TEXT: Luke 4:31-44

SUBJECT: Luke #11: The Power of Christ’s Word

Today, with God’s blessing, we’ll move on in our study of Luke’s Gospel.

Last time, our introduced Himself to His family, friends, and neighbors. In one sense, they all knew Him, of course—He was Joseph’s son. But He wanted them to know Him more deeply than that. So He goes to the synagogue in Nazareth and reveals His hidden man.

He took the Sacred Scroll, and found the prophecy of Isaiah, Chapter 61, verses 1 and 2. From it He preached one of the shortest—and most riveting sermons of all time. Eight words in all, but what words they were!

At first the people were amazed at His wisdom and grace. But the more they thought about it, the less they liked the sermon. In applying the prophecy to Himself, Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah. This made the people so angry that they tried to kill the Man.

He’d let them do that, of course. But not now. For now, He’s got other things to do. Thus He slips through the confused mob and makes His way to another town in Galilee.

The town is Capernaum, a fishing village on the Sea of Galilee. The first Sabbath there, the Lord preached in the synagogue to great effect. The people had always listened to their rabbis, but they’d never heard anyone like this Man. Other teachers may have had more learning or eloquence or pulpit presence than He did, but He had something others didn’t have. What is it?

Authority.

This doesn’t mean He yelled louder than the rabbis or used bigger words or cited more scholarly works. The rabbis spoke about the Word of God; Jesus Christ spoke the Word itself. J.A. Alesander says,

In other words, the best rabbis spoke for God; the Lord spoke as God. That’s why a man could later say (and he was no friend of the Lord’s),

The people are amazed at the power of His Word. But they ain’t seen nothing yet.

Not long after that first sermon, the Lord came to the synagogue to preach another one. But He wasn’t allowed to do that. You see, there was a man in the congregation who cut off the preacher. A very rude man he was, screaming out,

What was wrong with the man? What made him so mad? It was "an unclean spirit" who possessed him. In other words, a demon or a devil in him. I wonder how long the man had gone to church without ever saying a word? How many sermons did he sit through before he heard one he didn’t like?

We don’t know about that, but we know he sure didn’t like what the Lord was preaching! It stirred him to rant and rave against the Preacher. But not for long. The Lord sharply rebukes—Shut up and get out of here!

The unclean spirit instantly obeys. Out he went, leaving the man and the synagogue at peace.

Again the people are flabbergasted!

When the service ends, the people went out and told their friends what they had seen and heard that day. By sundown, the whole town knew what happened.

The Lord leaves the synagogue and goes to Peter’s house for Sabbath Dinner. When they get there, however, things are not ready because Peter’s mother-in-law is in bed sick with a high fever.

The Lord walked into the sickroom, stood over the lady, and "rebuked the fever…and it left her". Soon she was up and about taking care of her family and her Dear Friend.

As they day wore on, people started dropping in on the Lord—in waves. Every sick person in town, it seems, came by, and everyone possessed by demons did too. He healed or exorcised them all by the power of His Word.

The Lord had become a celebrity in that town, but He’s not going to say and enjoy the perks. First thing next morning, He got up and tried to slip off unnoticed. That doesn’t work, however, because the people are waiting for Him, begging Him to stay.

But He cannot do that because He’s got other things to do. Here’s what,

The Word has done great things in Capernaum, but it needs to be spoken other places, too. And so, the Lord sets off on a preaching tour of Galilee.

That’s the story.

Now what’s the message? A lot of true things could be said here. Think of the Lord’s concern for people suffering in body and soul. He was often "moved with compassion". It’s true that the welfare of the soul is more important than the health of the body, but the Lord does not overlook one for the other. He cares about the whole man. And we should too. We ought to evangelize the lost, of course, but we should love them in other ways too. Handing out a tract with the blessing,

…is not the Lord’s way.

But as important as that is, it’s not what the story is about. What it’s about is this: The Word of Christ overthrows the kingdom of Satan.

This is obviously what happens in our verses.

First, we have a man possessed by the devil. He rages against the Lord and is evicted by His Word. At the end, we have other demons cast out by the same Word.

In the middle, we have sickness expelled by the Word. Our Lord "rebuked the fever" and out it went. Now, sickness is not sin, of course—"Lord, the one whom You love is sick". But it is the indirect result of sin. Not that you have diabetes because of your unbelief or asthma because you’re so stubborn—no, no.

But without sin (which started with the devil) there would be no sickness or death. Thus, even this work of Satan is under the control of Christ and broken by His Word.

This should not surprise you. The Word of Christ is what the Lord used to repel Satan in the Wilderness. It’s what He’ll keep on using until His death some years later.

It is also what He gave His Church to employ in its war against the darkness. Jesus Christ never commanded us to take up carnal weapons, like the swords Crusaders used or politics that so many conservative Christians pin their hopes on today. He commands us to use the Word and promises success when we do. The Apostles never took up arms; the Early Church never became a voting bloc, yet—without money, numbers, organization, or political savvy, they

Why? Because they relied on and used the Word of God. About that Word, Paul says,

Note the contrast—carnal weapons are weak; they don’t get the job done! The Crusades did not convert Islam; the stake did not eliminate heresy; politics do not advance the cause of Christ in the world.

Men think armies and votes and protests are powerful, while the Word is weak. But God sees things differently. He calls these other things weak and His Word Mighty! Dr. Martin Luther had it right,

It wasn’t human strength or wisdom that he trusted, but,

The Word Luther trusted did not fail him. And it won’t fail you,

In his last public appearance, Joshua urged the people to trust God’s Word, and they had every reason to do it because—he said—

The Word of Christ can be trusted—at all times, in all circumstances. The wisdom of man is sand, subject to wind and tide and other changes. The Word of Christ is Rock—let the winds blow and the waves beat on it, it stands firm.

If the Word of Christ overthrows the power of Satan, then we’ve got to use that Word against the devil. First, in our private lives.

Believers cannot be possessed by the devil and are not under his control. But this does not mean we’re free from his influence; we’re not! He is a tireless and cunning foe. He attacks us from all angles, of course, but he’s especially adept at confusing the mind perverting God-given desires.

We often do the wrong thing—not because we intend to—but because we think it’s the right thing. This is not rebellion or hypocrisy; it’s ignorance and confusion. Behind the crooked thinking, though, is the old crooked devil. How do we start thinking straight? Psalm 119:130 says

College doesn’t straighten out crooked thinking—neither do books or seminars (they often kink things up worse than ever!) It is the Word of Christ that does the job. It—and nothing else—

But let’s face it, it is not only ignorance or confusion that make us sin, but also good things put to a bad use. Marriage becomes fornication; eating and drinking become gluttony and drunkenness; ambition becomes pride or envy; contentment becomes laziness; and so on. Satan is the twister of everything good into something bad.

How do we keep our desires pure? And prevent the devil from using them against us and others and God Himself? It is by the Word of Christ,

If you want to push back the devil in your own life, you’ve got to use the Word of Christ. Paul had a lot of experience in spiritual conflict, and he found it wasn’t his great learning or iron will or the help of his friends that won the day, but,

What is true of our personal lives is also true of evangelism. How do we move benighted sinners into the light of Christ? We all feel for them—they’re perishing in the sins and fated for hell if they do not repent. But feeling for them isn’t enough. Neither is doing something about it. We need to feel for them, of course, but also do the right thing about it. The right thing is the Word of Christ.

Marketing Christ may get people into the Church; it won’t get them into Christ! Paul would have nothing to do with "persuasive words of man’s wisdom". Why not? Because they don’t get the job done!

It is the Word of Christ that

Therefore, we must not be ashamed of it or fall back on other things in trying to win the lost to faith in Christ. The only weapon that ever freed a man from the grip of Satan is the Word of Christ. Nothing else has worked; nothing else will work; nothing else can work. The Lord has

If we want to throw back the power of Satan in this world, we must rely on the Word of Christ--and use it.

But this assumes we know the Word of Christ. But do we? I’ve found that many Bible-believing Christians don’t read the Bible. Oh, they read a little bit now and then, but they don’t read it very often or very well.

Scholarship is good, but it’s not necessary. What is necessary is regular, careful, and intelligent reading. By "regular" I mean reading the Bible every day—more or less—and reading it all the way through—and not just the parts you like or find easy reading. By "careful" I mean you’re paying attention to what you’re reading and not just plowing through your four chapters a day. And, by "intelligent" I mean you’re reading verses in context and taking them as they’re meant to be taken—and not applying some nutty meaning to them.

Studying the Bible is necessary—but not enough. You also have to pray over your reading. The truth is in there, but unless the Lord gives understanding, you won’t find it. So pray about it. Psalm 119:18 is a good memory verse,

Study the Bible carefully; pray for understanding; and do two more things: talk about it with fellow believers and listen to them. Many foolish errors are easily corrected—if you’re willing to listen. But if you won’t air your thoughts for fear of being laughed at or if you become a know-it-all who resents any correction, you’re sure to get it wrong.

The Word of Christ is found in the Bible and revealed by His Spirit to His people. If you study the Bible, pray for the Spirit, and listen to God’s people, then you’ll know the Word of Christ, and be equipped to do your part in overthrowing the Kingdom of Satan.

The love of God be with you. For Christ’s sake. Amen.