Majesty on Display

They'll also know what to change his ways, space 24 hours and I couldn't help but be reminded that God never intended a mountaintop experience to eliminate the battle down below. It happened that way with the Lord. Why do we think it would be any different with yesterday.

It was a demonstration of the kingdom of light today is going to be a demonstration of the kingdom of darkness. But many Christians don't understand how easily these victories can be twisted into vices when we forget where our power comes from when were tempted to take the credit for these victories. Suddenly, God sufficiency becomes self-sufficiency.

The sin of pride takes over our lives. Jesus disciples fell into that trap.

After a successful week of witnessing Jesus lovingly reminded them and us who it is that ultimately has the power over the kingdom of darkness. Stephen called this lesson majesty on display.

By the time the apostle Paul was preaching to his generation of the world around him, and become rather inundated saturated with largely superstitious views of the spirit world. The world of demons, the earlier Egyptian world had greatly influenced the Greek and Roman empires with their obsession with demons. They had adopted the view that the human body had 36 parts and that a demon could invade and control any one of those parts as a result in the culture of Rome, as in cultures around the world to this very day medicine was nothing more than an attempt to get rid of the demon. The medicine man was part Dr. part exorcist course of the other end of the spectrum you have the view that the devil and demons all exist the devil and demons are are the butt of jokes.

There is something to laugh about.

Don't take any of it seriously. So you have the demon deacons of Wake Forest for deacons got associated with the work demons back in 1924 he got the balloon demons of Depaul University. You've got the blue Devils of do they deserve that way. I mean, what's the harm in turning in a demons and the cute little mascots around horns and pointy tail.

The demonic world and their leader, the devil, that's fallen cherub are more than happy to see a generation or culture play down the destructive dangerous reality of the kingdom of darkness. They represent. They enjoy every joke or not to watch the Lord engage in an encounter with the demonic world. And as you watch the ministry of the Lord. I want to point out the rather obvious fact that he isn't obsessed by them. He isn't distracted by them but he is very aware of for the believer. He reminds us that there is no reason to fear them, but every reason to be aware of that.

The apostle Paul warned the believers living in Corinth to stay alert. He writes don't be ignorant of the schemes that the methods method Diaz that the plans the strategies of the devil prescriptions to while the believer cannot be possessed by a demon. We are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. The spirit of God now dwells within us for screen is 316. We cannot be possessed but we can be harass and it comes with us and add us should say one of four ways.

First, through temptation that we are tempted by really the joint forces of the world. The demonic world and our own flesh it all collaborates together when we sin, we unlock the door from the inside. It might be the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. John described percent to 16 this is what Peter warns us of what he says that Satan is like a hungry lion. These is roaming about his roaring seeking somebody to devour the word devour means to ruin to discredit Jerry's talking at believers he wants to discredit wants to ruin you. Temptation is the bait and Satan uses all kinds of baked is a skillful fisherman but ultimately led care about the bait that made you.

I didn't really care didn't care about the sin that entangles you. He just wants to ruin you.

He wants to ruin your testimony he wants to ruin your joy wants to ruin your walk in your trust in the Lord means that the Christian life is is not one battle and it's done, you found that out.

Have it's a constant warring with our flesh the world and the devil, and it is in a hand until we see Jesus. Only then can you safely hang up your weapons and the armor of your warfare described for us in Ephesians 6, the 17th century Puritan wonderful writer by the name of John Slagle wrote these realistic words he said to keep your in thought to have everything orderly in the heart is constant work, the keeping of the heart is a work that is never done until life is ended and there is no time in the life of a Christian, which will allow an intermission in this work is good. The snow intermission. If I call it taking her to keep me careful while you're standing before one of the delights of the assemblies together. The Army involved in the battle. Satan comes after the believer through temptation he comes after us through persecution would be the second area.

This is his attempt to discourage the believer to silence our witness pursues the believer 32 division. He hates her family. He hates your church. He hates the gospel he hates the Fellowship of the believer.

He hates what's happening here more than we could ever understand hates he desires to dissolve unity we have with one another.

Finally, the modern world pursues the believer through temptation, persecution division, but through deception, constantly attempting to distort the truth. Distracted believer denies some portion of Scripture get us hung up in some area, and so deceive the believer. Is it possible for a believer to be deceived and some moisture shirt.

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in second Thessalonians to three let no one deceive you in any way to the Ephesians. Let no one deceive you with empty words meaningless superficial worldly advice be deceived. Ephesians 56 so these are the actions against the believer temptation persecution division deception for the unbeliever. There is 1/5 action possible and that his possession demonization is where the person is physically overtaken demon essentially counterfeits the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, by making that unbelievers body their temple.

In reality the demons don't really care about that person that they are taking on a marketing jeering offensive action directed toward creator God. This is their attempt to insult God who created mankind in his image and uniquely for his glory that they love to distort that they love to destroy the glory of God reflected in his creation of mankind and they do it then. Through this, masquerading false indwelling possession course.

The difference is obvious when the Holy Spirit indwells someone. Their lives are redeemed when it demon indwells someone. Their lives are only further, if not completely ruined. That's exactly what Jesus is about to change, as he faces a young man who was demon possessed cadets all introduction are, let's go to Luke chapter 9 and were now in verse 37 and I want you to just notice the first four words will cover more than that, I promise. But just notice as the verse opens on the next day the next day. This is intended by Luke not to be lost on us here.

We clearly wants us to notice something happened the day before because this is going to happen on the next day and he wants us to see the contrasting events as if to say that what happened the day before, was really different than what is going to happen today. I read on what happened the day before Luke continues on the next day when they come down from the mountain.

A great crowd met them so that now makes it clear, undeniably, that the Lord on the day before was what we call on the Mount of Transfiguration.

If you were with us in our last study just the day before the Lord pulled back the veil of his humanity to reveal his stunning deity that was yesterday that I can live up there to come down off that mountain and what a change is going to take place in the space of 24 hour and I couldn't help but be reminded that God never intended a mountaintop experience to eliminate the battle down below.

It happened that way with the Lord.

Why do we think it would be any different with us yesterday. It was a demonstration of the kingdom of light. Today there's going to be a demonstration of the kingdom of darkness.

Jesus and his three disciples, Peter, James and John come down off the mountain. The other nine disciples are currently involved in a heated argument with religious leaders and lawyers representing the law of Moses Mark in his gospel account lets us know that they're just having a shouting basically the crowd is waiting. The mob is assembled. It's it's it's pandemonium is what one author called confusion and chaos is the kind of CCing where you want to go back up about. Let's just run back up there know what's good down here.

There are things the Lord down here in the battle. He writes this in verse 38. The whole demand from the crowd cried out teacher, I beg you to look at my son frees my only child balled up a spirit seizes him and he suddenly cries out, he convulses him so that he foams at the mouth it shatters will hardly leave and I picture disciples to cast it out, but they could not now before we go any further I want that last phrase to sort of arrest your attention.

I begged your disciples to cast and they could not mean they could not. Of course they could not more than a week ago they were empowered by the Lord sent out in teams of two. They gone out and perform miracles and cast out demons and preach the gospel of Christ with incredible talent. But now, nine of them combined cannot cast out one demon they could not do it.

The problem I believe is that they thought they could do it because they had done Matthew's account specifically states that they lacked faith or trust in the Lord. Mark's account tells us that they had prayed about it, I will need the Lord to help me out. I already did this.

I've handled this before.

Just watch me show you my resume is no need to depend on the Lord in faith is no need to ask the Lord in prayer for power just just watch silk get this in the space of one week, they experience a power outage. They move from from power to power less nests and I believe the Lord is teaching them and us a lesson here without even saying a word. We could miss it. So what can happen when you drift from sheer dependency to self-sufficiency. It could happen in less than one week numbers 41 Jesus answered, O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you. How long do I have to put up with you like something my fourth grade teacher would've said, what the Lord mean here, but we would misunderstand and think well just exasperated is actually taking us back to Deuteronomy chapter 32, which refers to Israel's unfaithful unbelief in the wilderness.

See, this is the text for the nation. He applies it to the unbelief of the nation Israel and their own rejection of of him as their Messiah. He knows it didn't gotta be long before there can be clamoring for his crucifixion. He sees the clouds of demonic influence, gathering swirling, as it were overhead. He sees the infiltration of the kingdom of darkness displaying the tentacles of power even in in this demon eyes young man with that he asked them to bring this young man to verse 42 says it when he was coming, the demon through him to the ground and convulsed them. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy gave him back to his father notice and all were astonished at the majesty of God. Jesus is clearly different than his disciples Jesus as spiritual power. They've never seen they they clearly and correctly attribute this event to the majesty of God, that the word Luke uses here for majesty is the same word used by Peter in the text I quoted earlier. I was an eyewitness to the majesty of God on the mountaintop same word here Jesus is demonstrating his divine Majesty, he did it up there on the mountaintop, illustrated with brilliant light. He's demonstrating it down here as he battles the kingdom of darkness. I want to point out blood with the majesty of God might be more obvious to us on the mountaintop, but it is still is majestic and still as powerful and still as operational down here in in the back. In the confusion in the chaos of our world. I also want to point out that the majesty of Christ in delivering someone bound by the kingdom of darkness might not be as dramatic as as you know this demon eyes young man is going to be delivered, but in the heavenly realm where where you know they see the big picture every redemption every salvation every rescue every redeemed life is just as notorious over the kingdom of darkness. You might think you know my testimony is so bland, so ordinary, so vanilla so commonplace on your your salvation was nothing less than the majestic power of Jesus Christ over the kingdom of darkness.

Don't look down on your testimony fact, when you got saved. The Bible says a celebration broke out in heaven in the presence of the Angels 15 verse 10 John in the book of Revelation can't count that Angelica so he attributes the number 100 million to 100 million 100 million Angels at some time to have only celebration when you got saved. Why because they get it they know the rescue of your redemption.

You thought it was wonderful. When you have a surprise birthday party 20 people showed up while they sang happy birthday you can imagine the celebration at the moment your spiritual birth but a wooden ordinary. It was a demonstration of the majesty of God when everybody hears marveling in awestruck at the power of Christ were told her verse 43.

Notice the middle part but while they were all marveling at everything he was doing.

Jesus said to his disciples. Let these words sink into your ears.

The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands man Son of Man is a favorite expression title for the Messiah emphasizes his identity with the human race fully God and fully human.

He's the son of God, but now here is the Son of Man to verse 45 but they did not understand the saying it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it. They were afraid asking about the same ally would Jesus tell them something they're not going to understand the reason he tells you things you don't understand and make, but he wants to drop a seed into their memory that they don't get it quite yet the Lord that I want them to understand fully yet one author said this buddy when he is condemned by the nation's leaders when he is tried in courts by Roman rulers who were morally bankrupt when he suffered the pain and shame of crucifixion and in laying cold lately cold and a borrower to they would realize that none of it had been a mistake. It was not a miscalculation. Everything had gone perfectly according to plan, so we just dropping it in and they're gonna recall it later that this had all been plan. Don't forget here at this at this juncture, I love the look emphasizes again.

Another point in timing.

He says while they were marveling over the majesty of God. While there, marveling over this incredible victory. The Lord says you know her neck and right into the kingdom right now on this trial.

That's not our plan. While they were marveling. Jesus reminds them of the divine script and it's different from theirs.

Another reminder that even to this day in the lives of his disciples today on our schedule doesn't necessarily match up with the plan of God does our agenda. Our calendar are appointment book. Our expectations are often directly incompatible to the agenda of God we hear God as it were, effectively, say no, not that or no not now or no not ever or no there something different there's there's something deeper.

I read recently that Amanda was accepted and appointed along with his wife as missionaries to the continent of Africa. They quickly raise their support and headed off to the field but once they arrived they his wife became desperately ill susceptible to disease, and in that region for her health sake. They had to leave in their first term of service and return to the states in order to make a living. This young man joined his father in his dentistry practice wasn't long before he joined his father and tinkering around with an experiment to pasteurize grape juice in order to keep it from fermenting and then the provided to their church to use during communion service pastor rising great Jews had not yet been done and they were attempting it and they had modest success in your church appreciated it. They offered it to other churches in the community and in the word spread wasn't long before their demand for the demand for their grape juice exceeded their dental practice and they set it aside the practices so this young man. He would long to be a missionary who along with his wife had their dreams change their schedules changed their expectations change would never serve the Lord overseas. His name was Charles Welch and were drinking the stuff we have commuted to this day he would go on the of hundreds of thousands of dollars in our economy billions of dollars to world missions, and often it takes a lifetime to see it come together. Maybe you don't see it now but you will later. God did not miscalculate there are no typos in his for your life.

It's all according to plan and when they were going to discover in the perspective of heaven that in our lives and in ways we may have never seen. We never saw that week we couldn't imagine but will understand that his Majesty had been on display in all along the way that lesson was called majesty on display.

Stephen Daly is currently teaching through this section of Luke will bring you several more messages from this series over the next several broadcasts between now and next time we appreciate hearing from you.

If you a comment question or would like more information you can send us an email address it to info@wisdomonline.org have a special place on our website were Stephen answers questions that have come in from listeners like you. Thanks again for tuning in. Please join us next time.

For more wisdom