Hello there,
It is my prayer that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. Today, I want to share with you a message from Mark 1: 21-39.
And it reads,
21Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. 22The people were astonished at his teachings, for he taught them as one having authority and not as scribes. 23In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; 24 he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are---the Holy One of God!" 25Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him!" 26The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. 27All were amazed and asked one another, "What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him." 28His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee. 29On leaving the synagogue he entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. 30 Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. 31He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them. 32When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. 33the whole town was gathered at the door. 34He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. 35Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and those who were with him pursued him 37 and on finding him said, ``Everyone is looking for you." 38 He told them, "Let us go to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come." 39 So, he went into their synagogues, preaching, and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.
May God add a blessing to the readers, hearers, and doers of His Holy Word. I would like to read verse 27 one more time for the sake of context. Verse 27 says, "All were amazed and asked one another, "What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him." In this particular verse, the people who saw the ministry of Jesus recognized that Jesus was teaching something new. Not only that, they recognized that Jesus taught with authority. The people weren't saying that Jesus taught something outside of what in the prophets and the law. They were saying that he was not preaching the same way as the scribes and the other teachers of that day. How do we know this? For example, there was an instance when Jesus when Jesus was teaching in Matthew chapter 7.
You will find in Matthew 7:28-29 (KJV) where it says, "And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." So, the people were surprised and some of them were offended that Jesus taught with authority. Jesus taught with great authority. Not only that, he was filled with the power of God. He had such power that the unclean spirits were subject and they obeyed Him. We are Christians, because we are followers of Christ. As Christians, we know that Jesus has given us authority to be effective in the ministry just as He was effective in ministry. He has also given us authority to triumph over the works of the devil. Jesus says in Matthew 16:1819, "And I say unto you that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth will be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." This means that God has given us authority to work for his kingdom, and he has given us authority over Satan. He has given us authority to take territory for the kingdom of God and surrender no ground!
I am afraid that in many instances we have surrendered ground to the enemy. As believers, we have surrendered too much ground to the enemy. We have surrendered our children and our communities to the destructive culture of gangs. And you may say that your children are not in gangs. I would say to you that there is a such thing as collective sin where God looks at the sins of a nation and judges that nation. And if one child has lost, then we all have suffered that loss. They may not be your children by blood,, but somehow we as the church have failed to disciple them. We have failed to go where they are, and as a result the devil has infiltrated many of their minds transforming our neighborhoods into a whirlwind.
We have surrendered ourselves and our children to the toxic perversions of sex and pornography offered to us by entertainment industries. We have become desensitized to plans and the tactics of the evil one. We convince ourselves that it’s just music. We convince ourselves that it's just tv. We say that we love Jesus. But we refuse to surrender the toxic and sensual music. I invite you to read the story of king Saul there in the book of 1 Samuel there in the 16th chapter, and you will find when David played the harp the evil spirit left King Saul. The power of music is still relevant today. In the story of king Saul, we find that holy music can drive away the evil spirits. However, there is no in between when it comes to the spiritual realm. If it's not good, then it must be evil. If it's not holy, then it must be unholy. If it's not light, then it must be darkness. Therefore, if the music that you are listening to is not holy, you risk the chance of inviting the unholy or fleshly into your soul. If the music that you listen to does not move you to worship or praise God, you run the risk of inviting something that is not godly into your soul.
I can remember Jesus saying, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? What can a man give in exchange for his soul?” I'm afraid that many of us in this walk have lost our souls. But there is good news for you here today. If Jesus is in it, there is hope. God in Christ Jesus has the ability to restore your soul. In the 23rd Psalm, we can hear the prophet David declare that "He restoreth my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." Jesus has the power to restore our souls. But the question is "Where do we draw the line, and run to Jesus?" When do we finally tell the devil enough is enough? When do we make the decision to stand for the kingdom of God? As a body of Christ, we must make the decision to take a stand for the kingdom of God.
Teenage pregnancy has become commonplace. We no longer tell our children to abstain from sex until marriage. We tell them to wear protection, and we will be there with them no matter what. I'm not against parents looking out for their children, but when do we decide to view them as a soul? It is eternally important that we remember that our children have souls, and we must make a decision to disciple them into the body of Christ. "Train up a child in the way that he should go; and when he is older they will not depart from it. Many of us have been surrendering our children over to the devil, because we refuse to disciple our children. We have become desensitized to the perversion of Satan, and the statistics prove it. Hundreds and thousands of babies are being aborted everyday in this United States of America. Don't be naïve to think that the daughters of the church are not included in that number.
Instead of repenting and trusting God for our deliverance, we rely on self-interested politicians to deliver us from the calamities that our sins have caused. How do we as a church take back the authority given to us by God Himself? What is the answer? The world is on a quest to find out what is the answer to ills of society, but the only problem is that we as a human race are running the wrong way. You're trying to find heaven, but you're running the wrong way. You know I am a researcher. I have been doing research for many years. One day, I was reading a scholarly journal on qualitative studies. It was a peer-reviewed document that is shared among college students all over the world. And in that particular document, there was a researcher who was teaching a philosophical concept called relativism, and he was teaching other qualitative researchers that there is no absolute truth.
In epistemological relativism they say that there is no absolute truth. They say that if there is an absolute truth, it can't last forever. They also say that if there is absolute truth, that it is limited to a particular context. In the church, we call this type of teaching heresy. What is heresy? Heresy is another word for false doctrine, and a false doctrine is any type of teaching that goes against the Bible. I know that relativism is a false doctrine, because it goes against the teachings of Jesus. What good is relativism, when a man is dying on his death bed? What good is relativism when that woman is on the top of a bridge and ready to end it all? What good is relativism, when insomnia is plaguing your body and you can't sleep? Only the peace of God can do that. In Isaiah 9:6 the prophet Isaiah declares that the Messiah, who we know as Jesus, “...shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”
One day I was reading the Bible, and Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man can come to the Father, but by me." Following the example of Jesus is the key to taking the authority He has given us. We must forsake worldly lusts and follow Jesus. Jesus said in His word that "If any man follows me, he must first deny himself." Forsake this world. Release it, and trust God as your supply. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33 KJV). Colossians 3:2 says, "Set your affection on things above, and not on things on the earth." The politicians cannot save you. Psychologists and physicians can be helpful in certain areas, but there are some things only God can give you. They can treat you. Treatment is necessary, and it has it's place. However, only Jesus can save you. Only Jesus can give you the peace that surpasses all understanding.
Lastly, seeking Jesus will also give you the power that you need to do the work that is needed for the kingdom of God. In John 7:38, Jesus said, "He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." If you'll go down to the 39th verse, it tells us that in verse 38 Jesus was talking about the Spirit of God. In Acts 1:8, Jesus said, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witness unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." When we believe on Jesus of the Bible, we will be endowed with the power of God given to us by His Spirit. When we are endowed with the power of God, we can be effective in ministry. We can be effective in fighting for the kingdom of God. With the power of God we can take back the territory for the kingdom of God.
All of this can be accomplished when we surrender to Jesus and seek Him with all our hearts. There is a song that was written by the late Andrae Crouch that says, "Jesus is the answer for the world today. Above Him there's no other. Jesus is the way." I have come to warn you and encourage you that Jesus is the absolute truth for the world today. He is the Truth for regardless of the context, and He is the Truth who lasts from everlasting to everlasting. He is the "...Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty" (Rev. 1:8 KJV).
The key is seeking after Jesus. The key is obeying the teachings of Jesus. The key doing ministry with authority is to follow the example of Jesus. Remember, in John 7:38, Jesus said, "He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." So, if we seek after Jesus, the example of Jesus, and the teachings of Jesus, out of our bellies will flow rivers of living water. What does this mean? When we believe in Jesus and seek after Jesus, we will receive the Spirit of God who endows us with the power of God to be effective in ministry. The Spirit of God will give us the power to be effective in telling the world that Jesus saves. If we do as Romans 10:9 has said, we know that “If we confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we shall be saved.”
However, the commandments given to us by Jesus tells us that the attainment of salvation is not all that is required of the believer. In Mark 16 :15 Jesus gave commandment to his disciples when he said, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Jesus gave his followers a command to proclaim the gospel. Jesus was able to command his followers to spread the good news of the salvation that He brought to the world, because he had already given them authority. Not only did he give us the authority to do ministry, but He promises that we will also receive the power to do ministry.
Ultimately, it is critical that we are saved by Jesus. Also, the believer must be reminded that Jesus has given him/her the authority to share the gospel truth that was once shared with you. We ought not be negligent in walking the authority God has given us. Many of us are silent in witnessing. We are silent when it is time to rebuke and to exhort. We are silent in warning the world of the destruction that results from leaving God. It is saddening that many of us believers consider ourselves powerless in comparison to the evil of this world. This is a misguided and sad mentality to have, because Jesus promised us the authority and the power to be effective in being effective in ministry. It is equally important that we continually believe and seek after Jesus, because Jesus promised that those who believe on him would receive power. The key to ministering with authority is unwaveringly seeking after Jesus. In seeking after Jesus, you are promised authority and power. So, we ought to know that seeking Jesus is the key in ministering with authority. Jesus is the answer for the world today. Above Him there’s no other. Jesus is the way. How true is this melody?! May we never forget.
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