Demons - they are out there!!!

I was cruising through my Feeds about an hour ago when i saw an article on Sydney Anglican site talking about the fact that most Christians today ignore the reality of our spiritual struggle. Click here to read the article.

I thought that this would be a great opportunity to share with you my latest sermon that i preached a few weeks back. At the Garrison we are working through the Gospel of Luke looking at selected passages that show who Jesus is and what the purpose of his life on earth was. this isn't the full text of my sermon, but rather a highlight of what i feel are the important parts.

Today we investigate the notion and idea of Evil Spirits and ask some big Questions. Does Jesus hold authority over them? if so, how much? Do evil spirits even exist? And how is this important to us? For us living in 21st century Australia it
may be all too easy to downplay and ignore these ideas of demons and evil
spirits, after all we live in the age of science, logic and reason and spirits
generally have no place in this life we live. The closest thing to an evil
spirit that we seem to come across has its origins in a Hollywood studio and
comes to us in the form of ‘Lord Voldemort’ from the Harry Potter movies or
Ghost busters if we are a little older.

When it comes to looking at the happenings of passages such as today, even amongst Christian scholars there is some debate. There are those who are more liberal and try to suggest that what we see has a logical scientific explanation, that he was a man who was merely mentally ill, but I disagree with them, as do many others. I believe that when we look at these passages in the Gospels, in conjunction with the rest of scripture, we are presented with an insight that there is a spiritual realm as well as the Physical world in which we live. Whilst I admit that this sounds a lot like superstitious garbage, as we look at society we see that more and more people are starting to embrace these new age ‘spiritual’ religions.

In the Old Testament we see that as Moses gives the law to Israel there are warnings against the occult and 1 Samuel 28 we read of King Saul visiting a witch to seek advice from the spirit of a dead prophet. In the New Testament, time and time again we find mentions of the fact that there is a constant struggle between the powers of good and evil on a scale so epic that it makes ‘The Lord of the Rings’ look like a walk in the park. Paul’s letter to the Church in Ephesus is loaded with references of this spiritual reality saying in ch6:12:

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

As Jesus taught in the Synagogue at Capernaum we read in verse 32 that the people “were amazed at his teaching because his message had authority.” And again in verse 36 they say ““What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders…” Time and time again the writers of the Gospels make note that Jesus teaching was different to that of the religious leaders of his time. Again and again people gathered and listened intently to what Jesus was talking about. Repeatedly we learn that the religious elite took offence at what he had to say for because Jesus didn’t just try to explain things, He said how things were. Jesus after all, with the full authority of God.

And there sitting calmly in the synagogue was a man who was, as Luke reports, possessed by a demon – an unclean spirit. Now it would seem from reading Luke’s account that the majority of the time this man was his normal self – he hadn’t been alienated from society, nor was he excluded from the Synagogue – yet as this spirit recognised Jesus, he takes control of his victim and cries out

“Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to
destroy us? I know who you are —the Holy One of God!”

This evil spirit was disturbed and in fear of the power and authority that it knew Jesus had. This spirit knew that this man standing and teaching in the Synagogue that day spoke with the Authority not of man, but of God. This evil Spirit also knew that there was coming a time when this man Jesus was once and for all going to put an end to all evil. And Jesus, unphased by the direct confrontation, stood his ground, and with 6 simple words, 5 if your reading the Greek, the Demon was silenced and sent away, bound by the command of God and made powerless. This is not the only time that Jesus confronts demons – Luke tells of at least 3 other occasions where Jesus stands his ground, commands these evil and unclean spirits, and they have no choice but to obey.

As Christians today, the reality is that we are constantly under attack from these forces. They will lead us astray and distract us from our goal of living lives in service of God. Whilst the attacks and distractions are not as obvious as we saw in this reading, they are still there. In a life that is as hectic as it is today, it doesn’t take much to make us loose our focus. It’s been a hard week and I don't feel like going to church! I’m too tired to read my Bible tonight and too busy during the day to pray! These are all common thoughts that are used against us to shift our focus away from living for the one who holds true authority.

Today we have a baptism but this act of baptising isn’t some magical act that ensures safe passage into heaven. Instead, it’s a public statement of belief that the ones being baptised, or those bringing the child to be baptised, want to live a life under Gods rule. It’s a statement that we want to freely submit to the authority of God and take a stand and 'fight against sin, the world and the devil' as we read in the service.

There are two things I want you to think about as you head home today. The first is that there is going to come a time when all things will submit to Gods authority. The question is whether u will freely submit by your own will now, or will you be forced to submit to Gods authority as the demon in this passage we looked at. The second, if you are living a life in submission to the authority of God, it will be inevitable that you will encounter times of hardship, times of doubt, times when it seems there isn’t a point at all. When that happens – do not despair! Stand strong in the knowledge that the victory has been won. Stand, in the strength of God, encouraged by His Spirit that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has the Authority and has exercised his authority over evil!