Disciple: Battling Your Demons

The other day I saw on Facebook that a person was trying to start a movement – not quite as far reaching as Jesus, but… Their goal was to saturate Social Media with pictures of cute kittens doing cute things. Maybe it doesn’t seem like a big deal – but the goal was to help get rid of negativity and be positive.

Who would be opposed to a picture of a cute kitten? 
Answer: Lots of people.
 
 People who like dogs.
People who were downright mean.
People who told her to get a life and that the kittens needed to be her profile pic because she was so ugly.
 
Here’s the reality -- movements always have opposition – even harmless cat picture movements have opposition.
 
And so does Jesus.
 
The American Revolution had the British Forces.
The Civil Rights movement had the KKK.
Even in the fantasy world -- the Rebel Alliance was opposed by the Imperial Forces.
 
Movements always have opposition and so does Jesus’ discipleship movement.

Last week we learned that disciples are those who follow Jesus’ call. Today we want to dig into Scripture and learn from Jesus himself who our real opponents are and how we can defeat them. Before we begin, a prayer: Lord, strengthen us by the truth; your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see. Open our ears to hear what you want us to hear and open our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. The Story 
 
The lesson for today is from Mark 1:21. It takes place less than a week after the account about Jesus calling the first disciples on the fishing docks. In fact, verse 21 says it was on the next Sabbath Day. Since the fishermen were fishing in the last account, that means they were working.  They wouldn’t have been working if it was the Sabbath Day (Saturday); so, it has been at most six days since Peter, Andrew, James and John started following Jesus.

That isn’t a lot of time.

It means they were still in the orientation part of becoming a disciple. They were still at the basics of their training. They were learning about their employer, about the benefits package and the specific role that they would play in the company.
 
And on this particular day class was outside the local synagogue.

And Jesus was on a roll.
 
“He is so amazing!”
“I know. His message is so on point. So different.”
“Yep. He talks about forgiveness. He talks about grace. I’m starting to feel like even I could be a part of his kingdom.”
“And it’s not like he’s making it up. Those Pharisees – that’s what they always say. They say, ‘I think’, ‘I surmise’ and ‘my personal opinion is.’ Not Jesus. He says, “This is God’s Word,’ ‘God says,” and “This is truth.”

As the disciples listened to the crowds’ reactions, they couldn’t help but feel excited. This thing had legs.
People were listening.
People were excited.
People wanted to be a part of this.
 
At least, most people…
 
WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH US JESUS OF NAZARETH!?!
 
All heads from the crowd immediately turned to the back.
There stood a man. Disheveled. Hair eschew. A bit of drool coming from his mouth as a wild-eyed gaze stared hatefully at Jesus.
He didn’t look good. And the vein that was throbbing from the top of his head screamed evil.

He spoke again.
 
What do you want with us? Did you come to Destroy us?
 
As he spoke, he motioned with his hands to the crowd around them. He meant to call into question Jesus’ motivation for this movement. He was implying that Jesus wasn’t really there to help, but to cause total and absolute destruction.

“I know who you are…!” He made his way forward – inching closer to Jesus as he pointed at him violently – “You are the Holy One of God.”  (v..24)
 
At this, the disciples started to get a bit uncomfortable. Maybe it was the violence the man was spewing or the possibility that he was right! Regardless the crowd’s whispers had changed:  
 
Who is this guy?
Is he right?  
Is Jesus really against us? Or is this guy just a demon?  
 
John’s ears perked up. A demon? If that last one was right, maybe this discipling wasn’t really worth it.  After all, they had signed up to be fishers of men not fighters of demons. John’s eyes started darting as he looked for an escape route.

At this point, the man was feet away from Jesus.
The tension was building.
The drama was at a high.
The uncertainty of who would win was palpable.

Then, Jesus spoke:

“Be quiet and come out of the man.” (v.25)
 
No sooner did Jesus finish the “m” on the Hebrew word for “man” than the intruder began to shake.
Violently.
He fell to his knees and let out a terrifying shriek and fell to the floor. Limp.

Jesus checked on him and the man sat up.

No longer looking evil but exhausted.
No longer hateful, but thankful.
No longer a demon, but a follower.
 
This is a very important account. It teaches what we said earlier -- there is opposition to Jesus’ message and it’s scarier than you think:  
 
Jesus is opposed by the all too real demons of hell itself.

 
II. The Terrifying Reality of the Opposition 
 
Have you ever seen Ghost Hunters before? It’s a documentary show on one of the cable channels. The premise is that a bunch of scientists will spend the night in a place that’s “haunted” and try to figure out if it’s real or fake. And they always come back with footage that’s questionable. A floating light. A moving picture. A high-pitched noise.

And…I don’t know. It could be a weird coincidence. It could be camera editing. It could be some guy in the background throwing things on camera.

I’ll tell you what it’s not. It’s not ghosts. The Bible doesn’t teach ghosts. The Bible teaches that when people die their souls do not hang out on earth to try and get done some unfinished business. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, “The dust returns to the ground it came from and the spirit return to God who gave it.” This means that those noises and weird instances on ghost hunters cannot be caused by ghosts.  
 
But it could something much worse.
Demons.

If you are skeptical, this account of Jesus is very helpful. Consider the following:

1. Visible Immediacy of the Change 

Notice: as soon as Jesus says, “get out of the man,” there is a violent reaction. It describes him as shaking, a violent shake and screaming. The original Greek sentence says, “And he loud noised a very loud noise.”

And it isn’t just a show! There are hundreds of people presents who absolutely believe something very strange just happened. The Bible says, “The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this?...He gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.”
 
And we know it wasn’t something that they were unsure about. Because do you really want your neighbors to call you crazy?  Yet the people were so certain of this happening that they told anyone they could. In fact, the Bible says, “News about Jesus spread throughout the whole region”

This leads to the second point.

2. The Public Nature of the Event 

Because this miracle was not done in vacuum.
It wasn’t behind closed doors.
It isn’t like only a few people saw it.

It was at the synagogue.  
Lots of people saw it.
Lots of people knew the man who had been possessed.
And lots of people knew that after Jesus talked to him, there was a giant shriek, shaking and suddenly the man was perfectly sane.

And guess what?  These people were still around by the time this document from Mark was circulating. Mark’s Gospel is written only about 10 years after the event. The people who read about the demon defeat near at the Synagogue near Galilee could have said “This isn’t true. I was there. It’s fake!”

But they didn’t.
Because they saw it.
And it was real.  

In fact, it isn’t the only time.
 
3. Only One of Many Instances 

The Gospel writers report that Jesus drove out other demons. What’s very interesting is that when he did so, there was always a visible, public, instantaneous change that took place in the person which proved to onlookers this was not phoniness.  

Jesus drove out a mute man’s demon in Luke 11. The proof it was real? The man spoke -- for the first time in ages.
Jesus drove out a young boy’s demon in Mark 9. The proof it was real? The boy stopped convulsing on the ground, he was held by his father and his father confirmed his healing. (Think about it – would the dad really force his son into convulsions and cutting himself in order to pull one over on some gullible people? No way!)

And then, there’s the story of Legion. Legion who lived on an island. His name wasn’t really Legion – Legion is just the name that the demons referred to themselves because like the Roman Legion – they were many. Legion had been on an island because people were terrified of him because they knew he was demon possessed. They were so terrified that they chained him up.

Jesus went to see him. Terrified the demons, said, “Don’t get rid of us – send us into that herd of pigs over there.”
Jesus nodded.
And instantly – the man fell to his knees healed.
But at the same instant – the pigs started squealing. The crowd with Jesus looked over to the fields and saw a stampede of pigs heading to the lake – to drown themselves.

And you might think? How cruel Jesus!
 
But understand this – If Jesus had simply said, “be well.” And the man was well – who would believe anything happened?

Instead, Jesus made it very clear –

This wasn’t a ruse.
This wasn’t phoniness.
This wasn’t a trick.

Demons were real.
Very real opposition for his disciples.
 
All of this leads to one very important truth for you to take home. BE WARY. The Bible says, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion waiting for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) And to be fair – lions don’t usually come running out, roaring and making as much noise possible in a bum rush attack.  Nor do demons.

Instead, they tend to prowl. They hide. They make you think that there is no possible way that they exist…that you are safe…that you don’t need Jesus...that the sin isn’t so bad…that the temptation will be ok…
 
Then…BAM!

Sin.
Guilt.
Unbelief.  

Be wary.
 
III. The Awesome Reality of Being Jesus’ Disciple
 
But don’t be afraid.
 
Because in the account, did you notice something?

There wasn’t a battle.
No fight.
No blood.
No sweat.

Jesus simply spoke, and he utterly destroyed the demon.  

Later on – with that Legion guy – when the demons saw Jesus coming, the demons are the ones who scream!
Because while demons might be the things of a horror film for us – Jesus is the thing of horror to them.

THEY DON’T STAND A CHANCE.
 
Not even years later – when they had successfully tempted people.
When the devil entered Judas to betray him.
When the demons had led people into vitriol and violence that they angrily scream, “Crucify Him!”
And Jesus is nailed to a giant piece of wood to hang and die.

The demons celebrated and drank in the wine of this violence….
 
…until…
 
…About 5 am Sunday morning. The demons were still waking up from the hangover of their celebration…when…an earthquake, an empty grave – Jesus was alive!

He was not defeated.
He defeated the thing – death – that defeats us all.
He defeated thing – sin – that causes death.
And he defeated the things – demons – that tempt us to sin which leads to death.

Jesus defeated the devil and his demons on the cross!

And that’s the Jesus who is on your side.
 
So. Do not be afraid.  If he was able to take their best shot and turn it around on their heads in devastating defeat while he was dead… What will he do while he lives?

He’ll protect you.
He’ll keep you safe.
He’ll destroy Satan’s attacks.
 
IV.  What Now?
 
A. Don’t Play with Fire

Have you heard that one before? It makes sense. If you prefer not to get burned, it would be wise not to grab burning logs from your fire place for something to cuddle with. Stay away from the fire and you won’t get burned.

It’s the same thing with these demons.  Because maybe you’re thinking: “This isn’t a problem for me. I don’t like the devil and I don’t worship him. It’s all good.”

 Ouija board with my Friday night group – It’s just a joke.
Visit to a psychic? It’ll just be fun.
Some kind of mirror trick that I saw on YouTube? It isn’t real - -is it?

Careful. That’s playing with fire. You’ll get burned.
Even the movies we watch. We need to reevaluate. Because horror films – especially stuff related to the devil – it can get to you. It can scare you. It can cause nightmares. Some of you know this and it’s why you avoid it.

But I’m almost concerned for the people who think, “It’s no big deal. It doesn’t affect me.”

Watch out. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion…hidden, making you think it’s no big deal, waiting for the right moment to devour you.
 
With fear.
With guilt.
With anxiety.

Don’t let him have that opportunity. Don’t play with the Spiritual fire.

B. Call on Jesus 

Because Jesus is powerful, and He has authority. His Word has authority.
 
I remember one time when I was an assistant pastor we were invited over by a fellow pastor to go to a house that the owners said was haunted. Honestly, the pastor seemed a bit spooked by the stories of what was going on there – weird changes in temperature, strange things in the mirror, and little kids who was insistent on seeing scary things.

We went together – a group of us – and…
 
…we prayed.
We read God’s Word.
We implored the devil to leave.

And – I don’t know how much was going on – but I can at least say this: The devil had the lady spooked.
And God’s Word brought peace to the house.

God’s Word is powerful.
So, whatever your demons are – real, possession like demons – or (more likely) guilt, the temptation to lust, addiction, racism, you name it – run to Jesus’ powerful words.

Read it.
Learn it speak it.
Jesus will drive your demons away.

C. RELAX

Because Jesus is on our side and we know who wins.

Unlike the many who will watch the Super Bowl this Sunday and they will get nervous. They’ll get anxious. Maybe the game will get close and they will think, “I don’t know if we’re going to win.”

You know who wins.
It’s not the devil.

It’s not his legions of demons.
It’s Jesus.
And Jesus gives you the victor over the opposition. Amen.