Sermon Tone Analysis

Last Sunday we learned that Jesus gave us a preview of His ministry by applying Is 61:1-2 to Himself.

In that passage, one of the things Isaiah prophesied that the coming Servant of the Lord would do is liberate those who are held captive and oppressed.

In today’s text, we see the fulfillment of that promise.

Turn with me now to Luke 4:31-37:

Many God bless this the reading of His holy and infallible Word.

This passage is about the authority of Jesus’ Word.

First, in His teaching; we are told the people were “astonished at his teaching, for His word possessed authority” (Lk 4:31).

Then, we are told the people were “amazed and said to one another, ‘What is this word?

For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!’” (Lk 4:36).

This is very intentional, because Luke is telling us that Jesus has the power and authority to deliver us from spiritual oppression!

As we examine the whole of the New Testament concerning what it teaches us about our deliverance from spiritual oppression, we discover that By the Power and Authority of Jesus...

We Can Have a New Lord and a New Nature

We Become the Abode of the Holy Spirit

We Can Resist Both Sin and Satan

Let us begin with the first of these:

We Can Have a New Lord and a New Nature

Both the Old and the New Testament clearly teach that prior to regeneration every person is a slave to both sin and Satan.

This is most graphically portrayed to us in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:

This does not mean that in this life the unregenerate person is as bad as they could be, but it does mean that sin effects every part of our being and every action we do.

Consequently, Scripture speaks the truth when it says, “None is righteous, no, not one” (Rom 3:10) and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23).

Thankfully, all of this changes when a person us united to Christ Jesus by faith.

Perhaps one of the most beautiful and encouraging verses in the Bible is found in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians:

What Paul means by this is that first, we have a New Lord.

Prior to conversion, Satan was our master and lord, after conversion, Jesus becomes our Master and Lord.

We are no longer our own, but we have been “bought at a price” (1 Cor 6:20, 7:23), and that price was the blood of Jesus Christ!

We live in a society which holds individual autonomy as one of the greatest goods.

Consequently, it may not seem like good news to have a Master and Lord.

However, when it comes to the spiritual realm there is no such thing as individual autonomy.

Every being, both angelic or human have a Lord and Master, the only question is which one—Satan or Jesus.

What makes the Gospel such good news is that, unlike the Devil, Jesus is a kind and good Master and Lord.

To be released from the captivity and oppression of Satan is Good News!

Moreover, true freedom is not found in doing whatever we desire, but in desiring what we should.

You see, we are created by God in His image, in order that we might glorify Him and enjoy Him forever.

The Apostle Peter puts it this way:

You will never be happy until you are living as an obedient servant of God—this is what you are made for.

This is why it is such good news that Jesus has delivered us from the oppression of sin.

Because of Adam’s Fall, he and all his posterity became slaves to sin.

Christ’s death on the Cross not only saved us from the penalty of sin, but from the power of sin as well.

This is what preachers, theologians and hymn writers mean when they say that Jesus’ blood is the “double cure”.

Have you experienced that double cure?

If not, you can today.

Salvation is a gift to be received—you do not have to do anything to earn it, you simply receive it by faith.

I now want to turn to another type of spiritual oppression—the type we meet in our text today—demonic oppression.

When someone is demon possessed, they become the abode or dwelling place of a demon.

The Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ, is that when we become a Christian...

We Become the Abode of the Holy Spirit

In Scripture the house or dwelling place of God is called a Temple.

In the Old Testament, the Temple of God was an actual building.

In the New Testament, the Temple of God is the church and individual believers.

For example:

In our text today, Jesus performs an exorcism.

I realize that exorcisms seem so much more spectacular and powerful than conversions.

The Exorcist was one of the highest grossing movies of all time.

I cannot imagine Hollywood making a movie entitled The Evangelist.

If they did, I am sure it would be one of the lowest grossing movies of all time!

However, exorcism is much less powerful than conversion.

Here is why:

When a person is converted, the Holy Spirit gives that person a new nature and takes up permanent residence within that person.

There can be no fellowship between the Holy Spirit and unclean spirits.

If a person has an unclean spirit, upon conversion that unclean spirit is kicked out by the Holy Spirit, and can ever come back!

However, the same cannot be said of an exorcism.

Jesus once taught:

Do you hear what Jesus is saying, if a person, like the generation of Jews that lived at the time of Jesus, reject Jesus, any spiritual and moral reform that takes place in a person’s live will in time be undone by evil and they will end up in a worse state.

You may think you have your life in order, but if you do not have Jesus as your Lord and Savior, everything good in you will be undone.

Someday, when God’s common grace is withdrawn, you will be as evil as the unclean spirits we are talking about.

Someday, the only place fit for you will be the Lake of Fire!

This is why the call to repentance and faith is so urgent, this is why it is so necessary to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and this is why it is so necessary that—By the Power and Authority of Jesus...

We Can Resist Both Sin and Satan

Resisting sin and Satan is not an option.

Many wrongly assume that because we are saved by grace, it does not matter if we resist sin and Satan.

Some are even so bold as to say, “Let us continue in sin that grace may abound.”

(Rom 6:1) To those who think this way, Paul warns:

Notice what he says, “if you live according to the flesh you will die”!

Paul is not denying that we are saved by grace, nor is he teaching what we are saved by our own efforts, rather he is saying that the salvation Jesus works in our lives is so powerful that it causes us to “both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13).

It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we “put to death the deeds of the body” (Rom 8:13).

Throughout this series in Luke, one of the themes I have been hammering home is that Christianity is a supernatural religion.

In both his Gospel and his follow-up volume, the book of Acts, Luke shines the spotlight upon the Holy Spirit.

The Christian life is lived and the work of the church is done by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is easily missed, because so much of the Christian life does not appear as if it is supernatural.

For example: we must repent and believe, we must trust and obey, we must strive for holiness, we must persevere until the end; yet we can do none of these things without the power and authority of Jesus working in us through the Holy Spirit.

In our text today, we are told the people were “astonished” and “amazed” by Jesus’ authority and power.

It is easy to see the supernatural power of God in external acts such as teaching, casting out demons and healings.

It takes eyes of faith to see the supernatural power of God in a person’s conversion, sanctification and perseverance; but this is what God is calling us to.

He wants us to be “astonished” and “amazed” by the power and authority if Jesus in both our own and other people’s conversion, sanctification and perseverance, because in all these things Jesus is delivering us from spiritual oppression and captivity.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

That saved a wretch like me!

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved!

“Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home!

Through Jesus, my friends, we have the victory over both sin and Satan!