The War with Satan

Mark 1:21–28; Luke 4:31–37

Last week we saw Jesus recruiting his first disciples and we saw how they sacrificed their time, thoughts, and money to God’s will. After this Jesus took his men directly to the front lines.

Which is why today we are going to study the first confrontation between Jesus and a demon but before someone says, “It’s about time!” or you ask, “what’s the point?” I want to remind you that angels and demons are real but also, keep in mind, less than 1% of the bible even mentions them.

This means most people fall into two categories: they either ignore the existence of angels and demons or they are obsessed with them. CS Lewis warned us against both,

“One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They [the demons] themselves are equally pleased with both errors.”

The point is that we need to know angels and demons exist but angelic beings cannot become a major aspect of your faith.  So today, we are going to talk about how Jesus and the disciples dealt with demons and how we can protect ourselves from the extremes.

²¹ Then they went into Capernaum, and right away He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. 

This particular synagogue was built by a Roman soldier and today you can still visit the remains of the synagogue that was built on top of it. 

²² They were astonished at His teaching because, unlike the scribes, He was teaching them as one having authority.

²³ Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, ²⁴ “What do You have to do with us, Jesus—Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

We don’t know what triggered this reaction. Maybe the man began to feel repentant. Maybe the demon was uncomfortable, we don’t know, but we do see that the demon is trying to negotiate but it’s hard to tell because Jesus is never interested in having a conversation with demons.

²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And the unclean spirit convulsed him, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him.

²⁷ Then they were all amazed, so they began to argue with one another, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” ²⁸ News about Him then spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee.

Mark 1:21–28

So how did this man become possessed? We are not sure. Ex: Paul tells us to not be directly involved in pagan sacrifices because to do so is to participate with demons but we also see a man who swears his kid has had a demon since childhood. Either way, we are not told, which brings us to why demonology is such a problem. 

People love to study this stuff because it makes them feel like they have some type of secret knowledge but the fact is the majority of what people believe about demons is literally demonic in origin because when you read books or hear preachers talk about this stuff, you come to find out that their “knowledge” of the demonic realm does not come from scripture, it literally comes from their conversations with demons.

This is crazy because the example we see in Jesus and the apostles is complete rejection of demons because scripture tells us demons are liars. So why would anyone believe them? For this question, I asked a person involved in exorcisms for over a decade and she told me that demons have to tell the truth if they are commanded to in the name of Jesus. 

Scripture doesn’t say this, so I naturally asked, “How do you know that?” and again I was told, "because the demons told us.” This is why we must begin and end our faith with,

1. God’s word is first

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." — Psalm 119:105

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." — Romans 10:17

“…'It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."'" — Matthew 4:4 

The new message of the new covenant that the crowd found so amazing is grounded in the goodness of God, the sinfulness of man, and the triumph of the cross. Other than the fact that we have an enemy, we know demons play no role in the gospel message. 

Our victory over sin and Satan comes through the power of the cross. Jesus paid the penalty for our collective sins by dying on the cross in our place. We do not need to defeat the devil or demons through deliverance or other unbiblical ministries because Jesus already won.

When you were dead in your sins…God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins…he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. 

Colossians 2:13–15

All of this is established in scripture which is first. We see that Jesus defeated Satan and his temptations by quoting God’s Word. After the resurrection, Jesus explained himself by “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets. In the same way, if you are to have any authority over your own life, it must begin with God’s truth.

God’s word protects us but, as we saw in the temptation of Adam, Eve, and Jesus, the devil loves to quote God’s scripture so we must also learn to protect ourselves from the devil by, 

2. Correctly handle God’s word

¹⁵ Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth. ¹⁶ But avoid irreverent, empty speech, for this will produce an even greater measure of godlessness.

2 Timothy 2:15

Not learning to correctly handle God’s word leads to godlessness because it leads to selfish beliefs and self-centered beliefs lead to bad theology. 

When we die, we become angels

We should love angels

We should pray to angels

Prayers are hindered by demons

All ailments and diseases are demonic in origin. 

All of these teachings are designed by the devil to waste our time and distract us from actually spreading the message Jesus preached which was “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.” 

Bad theology produces godlessness but good theology protects you and helps you grow in faith. So, here are some examples of good theology:

You were created to be good.

Satan creates nothing

Angels and demons do not know the future.

Demons cannot read your mind

Jesus defeated Satan

Jesus has authority over the demonic realm

So how do you get to understand these very simple but biblical principles? Through bible study, church attendance, prayer, and just as important, by practicing your faith through…

3. Obedience to God’s word

What’s the point of hearing God’s word if you don’t understand it?

What’s the point of understanding it if you don’t apply it?

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." 

2 Timothy 3:16–17

Most people are like the crowd who were amazed and excited because the gift of salvation is awesome but they don’t return because they are not repentant but the problem isn’t the music or the service time or the location; it has to do with an unwillingness to sacrifice and be obedient. 

Everyone loves the idea of being freed from sin but after forgiveness is offered Jesus says, “Go and sin no more.” That is where we lose people because the devil offers us a sinful shortcut.

Ex: In Genesis, Abraham is told he will have a son but God is taking too long so rather than be obedient, Sarai offers him her maidservant to carry the child. A sinful shortcut. 

Ex: Moses is up the mountain talking to God but he takes too long so Aaron makes the people a golden calf to worship while they wait. Another sinful shortcut.

Ex: King Saul gets tired waiting for the prophet so he disobeys God’s direct command and he chooses make sacrifices on his own. Yet, another sinful shortcut. 

Finally, we jump ahead to the NT and Satan tells Jesus that he will give Jesus the whole world if only he will bow down. The difference is Jesus did not take the sinful shortcut. He was obedient.

When it comes to temptation, Jesus’ started with scripture. Next, he rebuked the devil with God’s word by using it correctly. Finally, Jesus chose to sacrifice his comfort and his life through being obedient. He refuses to take the sinful shortcut. How does this play out today?

People come to church, get excited, and don’t come back, why? For some people, the devil reminds you, “The music isn’t what you like” or “it’s way earlier than you normally get up.” 

This is when you should remind yourself of God’s word,

²⁴ And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, ²⁵ not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Heb 10:24-25

But then the devil says you can worship wherever you are and he even quotes Jesus who said, “But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him.”

John 4:23

So, after finding a bible verse that agrees with them, most people pat themselves on the back and they take the shortcut but this is not what Jesus was saying at all. The point of church is not just being with God, it includes human fellowship and service whether you think you need it or not.

…they came under deep conviction and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what must we do?”

³⁸ “Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Acts 2:37-42

Finally, we go back to Hebrews and we now see why they should not skip church,

²⁴ And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, ²⁵ not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Heb 10:24-25

This is when we see the true meaning of the words of Jesus and we have a choice: take the shortcut or be obedient and the first step in that obedience is baptism. 

When we consider this it makes sense that when Paul wrote out lists of ministries and lists of spiritual gifts he never added “exorcism” or “exorcist” to any of them because all of us who have the Holy Spirit have that same authority. This freedom begins with repentance and finds it’s perfection in loving others. Paul was explaining this Timothy and drives the point home,

²⁴ The Lord’s slave must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, ²⁵ instructing his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth. ²⁶ Then they may come to their senses and escape the Devil’s trap, having been captured by him to do his will. 

2 Tim 2:24-26

You cannot even begin to fight the devil until you take the first steps of accepting God’s word, studying God’s word so you can understand it, and finally you need to be obedient to God’s word to have it apply to their life. This is why the best advice we receive is from the brother of Jesus. 

He says, stop being arrogant and self-centered and,

Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

We defeat the devil by resisting his temptation and living God’s word as God intended for us to live it but we will learn more about this topic in the next series.

Pray