So, a funny thing happened…
… during our worship time Sunday morning. The service was going well and I was about 5-10 minutes from ending my talk when it happened.
Within my talk, we were discussing how Mark 1:21-28 shows Jesus’ authority over demons, but the specific guy talked about in this passage apparently had internal demons he was dealing with, because if he would’ve been considered “unclean” externally, there’s no way he would’ve been in the synagogue. That means he was most likely present at the synagogue before Jesus showed up and may have even been involved in the community there - all the while, hiding his “secret.”
BUT, when Jesus showed up and began speaking the truth - the ABSOLUTE truth that was spoken in COMPLETE love from GOD HIMSELF, the sin/evil/demon this man had been hiding couldn’t handle it. He immediately recognized Jesus as “the Holy One of God” and was clearly unhappy that Jesus was there. WHY?? We said that the reason is answered in 1 John 1:5-8 - “Light and dark cannot coexist.” The Truth and a lie cannot continue together and things work out.
We moved on to asking what YOUR secret is - what’s that sin that you’re dealing with that very few (if any) others know about. And then we said that FREEDOM from the darkness can be found because of what Romans 8:31-39 tell us - we are MORE than conquerors!!! We no longer have to be in the darkness when Jesus brought the light! I asked if we as commUNITY church believed that we can be MORE than conquerors through Jesus, and the response was an underwhelming “yeah.”
To which I responded that we don’t really believe it. It was about that time that it happened -
EVERY LIGHT in the building went out. Complete darkness. I found out later that some thought I had planned it. I did not plan this one (though, that would’ve been a good idea). So what happened?
One of two things happened -
1. The devil showed up to prevent the Light and the Truth from being preached any more (that didn’t work out too well as cell-phone lights and flash lights came on within a minute). The darkness WILL NOT STOP the Light from being preached!! EVER. Jesus Himself said the gates of Hell will NOT prevail against His church because HE WILL BUILD IT. (Matt. 16:18) That ol’ devil tried to trump the preaching of God’s Word and he failed miserably… and for that, we PRAISE KING JESUS!!!!!
2. The Spirit showed up to find out just who was willing to step out of the darkness into the Light. Those who had the lackluster response when I asked who actually believed Romans 8 had their eyes opened in a very real and literal way. We saw people step out of the darkness, literally and figuratively. We saw people repenting of their sins around the pulpit. We saw a 16-yr old finally confess Jesus as her Savior and desire to make Him her Lord!!!
In any case, God was glorified through the power being knocked out!!! We all got a wake up call!! And let me say this - if you didn’t believe Romans 8:31-39 before, do you believe it now? I certainly hope so, because you saw it in effect Sunday morning.
PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!!!!
… during our worship time Sunday morning. The service was going well and I was about 5-10 minutes from ending my talk when it happened.
Within my talk, we were discussing how Mark 1:21-28 shows Jesus’ authority over demons, but the specific guy talked about in this passage apparently had internal demons he was dealing with, because if he would’ve been considered “unclean” externally, there’s no way he would’ve been in the synagogue. That means he was most likely present at the synagogue before Jesus showed up and may have even been involved in the community there - all the while, hiding his “secret.”
BUT, when Jesus showed up and began speaking the truth - the ABSOLUTE truth that was spoken in COMPLETE love from GOD HIMSELF, the sin/evil/demon this man had been hiding couldn’t handle it. He immediately recognized Jesus as “the Holy One of God” and was clearly unhappy that Jesus was there. WHY?? We said that the reason is answered in 1 John 1:5-8 - “Light and dark cannot coexist.” The Truth and a lie cannot continue together and things work out.
We moved on to asking what YOUR secret is - what’s that sin that you’re dealing with that very few (if any) others know about. And then we said that FREEDOM from the darkness can be found because of what Romans 8:31-39 tell us - we are MORE than conquerors!!! We no longer have to be in the darkness when Jesus brought the light! I asked if we as commUNITY church believed that we can be MORE than conquerors through Jesus, and the response was an underwhelming “yeah.”
To which I responded that we don’t really believe it. It was about that time that it happened -
EVERY LIGHT in the building went out. Complete darkness. I found out later that some thought I had planned it. I did not plan this one (though, that would’ve been a good idea). So what happened?
One of two things happened -
1. The devil showed up to prevent the Light and the Truth from being preached any more (that didn’t work out too well as cell-phone lights and flash lights came on within a minute). The darkness WILL NOT STOP the Light from being preached!! EVER. Jesus Himself said the gates of Hell will NOT prevail against His church because HE WILL BUILD IT. (Matt. 16:18) That ol’ devil tried to trump the preaching of God’s Word and he failed miserably… and for that, we PRAISE KING JESUS!!!!!
2. The Spirit showed up to find out just who was willing to step out of the darkness into the Light. Those who had the lackluster response when I asked who actually believed Romans 8 had their eyes opened in a very real and literal way. We saw people step out of the darkness, literally and figuratively. We saw people repenting of their sins around the pulpit. We saw a 16-yr old finally confess Jesus as her Savior and desire to make Him her Lord!!!
In any case, God was glorified through the power being knocked out!!! We all got a wake up call!! And let me say this - if you didn’t believe Romans 8:31-39 before, do you believe it now? I certainly hope so, because you saw it in effect Sunday morning.
PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!!!!
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