(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Good morning, Church family.

Happy Lord's Day. What a joy, blessing, and privilege it is that we all get to gather here together to worship our God. And so with that, we will begin our service. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) ♪ Come Thou Fount of every blessing ♪ ♪ Tune my heart to sing Thy praise ♪ ♪ Streams of mercy never ceasing ♪ ♪ Call for songs of loudest praise ♪ ♪ Teach me some mellow dishonor ♪ ♪ Some by flaming tongues above ♪ ♪ Praise the mountain fixed upon it ♪ ♪ Mount of Thy redeeming love ♪ ♪ Here I raise my heaven-easier ♪ ♪ Thither by Thy help I come ♪ ♪ And I'll go by Thy good pleasure ♪ ♪ Safely to arrive at all ♪ ♪ Jesus saw me when a stranger ♪ ♪ Wandering from the fold of God ♪ ♪ He to rescue me from danger ♪ ♪ Enter close this precious love ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ Oh to Greece, oh to Greece how great a debtor ♪ ♪ Daily I'm constrict to be ♪ ♪ Let Thy goodness like a feather ♪ ♪ Bind my wandering heart to Thee ♪ ♪ Oh to wonder, Lord I fear the ♪ ♪ Road to lead the God I love ♪ ♪ Here's my heart, oh take and seal it ♪ ♪ Seal it for Thy courts above ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ For that day, for that day when free from sinning ♪ ♪ I shall see Thy lovely face ♪ ♪ Oh that in my watch there be ♪ ♪ How I'll seek Thy sovereign grace ♪ ♪ Oh my wonder, Lord, how dare Thee ♪ ♪ Take my rest, I'm so afraid ♪ ♪ Send Thy angels now to carry me ♪ ♪ To be bound down at this day ♪ ♪ Oh to wonder, Lord I fear the ♪ ♪ Road to lead the God I love ♪ ♪ Here's my heart, oh take and seal it ♪ ♪ Seal it for Thy courts above ♪ (soft piano music) - Hi, good morning.

Welcome to Bering Community Church. We have again a few announcements before we get started. First of all, the BCC Service Auction Fundraiser. If you are a member of the church and you have some service that you wanna offer or you have some product that you wanna donate, they're still taking it up to this week.

On February 25th is the deadline. So if you are planning to do so, please sign up as soon as you can. And then the actual auction is gonna be taking place on March 12th. One other thing is Evangelism Seminar. Starting from March 5th, which is the first Sunday of March, for four weeks on Sundays at 1 p.m., we're gonna be having our Evangelism Seminar.

And it's not gonna be theoretical. We're gonna be giving a short instruction in the beginning and then we're all gonna go out to different places that we're gonna predetermine where we are into teams. And then we're gonna, again, try to encourage you to take some time to share the gospel and then whatever you experience, questions that may arise out of that, we wanna be able to practically train you so that our church is in the habit of sharing the gospel with the believers around us.

So it doesn't make sense for us to claim this great gospel and then not be in a habit of sharing. So some of you guys may be intimidated by that. And so this is a great opportunity. We'll team you up with other people who may be a bit more experienced.

But at least be in the habit. We want our whole church, like we said, pray and proclaim is our theme. And so we wanna get in the habit of encouraging you to, whether it's at work, whether it's just on campus, at least be in the habit and strengthen your muscles to be able to share this gospel, right?

The gospel of the good news. So it doesn't make sense to have good news as a center of what we believe and then not to share this news. So this is starting on March 5th for four Sundays. And there will be a light lunch provided so that you don't have to worry about lunch.

But again, if you haven't signed up for that, please sign up for that. And that will begin in a few weeks. If you are a parent of the seeds, there's a PTA meeting happening on Sunday on 26th, which is next Sunday at 1 p.m. And then BCC Cleaning and Maintenance Day.

That's happening on March 4th, 9 a.m. to 12. So it's been a while since we had people gather and there's, you know, almost every part of the church needs cleaning. So if you're able that Saturday, please sign up for that and come and help us. We need as many people to come so that we can knock it out.

So again, that's happening on March 4th, 9 a.m. to 12. And then one last announcement, the Jubilee Lunch Fellowship. If you are of the age of 50 and over, okay, and I know some of you guys who are newer to the church, 50 and over, say, "Oh, I don't see any 50 and over at our church." You'd be surprised how many 50 and over people are at our church when we gather together.

So we are having a fellowship for that at 1 p.m. And I think there was an announcement that you may have gotten, that was March 19th, that that is not the right date. There's a conflict on that date. So it is going to be on April 2nd. So April 2nd is Palm Sunday.

And so at 1 p.m. there will be fellowship with the Jubilee Fellowship at 50 and over. And $10 per person. Okay? I think that's all the announcements. So after I pray for our offering, after our worship set, our sister Teresa is going to come up, and she's going to give her testimony and be baptized this morning.

Okay? So if you are new to the church and you have physical offering, we do have a physical box, offering box in the back. But for the rest of you, we'll give you a minute to give your offering. Okay? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gathering of the saints.

We thank you for the privilege that we have to be able to come before your presence and worship you. We pray, Father, that whatever burdens and distractions we may have brought into this room, help us, Lord God, to find our refuge in you. Help us to continue to fix our eyes upon Christ, the author and the perfecter of our faith.

We pray that even in our giving, it would prepare our hearts, Lord God, to worship, that it may be multiplied 30, 60, 100-fold for your use, for your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let us all rise as we sing these praises. I was a Northerner. I was a Northerner lost at the fall, Running away would not hear your call.

But Father, you worked your will. I had no righteousness of my own. I had no right to draw near your throne. But Father, you loved me still. And in love before you laid the world's foundation, You predestined to adopt me as your own. You have raised me up so high above my station.

I'm a child of God by grace, a grace of love. You left your home to seek out the lost. You knew the great and terrible cost. But Jesus, your face was set. I wove my fingers down to the bone. Nothing I did could ever atone. Jesus, you paid my debt.

By your blood I had redemption and salvation. Lord, you died that I might reap what you have sown. And you rose that I might be of you creation. I am born again by grace, a grace of love. I was in darkness all of my life. I never knew the day from the night.

The Spirit, you made me see. I swore I knew the way on my own. I've been full of rocks, I've hardly been stoned. But Spirit, you've lifted me. And your touch, my sleeping spirit, was awakened. On my death you were the light across the shore. Call it a turn, but keep the knack and not be shaken.

Heaven sends in my grace, a grace of love. So I'll stand and make my grace, a grace of love. I will run to reach my grace, a grace of love. I will slay my sin by grace, a grace of love. I will reach the end by grace, a grace of love.

(instrumental music) I am not skilled. I am not skilled to understand. What God has willed, what God has planned. I only know what is right. Stand one who is my Savior. I take Him at His word and dear. Christ died to save me this I read. And in my heart I find the need of Him to be my Savior.

That He would leave His place on earth and come for sinful man to die. You find it strange so I stand up before I knew my Savior. My Savior lives, my Savior lives. My Savior is always there for me. My God He was, my God He is. My God is always gonna be.

My Savior lives, my Savior lives. My Savior is always there for me. My God He was, my God He is. My God is always gonna be. Yes, living, dying, left me here. My strength, my soul is from this land. That He who lives to be my King once died to be my Savior.

That He would leave His place on earth and come for sinful man to die. You find it strange so I stand up before I knew my Savior. My Savior lives, my Savior lives. My Savior is always there for me. My God He was, my God He is. My God is always gonna be.

My Savior lives, my Savior lives. My Savior is always there for me. My God He was, my God He is. My God is always gonna be. (soulful music) My Savior loves. My Savior loves, my Savior lives. My Savior is always there for me. My God He was, my God He is.

My God is always gonna be. My Savior loves, my Savior lives. My Savior is always there for me. My God He was, my God He is. My God is always gonna be. My Savior loves, my Savior lives. My Savior is always there for me. My God He was, my God He is.

My God is always gonna be. My Savior loves, my Savior lives. My Savior is always there for me. My God He was, my God He is. My God is always gonna be. (soulful music) I am not skilled to understand what God has willed, what God has planned. I only know that His right hand stands one who is my Savior.

Amen, you may be seated. (soulful music) - Hi church, I'm T, or Teresa, and this is my testimony. So before Christ, I pursued the worldly love I grew up seeing in the media, thinking that that was life's purpose, how I can find happiness. I worshipped approval from others and romantic relationships that would make me feel known, loved, and valued.

As a result, this pursuit led me to fill the void I felt in my life with romantic relationships and acceptance from others that never quite measured up to what I would later learn was the search and satisfaction for Christ Himself. Idolizing love and affirmation from others resulted in me feeling insecure and inadequate, and it wasn't until my sophomore year in college, through trials and the people that God graciously placed in my life to guide me and pray over me that I came to truly know Christ.

Entering college, I felt exhausted from having to present myself a certain way, to please my friends and family, and I felt so lost as I was struggling to find purpose in life, as well as happiness in the relationship I was in at that time. Right before leaving for college, I was sexually abused and raped by my then partner, and it left me feeling very unclean, shameful, confused, and made me feel that love was very conditional.

I believed in the lie shaped by my circumstances that I was unworthy and unlovable, and it left me feeling so insecure and ashamed. I thought that there was something fundamentally flawed with me, and that if anyone knew of the sexual abuse I experienced, I'd be shunned and hated by the people around me.

Externally, I continued living life like everything was okay and maintained the bright and bubbly personality friends and family expected me to have, while internally, I was in turmoil and felt so lost. But it was in that place where God met me in a real and powerful way. I didn't expect to attend church and college, but ended up doing so freshman year through a friend's invitation, and because I didn't know how to say no.

The contents of the service didn't really stick out to me, but I saw and felt something different in the community there, and so I kept on coming out. In addition to them being warm and welcoming, each person I met genuinely seemed so at peace and had a deep joy, and so I knew pretty early on that whatever they had, I was missing, and that launched my journey to learn more about the God that they worshipped and claimed was love.

As I attended Bible studies and church services, it was through hearing and reading God's word frequently, asking a lot of questions, reflecting, and through prayer that God gradually revealed to me the depravity of my heart as a sinner who deserves to die before a holy God. I came to understand that God, our creator, was reaching out to me despite knowing my failed attempts at love, my shame, and disappointments.

He wasn't there to judge me or shame me, but to accept me and show compassion towards me because of what Jesus did on the cross. He invites me to leave my life of sin, invites me to forgiveness, and invites me to be fully known and loved by him who created me.

However, I thought that this good news was too good to be true. I believed that I had to earn and work my way towards God's forgiveness, and I accepted the lie that some sins are just too dirty for Christ's blood to fully cleanse. I was stuck in shame and was determined that because of my sinful choices and decisions, I was less than and deserved to have less than, and that I was beyond redemption.

But Ephesians 2, 8, 9, Titus 3, 5, and 2 Corinthians 12, 9 helped me to understand that he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his mercy and grace, and that God's grace is sufficient, and that it's always going to be greater than my sins.

My sinfulness was gradually made known to me as I reflected and listed them out, and it allowed me to see that I was pursuing love in the wrong places, and that I was full of evil thoughts as a result of my pride, lust, shame, and my love for the world.

Though I'm undeserving, God in his love and mercy chose to extend his grace to me by sending his son to die on the cross for me. Jesus made a way for me to have peace and be made right with God by the blood of his cross, not because of who I was or what I could do, but because of who he is.

I was able to recognize my hopeless situation as nothing I could do would erase or undo the wickedness of my heart or bridge the gap that I made between me and God. And I felt humbled when I came to understand that although I had lived a life not recognizing Jesus' love and sacrifice, Jesus made it his mission to save me by willingly taking my punishment to the cross in my place so that I could be forgiven.

And in understanding this good news, I wanted to respond joyfully and willingly, and so I confessed my sins, and through putting my faith in Jesus, I was able to receive this incredible grace that was given to me through his sacrifice, and I made the commitment to accept him as my Lord and Savior.

In hindsight, it's amazing how I met God after experiencing so much loneliness, emptiness, and dissatisfaction with life, but it's even more amazing how God used these moments of suffering so that I can know that it is only him who can satisfy me, and I'm so thankful that God pursued my heart so relentlessly.

Jesus says in John 6, 35, "Out of life, whoever comes to me shall not hunger, "and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." And he says to the Samaritan woman at the well, "If you drink of this water, you will thirst again, "but if you drink of the water that I give you, "you will never be thirsty." And so Jesus has satisfied me and quenched my thirst in a way that nothing else in the world could.

All this time, I tried finding purpose and happiness in people and through approval, and I let these worldly things rob my joy and steal my peace. Recognizing how empty the love and approval I sought after in the world was so freeing, and after receiving God's grace, my insecurity and inadequacy turned to security and reassurance because my identity was no longer tied to worldly relationships or to pleasing people, but is rooted in knowing Christ.

He has fulfilled my desire to be known, loved, and accepted, and although I'm flawed and undeserving in many ways, God still shows me his love. And while the things I was pursuing before continually let me down, God didn't leave me and loved me to the lowest point and saved me.

I no longer feel unworthy or feel the need to prove myself, as I now rest assured and am filled with God's unconditional love for me. My identity is in who God says I am, his beloved child. And although I still have my battles, I now find peace, comfort, and love in them because I am confident that on the other side, there is victory through his glory and grace in my new life, and I will strive to live a life that glorifies him, proclaiming Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

Thank you. - All right, Teresa, thank you for that powerful testimony. You know, one of my favorite quotes is Corrie Ten Boone. Some of you guys who may know who she is, says, "There is no darkness that Satan can create that the love of God cannot penetrate." And so I think that pretty much summarizes her testimony.

If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 4, and again, I will be doing part 2 of this section, chapter 4, verse 31 through verse 37. And reading out of the NASB, "And he came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were amazed at his teaching, for his message was with authority.

In a synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 'Let us alone! 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.' But Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be quiet, and come out of him.' And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.

And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another, saying, 'What is this message? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.' And the report about him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district." Let's pray. Father, we pray that your word, and only your word, would go forth.

We pray that you would protect the pulpit. We would protect, Lord, and guide our hearts and our ears. That only your word, anointed by your spirit, Lord God, would have any impact on us. So we pray for your grace, and your Holy Spirit's guidance. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Last week we looked at the authority that people recognized as soon as Jesus opened his mouth and began to preach his sermon, and how for 400 years, basically the scribes were babbling. They were quoting one another, and the word of God basically dried up, not because the scroll was lost, necessarily, but because God did not send his servants.

And so when Jesus opened to preach, for the first time in 400 years, an unadulterated word of God was heard. And they heard it, they were amazed. They were thrown back. That's the word for amazement. Today we're looking at the text where as a result of his preaching, they were amazed.

A demon-possessed man has an encounter with Christ, and Jesus casts him out, and again, we recognize his authority and power even over the demons. When it comes to what we understand about demons, if I ask you to draw a picture of a demon or an angel, my guess is most of you will draw a picture of a demon that's ugly, filthy, maybe red, with the horns, and whatever it may be, but it would be an ugly picture, and if I asked you to draw a picture of an angel, it would be very aesthetically beautiful, white, you know, something that you would maybe put on a mantle somewhere.

But our understanding, or our concept of the devil and the demons, so much of it comes from Hollywood. The Bible does not paint the picture of the demons aesthetically any different than the angels. They were created beings just like angels. And so the only difference, only physical difference between an angel and a demon would be their moral quality, not the way they look.

So so much of what we understand of the demonic comes from Hollywood, the movies that we've watched, or maybe books that we've read, or maybe paintings that we might have seen. But it may not be what the Bible teaches us. I was saved, even though I grew up in a Presbyterian home, I was saved in a charismatic background, and so in the charismatic background, everything was demonic.

And so I was told that the music was demonic, the movies were demonic. I was told that there would be regions that are demonic. And then I was also told that in one place where the dolls can be demonic, and so you can't own dolls. Or football, there's a demon of football, because everybody who plays football, they seem to backslide.

I had this picture of the demonic world where I was almost afraid to get up in the middle of the night, because I was afraid every dark corner there was some demon waiting. Right? Obviously that's not biblical either. Or, you have the other extreme where everything is so Western, and if you can't prove anything mystical, it's not real.

So even though, like in a Bible teaching church, we may understand that the Bible teaches that the demonic world is real, but we don't actually live as if it's real. It's just kind of a side note, right? It's like, it's mentioned in the Bible, so clearly we believe that.

But we don't function like the demonic world is real. But, the danger in that, is that the Bible clearly tells us, Paul tells us in the book of Ephesians chapter 6, and I'm just going to read verse 12, he says "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." So Paul reminds us, that our struggle isn't simply getting the right, you know, right training, or getting the right knowledge, and since this is wrong, identify what's wrong, and then find three steps to kind of improve this, and if we can get the right thinking, right training, right education, that we're going to be able to save people, we're going to be able to be sanctified, and disciple people, if we just have the right program.

He first and foremost, tells us, our struggle is not against flesh and blood. So the first and foremost, it's not something that we can do simply by flesh and blood, whether justification, sanctification, or glorification. There is a spiritual battle going on, and he warns us, so that the people would be, would know that we have an enemy that is attacking us.

There's a demonic world that is real. So, you know, I'm not going to have time this morning, because my purpose this morning is not to go into demonology. There's plenty that we can learn about what the Bible teaches us about the demonic world. But my goal is not that.

I'm going to give you a quick cliff-note version of demonology. One of these days, maybe we'll dive a little bit deeper into this. And trust me, it is interesting. It is very interesting. There's so little material out there about the work of the demon from Genesis. There's an anti- work of the demon, all the way from Genesis, all the way to Revelation.

But because they're not the central figure, we end up talking about the central figure, and then the demonic world is just kind of like, "Ah, yeah, it was there. Yeah, they started this problem." But when you actually really dive into it, it is very interesting. Right? Which we're not going to get into today.

Okay? This is just a, one of these days when this happens, come to the seminar. Okay. Let me give you a, just a quick summary. The Bible says that the demonic, demonic world is large in number. Now, whether this is true or not, many theologians believe a third of the angels were kicked out of heaven because they chose to follow satanic rebellion.

Now, the reason why that's interesting is because in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 22, when it talks about the angels, he says, "The word that is used is myriads of angels, countless." So it is so large. And you know, if you, again, we're not going to get into angeology. The power of just one angel is so powerful that even armies can be thwarted by the power of one angel.

And the Bible says that there are myriads of them and a third of them followed satanic influence. Which means the demonic world is powerful and it is numerous. Demons have the ability to possess people. Oftentimes when we encounter demonic encounters just like this, it's usually because the demons have possessed somebody.

And the distinction that we see between the demonic possession and demonic influence is that the demons can possess non-Christians because they are in the domain of Satan. Christians, the believers, cannot be possessed by demons, but they are influenced. And that's the difference between what we see with Judas and Peter.

Where Judas was possessed by the devil, where Peter is influenced by the devil. Demons pervert the truth. He's a father of lies. So it takes truth. And every encounter that we see where the demon quotes the Bible is that they quote the central teachings of the Bible and then he perverts it and he applies it in a way that is rebellious against God.

So one of the primary work of the devil is pervert the truth. Its desire is to devour it says. It says it's not just there just randomly doing its work. Its primary desire is to divert, to pervert, and then to destroy. That's his primary work. Demons desire worship of their own.

And that's why they're rebelling. Satan rebelled against God because he wanted the glory that God was getting. And so he tempted a third of the angels to follow him. So their primary goal is to seek their own glory. And so they want to pervert the glory of God. Demons can manifest demons usually manifest as something very beautiful.

Our idea of a demon who's ugly with a pitchfork and Freddy Krueger, if you guys know who that is. Like something ugly that you usually get from Hollywood. That is not the picture that is seen in the Bible. The Bible says Satan was created as a beautiful being. And the angels, just like the angels who have not fallen, we usually picture them as beautiful.

The demons, aesthetically, are also beautiful. And the reason why they are so effective is because they're beautiful. The reason why they are so tempting is because they have beauty. The Bible describes them as beautiful beings who are intent to destroy, to pervert, and seek their own glory. Demons mimic the work of Christ.

Remember when we were studying the book of Revelation? The death and then resurrection and then it kind of deceived and kind of got them to think that there was a miracle that took place, a resurrection took place, and then all of that energy was given to the dragon? If you remember, so the primary work, the way he deceives and lies and destroys, is by mimicking the work of Christ.

And the Bible says that the devil comes as an angel of light. Now, all of these things, right, there's a quick, quick version, right, of demonology. If the demonic work, he can possess people, influence people, he can pervert the truth, he is set to devour, right, and he desires his own worship, he is beautiful, and he mimics the work of Christ, what is the most effective way to do that?

In the church. Through the pulpit. The most effective way that a demon can influence and destroy and pervert the truth is by perverting this pulpit. By having a pastor who should not be a pastor, by having somebody standing here proclaiming the truth and deceiving you, because this is the best place, the most effective place, to do the most damage.

And this is why it's so important that you test the truth, that you don't just say, "Oh, a pastor said it. Oh, he's a pastor of a large church. Oh, he knows the Bible, he's a PhD in this subject." Because this is the most effective way to carry out demonic work.

This is why it's so important that we pay very close attention to what we profess to believe. The encounter that Jesus has with the demon, right, where does it happen? The answer's not on my face, okay? Where does this demonic encounter happen? At the synagogue. At the synagogue. Where it happens was that Jesus was not walking down and he saw a demon possessed man who was doing pervert, like, crazy things, and then Jesus went to him, looking for him, and he says, "No." What was happening was very ordinary.

It was on a typical Sabbath. The only thing extraordinary about this event was that Jesus was there. And Jesus, when he opens up the Scriptures, and he begins to preach the adulterated Word of God, there was a response. It doesn't tell us, you know, maybe he came, maybe he heard about Jesus and he came to listen to Jesus, which, in my mind, that's unlikely.

The demons are afraid of him. Why would they go out of their way? My guess is, this person was in the synagogue. He was in the community. And maybe they were able to function. Maybe he was acting strange. Maybe they thought, maybe he had some mental illness. Whatever it was, he was in the synagogue.

Part of the worship. Listening like everybody else. But for the first time, an anointed man of God opened up the Word, and he was stirred. That's where the encounter happens. Now, why is this significant? Because they didn't even recognize the demon among them until Christ was in their presence.

Whether it was him or whoever else was there, he was there, like everybody else. It was only when Christ was revealed through the Word of God the demon was stirred to speak. The reason why this is so significant is because in James 2, 18-19, it says, "But some one may say, 'You have faith and I have works.

Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe and shudder.'" In other words, he's saying you're professing the same thing that the demons profess. What you're holding on to, saying that, "I believe, so therefore I must be saved." He said, "That's great.

That's good. But even the demons have that, and they shudder." This demon-possessed man was in the presence, like everybody else, until Christ showed up. And then he was revealed. It's important for us this morning as we examine this demonic faith. What is the difference between this demonic faith and saving faith?

What is the difference? Clearly it's not church attendance. Clearly it's not just profession. Clearly it's not just having the doctrines right. We're going to see that. There's three things that I want you to notice. The distinction between saving faith and this demonic faith. One, these demons knew who Jesus was.

They had his identity correct. Even as other people did not recognize him, the demons were the first ones to profess and know exactly who Jesus was. It says that this man had an unclean demon. Every Saturday night or in the afternoon, I'll put up questions that I'm going to be covering for the next day.

So those of you who say, "Oh, his sermons are difficult to understand." Go Friday night, look at the questions, and then examine the text, and that'll kind of help you to follow along with what I'm saying. At the minimum, you'll know what texts that were in. So one of the questions that I asked is, "Why is a demon called unclean?

Is there a clean demon?" Is there different levels of demons where you have unclean demon, kind of clean demon, you know, little bit disorganized demon? Right? It's like an oxymoron. Why would you have to call him unclean? Because we already understand that the demon is unclean. I believe that Luke is doing that to contrast between these demons and who they recognize.

Because as soon as they see Jesus, what do they say? "We know who you are." And they said, "You are the Holy One of God." They were sitting in the midst, just like everybody else, and my guess is maybe they didn't recognize. Until he was in the presence of Christ.

And his unadulterated Word of God. And so Luke is trying to distinguish between the Holy One of God and the unclean demons. I think you and I know that's exactly what happens when we encounter Christ. In fact, our justification happens because when we encounter Christ, we recognize the filth of our sin.

And it is the recognition of the filth of our sin that causes us to repent. There are many in the church who have never acknowledged or recognized the sin. They said, "Yeah, Jesus is good. He died for my sins, and so I'm going to go to heaven, so I'm a Christian." But they don't see the depth of their sin because they've never encountered Christ.

And as a result of that, they can go through the motion, but they don't know where they stand before God. See, when they saw Jesus and they heard Jesus, the first thing that they recognized, "You are the Holy One of God." 2 Corinthians 10:12 says, "For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves, but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding." There are people who are completely comfortable in the church because they compare themselves with other sinners.

I'm not as bad as that. I didn't murder anybody. But they've never encountered Christ. Because they never encountered Christ, they don't see the depravity of their own hearts. And so an individual who knows the teachings of the Bible and who have not encountered Christ ends up preoccupied with the filth of other people.

Which was the Pharisees and the scribes. We're constantly concerned about the filth of other people. But they're not aware of their own filth. Their own uncleanness. But one of the first things that happens to an individual who is in the presence of God continually is a recognition of our own unworthiness.

Of the whole of God that we stand before to worship Him. And as a result of that, we are more concerned about our own sins than anybody else's sins. Because that's the closest to us. The sin that is the closest to us is not other people's sin. It is our own sin.

I think Luke is trying to distinguish to be able to recognize. That's what the demons recognized. They knew that they were standing before the Holy Son of God. So in Mark 3, 11 it says, "Whenever the unclean spirit saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, 'You are the Son of God!'" Immediately they recognized who He was.

Luke 4, 41 demons also were coming out of many places shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak because they knew Him to be Christ. The whole reason the Bible says that the law was given was to bring sinners to where the demons were.

So they would recognize the utter filthiness of their own sins. Which is what the demons recognized as soon as they were before God. It is a sad statement for the nation of Israel that the demons recognized Him, but they did not. That the leaders of Israel who knew the law did not recognize Him.

The teachers of the law who were teaching them, Sabbath after Sabbath after Sabbath, and yet the Messiah that they've been proclaiming for years and years and years standing right before them, and they didn't recognize Him. But the demons did. You remember Isaiah chapter 6 verse 5? God is trying to prepare Isaiah for ministry.

And so this righteous man of Israel is being anointed to proclaim His Word. And so God brings Him and shows Him His glory. And this righteous man of Israel, when he sees the glory of God, he says, Isaiah 6 verse 5, "Then I said, 'Woe to me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.'" Genuine encounter with the Holy God exposes who we are in the light of who He is.

Remember that. The demons recognized Him. And that's what He means. He said, "Well, we recognize Him. Oh yeah, I believe that Jesus is God." Good. Even the demons believe that. "Oh yeah, I believe in, you know, what He came to do." Demons knew that. They believed that. "You're good.

You're from God." Good. That's correct. But the demons believed that. Second, they immediately recognized Jesus' authority over them. It wasn't just an impersonal. Like, "Oh, I know who you are." It was very personal. They recognized His authority. "Let us alone have you come to destroy us." They knew exactly where they stood.

They recognized their filth in the presence of a Holy God. But you know what's interesting? In the Old Testament, there is no record of any casting out of demons. That doesn't happen until Jesus comes. And then we have all these records in the Gospel ministry where Jesus is walking, and there's all these demonic encounters when Jesus appears.

So you don't see that until Jesus comes in the Gospels. And there's a clear reason for that. Because the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:4, "Satan is the god of this age." Now, in the Bible, in the Greek, there's two different words used for the world. One is "cosmos." Again, it's not the totality of this meaning, but the word "cosmos" basically means the creation.

What has been created is "cosmos." The word that is used here is "ion." It's referring to culture, or the age. So when he says, "Satan is the god of this ion, this age," he's talking about its values. He's talking about the things that we're tempted by, things that we pursue.

And so he said, "Satan has free reign," because that's his domain. Now, let me get very personal here. Okay? What that means is K-pop is not neutral. K-pop is not neutral. Hollywood is not neutral. Politics is not neutral. Education is not neutral. It's not neutral. All of it is under the power of the god of this age, ion.

So, if we think there's a realm of god, and then there's a realm of the devil, and then there's a large part that's neutral. No. They're either under the domain of Satan or under the kingdom of his son. And that's why we have to stay sober and alert, because there are deliberate influences in our culture to get you to think and to act like children of the devil.

And if we're not careful, we get slowly sucked up into that in the way that we're thinking that is completely demonic. This... Satan had free reign until Christ appears, and then they are trembling. In Acts 6, 26, 18, it says, "To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me." Notice here there's only two dominions, dominion of Satan and dominion of God.

You don't have your own dominion. You don't have your own dominion. Either you are being influenced by God, or you're being influenced by the demonic world. Colossians 1, 13, "For he rescued us from the domain of darkness." The word domain is the same word that we understood when they heard the word of God, he spoke with authority, and that's that same word here.

He said, "He rescued us from the authority of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son." You are either in the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of his Son. Hebrews 2, 14, "Therefore, since the children share in the flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil." Think about the fear of death and how that affects what we do and what we value.

And he said, "The power of death is sin, and the power that has authority over that," he said, "is the devil. The devil has that." And so the devil was, Satan was reigning freely until the true authority comes. And so they recognized him right away. Up to this point, the demons did whatever they wanted.

They possessed whoever they wanted because they were all under his domain. Then all of a sudden, the king of kings and lord of lords shows up, and they said, "Why have you come?" They had recognized his authority. In fact, Jesus, when he hears the devil, the demon, he says, "Be quiet and come out." "Be quiet" is more of a tame version.

The word should be "shut up." You probably never heard that from a puppet before, but you heard it this morning. The literal translation is, "Shut your mouth." Jesus was not being polite with the demons. He was saying, "Shut your mouth. Come out of him." There's no discussion. There's no debate.

Jesus doesn't reason with him. He doesn't say, "Hey, do you think that's the best thing? You think what you're doing is wise? Don't you know what's going to happen to you after you die, or after all of this?" He doesn't reason with him. He just says, "Shut up!" And the demons were not saying anything blasphemous.

The demons were speaking the truth. We know who you are, the son of God, the holy one of God. Have you come before time to destroy us?" He says, "Shut up! Come out!" And you notice the response? "And when the demons had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.

An amazement came upon them all. They began talking with one another, saying, 'What is this message? For with authority and power, he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.'" You notice how the demons don't talk back to him either? These are demons who are already under rebellion against God.

Why don't they say, "Well, who are you to tell me what to do? Satan is our master! We have dominion over this man! Nothing!" Jesus says, "Come out. Shut your mouth and come out." And he couldn't touch him, even the demons. Even the demons couldn't resist a direct command.

You know, we have this view, because of Hollywood, that you have God who is good, Satan who is bad, and they're kind of fighting, and we're rooting for Jesus, because we're on his side. Hopefully that he will be powerful enough, if we pray enough, if we work hard enough, if we share the gospel enough, if we disciple enough, that Jesus will be established and Satan will lose.

That's not how the Bible describes Satanic power. Even the demons in the presence of Jesus were shuddering in fear. They don't argue with him, they don't debate with him, they just come out. And the reason why they say they didn't touch him, that they didn't harm him, is because that's their normal pattern, because they want to destroy.

But because Jesus said, "Come out," and they didn't give any stipulation, they obeyed exactly what Jesus said. Now, why is this significant? Because even the demons cannot resist a direct command. Think about that. These are demons. Now, were they in obedience to God? Of course not. They're in rebellion against him.

But a direct command of God, even the demons couldn't resist. How many Christians, proclaiming Christians, who live in rebellion against God's direct command and have absolute security because I confessed something somewhere in the past? Because I know who he is. I believe he's Jesus. I have absolute security. Even the demons couldn't resist him.

Third, the demons were terrified. In Matthew 8, 29, these two violent demons who possess these two men, they were so violent that people could not even pass by where they were because they were going to get jumped by these demons. These powerful demons who control these two men. So Jesus shows up and they are in fear.

In verse 29 it says, "And they cried out, saying, 'What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?'" There's no arguing. They don't try to wrestle with him. As soon as they recognize him, they are in fear.

And Jesus says to come out. And they beg him, 'Please allow us at least to destroy the swines because that's who they are.' He said, and he gives them permission. They said, 'Why did Jesus do that? What was the purpose of allowing them to go into the swines and destroy the swines?

Well, what do we learn from that? That's who they are. That's what they are. That's what demons want to do. But he wouldn't permit them to do it to the human beings. So to show us that this is the nature of these demons, he allows it. So now we have on record visually that this is what they want to do to us.

And Jesus wouldn't permit it. And they were in fear. Mark 5:7 "At the tomb of the garrison," it says, "and shouting with a loud voice, he said, 'What business do we have with each other? Jesus, Son of the Most High God, I implore you by God, do not torment me.'" They're not fighting against him.

They're not arguing against him. They're just in fear. And then Matthew 25, 41, Jesus says, "And he will also say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.'" And you know who knew this better than anybody else?

The demons. They knew. Which is the crazy thing about the demons, that knowing that torment is coming. Knowing that torment is coming. And as crazy as that is, that's exactly what it says in the book of Revelation. When God is revealed and judgment comes, the people who are rebelling against God, instead of falling to their knees and repenting, they go into the caves to hide from him without repenting.

And they harden their hearts even further. And the demons knew this very well. And as soon as they were in the presence of the Holy One of God, "Have you come before your time?" It's because the demons knew, and because they had the right theology, that's why they were terrified.

Now, why is this so important for us? Because in Psalm 36, verse 1, it says, "Transgression speaks to the ungodly with his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes." Those who are comfortable in sin, it's because they do not fear God. He says, "You have right theology.

Good! Even the demons have that. But you know what the demons have that even you don't have? They are afraid." They are afraid. And he said, "The reason why people continue to live in sin and profess to know God is because they really don't know God. That their faith isn't better than the demons, it's actually worse than the demons.

Because they profess to know this Holy, Holy, Holy God and live in rebellion against God, and there is no fear. There is no fear. And the reason why, you know how that happened? Through the pulpit. That deception happened through the pulpit. Because men who are more afraid of men have come into ministry and perverted the gospel for their own gain.

And so the work of the devil came through the pulpit by compromising the Word of God. And so we have a generation filled with people living in rebellion against God and be fully convinced that when they meet this Holy God that they are perfectly safe. Even though the demons believe and they shudder.

They believe that because they don't know the Word of God. They are not, there is no fear of God because they do not know this God. It is the same God who destroyed the world because He was ignited in judgment. He wiped out the whole earth with the exception of eight because He was so provoked by their sins.

And the Bible tells us that's exactly how the world will end. He will separate the sheep and the goat. Many will say to me, "Lord, Lord." And He says, "You have been deceived. You have had demonic faith and you have been lied to. And so you have been destroyed and devoured." Romans 3, 10-18.

It is the description of man's rebellion. And I'm not going to read all of it. But He lists these things to convince us that we are desperately in need of His mercy. And I'm going to start reading from verse 14. It says, "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their path. And the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." Basically, that's a summary of everything that He said. The reason why they are completely safe in rebellion against God is because there is no fear of God in them.

Proverbs 8, 13. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and evil way and the perverted mouth I hate. I hate. Proverbs 16, 6. "By loving kindness and truth iniquity is atoned for." Right? I want you to pay attention to that.

"By loving kindness and truth iniquity is atoned for. And by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil." Look at that passage carefully. "By loving kindness and truth iniquity is atoned for." It is this mercy that lays us to repentance. And it is the fear of the Lord that keeps us away from evil.

We have a generation filled with people who have emphasized the love and kindness of God to the extent exclusion of who God is in His nature. And this is the reason why hell is being erased in our generation. Because the God in the gospel that was priest in our generation does not allow hell.

How can a loving God do that? How can a gracious God do that? So the God of our generation is a grandfather or grandparent who is spoiling a child. And so we have a Christian generation of people where the gospel and the word of God through the pulpit has come to believe that nothing you do matters.

Nothing you do matters. That God saved you from the consequences of sins. But the power of sin? He doesn't really care. Because He covers us. That's what love is. And so hell doesn't fit. Judgment doesn't fit. Holiness does not fit. And we have people more than willing to take that off the pulpit.

Because our generation eats that up. It is the fear of the Lord that keeps us from sin, it says. Ecclesiastes 12, 13. The conclusion, Solomon at the end of his life, the wisest human being that has ever lived outside of Christ, the conclusion when all has been heard is fear God and keep His commandment because this applies to every person.

Let me conclude with this. Everything that I mentioned to you right now was demonic. It was demonic. They recognized Him. They professed the right identity of Christ. They knew exactly what He came to do. And they knew they were guilty. And they were in terror of Him. And yet they will be in hell.

How many people in our generation have demonic faith and are perfectly safe because of the perversion of the truth that came through the pulpit? That's why the Bible tells us do not lay hands hastily. Not only will they be guilty, but those who hastily put people up on the pulpit will be guilty of the sin that they commit.

I pray that this is sobering to all of us as it is to me. How the demonic possessed man was in the synagogue like everybody else. How he was doing what everybody else was doing until Christ showed up. Until Christ showed up. And this is why Jesus tells us that wheat and the tares are so hard to separate because it is not obvious.

That's how clever the demons are. That's how powerful they are. That's how easily they can deceive. So if there's anybody in this room has hung their hat on something that you have heard, you can dismiss me, "Hey, Pastor Peter's always angry." You can dismiss me, but what are you going to do with the Word of God?

What are you going to do with the passage? What are you going to do with what you have heard? I pray that even if there's one person in this room, whether it's five years, ten years, or fifty years, that your faith looks like the demonic faith. That you would come to the Lord and receive true food, true salvation, with true repentance.

Let's pray. Let's take some time to come before the Lord. And anything that was said, and it's just my personality, it's just my hobby horse, that God would take that away, but the truth of His Word would remain in you. That as Christ compassionately invited all of us, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden." If you've been running to the world and things because you're heavy laden, and you've been eating the food of the world, come to Christ.

Meet Christ. Submit to Christ. He said that He had come to give life, and to give this life abundantly. There is no life outside of Christ. Come to Him. Repent. Ask for forgiveness. And embrace the love and life of Christ that can only come when His blood has covered us.

And for the rest of us, if we've been living casually, trying to be in between two worlds, though you are one way on Sunday and another way on the weekdays, there is no middle ground. Either we are being influenced by the kingdom of the world, kingdom of Satan, or we are under the kingdom of Christ.

Choose you this day whom you will serve. Let's take some time to pray again as our worship team leads us. (gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - Let's all stand up for the closing praise.

(gentle music) ♪ What gift of grace is Jesus my Redeemer ♪ ♪ There is no more for heaven and to give ♪ ♪ He is my joy, my righteousness and freedom ♪ ♪ My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace ♪ ♪ To this I come, my hope is only Jesus ♪ ♪ Fill my life, His holy vow to live ♪ ♪ Oh, how strange and divine ♪ ♪ I can see from His glory and love ♪ ♪ That we find Him in you ♪ (gentle music) ♪ The night is dark, but I am not forsaken ♪ ♪ For by my side, the Savior, He will stay ♪ ♪ I labor on in weakness and rejoicing ♪ ♪ For in my need, His power is displayed ♪ ♪ To this I go, my shepherd will defend me ♪ ♪ Through the deep, His valley He will lead ♪ ♪ Oh, how night has been won ♪ ♪ And I shall overcome, yet not I, but through Christ in me ♪ ♪ No faith I tread, I know I am forgiven ♪ ♪ The future's sure, the price it has been paid ♪ ♪ For Jesus bled and suffered for my heart ♪ ♪ And He was raised to overthrow the grave ♪ ♪ To this I go, my savior's place is given ♪ ♪ Jesus, now and forever is my name ♪ ♪ All the chains are released ♪ ♪ I can see it, I am free ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me ♪ (gentle music) ♪ With every breath, I long to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ For He has said that He will bring me home ♪ ♪ And day by day, I know He will renew ♪ ♪ Until I stand with joy before the throne ♪ ♪ To this I go, my hope is only two times ♪ ♪ All the glory ever once in me ♪ ♪ When the rain falls on me ♪ ♪ Till my lips shall redeem ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me ♪ ♪ To this I go, my hope is only two times ♪ ♪ All the glory ever once in me ♪ ♪ When the rain falls on me ♪ ♪ Till my lips shall redeem ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me ♪ ♪ When the rain falls on me ♪ ♪ When the rain falls on me ♪ ♪ Till my lips shall redeem ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me ♪ - Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you. Lord, you know how easily we get entangled with civilian affairs. Help us, Lord God, live a life truly worthy of the gospel that you've given us. To live up to the calling that you have freely given to us. Help us to recognize the domain of darkness that you have rescued us from.

That we would no longer, Lord, desire to look back, but to look forward to the eternal glory that is coming with Christ. I pray, Father God, that wherever it is that you send us, help us, Lord God, to live set apart. That we may be the aroma of Christ.

That more and more people will know that there is hope in this dark world. That we would be the light, that we would not hide the light. That more and more and more souls will come to know you, Father God. Use us mightily for your kingdom. Help us, Lord God, to be heralder of the truth, of your word, and of the gospel.

Save us, save our children, save our families, save our parents, save our neighbors, save our coworkers, Lord God, and save our generation. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. ♪ God sent his son ♪ ♪ They called him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to love ♪ ♪ Kill and forget ♪ ♪ He lived and died ♪ ♪ To buy my pardon ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to ♪ ♪ My Savior lends ♪ ♪ Because he lends ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lends ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because he lends ♪ Amen.

♪ Music, faith, all is written ♪ ♪ And I simply come ♪ ♪ Running just to you ♪ ♪ Something that's a boy ♪ ♪ That will bless you ♪ ♪ Our brains ♪