Taking Authority Series, Pt. 1 (Overcoming The Attack)

Big Idea: A Life surrendered to Jesus is a Life that can Overcome Satan’s attacks.

Introduction: James Neville ran unopposed for mayor of Baxter States, New York, and lost to John Maher, the man he’d taken the office from in 2001. Maher’s supporters launched a stealth write-in campaign, which took Neville totally by surprise. Because he was running unopposed, Neville didn’t campaign for the office; he took his re-election for granted. Neville said, “I got lazy.”

I don’t want to sound paranoid here, but the truth is that we can never drop our guard. We must always be on the alert, because we have a real enemy, an unseen enemy that is constantly prowling and looking for an opportunity to exploit our vulnerabilities and defeat us.

Jim L. Wilson, “Surprised by a Write-In Campaign,” in 300 Illustrations for Preachers, ed. Elliot Ritzema (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015).

The fact of the matter is, just like Neville, we deal with the sudden enemy of our life that comes to destroy, kill and interrupt us on our way to our God given purpose. While it is we have embarked on a new year, Satan is still up to his old tricks. While it is that God is trying to write us a new victory. The enemy comes and tries to write in opposing candidates. This year, its going to be very important to overcome the attacks of the enemy. The truth is, attacks are still a real possibility. But the difference is this time you will be equipped for the attack. This sermon will help us understand the attacks of the enemy and gain the tools to overcome them.

Context: We find ourselves in Mark 5. Mark 5 is a chapter that contains 3 miracles in one chapter. Jesus and the disciples come across the lake to a region called Gereasenes. Other translations may say Gadarenes. The text says when Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tomb to meet him. notice this man. He is

1. Living in the tombs

2. No-one could bind him with chains

3. Night & Day he would cut himself with Stones

We come to discover that this man was not dealing with depression. He wasn’t dealing with anxiety. He wasn’t stressed out. He wasn’t on medication. He didn’t have a sorry therapist. He didn’t have too much to drink. He was dealing with an impure spirit that had gripped his life. This man is like many of us. Sometimes what we label as a temporary symptom is really a spiritual attack undercover. We get prescriptions, we jump from relationship to relationship, we exercise toxic behavior, we call out labels to our suffering and just maybe you’ve been selected for satan’s attack. This man is going to show us how to overcome the attack.

Satan Fears The Presence of Jesus (v. 6-10). Notice the text. Mark describes him and then observes his interaction with Jesus. Notice that the man is demon possessed, but is balancing normal personality traits. He is himself. But he is under the influence at the same time. He sees Jesus from a way off and runs and fell on his face in front of him. This means that the man had previous experience with worship, but now he has gone from a worshipper to a victim. The demon speaks up for him and asks Jesus, what do you want with me. In God’s name don’t torture me. Jesus responds COME OUT! What does this mean? This means that the presence of Jesus does two things. First it shows that the presence of Jesus still makes satan fall. Second, the presence of Jesus is considered torture to the enemy. That word torture means to torment or to harass. It means to put under distress. This means that when the presence of God comes in it irritates, harasses and puts satan in distress. This is why its always important to never retreat when you are under attack. When you are under attack the last thing you want to do is turn off your phone. Ignoring peoples call. Missing church on purpose and pulling away from God. NO! When you are under attack, you press your way and get IN the presence of God. Why? Because the closer you are to his presence the more upset Satan becomes. ref. Proverbs 8: 30 says, “Then i was constantly at his side, I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence.”

2. Miracles Confirm That He’s Still Near

(v. 11-13). So we see that Jesus has authority over satan. Now we will discover that when you are under attack. Jesus 1. Will still perform miracles on your behalf. 2. Uses miracles to reassure that your attack doesn’t disqualify from his power. Notice the text. The evil spirits are pleading with jesus. don’t torture us. Jesus if you will give us permission, put us into these pigs. Notice the text. There are 2000 pigs. rushed down the bank into the lake and were drowned. There are two miracles i need to tell you about. The first miracle is in the fact that Jesus caused 2000 spirits to jump into pigs and drown in the lake. The miracle was not in the pigs drowning. The miracle was in the fact that Jesus did this so the man can see that he has the power. See some miracles are for your healing. And other miracles are for your own belief. Sometimes when you are under attack, you start doubting the hand of God. So God will show you the power of his hand, so that you can still believe that his hand still works! If we be honest. When we are under attack. We don’t always feel like praying. We don’t open up the bible. We don’t want to hear its alright. But God has a way of sending you a miracle to show that he is still real. “There are some things i may not know. There are some places i may go. But i am sure of this one thing. That God is real. And he’s real in my soul.” Can somebody testify that we serve a real God! The second miracle is found in the condition of the man that was demon possessed. Notice what happened. There were people tending to the pigs who saw what was going on. They ran into the town to tell others what was going on. The townspeople came to see what was going on. Watch verse 15. WHEN THEY CAME TO JESUS< THEY SAW THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN POSSESSED BY LEGION SITTING THERE< DRESSED< AND IN HIS RIGHT MIND. Here is why this is a miracle. When we met this man, he was living in tombs, uncontrollable and cutting himself. This man met a man and now his sitting, chill, but in his right mind. The miracle is not just surviving the attack. The miracle is coming out of the attack looking better than he did before he went in. This doesn’t take away from the attack. But it DOES make the survival sweeter.