Power Changes Everything

Open Your Bibles with me to Mark 1.

We are in our fourth week in our study of the Gospel of Mark.

In Mark’s Gospel, we are met with a constant invitation to relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God

For those that don’t yet know Jesus, it is the call to a life of freedom and transformation in Christ

For those that are already followers of Jesus, it is the call to continual repentance as we grow deeper and deeper into knowing Jesus and making Him known.

Last week, we saw Jesus start His public ministry

We talked about the call of Jesus to follow Him in reckless abandon, to both know Him and to make Him known, and that His call is for right now because tomorrow might be too late.

And as we return to the text this morning, we are going to meet Jesus as He moves in power and authority.

So let’s not waste any time, we’re going to start in Mark 1, verse 21, and as we do, I invite you to stand with me in honor of the reading of God’s Word:

Mark 1:21–34 CSB

They went into Capernaum, and right away he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. They were astonished at his teaching because he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not like the scribes. Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, “What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit threw him into convulsions, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him. They were all amazed, and so they began to ask each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once the news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity of Galilee. As soon as they left the synagogue, they went into Simon and Andrew’s house with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. So he went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them. When evening came, after the sun had set, they brought to him all those who were sick and demon-possessed. The whole town was assembled at the door, and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Pray, Invite people to sit

Jesus Christ is the sovereign King of the universe.

What He says goes everywhere, with everyone, every time.

That’s what the word sovereign means, absolute power and no questions asked.

Jesus is the sovereign King, and that is what is at the heart of this passage.

Jesus showed the people that His Power and Authority changed everything

Even small children can tell the difference of between someone who has authority and someone who doesn’t.

Another child ( a sibling or a classmates) tells a child to do something and the usual response is some form of “No.”

But when Mom or Dad, or a teacher tells them to do something, the response changes.

Why? Because Power and authority change everything.

When you are speeding down the highway and the car in front of you is a beat up truck, you zoom around them.

When the car in front of you is a cop, you slow down at whatever distance you recognized him, and you hope against his lights coming on.

Why? Because power and authority change everything.

Jesus has all of the power. He has all of the authority. And so what that means for you and me is that when you accept His Kingship, His rule over your life,

In your life, Jesus’ power and authority will change everything!

Jesus will transform you into the person that God created you to be.

In our passage there are four transformations see this happen for those that are with Him.

Let’s look at them together, starting with verses 21 and 22

Mark 1:21–22 CSB

They went into Capernaum, and right away he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to teach. They were astonished at his teaching because he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not like the scribes.

The first transformation that we see in this passage is that

Jesus changes you through the power of His Word

You and I are so blessed because we have such easy access to the Bible.

They are in the drawer of just about every hotel room

They are in every book store, walmart, and even.

We give them away, or you can spend lots of money on one.

But we have such easy access to it, we forget about the treasure that it is.

In John 1:1, we learn that Jesus is the Word of God

Jesus is literally every word that has ever left the mouth of God in all of eternity, even before time began.

And in John 1:14, it says this:

John 1:14 CSB

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

I refer to these verses often, because of they changed my life and my understanding of God

They tell us who Jesus is and why the Bible is such a powerful, intimate, personal treasure for followers of Jesus

There is a very real sense when you are holding this book, you are holding a piece of who Jesus is between your fingers.

Last week, we saw Jesus call Simon, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him. This is the first thing they see Jesus do after that calling, and they are amazed.

Why could Jesus teach with such authority?

This wasn’t a knock on the scribes-they just didn’t have what He has.

Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit

And if you are a follower of Jesus, you can be too!

When Jesus taught Scripture, He wasn’t just teaching about God, He was teaching them Himself!

And when you and I open up His Word, the Bible, through His Spirit living in us, we can experience the same power and authority working in our lives

In His power, we are convicted of sin so that we admit it and repent from it

In His power, through His sacrifice on the cross, we find forgiveness of sin and new life in Him.

In His power, we get to know Him as our Savior, Father, counselor, helper, friend, comforter, deliverer, defender, teacher…the list goes on in on.

In His power, we are compelled to go and share Him with others.

In His power, through His Word, all of these things happen and He becomes all that we need.

He gives us a new purpose, He reshapes everything.

Jesus becomes the lens through which you view life, and the more time you spend with Him the more that you want to.

Jesus changes you through the power of His Word. Let’s look at the next one. Verse 23:

Mark 1:23–27 CSB

Just then a man with an unclean spirit was in their synagogue. He cried out, “What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit threw him into convulsions, shouted with a loud voice, and came out of him. They were all amazed, and so they began to ask each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

Now, jump with me down to verse 34:

Mark 1:34 CSB

and he healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

The second transformation that we see this morning is that

Jesus will break your chains and set you free.

All of us that were born into this world of sin and death have the same problem.

Left on our own, we enslave ourselves to sin.

We chain ourselves to the lust, greedy, envy, vanity, anger, bitterness, power, selfishness, and any other sin we can find

Of course, we don’t call it this, and we make up all of the excuses we can muster for it.

But make no mistake that when we sin, it becomes our master and we become slaves to it.

Now, some of you are confused. These verses are talking about demons, why is he talking about sin? I’ll make it plain:

In our world today, we act like demons don’t exist, like somehow they stopped attacking and these are just stories now.

Demons are alive and well in our world today.

They are working to draw people away from God

They are oppressing people with possession and attachment.

Now, don’t mishear me. Demons aren’t the root of all sickness, of all mental illness, of all of our problems in life and relationships.

But that doesn’t mean they aren’t real. And it doesn’t mean they aren’t at work in these things.

People try to read scripture and their mind gets cloudy, and they can’t understand it

They struggle with fits of Anger, they have a hard time praying

All kinds of mental health concerns begin to flood their lives

Conflict fills every relationship they have, and they are left in confusion

We don’t have time this morning to fully unpack demonic oppression this morning, but there are two things I want to point you to.

The first is that sin is the doorway to demons in your life, and that is why we’re dealing with it.

The way that demons gain power and influence over our lives is our unconfessed sin.

Sin is rebellion against God, and where you rebel against Him you leave room for other masters.

The second thing is that you and I on our own are powerless to do anything about it.

Just like you can’t do anything to make up for your own sin, you can’t free yourself from the tormenters that come with it.

BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT JESUS CAN FREE YOU FROM BOTH!

What I love about these verses is that Jesus is both freeing lives and quieting the demons. He didn’t come to take an earthly throne-He is already the King

The demons shriek and cry because they know who Jesus is.

They know that Jesus has all the power and all the authority and there is nothing that they can do.

Jesus came to free you from the demons that oppress you and the sins that let them in to your life in the first place.

In another passage, where Jesus tells a paralyzed man his sins were forgiven, Jesus was questioned about His power to forgive sins. Listen to what He said in Matthew 9:6

Matthew 9:6 CSB

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then he told the paralytic, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.”

Imagine a life free of the guilt for the mistakes that you made.

Imagine a life lived free of the oppression that weighs down the world around you because the One who lives in you is greater.

1 John 4:4 CSB

You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

This morning, Jesus can give you a life like you have never known. He can free you from the chains of sin and oppression that have a stranglehold on your life if, like those in our passage you will turn to Him for help.

Let’s look at verse 29 and following:

Mark 1:29–34 NASB95

And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her. And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them. When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door. And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

The third transformation that we see that Jesus brings in today’s passage is this:

Jesus will abide with you and bring healing.

Isn’t it interesting how the hurting and broken around Him are drawn to Jesus?

Jesus enters into this home of Simon and Andrew, and He meets this woman right where she is.

He does the same with all of those that are coming to Him for healing.

This is what Jesus does. He comes into your life to live with You. Jesus isn’t just a part of your He wants to be in every part of it.

He loves you so much that He comes to meet you right where you are, but He loves you too much to leave you there.

Yes, like this woman, Jesus can bring you physical healing, but the deeper healing is what He does to your heart

He can free you from sin and death

He can give you a new purpose and a new life that will last forever.

He can bring healing to your bitterness, your depression, your anger, your insecurity.

There is no problem you face that is too big for Jesus

Did you notice what this woman’s response was?

She immediately got up and starting serving.

This is what happens when Jesus gets ahold of your life.

The troubles of this life begin to fade in the midst of His healing and you the joy that He brings you will lead to the only right response.

Mark 1:28 NASB95

Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.

This is the final transformation that we see Jesus bring in our passage today, that

Jesus will fill your mouth with the joy of what He has done.

I love hanging out with brand new followers of Jesus.

They can’t stop talking about Him.

They can’t stop sharing Him with others.

They want to root sin out of their lives

They are filled with His joy and feel the breadth of the freedom He gives them.

Shouldn’t it be that way for all believers all of the time?

It absolutely should.

You see, A lack of evangelism in your life is born from a lack of time with Jesus.

SEE, if we allow Jesus to continually transform us, His joy will always be our focus

I’m not saying that you’ll be a gifted evangelist-though some will be.

But I am saying that you will never be able to stop telling others about what He is doing in you and what He has already done.

If Jesus isn’t filling your mouth with things to tell others about Him and His work in your life, it is because you aren’t letting Him fill you.

When you are full from intimate time spent with Jesus, sharing Him is a joy because He overflows into your life and you just can’t help it. You want to serve Him in word and deed.

But you aren’t close to Him, then sharing Him becomes a chore and serving Him is exhausting.

Because how can you be joyous about His transformation when you aren’t experiencing it.

The worship team is going to come now, and lead us in a time of reflection.

And as they do, I want to invite you this morning into a moment with Jesus.

He is right here this morning, with us in this place.

And whether you have never followed Jesus or have been a Christian for years, today can be a day when you experience transformation.

Let His Word, this morning, bring you to Him that He might reshape you.

Let His sacrifice be sufficient for you, and be freed from your sin and the chains that it brings as you make Jesus your King

Let Him be the healing that you are seeking, that you might overflow with the joy of His goodness as we leave this place into a world that desperately needs His good news!

And then, come see me after the service or go to our connections center online, and let’s set up a time we can meet and I can help you take the next steps on your journey, wherever you are.

Jesus has the power and authority to change everything in your life!

This morning, won’t you let Him.

Pray