Evil Is an Interesting and Important Thing, by John.

Evil Is an Interesting and Important Thing.
Mark 1:21-28

1. Have you noticed that most of the programs on TV involve some sort of evil? The most popular shows are about what evil people do to each other. That's especially true since we have been at war with Iraq.
2. Evil is an interesting and important thing.
3. The account we just read is about Jesus going to the temple to teach.
4. As soon as He started teaching, a man with a demon interrupts him, and I want us to learn from that experience. Did you notice…

I. The response of evil to God?

1. First, I think we should notice that this man is a member of the synagogue, a Jew in good standing, even though he had an evil spirit!
2. Second, we should notice evil is interested in what God has to say.
(1) A lot of us who claim to know God don't pay much attention to what God says,
(2) But when God speaks, Satan and his servants pay attention!
3. Third, I think we should realize, evil is guilty, and evil people know they are guilty!
4. In Matthew 8:29, the evil spirits cried out, "What do you want with us, Son of God!"…"Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?"
5. Fourth, evil spirits already know God is going to destroy them! They already know Jesus is the One Who is going to do it, and they are afraid!
6. Fifth, evil lacks proper respect for God. This man interrupted the Lord Jesus at work without any hesitation!
(1) He was not interested in what God had to say to the people.
(2) He was only interested in how God's being there would affect him!
(3) He expected Jesus to do something that he would not like!
7. That's the natural response of evil to Jesus. If you are here, and you are lost, that is the reason you feel like the preacher is aiming his sermons at you? Ill. A woman was trying to get her husband to go to church with her, but he always refused. On a Sunday evening she asked him to go, and he said "No!" She asked why, and he told her that the preacher always preached at him as if nobody else was there. She told him that wasn't true, and she said, "It's hot, and the church door is open. You go up there and stand behind the door, so the preacher won't even know you are there, and you'll see. What's wrong with you is, you know he's telling the truth!"
He hid behind the door, and no one
knew he was there. The preacher started
preaching, and a group of teenagers on the
back row started giggling and disturbing
people. The preacher said, "Hey! You kids
in the back of the church! If you don't
start acting right, that old devil is going
to jump out from behind that door and
get you!"
8. The response of evil to God is misunderstanding, as well as, disrespect and disobedience!

II. V 25, Jesus Has Authority Over Evil.

1. He was not ready for the people to know that He was God's Son. The timing had to be right!
2. Evil is always wrong! Jesus gave that evil spirit two stern commands: "Be quiet!" and "Come out of him!"
3. There was no dilly-dallying around. That evil spirit knew Jesus had the right to command him! And all evil spirits today know that Jesus is in control of everything!
4. Jesus has unlimited power, and He also has unlimited authority over all evil. When you see movies that show the devil pushing Christians around, don't believe it! It does not happen! Jesus is in control!
(1) Satan may push church members around because being a church member is not the same thing as being a Christian!
(2) If you belong to Christ, His authority in on and in you.
(3) You can command Satan to leave, and he has to do it! Colossians 2:10 says, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, Who is the head over every power and authority."
5. Jesus has the authority, and we can use it! James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

III. V. 26, Evil Never Leaves without a Struggle!

1. We wonder how people can do the terrible things they do, but we shouldn't wonder.
2. Violence is the way of evil!
3. Not all violence may be evil, but violence and destruction are the very character of evil.
4. The best way to avoid evil is to draw as near to the Lord as you can get!
Ill. Jesus stood on a hill overlooking Jerusalem, and His heart must have been very heavy with grief over God's chosen people living there. (Mt. 23:37) "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing."
5. Under the wings of Jesus is where you will find protection from Satan and all evil!

Conclusion:

1. Evil beings are interested in what God has to say. It means life or destruction to them.
2. When they hear it, their guilt becomes unbearable!
3. Satan and his followers already know they are condemned. They know Jesus will destroy them. There's no escape.
4. In Psalm 23, the psalmist said, "I will fear no evil." He was right! We need not fear evil! Jesus has authority over every created thing. He is Almighty God!
5. Evil never leaves without a struggle, and that may cause us pain, but it is worth the pain to be spiritually clean! To have everlasting life! To be a child of the King!
6. And we are spiritually clean when we trust Jesus as our Lord and Savior!
7. Don't be scared of Satan! Jesus said in Mt. 10:28, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
8. Draw near to the Lord! Open your heart to Him! Ask Him to come into your heart!

ECC 12/1/2006