(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) (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. We will now begin our service. (soft piano music) Let's sing as we gather. ♪ As we gather may your spirit work within us ♪ ♪ As we gather may we glorify your name ♪ ♪ Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship ♪ ♪ We'll be blessed because we came ♪ ♪ We'll be blessed because we came ♪ Sing as we gather.

♪ As we gather may your spirit work within us ♪ ♪ As we gather may we glorify your name ♪ ♪ Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship ♪ ♪ We'll be blessed because we came ♪ ♪ We'll be blessed because we came ♪ ♪ The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases ♪ ♪ His mercies never come to an end ♪ ♪ They are new every morning ♪ ♪ New every morning ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Oh Lord ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ Sing as we gather.

♪ As we gather may your spirit work within us ♪ ♪ As we gather may we glorify your name ♪ ♪ Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship ♪ ♪ We'll be blessed because we came ♪ ♪ We'll be blessed because we came ♪ Steadfast love. ♪ The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases ♪ ♪ His mercies never come to an end ♪ ♪ They are new every morning ♪ ♪ New every morning ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Oh Lord ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ Yes, they are new.

♪ They are new every morning ♪ ♪ New every morning ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Oh Lord ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ - All right, good morning. Welcome to Breen Community Church. Let me get to a few announcements before we get started. As you guys know, our new round of Bible study is gonna begin in about a month at the end of August.

We do need you to sign up as soon as possible because we are, even beginning this week, starting to put people into groups and home groups, and so we need to know how many home groups and small groups that we need. So if you, we are having a physical sign-up, just to help you out.

When you exit, you'll see a table there, and that table is a sign-up for the Bible studies and home groups and so on. So if you haven't signed up, please sign up as you are leaving. If you sign up late, we're gonna have to put you in some sort of an overflow group, so we won't be able to put you and say, "I'm in Irvine, can you find me something in Irvine?" We may not be able to do that if you sign up late, or if you're in a small group, say, "I wanna stay in this group," but if that's not communicated to us early enough, we're gonna have to send you to whatever overflow groups that we have, so this is all just to scare you to sign up as soon as possible, okay?

So if you haven't done so, do so as soon as possible, and it will be, there'll be a station outside. This coming Friday, there is an all-church praise and prayer in this room, so please try to come a little bit earlier to find parking and then be settled in here so we can start as close to 7.30 as possible, okay?

And then Taiwan mission fundraiser. We have a members' meeting next week, and so that you don't have to go out and then come back, there's going to be a Taiwan missions fundraiser. If you didn't know that we have a team going out to Taiwan in October, I think 19th, and returning on 26th, it's a short trip, and it's to come and assist the work that's happening with Pastor Alex, Han, and Jen, and so we're going to be going to assist their church run a program reaching out to the young families in that area, and then we're going to be connecting them to the church, and then it's going to be a short trip, but we'll be right back.

So this is going to be our inaugural mission trip. We have a team of, I forgot how many, 13 total that's coming, so if you can keep that in your prayers, and so for the fundraiser for that, that lunch will serve for that fundraiser. It's going to be Taiwanese sausage and rice, and $10 for adults and $5 for kids.

They are also having melon milk tea for $5. I tasted the melon milk tea yesterday. It's worth $7, but they're selling it for $5, okay? So that will be happening next week, okay? And then obviously right after that, there's a members meeting at 2 p.m. in the main sanctuary, so please mark that on your calendar, all right?

After I pray for our offering, our sister Amy Chen is going to be giving her testimony and be baptized, so let me pray for us, and again, if you brought a physical offering, there's a box in the back as you leave. All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your continued grace.

We thank you, Father, that we were able to celebrate and run the VBS this week, and with so many people who have come to volunteer, and we pray that the seeds that have been planted in the children's heart, Lord God, would grow to eternal salvation. We ask, Lord, not only for us, but even for the next generation of Christians in this church would grow, Father God, in a way that honors you, glorifies you, and knows your word to be able to be a greater and greater light in this world.

We pray that you would bless this time as we have come to worship you. Search us and know us and see if there's any hurtful ways in us. We pray that even in this giving, that we would give in a manner that is worthy of the calling that you've given, and may it be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Let us all rise and let's spend a few moments to greet the neighbors around us before we continue. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) Let's sing One Day. (soft piano music) ♪ One day when heaven was filled with its praises ♪ ♪ One day when sin was as black as could be ♪ ♪ Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin ♪ ♪ Dwelt among men by example this year ♪ ♪ The Word became flesh and the light shined among us ♪ ♪ His glory revealed ♪ ♪ Living he loved me ♪ ♪ Dying he saved me ♪ ♪ Buried he carried my sins far away ♪ ♪ Rising he's just above ♪ ♪ Freely forever ♪ ♪ One day he's coming ♪ ♪ O glorious day ♪ ♪ O glorious day ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ One day they landed ♪ ♪ Calvary's mountain ♪ ♪ One day they nailed it ♪ ♪ To die on a tree ♪ ♪ Suffering anguish ♪ ♪ The spies they rejected ♪ ♪ Burying our sins ♪ ♪ My redeemer is here ♪ ♪ As I healed nations ♪ ♪ Stretched out on a tree ♪ ♪ Took the nails from me ♪ ♪ Living he loved me ♪ ♪ Dying he saved me ♪ ♪ Buried he carried my sins far away ♪ ♪ Rising he's just above ♪ ♪ Freely forever ♪ ♪ One day he's coming ♪ ♪ O glorious day ♪ ♪ O glorious day ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ One day the grave cut ♪ ♪ He told them no longer ♪ ♪ One day the stone rolled ♪ ♪ Away from the door ♪ ♪ Pretend he a lost soul ♪ ♪ Pretend he had conquered ♪ ♪ Now he's ascended ♪ ♪ My Lord evermore ♪ ♪ The dead could not hold him ♪ ♪ The grave could not keep him ♪ ♪ From rising again ♪ ♪ Living he loved me ♪ ♪ Dying he saved me ♪ ♪ Buried he carried my sins far away ♪ ♪ Rising he's just above ♪ ♪ Freely forever ♪ ♪ One day he's coming ♪ ♪ O glorious day ♪ ♪ Living he loved me ♪ ♪ Living he loved me ♪ ♪ Dying he saved me ♪ ♪ Buried he carried my sins far away ♪ ♪ Rising he's just above ♪ ♪ Freely forever ♪ ♪ One day he's coming ♪ ♪ O glorious day ♪ ♪ O glorious day ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ Rock of Ages, cleft for me ♪ ♪ Let me hide myself in thee ♪ ♪ Let the water and the blood ♪ ♪ From thy fountains flow ♪ ♪ Let the water and the blood ♪ ♪ From thy fountains flow ♪ ♪ From thy wounded side which flow ♪ ♪ Be a sin the double cure ♪ ♪ Save from wrath and make me pure ♪ ♪ Not the labors of my hands ♪ ♪ Can fulfill thy lost demands ♪ ♪ Could my zeal no rest but know ♪ ♪ Could my tears forever flow ♪ ♪ All forsaken not atoned ♪ ♪ Thou must save and thou alone ♪ (soft piano music) (soft rock music) ♪ Nothing in my hand ♪ ♪ Nothing in my hand I bring ♪ ♪ Simply to the cross I cling ♪ ♪ Naked come to thee for dress ♪ ♪ Helpless look to thee for praise ♪ ♪ Thou light to the fountain fly ♪ ♪ Wash me Savior or I die ♪ (soft rock music) (soft rock music) ♪ While I draw ♪ ♪ While I draw this bleeding breath ♪ ♪ When mine eyes shall close in death ♪ ♪ When I soar to worlds unknown ♪ ♪ See thee on thy judgment throne ♪ ♪ Rock of ages cleft for me ♪ ♪ Let me hide myself in thee ♪ (soft rock music) (soft rock music) ♪ Not the labors ♪ ♪ Not the labors of my hands ♪ ♪ Can't fulfill thy laws demands ♪ ♪ Could my zeal no respite know ♪ ♪ Could my tears forever flow ♪ ♪ All for sin could not atone ♪ ♪ Thou must save and thou alone ♪ - Amen, you may be seated.

(audience laughing) - Growing up, I occasionally went to Sunday service, but I was indifferent to Christ and he never had an impact on how I lived my life. In high school, my friend brought me out to church where I was reintroduced to God, but I didn't acknowledge him as Lord over my life.

Behind closed doors, I was the opposite of what I portrayed at church. Hateful, bitter, anxious, and depressed, I took out my frustrations on my family and isolated myself in despair, feeling like... I was unlovable. There is a pattern in my life where I would attempt to go on a self-improvement journey, idealizing self-recognition and prestige from extracurriculars and academic achievements.

I relied on external validation from others just for my self-worth. But in college, I was introduced to Berean by a friend and began to participate in Friday nights, small group discussions, even attending retreat and other events with college ministry where I grew more in my knowledge of God. Up until this point, everything in my life, like all the decisions I made, were to please myself and to further my own self-ambition.

I was able to learn more about the gravity of my sin at Berean to realize that coveting the things of this world was sin in the first place and began to look back in my life. I felt regret, seeing nothing worth of lasting value. Then it came to me.

Happiness was always fleeting because I was not meant to chase after created things. God, who created me, purposely made me to be a light in this dark world. He calls me to let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:16. Through my own examination of my sin and how pervasive it is in my life, affecting my relationships with my family and friends, this truth began to sink into my heart. Although I fall short in every single way, through Christ's ultimate demonstration of love, crucifixion, I am now forgiven for my sins that deserve death.

Jesus traded my cynicism for hope, inspiring me to spread the good news that we, the sinner, have been redeemed by Jesus, sinless and perfectly good, who has covered our transgressions on the cross. However, being surrounded by members who seem to have faith much stronger than mine, my pride caused me to think that I had to earn forgiveness from God, and I doubted if I was truly saved or not.

With the guidance of several believers, I learned that this point of view missed the mark. The strength of my faith is not what matters as much as the object of my faith, God, who is always faithful. Even as I continued to grow in my faith with a softened heart for God, there were times where I questioned the legitimacy of his love, because to me, love from and for people was conditional.

But with God, we may be disobedient, but before we even knew him, he chose to create and love us. This is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

1 John 4, 9-10. Now I hope to love others as Jesus loved me first. All right, thank you, Amy, for that encouraging testimony. The rest of us, if we can turn our Bibles to Luke 8. I'll be reading from verse 26 to verse 31. Luke 8, verse 26 to 31.

Reading out of the NASB. "And they said to the country of the Gerasenes, "which is opposite Galilee, "when he came out onto the land, "he was met by a man from the city "who was possessed with demons, "and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, "and was not living in a house, but in the tombs.

"Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before him, "and said in a loud voice, "'What business do we have with each other? "'Jesus, Son of the Most High God, "'I beg you, do not torment me.' "For he had commanded the unclean spirit "to come out of the man. "For it had seized him many times, "and he was bound with chains and shackles "and kept under guard.

"And yet he would break his bonds "and be driven by the demon into a desert. "And Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?' "And he said, 'Legion,' "for many demons had entered him." Let's pray. Lord, we ask for understanding. We ask for illumination. We ask for the power of your word to convict us.

I pray that any deception of the demonic influence, Lord God, will be cast out by the preaching of your word. Cause us, Lord God, to see you, magnify you, to worship you this morning. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. If you read the scriptures, beginning from the book of Genesis, the start of the Bible of redemptive history begins with God's creation, as you guys know.

From chapter 1, it outlines for us that God created first day, second day, third day, fourth day, fifth day, sixth day. And then we get to chapter 2, it tells us how the devil comes into the picture and he deceives, right, tempts. And so Eve falls, and then Adam falls.

And as a result of that, the decay of mankind and creation comes in. And so as a result of their sin, what God did not intend in creation happens specifically to man and the rest of creation. And the end result of that will ultimately lead to death. So the progression of what we see in the book of Genesis and how the fall of man happens is creation, temptation, demonic temptation, and then decay, and then death.

That's the order that we see in the book of Genesis. I don't think it's by mistake that we look at the text that we're looking at and we see four encounters to reveal the power of Christ, where last week we saw Jesus' power over creation, over nature. Today we're going to see Jesus' power over the demonic.

Next session, maybe not next week because we have part two from this. Next session is Jesus' authority over disease. And then the last part of it, we're going to be discussing Jesus' power over death. And so all of creation is a reversal of the curse that mankind entered-- creation, demonic temptation, decay, and then death.

And Christ comes in to reveal His power and authority over every part of that that has gone wrong. And the only way that obviously you and I know is Christ came to suffer for our sins and to give a remedy, an answer for that sin, to reverse that curse.

That Christ and Christ alone is the one who has the authority and power over the creation, over the demonic, over the decay, and ultimately to reverse death to give us life. Last week we looked at how Jesus, instantaneously, He rebukes the wind. He doesn't simply find another way to get out of this trouble.

This storm wasn't disobedience. Christ comes, and He rebukes the wind, and the wind obeys, creation obeys. Today we're going to look at the demonic encounter that He has, and we're talking about a man who has been completely lost for a long period of time. I'm guessing that many things have been attempted, but they got to a point where they couldn't, and he was wreaking havoc in probably wherever he lived.

Christ comes, and immediately by His presence, the demons submit. When it comes to the demonic, typically it's a mystery. Much of the image that we have of the demonic world comes from media, pictures that you may have seen, maybe even in church history. People have drawn pictures of the devil and the pitchfork and the red costume, and whatever images that we have oftentimes come from the media or the art that you've seen.

But if you look carefully at the Scripture, the physical presence of demons is not ugly, and we're going to be looking at that. We need to have an accurate picture of who they are and what they are capable of doing, what it is that they are actually doing so that we're very aware of what is happening.

C.S. Lewis wrote this about the demonic world. He said, "There are two equal and opposite errors "into which our race can fall about the devils. "One is to disbelieve in their existence. "The other is to believe and to feel "an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. "They themselves are equally pleased "by both errors and hail a materialist "and magician with the same delight." The error is, on one end, to be so fixated on the demonic that the demons have much more power and influence over our lives.

And then you have the opposite, where it's just a background. You don't actually even think about it, unless you have a day like this where we're talking about the demonic world. It's not even real. I've experienced both. When I first became a Christian, I became a Christian in the charismatic context, and so they talked about demons almost every time any sermon was given.

It was something about the demonic world. I remember when I became a Christian, sometime between '83 to '93, sometime between that period of time, I could not watch a movie. I couldn't listen to radio because everything was demonic. If you ask me anything that happened during that period, I wouldn't be able to tell you.

I was literally living like a monk. Unless it's Michael Jackson or somebody very famous, I don't know exactly culturally what happened during that period because everything was demonic. I remember afraid to wake up in the middle of the night thinking that I'm going to encounter a demon somewhere. Everywhere it's dark, everywhere that I felt like God's presence would be, the demon would be.

One of the benefits from that was I was very holy. I didn't touch anything that I wasn't sure was from God. The negative aspect of that is the demonic world had a lot of influence over my thought. I gave it much more power than what I see in scripture.

Then the other end of it, I ended up going to a conservative Bible teaching. It's not that it's not taught. Again, it's not their fault. As I moved away from that, especially in a context like this where the Bible is being taught and we're conservative and living in the Western culture, it's kind of mystical.

It's a background figure that we hear every once in a while, but it's not a real figure that we don't actually think about. It's important for us that whatever image that we have of the devil that is not coming from media, it's not coming from some artist's imagination, or it's not coming from the secular world, that we need to accurately know that we have an enemy that is constantly trying to get at us.

Who is he? What is he doing? What is his power? What is his intention? How are they organized? And what is it exactly are they doing now? Are you being influenced? Is there a demonic presence in your life? Well, we wouldn't know if we don't pay attention. So this morning, as we jump into the text, and as I told you, this is going to be a two-part message, and today we're going to be jumping into it, and then next week we're going to be talking about what resulted from it and what he said to them afterwards.

But we need to have an accurate view. And so I want to go over the powers and the nature of how they are described in the Bible. First and foremost, we need to understand that the demonic presence that we see in the Scripture is unique during the life of Christ.

It is a mistake to think that what we see during the life of Christ is what is meant and what is happening every single day because we don't see that in the Old Testament, and we don't see that after Christ leaves. There is a period during the apostolic period where we see mentions of that, but nothing like the presence of the demonic activity during the three years of Jesus' ministry.

And we need to recognize that, that this is not something that because it happened there, this is what happens every single day. One of the commentators, I think, made a very helpful statement, short statement, that will help us understand. He said, "When Jesus appeared, all hell broke loose." When Jesus appeared, all hell broke loose.

And I think that's an accurate depiction of what took place during Jesus' ministry. Can you imagine that the demonic world, the spiritual world, I mean, Jesus is the creator. He created them, and the Scripture says that He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, and He emptied Himself of His glory, for the first time.

First time in their existence, they're able to see their creator humbled. And He seems vulnerable. So if there's any period of time where they thought that maybe if I can tempt Him, maybe just like Adam and Eve fell, maybe if He can fall, I can usurp His authority. So you can understand why there was, why that description, "All hell broke loose," because this was all hands on deck.

The Son of God is here present and took on frail human form, and if we had any possibility of overthrowing Him, it would be now. So what happens during the three years of Jesus' ministry is unique to that period. It doesn't mean that the demonic world is not functioning, that it's not active, but we see a heavy concentration during these three years, and then we see it again during His second coming.

We see in the book of Revelation and other parts where He comes and the demonic activity is ramped up again. So again, we need to understand that this is not normal, but at the same time, then what does the Bible teach us about the demonic world? First of all, the powers of the demonic world.

In the book of Revelation, in particular chapter 12, and then later on, it tells us that when Satan fell, that most commentators believe that this is a description of the fall of the angels, that a third of the angels were taken with the dragon, meaning a third of all the created angels, and the Bible doesn't give us an exact number of how many angels there were.

All it says, there were myriads and myriads, and myriads basically is a number that they can't physically count, like the stars, like the sand. It is so numerous that they can't count. So we don't know what one third is. It just means that there were too many to count.

That's what the Bible says, and a third of them fell along with Satan. So it's not a small, concentrated group of demons that are walking around the earth. It says there are myriads and myriads of them. And it says they're powerful. Now there's ranking among the angels. I don't think they all have the same power, but the Bible describes them as powerful beings.

In fact, Jude verse 9 tells us that even Archangel Michael, Archangel Michael, the highest of the angels serving God, would not dare rebuke Satan directly, but he says, "The Lord rebuke you." Not by his own authority, not by his own power, but only from God's power, he says, "Lord, rebuke you." So in other words, even he respected its power.

Not respected him, but respected its power. So all these angels were under his command. And you have to understand that the angels are organized like soldiers. They're not like us. Even though we are called soldiers, we're also sheep. We exist. We get into trouble. We wander away. Our shepherd has to lead us and guide us.

The angels, both the good and the bad, are organized like an army. And they have a commanding officer who commands them, and they are in the context of war. So that powerful army is organized by Satan, and Satan is described in 2 Corinthians 4:4 as a god of this age.

Now imagine, the word God in our generation, when we say God, what do we mean? Like, he's god-like. He's the top, right? Some people say blasphemously that Michael Jordan was like God. I mean, that's blasphemy. But when people say that, they're saying there's nothing above him. There's nothing greater than him.

Nobody is better than him. That's what they mean by that. When we use that to refer to our God, we're talking about the supreme being who created all things, had complete sovereignty over all things. The fact that the Bible uses that term to describe Satan's power over our generation, I mean, we can't exaggerate its power.

Now he's not talking about the world. The word that is used there in 2 Corinthians 4:4 is about age. This age, meaning its influence, its culture, what it values, what it wants, what it pursues, what the world is tempted by. God of that is Satan. That's how powerful Satan is.

And that power, who's the God of this age, has complete authority over the fallen world. So we're not talking about some loose beings who are just running around. They don't know what to do. It is very organized under a powerful leader who has a very specific purpose that they're carrying out.

Now if you believe any of this stuff, you should be startled. Right? You should be startled. If a very powerful army is actively pursuing you, wouldn't you want to know about it? Wouldn't you know what their plans are? Wouldn't you know where the next plan of attack to you is?

If you know that this exists and you sit there and say, "Oh, thank you for that information." Something has numbed you to the point where this doesn't seem real or maybe you just don't believe. But if you believe this, it should sober us because that's how the Bible describes him.

It is very powerful, very organized, and the head of this is called the God of this age. Now what is its purpose? That's the power. That's the organization. That's who they are. What's the nature of these demons? Well, in 1 Peter 5:8, it tells us that we have an enemy, the devil, like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

Its very nature is to devour. And that's why at the end when Jesus confronts these demons, he says, "Don't cast us out. And if you are, let me go into these pigs, 2,000 pigs, and let me destroy them because it's their very nature. Let me do something." You know the picture that I get when Jesus casts these demons out?

It's kind of like somebody who's in rage. You know what I mean? And they want to just break something. Right? You get so out of control. You have so much rage. And I got to take it out on something. And you punch a wall. You flip over a table.

That's the picture that we see of the demons. They were, "Let me carry this out." This rage, this destructive nature that they have. "If you're not going to let me do this to this man, let me do this to these pigs." So it reveals to us who they are.

By nature, they want to destroy. Well, how are they going to destroy? 1 Kings 22, 23, it says, "They are deceiving spirits." And this is the part that we need to really pay close attention to. Because the way that they are going to be destructive is by deceiving spirits.

In fact, in John 8, 44, the devil is called the father of lies. He's a father of deception. So the way he will destroy is through deception. And how is this deception going to come? In 2 Corinthians 11, 14-15, that they will come disguised as angel of light. As angel of light.

All right, let me stop right here just so that you help us understand what this means. As much as we are concerned about what is happening outside, in the secular arena, what may be happening in politics, the greatest destruction, the greatest hindrance to the gospel is always within the church.

It is within the church. That is a realm that we know Satan rules. So when Satan chooses to do what he has authority to do, what he has power to do, no one should be shocked. The fact that this crazy world and what's happening in California and in the federal government and the decisions that they're making, that you can't even tell a parent if a child wants a sex change, that by law you can't even tell the parents.

I mean, it is crazy what's going on in California. But what's happening out there, Satan has always ruled. That's his realm. He's a god of this age. So people who are under his control, doing what Satan wants to do, we shouldn't be shocked. I'm not saying that we should sit and do nothing, but we shouldn't be shocked.

But Satan's power is directed to the church. Specifically to the church. He comes as an angel of light. 1 Timothy 4.1, he says he introduces false doctrines. In the name of Christ, to pervert the scriptures, to take verses out of context, or tickle people's ears by telling people what they want to hear.

And so they bring deception into the church through false doctrines. And then the way that they make it more palatable or acceptable in Revelation 16.14 is by performing miracles. Those of you who are with us when we're studying the book of Revelation chapter 13, remember, Satan mimics the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And as a result of that, they think he pretends to die and then he comes back and the whole world is excited about it and they come to him, it says in Revelation 13. So he is mimicking the miracles of Christ. And he says he uses these means to deceive according to scripture.

He says that the deception is going to be so great that even the elect, if that was possible, will be deceived. You know what that means? It doesn't mean that the elect are going to be deceived. He said the people that you thought were elect are going to be deceived.

Like Ravi Zacharias, shocking all of us. He said you're going to see more of that at the end times. That people who are teachers, who are leaders, spiritual giants in our eyes, he says even they will be deceived. It's going to be so powerful. Now all of this, how does that apply to us?

Well, the Bible tells us that Christians cannot be possessed by demons because we are possessed by Christ. The Holy Spirit has made an indwelling. We belong to him. But the scripture also tells us that you can be hindered and influenced by demonic influence. We see that in Peter. When Peter stands before him, he says, "You can't go.

I will never fail you." And Jesus says, "Get behind me, Satan." So it's not because Satan has entered him. The scripture specifically says Satan entered into Judas. But Peter was being influenced. Remember Peter was like, "I'm this man and he has this pride. I can do it. Even if they all fail you, I won't fail you.

So remember when you get into your kingdom, make sure that I'm going to be the greatest in the kingdom." And so his loyalty to Christ and his selfish ambition entered a cause, a crack, where Satan was able to influence him. He probably thought he was doing Jesus a favor, but instead he was being influenced by satanic power.

So Christians can be influenced and be even deceived. In fact, Christians can be tormented because Apostle Paul says that the messenger of Satan came and put a thorn on his side. And he begged. He was so miserable because of Satan's messenger who was hindering him. He begged Christ to take it away.

Jesus allowed it because it caused him to be humble. So Satan can influence and he can sometimes even torture Christians. But it can never possess a Christian. And it can only do what God allows. It is under the authority of Satan. Even when Jesus said, "Satan wants to sift you like wheat," he had to go and get permission.

And Jesus prayed for them so that your faith would not fail you. But, demons have complete and sovereign authority over non-believers. And that's the picture that we see with this man. He's not somebody who's just being hindered. He's not somebody who's just being tortured. He's absolutely possessed by these demons.

When Jesus asked him, "Who are you?" And he said, "We are legion." A legion is not simply a name, at least in that particular time. Legion basically means a large Roman soldiers. Basically, the numbers went from anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000. During the period of Christ, those numbers fluctuated from 3,000 to 6,000.

Later on, they lowered the number to about 1,000. So some people think that when he said legion, we have 1,000 of them. But during the time of Christ, it could have been anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000. So when they used the word legion, it just means thousands. Many. Now, even though it's only one man, it says, "We are legions in here." They don't occupy physical space.

So whether it's one, whether it's tens of thousands, they can occupy the same man. So we see a picture of a man who is completely possessed. And in his possession, he says he kept them naked for a long period of time. Now, why is that there? Just to embarrass him?

Remember where the clothing first came in. Was there clothing before sin? No. We would have been all buck naked. This is all because of sin. As soon as sin comes in, what happens? Their eyes are open, and they see shame. And as a result of shame-- and that shame wasn't simply the physical parts.

It was spiritual. It wasn't all of a sudden that certain parts of our body were shameful. It was because sin came in, and they felt shame, and as a result of shame, they began to hide from each other. This legion comes in and basically takes away any presence of shame.

It's not because he's not sinful. It's not because he's become pure. Just there's no shame, and that's what the Scripture says. At the end times, when the demonic influence is powerful, that there's going to be less and less shame, and we see that around us now. People are flaunting sin like if it's righteousness.

They're declaring that everybody else submit to them because they have lost the ability to be shamed. And that's exactly what it says it's doing, and then it says he lived not in a home, but in a tomb. For a Jew, the most unclean place you can be that would be defiling to a Jew would be in a tomb.

Now, they're living in an area in Gerasenes where there were Gentiles and Jews mixed in together, but the fact that he lived in a tomb basically means that he wasn't living in regular society. That took him away and isolated him, and in fact, it says that oftentimes the devil, the demons, would lead him out in the desert, and desert basically was to separate him from society.

So oftentimes in the scripture when God wanted to train somebody, he would take him out into the desert, and sometimes the wandering of the desert was a punishment, but the desert basically meant to separate them from society. Now, why is that? Remember in creation, God saw Adam, and he was alone.

He said it was not good, so he created a partner for him, and all other human beings came from that partnership. Mankind was never meant to be alone. He made us social. People who are not social for a long period of time become weird. That was my observation. You know what I mean?

They say weird things. They do weird things because they don't have people kicking them under the table. That's one of the benefits of marriage is sanctifying because you know when you're saying weird things because your wife will tell you. People were isolated for a long period of time because God created us to be social.

Remember when the pandemic happened? Depression skyrocketed. Suicide rate, especially among the young, skyrocketed. Now, why did that happen? Because they were isolated. They were isolated for an extended period of time, and they said it caused depression and suicide. They don't know the accurate number because the people who are in charge don't want to present it.

Not yet. But God created us to be in society. Part of the common grace that all mankind experiences is family, society, culture, community. You see the demons come in here, take away any sense of shame, takes them out of the community, takes them out into the desert, and this guy was so wild, and those legions in him were so powerful that even as he was chained, he said he broke it and he would come back.

So imagine what it must have been like, right? What it must have been like to have that guy in that region. My guess is they did everything in their power to bind him, isolate him, to heal him, take him to a doctor, and my guess is they've kind of given up and they just learned to avoid him.

Jesus shows up. He doesn't sit there and he doesn't come up with a plan. He doesn't say, "You know what? "Build a bigger house or make a hole "and then lock him up "or send some counselors "and I'm going to train you to counsel." Jesus appears. That's all he does.

Here's a man who's been an eyesore, who's been a danger to anybody in that community, and my guess is everybody moved away from him as far as possible because they didn't find any solution. My guess is even his family must have abandoned him by this time, and all Jesus does is show up and problem is solved.

It says that this man comes and he kneels before Christ because he recognizes him. We're going to be talking about what Jesus does and the end result of that in the next section when we look at it next week, but revival broke out because Jesus showed up, because Jesus showed up.

We live in a culture where we have so much education, so much know-how, and all of these things are a benefit, but the problem with all of these things is we think that if we throw enough of our know-how, enough of our knowledge, that we can cure this. We can fix this.

The only solution to what has caused the sin and the problem that sin has caused is the presence of Christ. When you have Christ, revival breaks out. It's not because this church is organized better. It's because we have better leaders in this church over that church. We have more gifted people over here.

We have more talent. We have more experience. The difference between a healthy church and an unhealthy church is the presence of Christ. That's why if you look at the letter in the Revelation, at the end it says, "If you do not repent, I will take away my lampstand." A lampstand basically is symbolizing Christ's presence.

As much as people desire revival, revival isn't louder singing. Revival isn't greater gathering. Revival isn't a larger church. Revival is the presence of Christ. Presence of Christ casts out demons. They were tortured by His presence. Even before He said a single word, He showed up and they were terrified.

That's why the Scripture says, "You can't serve God and mammon." You can't. Because where God dwells, the demons have no power. If the demons are going to have any authority in you, any influence in you, it has to move away from Christ. Revival comes when we are near Christ.

That's why the Scripture says to abide in Him, to stay with Him, remain in Him, to continue with Him. Because this powerful, this powerful being, a third of the angels under His control, who's organized like an army, who's prowling around seeking someone to devour, is targeting you, to deceive you, to move you away so that it can influence you and destroy what God has ordained to bring light into the domain of darkness.

Christ said, "I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not be able to prevail against it." So, the church has been created as an army to bring the light and to storm the gate where Satan has authority. So, Satan, if he's going to fight back, what's he going to fight back?

Us. Everything else is under his control. The church is not. In fact, we're the ones hindering his work. And he's working through deception to destroy the church, to water down the church. Let me conclude with this. I want to show you what demonic faith looks like because in James chapter 2, 19, it says, "Faith without deeds is dead." It's useless.

For some reason in our culture, for some reason in our culture, there's a fight against scripture. Don't look at what you see. Believe what I say. That sounds like a lifelong politician. Don't look at my record. Listen to what I say. And that has penetrated into the church that we're more susceptible to what people say than what we see.

It says, "Faith without deeds is dead," no matter what it confesses. So I want to show you what demonic faith looks like. In this encounter, verse 20 to 31, "Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before him and said in a loud voice, 'What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?

I beg you, do not torment me. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For he had seized him many times and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard. And yet he would break his bonds and be driven by demons into the desert.

Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?' And he said, 'Legion.' For many demons had entered him. They were imploring him not to command them to go away into the abyss." So I want you to first look at this. Demonic faith. They acknowledge Jesus' identity. Jesus, Son of the Most High God.

Jesus didn't even look at him. He came to him and bowed down, terrified. He knew exactly who Jesus is. Jesus, Son of the Most High God. Remember, all of Jesus' ministry was trying to reveal himself to the disciples where he gets to the point. He says, "Who do men say that I am?" Well, ultimately, the question he wanted to ask is, "Who do you say that I am?" And they answer, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." He says, "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.

God has revealed this to you." And then now he was ready. "Now that you know who I am, let's go." And he started going to the cross. You know who made that confession before the disciples? The devil. The demons did. Some people, the deception in the church today because of the watered-down gospel that has been presented, and let's be honest, because men, who are selfishly ambitious, want to fill their church with larger amounts of people, have watered down the gospel to make it appealing to the lowest common denominator, has made it so that if you just confess, if you would just acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, that that's what he means by having faith.

Well, the demons profess this even before the disciples. They ran to Jesus. They recognized him, the Son of the Most High God. Secondly, they acknowledge Jesus' power and authority over them. They fell on their knees. "Son of God, have you come before your time to torture us?" They knew that judgment was coming.

They acknowledged that judgment was coming. They acknowledged their own sins, that they were in a rebellion, that they were deserving of this. They don't fight with him. They don't rebel against him. They acknowledge this. There's a deception in the church that if you acknowledge Jesus, and if you confess that he is God, he created the universe, and I am a sinner.

Yeah, I'm a sinner. I'm not saying that I'm not a sinner. I am a sinner. That that makes you a Christian. Did they just convert here? Did conversion happen here? No. That's what chains mean. They have the amount of faith. Well, let's go further. They acknowledge their own judgment, that they are deserving of this.

Have you come before your time to torture us and send us to the abyss? How many Christians believe just because they acknowledge their sins? I acknowledge it. I acknowledge who he is. I acknowledge what he's capable of doing. I acknowledge that I am deserving of this. So did they convert here?

Well, let's go even further. They begged for mercy. They begged for mercy. They cried out, "Have mercy on us." And many people think that if they confess, "Have mercy, have mercy," that that in and of itself, "Lord, forgive me, Lord, forgive me," that that in and of itself is genuine faith.

So did they convert here? Did they beg for mercy? Did conversion happen here? Did they become a Christian? Is this a record of the demons converting here? No. There are still demons. And at the end of the day, though they acknowledge all of these things, though they even ask for mercy, at the end, what do they do?

"Let me continue to practice who I am. Let me go destroy these pigs. Let me go destroy these pigs." They were consistent with who they are. They did not repent. They did not repent. They stayed who they are. And so the greatest deception that has hurt the gospel ministry and the church is a deception that has crept into the church that if you open your mouth, if you come down on iron, if you raise your hand, that you have eternal security, that nobody can take away from you.

And so we have churches filled with people who have been deceived by a false gospel, who are living the rest of their lives, living the same life that they lived before they met Christ, and have absolute assurance that one day when they die, that they will go to heaven.

Even though the scriptures are filled with warning, not everyone who calls me Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. They left us because they were never really of us. Faith without deeds is dead. Don't get me wrong. Somebody in here may be disturbed and say, "Hey, Pastor Peter is saying salvation by works." No, it's salvation by faith and by faith alone.

But what does that saving faith look like? If I say I love you, and then I slander you, I hurt you, every opportunity I get, I try to make you look bad to everybody else that I know, and then when I'm with you and they say, "No, no, no.

Don't look at what I'm doing. Look at what I'm saying. I do love you." How many of you would be naive enough to say, "You know what? I'm so sorry for judging you. I'm so sorry for looking at what you're doing and what you're saying, and not really believing what you're saying." It would be ridiculous.

Only in the church, only in the church, only a church filled with people who have been deceived can live and act completely different from what he is saying with his mouth, and then live the rest of his life saying, "Don't look at what I'm doing. Only believe what I am saying." That is demonic faith.

You are deceived. There's nothing in the Bible that gives you eternal security. The demonics confessed all of these things, and yet when Christ comes, hell was created for them and its angels and its followers. The greatest deception that the devil is bringing upon mankind is to destroy the church.

He's not worried about the world. The world's already his. He's concerned about what the church has been planted to do. It is the church that he wants to destroy. It is the church that he wants to deceive. It is the church that he wants to get out of his way.

That army is not fixated upon the world. It is fixated upon the army of God. All the complaints that the world has about the church that I grew up hating wasn't directed toward Christians. Most of it was directed toward unbelievers in the church. All the statistics. So the question that we have, are you aware of this?

Are you aware of this? It is by faith alone. But if everything hinges upon this faith, if your eternal security, eternal life, everything that God has promised in this word, everything hinges upon this one point. It's not a thousand other things. It's not many things. It's not five things.

It's one thing. Faith. He said even if you have a faith of a mustard seed, a tiny little thing, if you've ever seen a seed of a mustard seed, you would think it's lint. He said if you have a faith of a mustard seed, tiny as that, he said you can move mountains.

So everything, our eternal life, destiny, eternal security in Christ, the love of Christ, adoption in Christ, regeneration, the power of the church, the power of the witness, all hinges upon this faith. Shouldn't we be absolutely sure that this faith is real? Shouldn't we be absolutely certain that everything that my life, my eternal security, that hinges upon, that that's real?

That that's not just cultural? That's not just security blanket? That that's not just prejudice? That's not just, you're just not holding on to that because you're afraid to lose community? That out of fear, you profess these things because you're afraid to lose friends? You're afraid how other people are going to look at you?

But deep inside, you've never wrestled with this. I hope that the examination of demonic faith, at the minimum, causes us to be sober. I hope that you recognize what I'm saying is not unique to me, that this is the word of God that has been open to you, and that the church would be the true church.

People who have real faith, even if it's small. Real faith that is eagerly waiting for the coming of Christ. That we recognize that this is not our home. That every person who professes Christ and then lives the rest of his life making this life as comfortable as possible are deceived.

Demonically deceived. So as I started in the beginning, if you hear this, and you are not disturbed by it, and it doesn't sober you up, your heart has become so hardened that the word of God no longer penetrates, or you don't really believe. If you genuinely believe this, how can we continue on a path?

How can we continue on a path inconsistent with the gospel that we profess? Either he is real, and he deserves all our life. That our life now is hidden with Christ. We have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer our life to live, but for us to live in his glory.

And the life that we're looking forward to is when he comes in his glory, we will be glorified with him. And so we live our lives to be hidden in Christ. And everything that he promises in this Bible is contingent upon that faith. Is it genuine? But if that's not genuine, nothing in this applies to you other than the warning of judgment.

Let's make sure. Let's make sure that we are not deceived. That this faith that we profess is real. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that the truth of your word would sober us, challenge us, awaken us. That the church would be the church that you've called us to be.

That the gates of Hades would not be able to prevail against it. That as you have called us to be the light, help us, Lord God, to shine as bright as you have desired. May glory go to you. May those who are suffering find refuge in you. May those who are struggling find forgiveness and restoration in you.

I pray, Father God, that we would be a church that practices true love, true grace, true righteousness in true faith. For the sake of your name, for the sake of your glory, and for the sake of this lost world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise.

♪ ♪ When the enemy surrounds ♪ ♪ And my heart grows faint within ♪ ♪ When the darkness overwhelms ♪ ♪ And my fears are pressing in ♪ ♪ I will trust in you, O Lord ♪ ♪ In the silence I will wait ♪ ♪ I will stand upon your word ♪ ♪ You're my solid rock and my salvation ♪ ♪ My steadfast boat that won't be shaken ♪ ♪ My soul will wake, my soul will wait for you ♪ ♪ You're my stronghold and my shield ♪ ♪ In the midst of every threat ♪ ♪ Though the wicked never yield ♪ ♪ I will vanish like a breath ♪ ♪ Yes, I know the outcome's sure ♪ ♪ Satan's evil plans will fail ♪ ♪ In your power I'm secure ♪ ♪ You're my solid rock and my salvation ♪ ♪ My steadfast hope that won't be shaken ♪ ♪ My soul will wake, my soul will wait for you ♪ ♪ You're my comfort when I feel forsaken ♪ ♪ My refuge and my sure foundation ♪ ♪ My soul will wake, my soul will wait for you ♪ ♪ This is love I can't explain ♪ ♪ This is mercy unreserved ♪ ♪ Through your sacrifice so great ♪ ♪ I have peace that's undeserved ♪ ♪ For the battle has been won ♪ ♪ And I fear no shame or loss ♪ ♪ While the sting of death is gone ♪ ♪ You're my solid rock and my salvation ♪ ♪ My steadfast hope that won't be shaken ♪ ♪ My soul will wake, my soul will wait for you ♪ ♪ You're my comfort when I feel forsaken ♪ ♪ My refuge and my sure foundation ♪ ♪ My soul will wake, my soul will wait for you ♪ ♪ ♪ Pouring out our hearts before you ♪ ♪ We will trust in you ♪ ♪ Perfect Savior, strong defender ♪ ♪ We will trust in you ♪ ♪ Pouring out our hearts before you ♪ ♪ We will trust in you ♪ ♪ Perfect Savior, strong defender ♪ ♪ We will trust in you ♪ Let's pray.

Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship and the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit, and the deep, deep love of God the Father, challenge, restore, strengthen the church that we may go to be the presence of Christ wherever we go, that this lost world will know that there is hope in the name of Jesus Christ.

Send us. Send us, Lord God. And I pray that you would raise up an army for your church, for your kingdom, that more and more people will be able to honestly confess, "Here am I. Send me." Whether it is at work, at our homes, wherever it is that we go, that we would be the presence of the aroma of Christ for the sake of your glory and for the salvation of this lost world.

Amen. ♪ God sent his Son ♪ ♪ They called him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to love ♪ ♪ Heal and forgive ♪ ♪ He lived and died ♪ ♪ To buy my pocket ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to fill ♪ ♪ My Savior lives ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because he lives ♪ ♪ Who else commands all the hosts of heaven?

♪ ♪ Who else can make every king bow down? ♪ ♪ Who else can whisper when darkness trembles? ♪ ♪ Only your holy God ♪ ♪ What other beauty demands such praises? ♪ ♪ What other splendor outshines the sun? ♪ ♪ What other majesty rules with justice? ♪ ♪ Only your holy God ♪