesus as the Holy One of God, the Bearer of the Holy Spirit, and between the Holy Spirit and an unclean spirit there exists a deadly opposition that the demon knows is fatal for him. The demon in this story is trying to use an ancient battle tactic to gain the upper hand on his opponent by naming Him by His rightful name—let me be clear, this is not a confession (though the evil spirit clearly knows who Jesus is), but a defensive attempt to gain control of Jesus.] And Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be quiet, and come out of him!' [Jesus Christ immediately shows that true authority does not come in the dark arts of magic tricks, incantations, or spells. True authority is found in God! Jesus Christ could not nor would not allow the defensive utterance of the demon to go un-rebuked--Jesus dealt with the evil spirit; that is why He came!] Throwing him into convulsions, [we have no idea how long this man had been demon-possessed or what preexisting condition led to him being demon-possessed or what damage the demon had done to him in the time he possessed him!] the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. They [everyone, but Jesus!] were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, 'What is this? A new teaching with authority! [Jesus is teaching Mark 1:15] He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.'"
Let's cut to the chase: to be a Bible-believing Spirit-filled Christian you must confront the materialistic secular worldview of our modern western culture. We have a worldview that says, everything can be explained by the sciences. We want to be able to see or touch everything, or at least have a scientific explanation behind what we can't see so that we can believe it is true; we want proof, we are a skeptical people. This is a flawed, prideful, and in many cases atheistic worldview!
Many of us don't even realize that it influences how we view the world, even as Christians! So, let me ask this question, Why was there an "unclean spirit" in a man who attended synagogue? Does this happen today in church? What then shall we do about it?
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow (until Satan is vanquished by God as foretold in the Book of Revelation!) there was and is and will be unclean (evil) spirits in the world. Jesus' came to reconcile humanity back to God (which means Jesus came to bring humanity back into right relationship with God) and this sent Him head long into an encounter with this unclean spirit in the Capernaum synagogue (and more to come). Jesus dealt with the evil forces who had destroyed this man's ability to be reconciled to the Father because to not deal with this evil would have been to compromise the very purpose for which Jesus came into the world in the first place—Jesus came to have victory over evil and strip Satan of any authority he has over humanity; to set us free!
Just as Jesus dealt with this evil, so we too as Spirit-filled disciples must confront evil when it presents itself in our heart, our lives, our marriages and families, our communities and churches, our nation and world. To allow the evil to go un-rebuked is to compromise the very purpose Jesus called us to follow Him. Let's talk about authority. More spiritual warfare from Acts 19:13-16, "Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, 'In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.' Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?' Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding."
Why didn't the evil spirits obey the religious leaders, even when they invoked the name of Jesus Christ? The reason the seven sons of Sceva, the Jewish chief priest, could not cast out the evil spirit simply by saying "in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches..." is because they did not have the authority; they were not followers.
These non-believers were trying to use Jesus' name as a magic trick or incantation. They were hoping to have power and authority without a relationship. Impossible! Authority to defeat evil is not found in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, but in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Matthew 10:1 states, "Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness." Fellow disciples, let me make it clear, the only authority we have is because of our relationship with the One who has all power and authority. This authority is bestowed upon us.
Where does your authority come from to defeat evil? Do you confront the evil in your life? At what cost?
As we move to the last verse of this section, we will see that your life is not intended to demand attention for you. A LIFE THAT DEMANDS ATTENTION INCREASES THE FAME OF JESUS CHRIST!
The last verse of this section is Mark 1:28, "Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee." Another translation states, "And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee."
Jesus Christ's fame grew because He was a man on a mission—He taught the Scriptures with authority and He commanded evil spirits. His teaching of the Kingdom of God was accompanied with signs and wonders of the Kingdom of God! Jesus Christ came to earth to fulfill the ancient promises of God—that He would be their God and they would be His people! We hear this promise in the ancient prophet Isaiah 66:18-19, "'For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations . . . to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory And they will declare My glory among the nations.'"
Jesus came with this mission! We see His mission being fulfilled in the synagogue in Capernaum and His fame spreads! How does His mission continue today? What are we called to do as disciples?
We (you and I) are to continue the mission of God today. We are the witnesses foretold in Isaiah 66. We are empowered and sent to the nations and distant coastlands to declare God's glory among the nations! We have a part in this epic story that God is continuing to tell through His Holy Spirit!
And your life counts! How you live your life and to what ambition you live it for has eternal consequences!
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to be like Jesus Christ—we are to teach as Jesus taught, we are to make disciples as Jesus made disciples, we are to cast out demons and defeat evil as Jesus did, and there is so much more on this epic journey through the Gospel of Mark for us to learn of who we should be and what we should do. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to bear witness to Jesus Christ so that His fame, and not our own, shall become even greater!
We are to live lives that demand attention and as people look at us (and they will be watching to see who we really are!) we will either bring discredit to or increase the fame of the name of Jesus Christ. This choice is in every detail of our everyday lives because we have been called to be witnesses!
In Acts 1:8 Jesus Christ said to His disciples, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Jesus empowers you with the Holy Spirit for the mission! Does your lifestyle and testimony increase the fame of Jesus Christ and bring glory to God?
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