The Acts of the Apostles 63

Subtitle: The Gospel Comes to Greece 

Acts 16:11-24.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 12, 2023.

It is interesting to contemplate when the Gospel first came to a particular geography.  In our story today, Paul and Silas will take the Gospel to the Grecian city of Philippi found in Macedonia.  Thus, we know that the Gospel entered the area of Greece around AD 50.

It is clear that Paul and Silas were actually more interested in reaching more places in Asia Minor, but Paul has a vision of a Macedonian man begging him to come and help them.

Ministry in Philippi (v. 11-24)

Luke gives us several stories from the labor of Paul and Silas in this European city.  The people of that day would not have likely thought in terms of Asia versus Europe.  Still, we can see that the Gospel spreads beyond the Near East and crosses into Europe through the Apostle Paul.

A more biblical way to think of it may be in recognizing the beast empires of the book of Daniel.  Greece is the origin of the third beast.  By the time Luke’s account ends they will be in the territory of the 4^th beast, Rome.

These men represent the kingdom of the Son of man (Daniel 7) to whom the Ancient of Days had given all dominion.  They are more than missionaries.  They are the beachhead of the warriors of Christ against the spiritual powers that then held Greece and Rome under bondage to false religion.  The Gospel is a call for people to leave the kingdom of darkness and to join the kingdom of light.

After they had been in Philippi for several days, the Sabbath arrives.  We can see here that there must not have been a synagogue because this was Paul’s practice.  Instead, they find out where people in that city who worship Yahweh go to pray.  It is a nearby river,

At this river, we do not see them addressing any men.  To set up an official synagogue required 10 believing, Jewish, adult males.  We can assume that they had less than that.  Perhaps they had no men in the city, or perhaps only women went to the river.  Regardless, there are no guys mentioned here.

We are then introduced to a business woman from Thyatira (Asia Minor).  She is clearly a woman of means.  She is a seller of “purple,” a reference to an expensive dye and the expensive clothing made with it.  We also see that she has her own house along with a “household” (v. 15) that is big enough to have room for Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke.

Luke does not refer to himself other than to use the pronoun “we,” as opposed to “they.”  There are several section in Acts that are referred to as the “we” sections.  The first is from the port city of Troas to this city of Philippi (Acts 16:10-17).  The others are: 20:5-15, 21:1-8 and 27:1 through 28:16.  Luke is clearly not intending to draw any attention to himself.  Yet, at the same time, this signals to readers that he has spent time with these men that he writes about, and he even experienced some of these things with them.  His account can be trusted.

Back to Lydia, we are told that she is a devout Gentile who believed in the God of Israel (“worshipped God” v. 14).  This is why she was at the river on the Sabbath praying with other believers to the God of Israel.

As Paul and Silas spoke to the women there about Jesus, the Lord opens Lydia’s heart to heed the thing that they were teaching.  She and her household, which would include slaves and family members, put their faith in Jesus as Messiah and are baptized in water.  She then pleads with them to stay at her house, which will become the first house church in Greece, and Europe.  These are the nucleus of the people that Paul is writing to in the letter to the Philippians.

I find it interesting that the Macedonian man turns out to be a Thyatiran Woman.  Men will also be saved in Philippi, but Paul initially runs into women, and his first convert is a woman and her household.  Of course, God is concerned about everybody.  Paul is not sure what to expect.  Is he supposed to recognize the man in his vision, or is it more general, representing the people of that area?  My point is that he didn’t know.  Visions by definition tend not to have a lot of explained detail.  Yet, Paul was faithful to the mission that Christ had given him, preach the Gospel.  Who responded would be up to the Lord.  Lydia is the first to be saved there, but she won’t be the last.

At verse 16, Luke introduces a new part of the story with the phrase “as we went to prayer.”  This is most likely a subsequent Sabbath, whether the next Sabbath or several later.  Paul and his group continue to go back to the river to pray, but also to proclaim Jesus as the Christ to those who were gathering.

I believe that incident with a possessed slave girl demonstrates that the word was spreading among the spiritual realm in Philippi.  The devil didn’t like what was going on, even if there were not hundreds of people being saved.  Thus, a slave girl begins to follow them. 

We are told that she had a spirit of divination.  The word in Greek is literally a spirit of python.  For those who may not know, the python was connected with the false-god Apollo who killed the enormous serpent.  The priestess at Delphi was known as an oracle because she would give prophecies from Apollo.  This ability to give a prophecy or fortune was referred to as a spirit of python, i.e., a spirit that helped the person to tell fortunes.  Those these spiritual beings are not actually gods, they are real spiritual beings who manipulate humans to do their bidding.

Since she is really listening to a spirit and giving a real message from it to people, we could say that her masters were not running a scam operation.  However, these evil spirits are misrepresenting themselves.  They do not know the future, and they cannot be trusted even if they say something that turns out to be true.  They simply have lived a long time, can communicate with each other, and have personally experienced human history.  The devil and those fallen spirits who follow him are the ultimate scammers.  They promise people power by certain rituals and mechanisms.  They also present a perverted view of the world and reality.  They cannot be trusted because they despise humans who are imagers of God.

Christians should have nothing to do with using spirits to divine the future.  I mention this because there are people today who claim to be Christians that take occult practices and try to “Christianize” them.  One such deluded practice is the concept of Christian Tarot cards.  They make the images nicer and dress it up in Christian lingo.  This is dangerous and should be avoided and denounced, along with any other such practices.  God tells us not to look to the spirits of the spirit world to give us information.  Rather, we are to pray to God and trust Him and His revelation. 

So, when this girl begins to herald Paul and Silas as “servants of the Most High God,” and declare that they are there to “proclaim to us the way of salvation,” we can be sure that the evil spirit animating her is up to something nefarious.  It may be that there is a mocking attitude to it.  However, it may also be an attempt to muddy the waters by associating what they were doing with Apollo.

Whatever the spirit is trying to do, Paul becomes “greatly annoyed” by her activity.  What she is doing grieves him.  It is not clear if he knew it was an evil spirit from the beginning, or why he would delay in rebuking the spirit.  It is possible that Paul knows that the situation could blow up if he rebukes the spirit.  There is no mention of what the Spirit of God may be telling Paul to do.  Is God telling Paul to wait for two days?  When Paul finally responds, we can also wonder if the Holy Spirit tells him to rebuke the evil spirit.  Regardless of all of these questions, we can empathize with Paul’s situation.  What do I do?

There may be a level here where these evil spirits are trying to bait Paul into a situation where they can discover some information about him.  There is a bit of this in the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.  If Jesus would have jumped off of the temple, and then was not hurt, the devil would know that killing him was off the table.  Jesus didn’t give him anything.

Finally, the Apostle Paul  turns to the girl and speaks to the evil spirit.  “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!”  Though Paul does the commanding, i.e., he is the one having faith and standing up to the evil spirit, he makes it clear by what authority and by what power this demon would be made to obey.  No matter how crafty, powerful, and intelligent, these spirits may be compared to humans, they are still under the power and authority of Jesus Christ.  Paul stands firm as an ambassador of the kingdom of the Son of God’s love, Jesus.  He has been fully authorized to go into any nation, region, or town, and preach the Gospel.  Jesus never made humans to be manipulated by these evil spirits, whether through possession or through listening to them.  Christians need to have a strong relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit so that they can stand up to evil spirits “in the name of Jesus Christ.”  In ourselves we have no power, but we can command them to leave because of our relationship with Jesus.  We are to declare liberty to those who are oppressed in the Name of Jesus.

We are told that the spirit came out of the girl “that very  hour.”  This may give the impression of Paul saying the same phrase over and over again for an hour, but that is not what is likely intended.  “That very hour” was a phrase that often meant that it happened right away.  Yes, some spirits are harder to cast out, but Jesus emphasized that his disciples should pray and fast more often (Mark 9:28-29).  Notice that Jesus cast out the demon immediately in that context.   

This is a spiritual encounter, and we need to have a true spiritual relationship with Jesus that is more than a superficial stating of some exorcism formula.  Be a person of prayer and fasting today because we will see more and more spirit possessions as our society turns away from God’s Word and towards the occult.  People will need someone with a real relationship with Christ in order to help them be freed.

Though the girl is set free from the spirit of python, she needs to put her faith in Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Otherwise, that spirit will show up again with seven more stronger than itself in order to attempt to repossess her.

You will also notice in this story that the masters have no care for this young girl’s soul.  They don’t care that she is shackled to a spirit.  They only care that they can make money through her.  When they find out that she no longer has a spirit of divination, they are not happy.  Paul had messed up their gravy train.

We should note that, throughout history, men of business have held an important sway on the authorities of a town, city, region, or nation.  They are a big part of the engine of wealth for the rulers and the citizens alike.  They often have connections and ways of leveraging the authorities (lobbying) to do their bidding.  Sometimes, they can even run the show from behind the scenes.

If you are looking for corruption in government, this is a good place to start.  Look for connections between business and those who sit in the chairs of power.

These men drag Paul and Silas before the magistrates of the city of Philippi and charge them with disturbing the peace, and promoting illegal activity (probably promoting a religion that is not approved by the State).  They are able to whip up a mob of the citizens along with the magistrates to deal with these “troublemakers.”

Christians should not fall into the error of seeing business men as the bad guys and the poor as the good guys.  This pitting of groups against one another has been a favorite tactic of rulers through the years, but especially by socialist groups.  Over the years, we have seen many stirring up one group against another group within our Republic: poor against rich, black against white, workers against employers, criminals against cops, homosexuals against heterosexuals, etc.  You will always find evidence of one group sinning against another, and none of these groups is without sin.  The problem is not the “power imbalance.”  The problem is that we are too easily manipulated, both to sin for our benefit and to sin against others for their hurt.

These business men are a problem for Philippi, but Lydia is a business owner too.  She is not what is wrong with Philippi.  The true problem goes deeper than simply business.  We must understand that not every polarization that is thrust in front of us is about truth.  This is why justice is supposed to be blindfolded (at least when it is a human judging the case).

The magistrates order that Paul and Silas have their clothes torn open to expose their backs so that they can be beaten with rods.  They are then put in the prison with their feet in stocks, representing the most secure form of detainment.  Stocks were often designed to create severe discomfort what would be normal.

This is what spiritual warfare looks like.  We can be guilty of only fighting spiritual battles in our prayers and in our mind.  All spiritual warfare starts in prayer, but it cannot end there.  If you want to really be involved in spiritual warfare, then go into the devil’s territory and start working to set people free.  You will probably see all hell break out, but you may see people set free by Jesus!

The devil is going to get some licks in.  He won’t just stay silent as you plunder his spoils.  However, we must keep our eyes upon Jesus and trust him no matter what happens.  This spirit was prodding Paul to see how much of God he had.  Well, he found out when he was cast out.  Greater is Jesus who is in us than any evil spirit in the world.

Ask yourself how much Christian ministry doesn’t happen because we are afraid of what people, business, and authorities might do.  Perhaps, this is exactly why Paul delayed to cast out the spirit.  He knew that he would be poking the hornet’s nest.  Regardless of how many “hornets” are in your town, when the devil comes after us, he is doing some poking of his own.  Paul may have poked a hornet’s nest, but the spirits of Philippi were now poking the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Jesus!  When the devil comes after you, he comes after one who is a child of the God of all things, the Most High God!  We should not be arrogant in that, but neither should we forget it.  The devil is in the weaker position, and we should not fear him, but rather fear not doing the will of God.

May God help us to avoid the kind of spiritual growth that is only in our imagination.  We need true spiritual growth where the rubber meets the road.  True spiritual growth is always forged in the fires of a relationship with Jesus by the Holy Spirit.  It is forged in the fires of trials and temptations, where we learn to trust Jesus and walk with Him.

We need to be bold, but we also need to be a people who are praying and fasting, and ready for every good work that Jesus may have for us to do.

The Gospel Comes to Greece audio

The Rewards of Faith

Mark 7:24-30.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, November 17, 2019.

We have been following Jesus throughout the Gospel of Mark as he traveled the different regions of Israel.  Today, we find Jesus leaving Israel and going into a Gentile country.  It is not explicitly stated why he does so, but it seems to be hinted at within the passage.  It appears Jesus is trying to get away for a brief period where he can have some alone time with his disciples.  Yet, as can often be the case, it was not to be.

In this story we find a woman who is desperate and, when she hears that a man is in her area who might be able to do something about it, she is not willing to give up easily.  Let’s look at the story.

A Gentile woman seeks deliverance

As I mentioned earlier, verse 24 tells us that Jesus “wanted no one to know” that he was in a house in the region of Tyre and Sidon.  This is a substantial distance from the Galilee area in what we would call Lebanon today, but was referred to as Phoenicia during ancient times.

A woman who has a daughter who is harassed by an unclean spirit, or demon, hears about Jesus through the inevitable grapevine that all regions have.  It is important to note that the impact of the ministry of Jesus had reached even areas beyond Israel.

We are told that this woman was a Syro-Phoenician by birth.  Yet, she is also called a Greek because it is a reference to cultural practices.  Most regions of the Middle East had been Hellenized or “Greek-ized” due to the dominance that began with Alexander the Great.  She is genetically a Syro-Phoenician and culturally a Greek.  This is important to the story.

The woman comes to the house and persistently keeps asking Jesus to cast the demon out of her daughter.  In Mark Jesus responds first to the woman.  However, in the parallel account of this story in Matthew 15:21-28 [the audio is incorrect in stating it as Matthew 13], Jesus interacts with the disciples first.   In Matthew’s account Jesus appears to ignore the woman until the disciples urge Jesus to send her away.  They are getting annoyed with her continual crying out to them.  We should pause and think about that for a moment.  They do not have a heart of compassion for this woman and it appears that Jesus doesn’t either.  However, we know from too many other places that Jesus is not being a male chauvinist, or that he is being racist.  He has a particular reason, but the disciples are simply annoyed.  It is easy as the disciples of Christ to be annoyed with desperate people.  This is not a sign of great spirituality, but rather lack of maturity in Christ.  We should beware a heart that is easily annoyed with the desperate circumstances of the lost.  It can get in the way of ministry that God wants to accomplish.

Jesus Responds

So, in Matthew Jesus first responds to his own disciples with this. “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  This statement is quite clear and demonstrates a difference between Jesus and his disciples.  They are simply annoyed, but he is trying to remain focused on the purpose that God had sent him.  He had not come to walk throughout the Gentile lands and heal their sick and cast out their demons.  This does not mean that God doesn’t care about Gentiles.  Later, Jesus would send his disciples to the ends of the earth.  Yet, at this moment, his job was to first minister to Israel.

Thus, the particular reason for why Jesus didn’t respond to her then no longer exists now.  Israel heard the Gospel and saw the great works of the Messiah.  A remnant of Israel believed and entered into the New Covenant, but the rest of Israel did not.  Paul refers to this as opening the door to the Gentiles to receive the good news of the Gospel.  In fact, we can mistake the whole purpose behind why God created Israel in the first place.  It was not because He wanted some kind of “most favored nation” to treat as a teacher’s pet over the rest of the world.  Rather, it was to be a launch pad for taking back all the Gentile lands and making them one with God’s people again.

After this reply to the disciples, we are told that the woman bowed down before Jesus and said, “Lord, help me!”  She is completely identified with the ailment of her daughter.  The demon that terrorizes her daughter terrorizes her.  Instead of casting her daughter out, she has chosen to remain in that harrowing situation and begs for Jesus to cast out the demon.  It is at this point that Jesus gives an analogy to the woman to help her understand why he has not helped her.

The analogy is this.  “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”  The children in this analogy represent Israel.  Whereas, the little dogs represent the Gentiles in general, and specifically this woman.  To our 21^st century ears this might sound like a grotesquely insensitive statement.  However, we must be careful of being offended on behalf of other people.  Don’t jump on the band wagon of those who tell you that you must be offended at certain things.  This woman doesn’t even bat an eyelash at what Jesus says.  She not only isn’t offended, but she turns the analogy into her favor.  In fact, we might speculate that Jesus is actually setting her up to see what kind of faith she actually has. 

The Scriptures continually portray Israel as being near to God or close to God, whereas the Gentiles are far away.  His analogy does the same thing, but in a different way.  Many people treat their household pets a lot like children.  However, in those societies, it was understood that humans come before family pets, no matter how loved they were.  Does it seem insensitive?  It depends.  Is Jesus trying to put her down or trying to see if she wants to be lifted up?  If all Gentiles are like the little dogs around the table of God then how much more powerful is the image of a family pet being lifted up to the status of a child of God?  We can’t play it both ways.  Either Jesus is trying to be incredibly mean to her, or he is trying to help her see her true condition.  She is like the family pet wanting to sit at the table.

It is then that the woman demonstrates her true faith.  She is not full of herself, demanding that Jesus give her justice.  Rather, she accepts his picture that she is as far away from God as a pet is from its master.  She stands in no place to demand help.  The wisdom of accepting this characterization is that it opens the door to truth.  Even the little dogs underneath the table are able to eat the crumbs that fall from it.  Technically the dog isn’t eating with the family, but if something happens to fall on the floor [or even intentionally from time to time] few would fault the dog for eating it.

She does not demand that Jesus break his duty to God and resolve for his purpose.  She only asks for a crumb that might fall from the table of what God was giving to Israel.

Jesus then remarks that her faith is very great indeed.  He then tells her that she can go home; the demon has left her daughter.  Her humility and strength of mind obtains for her the freedom of her daughter.

Today, there are no such restrictions on the Gospel.  Christ has told his disciples to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.  However, is it not important for us who were far away from God to recognize that we have been brought near in a way that is as incredible as a family pet actually becoming a real, live child of God?  Like some kind of strange Pinocchio twist, we are not receiving what is our due, but rather we are receiving what is highly unlikely.  We all come to Christ as beggars, lacking even a right to his table.  Yet, God has had compassion upon us all and bids us come.   Jesus came to his own and his own did not receive him, but as many as did receive him (even if they were Gentiles, little dogs, etc.) to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:11-12).

There is always a reward for those who will simply trust God’s goodness and persist in their faith.  She knew that she sought a good thing.  It is not God’s will that humans be tormented by demons.  He did not create us for that.  May we all learn the lesson that faith must be more than short-lived.  It must also persist and be continually knocking, seeking, asking.  Yes, God sometimes tells us, “No,” to some of the things we ask.  However, in a case like this, we should never give up because we know that at the end of the day He is good and loves us.

Rewards of Faith audio

So Send I You

Mark 6:7-13.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, August 18, 2019.

Today, our passage involves Jesus sending his twelve disciples out on a mission.  If his words before his ascension in Matthew 28:18-20 are to be called The Great Commission then our story today should be called the Small Commission.  It involves them going out only to the towns of Israel and preaching to them.  Perhaps Jesus saw this as a trial run for the greater mission that he would give them later.

Our title for this sermon comes from John 20:21. There Jesus tells his disciples, “Peace to you!  As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” (NKJV)  Everything that Jesus is doing with them throughout Israel is leading up to that point when he will go back to Heaven and the Apostles will need to take the Gospel to the nations of the world.  This would not be an easy task and it would be filled with many difficulties and trials.  Yet, it would also be filled with many joys.

There is a hymn that was published in 1954 and written by a Canadian woman named E. Margaret Clarkson.  She grew up in Toronto in the 1920’s.  In the 1930’s when she came of age, jobs were hard to come by in Toronto.  This led to her going into the far north of Ontario to become a teacher in the logging and mining camps.  Here are some quotes from her concerning her time there. 

“I experienced deep loneliness of every kind-mental, cultural, and particularly, spiritual- I found no Bible-teaching church fellowship, and only one or two isolated Christians, in those years.  Studying the Word one night and thinking of the loneliness of my situation, I came to John 20, and the words, ‘So send I you.’  Because of a physical disability, I could never go to the mission field, and this was where He had sent me.  I had written verse all my life, so it was natural for me to express my thoughts in poem.  Some years later [in 1963-after more life-experience and contact with real missionaries] I realized that the poem was really, very one-sided; it told only of the sorrows and privations of the missionary call and none of its triumphs.  I wrote another song in the same rhythm, so that verses could be used interchangeably, setting forth the glory and the hope of the missionary calling.”    (from https://propempo.com/story-behind-so-send-i-you-margaret-clarkson/)

This second version was published in 1963 as Margaret felt, if choosing between the two, the second one was the more biblical.  Here are the first stanzas of each version.

So send I you to labor unrewarded, to serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown, to bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing, to send I you, to toil for Me alone.

So send I you, by grace made strong to triumph, o’er hosts of hell, o’er darkness, death and sin, My name to bear and in that name to conquer, so send I you, My Victory to win.

Of course, singing nine verses (the first version has 5 and the second has 4) would not fly in very many churches today.  However, the words of this hymn are of great value and worth looking up.  It teaches us to count the cost and also the rewards of going forth for Jesus.

The greatest rewards for taking up the task that Jesus gives to his Church are yet to be had.  In this life, these things are bitter sweet, but once our work is done, and we have reached the end of our race, we shall enter into the full rewards of our labors on this earth.

Jesus sends The Twelve on a mission

Mark’s version of this passage, again, is very short on details.  If you read Matthew 10:1-15, you will see that Jesus limits them to going only to the towns and cities of what he calls “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  This did not include Samaria, which was an area of Israel that had mixed with Gentiles in marriage and in religion.

We are told that Jesus sends them out in pairs.  Thus, we would have 6 pairs of two disciples heading out to different parts of Israel.  This was not to keep an eye on each other, but rather because, “Two are better than one.”  Like Adam in life, it was not good for them to be alone in ministry.  They could keep each other encouraged in the difficult times and supply gifts where the other fell short.

It is interesting that this same phrase, two by two, occurs in the Noah’s Ark passage.  There the animals are brought into the ark in pairs, two by two.  That passage is unclear as to whether Noah is rounding them up, or if God’s Spirit is drawing them into the ark.  Regardless, in our passage the disciples are going out in pairs to call people to enter the ark of God, Jesus.  If comparing the ark to Jesus is a foreign concept to you then think of it in this way.  Just as Noah’s family were protected from the judgment of the ancient world by getting into the ark, so those who come inside of Jesus by putting their faith in him will be protected from the coming judgment of fire that has been promised to the whole earth.

We are also told that Jesus gives them authority over unclean spirits.  The word “authority” is sometimes translated as power.  However, the word properly means authority, and of course authority always has an involvement with power.  Regarding the unclean spirits, we have touched on this earlier.  This phrase is more of a description than a title.  Verse 13 helps us to see that the phrase is synonymous with “demons.”

It is sad to think that God’s people had become spiritually captured and plundered.  Everywhere Jesus and his disciples went in Israel, they encountered demon-possessed people.  I will remind us that people are not easily possessed.  It occurs when people dabble with false religions and the occult arts.  By listening to the teachings of demons, people give permission to those unclean, defiling spirits in their life.  You cannot surrender authority in your life without becoming a slave, and such was the case of many in Israel. 

No doubt, America has not seen as much activity in this area because of our Gospel foundation in Christ.  However, today it is becoming more and more prevalent for people to pursue the occult arts, and spiritual teachings of all sorts, which opens them up to such possession.  We will see more and more of this in our society, even though secular society will never call it demon-possession.

As a Christian, we need to recognize that such things are very real.  We must learn to stand on our own two spiritual-feet, and in the same authority that Jesus gave to his disciples then, proclaim the gospel and command unclean spirits to leave.  We need not fear any evil when we are on the side of Christ.  However, no one should approach these matters lightly and proudly.

Jesus also limits what provisions they can take with them on the journey.  They were to take only a staff, sandals, and one tunic (no bag, no food, no money, and no extra clothing).  Clearly, Jesus is putting them in a position that is more dire than it really was.  They had these things, but could not take them along.  Why?  The most logical reason homes in on the reality that Jesus is their teacher and they are the students, master and disciples.  So, at its foundation it is about them learning something by taking no extra provisions.  In such a situation, they will need to trust God to provide for them.  If God sends you on a mission then he will provide for you.  This is not just true in ministry, but in life as well.  All Christians are on a mission from God and he promises to take care of our needs, if we will put his kingdom first.  Of course, faith in God’s provision is easier said than done.  This will prepare them for times in the future when they will not be in their current state of being full of provisions. 

It is worth noting that Jesus does reverse these limitations later and allows them to take provisions.  The point is not that we should purposefully test God in this matter, but that we can trust him to help us in whatever we lack.  They are not testing God. They are responding to a command of the Lord.  Perhaps in this country of plenty our level of needing to trust in God for our provisions is very anemic.  However, Christians all around the world, both today and throughout history, have had to trust that God would provide for them.  Instead of falling into the habit of complaining and grumbling against God, they learned to pray, work hard, and trust God to provide.

The last part of the instructions of Jesus have to do with how they should conduct themselves among the towns of Israel.  This part will make more sense if you read the Matthew 10 passage.  Basically, they were to go to a town and publicly proclaim the Gospel.  If no one received them then they were to leave the town and go to the next.  Jesus tells them to shake the dust off of their feet in such a case.  This is interesting because it was the common practice of religious Jews to shake the dust off of their feet when leaving a Gentile city.  It was a symbolic way of saying that you are not going to take any part of that city with you because it is defiled.  Here they receive a bit of their own medicine.  If you are going to reject the Gospel and its ministers then the very dust of your city will become a witness, or evidence that they came and offered you grace.  In fact, Jesus says that those cities that reject his disciples with the Gospel message will have a more difficult judgment than Sodom and Gomorrah because they had a far less powerful and enlightening ministry from Lot.

If they are received positively and someone welcomes them into their home then they are to stay with them and let them care for their physical needs.  We don’t know if they were instructed to stay for a certain period, or if they had a certain amount of time to reach a particular list of cities.  Regardless, they would go from one town to the next proclaiming the Gospel.

The Twelve perform their task

In verse 12, the disciples take off to do what Jesus has instructed.  They leave Jesus behind and go in pairs to different parts of Israel.  In our passage, we are told that they preached, or proclaimed, that people should repent.  In Matthew they are told to proclaim, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  This reminds us of the message that the Bible says Jesus preached from the beginning, “Repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  The kingdom did not fully arrive in the first century.  It came in spiritually, but awaits the judgment in order to come in physically and politically.  Thus, the whole world is in the same position as the first century, and we need to preach the same message. 

The word for repentance here means to “change one’s mind.”  The people of Israel were supposed to be a people who lived for God and his purposes, but they had become a people living for themselves and for their own purposes.  Their mindset led to lifestyles and bondages that were never God’s intention for them or humanity.  The biggest leverage to getting them to change their mind is the warning that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

God’s prophets had promised a time when God would send his anointed king who would heal Israel and rule over all the earth.  If Messiah (from the Hebrew word for “anointed”) the king was to be in Israel in their days then they would want to change their lives and get ready for his presence.  If I truly change my mind on a matter then it will truly change how I live.  Another term in the Bible that is used for repentance is the concept of turning.  When I am driving in the wrong direction, I need a change of mind before I am ever going to turn around and go in the right direction.  Let’s be clear.  Most people in America, and in this world, are going in the wrong direction.  Even many who claim to be Christians are simply placing a label on their life, but not really living for Christ and his purposes.  May God help us to daily change our minds and turn towards his path, rather than our own.  May he help us to turn from our tendency for the self-led life, and to embrace the Holy Spirit-led life.

As the disciples went into the cities, we are told that they cast out many demons.  The delegated authority that Jesus gave to them was recognized by these unclean spirits.  The key here is not a mantra or ritual for casting them out.  The key is that they had an authentic relationship with Jesus and he has authorized them to have authority over these spirits.  Yet, it is not just The Twelve.  Luke 10:19 is a place where Jesus talks to a larger group of disciples called The Seventy, who also are told they will have power over these unclean spirits (serpents and scorpions are metaphors for these unclean spirits).  Also, in Romans 16:20, Paul expected that God would soon crush Satan (and his operators) underneath the Christians in Rome.  Yet, we cannot merely declare authority over such spirits if we are not in true relationship with Jesus.  It is his power they fear and obey, not mine.

We are also told that the disciples anointed the sick with oil and healed them just as Jesus did.  It must have been something for Israel, who was still reeling from Jesus going everywhere healing and casting out spirits, to see his disciples doing the same all by themselves.  O, how God loves to take the weak and lowly, and lift them up to take the place of the great and mighty.

So, why did they use oil?  The purpose of the oil is to be a symbol of God’s Spirit and also an aid to faith.  In the end, people were being restored by Galilean fishermen, or a tax collector, or a zealot, etc.

You and I are not called to become Apostles of Jesus in order to lay down the faith once and for all for Christ’s Church.  However, we carry the same Gospel into whatever scope of ministry that he gives us.  Whatever sphere he gives us, as a friend, co-worker, spouse, relative, parent etc., we must be faithful to share Christ in words and deed, so that people can believe on him and have a place in his kingdom, both now and in the future.  All believers are called to be proclaimers of the Gospel, and may God help us to warn people to change their minds because the next phase of the Kingdom of God is at hand!

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The Power & Authority of Jesus

Mark 5:1-20.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, July 21, 2019.

Many scientists do not believe there is such a thing as a spirit realm. They hold to a materialism world-view and they would not accept that a human has a true spirit, much less that there are spiritual entities other than human.  The basic line of thought is that ancient humans couldn’t explain disease and mental illness and so they came up with the idea of spirits, both good and bad (the bad being demons).  The problem with this is that is presents the false idea that we now understand everything about the human body and mind. 

As advanced as our technologies are, the human mind still presents a difficult puzzle to scientists.  There are clinically trained psychiatrists who have come to the conclusion that some cases that they have encountered cannot be explained by a problem within a person’s mind.  Things such as: the knowledge of individuals and things outside of the person’s ability (even very private things), speaking languages not learned or even encountered,  and especially aggravation at talk about and the person and work of Jesus.

Of course the opposite error does exist.  Some religious people treat all strange activity as demonic.  Many “exorcisms” gone awry have resulted in the death of people, and I am not just talking about within Christianity.  As believers in the One who is Truth, we must not cast aside the recognition that demons are real.  Yet, we also must not let fear rule our hearts and label every mental illness or strange sickness as demonic activity.

Today we will look at a passage that makes it clear that though demons do exist, they must flee before the power and authority of Jesus Christ.

A demon-possessed man approaches Jesus

Our story begins with a demon-possessed man that meets Jesus and his disciples at the shore as they get out of their boat.  We should remember that, at the end of chapter 4, Jesus and his disciples were boating across the Sea of Galilee from the Galilee region (NW part of the sea).  During this trip a huge storm occurred threatening to destroy the boat and them.  This story is what happened after that scene.  Another point to recognize is that all three synoptic gospels have these stories back to back.  They are integrally linked in the minds of the apostles.  This has caused some to see a supernatural aspect to the storm scene. 

The Scriptures do not state that this is the case.  However, it is quite possible.  In the story of Job, Satan is allowed to “touch” Job.  Of the several catastrophes that occur two seem to be natural disasters:  fire falls from heaven upon the sheep and shepherds, and a great wind destroys the house in which his adult children are feasting, killing them all.  Regardless of whether or not the above conjecture is correct, the message is the same.  Jesus is greater than anything that may come upon us in this life, whether natural or supernatural, period.

So, just where are they landing with their boat?  If you look at all three gospel accounts (Matthew 8, Mark 5, and Luke 8), you find a difference in the name of the area in which they land.  On top of this, there are also some textual differences within the manuscript evidence.  Is it the area of the Gadarenes, Gergasenes, or the Gerasenes?  It is most likely that these are variant terms of the same or overlapping areas.  The Gadara area would include all of the southern part of the Sea of Galilee.  So that gives us a rough estimate of where they were.

Immediately upon their beaching f the boat, they are met by the demon-possessed man.  This guy is in a terrible condition of which we are told about up front in the story.  Not all demon-possession manifests in a way that is so violent and socially adverse as this guy.  This man represents the “crazy person” picture of possession.  We are told initially that he has an unclean spirit, which is a synonym for a demon.  Notice that the term “demons” is used in verse 12.  He lived among the tombs rather than in a regular house of that time, most likely due to being driven out of town.  He was out of his mind crying out, cutting himself with stones and naked.  When it talks about crying out here, it is not talking about tears, but rather loud screams and words that may or may not have made sense.  The people of the area have often tried to restrain him with shackles and chains.  However, he would break these chains and tear off the shackles.

The strength he demonstrated could be called super-human.  However, it is unclear how much of the power is simply the demons pushing him to exert more energy than a person would normally push themselves.  Also, I’m sure the strength of the metals in that place and at that time are very weak compared to what we would have today.  However, we should also recognize that these people had restrained many others before.  This guy was unrestrainable in a day that knew how to restrain some pretty strong guys.  The overall picture is that this guy is a menace to the area and has been driven out of the city and into the tombs, or at least has gone there of his own accord.  Also, we see that he is a very tortured individual.  The demons are not his friends.  They have brought him to a horrible and low state.

The demons resist leaving the man

The writing of this scene is a bit choppy, but one can follow it.  It seems the man approaches Jesus and Jesus first commands the spirit to come out of the man.  It is then that the demon begins to speak.

Now we must deal with an unfortunate translation in verse 6.  The man is not worshipping Jesus as the English in the KJV, NKJV, and RSV states.  The word most of the time does mean to worship. However, at its base it means to prostrate one’s self before another as if to kiss their hand in obeisance.  Thus, the better picture is that the man has ran up and fallen down in front of Jesus, looking like a fiend (no clothing, cuts all over his body, not in his right mind, hair probably a knotted mess, etc.).  Jesus recognizes the unclean spirit and commands it to come out. 

At this point, the demon has some protests, or at least, a short dialogue takes place.  The first statement of the demon is really a question.  It essentially means what do you want with me, or why are you bothering me.  This area is not considered part of Israel at the time.  No Jew worth his salt would be caught dead there, and so, the people in this scene are most likely gentiles.  The question is on the order of asking why Jesus is “out of his territory.”  Secondly, the demon demonstrates the knowledge of who Jesus is.  He addresses him as Jesus, Son of the Most High God.  Notice that Jesus normally would not let demons talk, at least when he was in Israel.  However, here we see that Jesus interacts to some degree with the spirits.  Why would he do so here, but not in Israel?  When he was in Israel, Jesus didn’t want demons for his P. R. speakers.  I would think that here in this Gentile land the only Israelites are his disciples and they are already convinced that he is the Messiah.  These Gentiles are not thinking to themselves that Jesus could be the Messiah.  Most likely, they are not even aware of what that is.  Yet, Satan and his spirits knew exactly who Jesus was, but they did not know what he was there to do.

This demon asks Jesus if he is there to torment him.  Matthew 8 adds the phrase “before the time.”  So, what is this about?  The book of Revelation speaks of a time when Satan is to be cast into the bottomless pit.  Perhaps the demons will also have that fate.  Regardless, we know that all evil beings will be cast into the Lake of Fire when the New Heavens and the New Earth are created by God.

These spirits have clear knowledge of this coming judgment. However, they also seem to have the idea that it isn’t time yet for their judgment.  To them, Jesus is here early.  This adds to the fear of these demons.  What is he doing?  Is he throwing us into the bottomless pit/Lake of Fire early? 

Jesus asks the spirit what its name is and is told that it is “Legion.”  This is clearly not a proper name, but rather a nick-name, or better a nom de guerre.  He is possessed by many demons, whether that literally means thousands or not is irrelevant.  The demons protest that they do not want to be sent out of the region (vs. 10).  We are not told why.  Most likely they believe they have a sweet deal in this area and are able to have their way.

However, they suggest an alternative.  In their fear, they beg Jesus to give them leave to enter a herd of pigs that are nearby.  We are told that there are 2,000 pigs.  It is unclear why they ask this, and also why Jesus permits it.  It would probably be foolish to speculate too much.  However, several things are clear.  The spirits demonstrate the same violence and torment in the pigs as in the demoniac.  The pigs “go crazy” and stampede down the hill into the sea and drown.  Thus, the spirits are released into the area desperate to find another person to inhabit and have gotten away from Jesus.  Later, the disciples of Jesus would come back into this area and most likely have to deal with them again.

The people of the region are afraid

The swine-herders become the heralds of what happened.  We are not told into what city they go, but it is most likely a nearby small village.  Eventually a crowd from the area gathers at shore in order to see this spectacle.  Then the story is recounted for them about Jesus freeing the demon-possessed man and the death of the pigs.

Alongside of this story, is the reality of the man himself.  He is clearly the same man they had feared in the past, most likely with cuts still visible on parts of his body.  However, he is not ranting and stark raving naked.  He is fully clothed and in his right mind.  These evidences powerfully testify to these first century people, but it also powerfully testifies to us 21^st century people.  If our psychiatrists had an one ounce of the ability Jesus had, we would not see nearly as much mental illness in our society.  I am not saying all mental illness is the result of demonic possession.  It is often just the natural result of sin, both ours and that of others.  However, Jesus healed people as well as casting out demons.  We should learn from the only one who demonstrated mastery of both, instead of scoffing at the testimony of these eye-witnesses.

There are two responses recorded here.  The first is from the people of the region.  No doubt, they can appreciate the freeing of the demon-possessed man.  However, they also may see Jesus as just another spiritual threat.  If he is stronger than a legion of evil spirits than what would he do to them?  Also, the destruction of 2,000 pigs was a heavy economic hit.  Can we afford any more actions of such a man in our country?  Regardless of all their thoughts, they plead with Jesus to leave. 

It is easy to be fearful and afraid of spiritual things because we don’t understand them and can’t control them.  However, this is the point.  Evil spirits are fearful, but the power of the Holy Spirit is greater than them.  When we believe in Christ and have his Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we have nothing to fear from such spirits, even a legion of them. 

The Holy Spirit is pure and clean.  He does not control people, torment them, and abuse them.  He works gently and kindly within us to encourage us in the right direction.  He enables and empowers us as we act in faith and trust in God’s Word.  You have nothing to fear from the Holy Spirit, and, when He is living within you, you have nothing to fear from those evil spirits that roam this world looking for people to inhabit and torment.

The second response is that of the man, which is quite different from the people.  The man wants to follow Jesus and become one of his disciples.  However, Jesus gives him a different mission.  This Gentile man is not who God has to become an apostle in Israel.  Rather, he is to tell that Gentile region his story and how Jesus set him free from a legion of demons.  Imagine what it was like when a decade or two later the disciples of Jesus came into that area.  They would find many people open to the gospel because of what they had heard from this man years earlier.  His activity would be a kind of “pre-evangelism” that would prepare the inhabitants of the region to receive the Gospel later.

As we leave this story, I pray that, instead of being freaked out about spiritual things and pushing Jesus away, you will become excited about the one who has complete authority and power over all spiritual beings.  We need not fear the demons of darkness when the Lord of the Light has come. 

Power & Authority audio