Mark 1:21-28 "And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee."
This story occurs in the normal flow of the life pattern of our Lord. He has just given the call to the fisherman to ‘follow me’ and now, in a very normal pattern for Him, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath to teach. This man who was possessed by an unclean spirit (demon-possessed) was in attendance. It would seem that this man had lucid periods in his life or he would not have been admitted.
Quite likely, this was not this man’s first trip into the synagogue. Perhaps he had been there several times with no incident. Yet, when Jesus showed up he showed out. It took the presence of God to evoke such a response from him. All too often this is the way if happens. Church goes on with little or no response. Then Jesus shows up and when He shows up, something supernatural happens. The very presence of God is enough to cause a reaction from Satan.
(1) Why in the world would Satan want to be in church?
a. He’s always been religious. He knows and believes there is only one God- James tells us this. While he is opposed to Christianity, he is not opposed to “churchianity”. He loves to see people gather who are insincere about their worship. Where a crowd shows up in church for whatever reason, the devil wants to be close by because he loves the opportunity to try and disrupt the Spirit of God.
b. He’s always looking for easy prey to deceive. When you consider this ‘demon possessed’ man and consider the numerous other reported demon-possessions in the Bible, it is easy to know that the devil wants to control people. If he can get you before God does, then he can control you. The people who are easy to control are those who are not already under God’s control. I think this is what happened to Judas, Agrippa, and others. Satan wants us to ‘think’ that he knows best and sadly many believe his lie. He is seeking to possess the lost and oppress the redeemed. If you are an authentic believer he wants to sift you. This is what Jesus told Peter that the devil wanted to do. He will not be happy as long as you have any spiritual life left in you. He shows up at church to see who’s vulnerable, deceivable, and controllable.
c. He’s always seeking worship. Above everything else, he desires your worship. It was evident in Isaiah 14 when he rebelled against God, it was evident in Matthew 4 when he tempted Jesus, and it continues to be evident in the Revelation where he still desires to be worshipped. Candidly, we worship him every time we give him first place in our lives. He puts temptations in our lives to pulls us away from God and toward him. We worship him when we give in to him. It's at that moment we bow down to him and that is what he wants. That's the reason he comes to church.
(2) What does he hope to accomplish in the church?
a. He wants to undo what God does. When God shows up, Satan wants to be close at hand to try to explain away God’s workings. Have you ever wondered why we seem to see so little of the miraculous deliverances or the glorious changes in lives? It is because of unbelief. Satan worms his way into our churches, our services, and our hearts planting the seed of unbelief that miracles can still happen and we often believe the lie. Our lack of belief limits our Lord. The saddest verse is Matthew 13:58 which says, “And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.” God acts to develop our belief and the devil seeks to destroy our belief. That’s why he comes to church.
b. He wants to place doubt in the minds of people. Where clear and truthful teaching occurs, the devil will try to counter it by placing doubts in the minds of the listeners. Satan is the great counterfeiter. He is that little voice inside your head which says, “It’s not that important” or “That’s not right” or “The Bible says this, but I believe.” It is in this way that Satan has us missing the major point of Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness..." He places doubt that first means first.
c. He wants to undermine spiritual authority. The concept of spiritual authority is an area where the devil can be applauded in the 21st century Americanized church. Where divine authority is perceived, the devil will attempt to destroy both the speaker and the authority. This is his pride showing through. In our text, the evil spirit interrupts, shouts out, and attempts to get the crowd to turn on Jesus. Evil cannot stand for authoritative truth to be told and generally will react, sometimes violently. This is what happened to Jesus. This is what is happening in churches across America today. Pastor’s today are under attack like never before.” While it is true, that no pastor is on the same ‘authoritative’ level as Jesus, it is equally true that our Lord has placed a solemn and huge responsibility on the shoulders of every called man of God to speak and lead for Him. Satan is doing his best to undermine God’s man. Chaos in the church is Satan's mission and he’s good at it.
(3) The devil is always comfortable in church until Jesus shows up and truth is taught.
a. When he realizes who Jesus is and what he is hearing, he cannot help himself and cries out in a loud voice. He interrupts the service by saying, “What do you have to do with us?” Then by name he says, “Jesus of Nazareth.” He asks, “Have you come to destroy us?” and concludes with a statement of truth befitting a follower not a fraud, “I know who you are-the Holy one of God.” Can you believe it? Even an unclean spirit, a demon, and a messenger of Satan knew the Lord Jesus on sight. Luke records that a “Spirit filled man” named Simeon recognized who Jesus was when He was only an infant. The disciple John records that John the Baptist recognized Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Here a demon in the synagogue recognizes and knows who Jesus is. Here’s the question: Does the demon know more than you? Is he more familiar with divinity than you are? When Jesus passes by are you like Zacchaeus or are you like Nazareth? Make no mistake, even the demons know Jesus.
b. Jesus "muzzled" the demon and commands to get out. The word for “be quiet” is actually ‘be muzzled’ or ‘hold your peace’ (in other words, ‘no more talking’). Know what the demon did? He did what everyone has to do-obey. The only thing he could muster was a cry of agony because the Lord of creation had spoken. Jesus didn’t give the demon a choice, but for some reason, He does give us a choice. To us He might say, “Stop your talking about how you can make it without me.” Or “Stop making excuses” or “Stop standing in their way.”
When Jesus shows up, He has an agenda. He wants to clean up the place, the heart, and the group, to make them into what He wants them to be. He dismisses the evil one and begins working on hearts. Have you responded to Jesus’ offer of life, hope, help, and eternity? Have you even heard His call? Or is the evil one clouding your mind and covering your heart? Let Jesus speak the word to send the evil one away because when he leaves Satan, unaware, does one more thing:
c. By the way this entire incident came down, He made Jesus well known.
-He recognized who he was.
-He recognized his authority.
Verse 28 calls it the “Fame” of Jesus. When we come before God in the right way and the evil one attempts to destroy things – Jesus can use that interruption to build His Kingdom. But He expects us to come before Him in the right way.
Psalm 51:17 says, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."
He expects our honesty, our openness to Him, and our love. Week after week we enter this building and make no mistake, the unclean spirit gathers with us. He nudges us to ‘not participate in the service’, ‘dismiss the prayer time as just a waste of time,’ and ‘minimize the scriptural message’ because the preacher is too serious about this thing. When we listen to the evil one, the devil wins the day. Don’t miss this: the devil is not concerned about you. He would not give up anything for you and our Lord gave up everything for you. Don't let the devil get the victory in your Life.
-Recognize Jesus.
-Respond to Jesus.
-Let Jesus be Revealed in you.
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