Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll returns to a synagogue in Capernaum, where the people were amazed at the way Jesus taught. He didn't sound like the scribes they'd heard all their lives. Jesus spoke with an authority all his own, but that same authority stirred something else in the room that day—something unseen. Last time, Chuck reminded us that Jesus called ordinary fishermen to follow him.
Now watch what happens when his truth confronts the darkness head on. Chuck continues now in Mark chapter one. He titled his message, "Astonishing Authority." Now, Mark doesn't tell us what he said; only their response to his teaching. Look at it. They were amazed at his teaching.
Verse twenty-two. Why? Because he was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Meaning what? He didn't spend all his time comparing this with that, and this authority with that authority, and this scribe with with that Pharisee.
No, he had a message from God. And as he spoke, he spoke it with clarity, passion, enthusiasm, depth. They were amazed.
Well, let me assure you: when that occurs, and they're blown away with excitement, let me tell you who else is stirred, and that's the adversary. It is the adversary, because demons are not seen, because the whole demonic world is invisible, albeit insidious. We tend to forget them. They love that. They would love either to be forgotten or be considered as little red-skinned imps that sit on our shoulder.
Whispering nasty little things in our ears, they are not to be forgotten, but they are never to be considered little imps. They are supernatural evil spirits that are innumerable, and they are in this place today, just as they were in that first-century synagogue. Except in this case, as the teaching of the truth is going forth from the lips of the Son of God, this demon could stay silent no longer. In fact, we're tempted to rush on in verse twenty-three beyond the first two words, but I won't let you. Just then, the Greek says, "Caiphas," and immediately.
This is Mark's favorite word. Immediately, when, while the teaching was going on, while the preaching was being delivered, while the people were in amazement listening to this stranger from Nazareth, suddenly there is a shriek. "Kratzo" is the word. "Anakratzo." It's the word to to make an outcry. You know, in legal circles, when a child has been abused, has been molested, and when the child states the molestation, the abuse to someone else, that statement is called the child's outcry.
Outcry. It puts a chill up my back when I think about that. I think much abuse is demonic. The kind of things people do with children cannot be just simply a human evil.
Now I won't go there. We'll leave that. But what I want you to hear is the shriek. It is a vehement outcry. My lexicon says it is a shriek.
It is a scream, and this demon cries out. Demons have no voice. The only voice they have is human vocal cords.
So inhabiting individuals gives them the ability to speak. In this case, the individual with the demons is now. In his victimized state, at the mercy of the voice of the demons, and they scream out. You know, as I say that today in this quote enlightened 21st century, in this world where we live, not a third world where most of the world lives, demonic presence is seen with cynicism.
Some of you are already doubting what I've been saying. I understand. You have been enamored of what you were taught at the universities. Very, very few university professors have any time of day for the demonic world. They are, in the words of my friend Howie Hendricks, educated beyond their intelligence.
You must know there is a demonic world. And if you are ever ministering in the third world, you will encounter it. The darkness of the evil world seems to give rise to more of these shrieks. I've witnessed it. I've seen it.
I've been in rooms where it happened. It puts a chill up your back like nothing you've ever experienced. You know you are witnessing something supernatural. From the pit.
Now I have your attention. Thankfully, in most circles you would have been walking out by now. I commend you. We're going to encounter in this gospel by Mark occasions such as this, and you're going to find your mouth dropping open. Because in these days, when there was the presence of Christ on the earth, there were those demonic forces working against Him, knowing that His mission was ultimately to destroy them.
Satan knows he is a doomed entity; he will not endure forever. Certainly not on this earth in power. Hell has been prepared, that lake of fire for the devil and his demons. Teaches Jesus in another place in one of the other gospels, and these who are a part of his evil horde know that ultimately that is their destiny. They know that, and they fight for the attention of evil forces.
And in the presence of all of this truth that came out of Jesus, like lifting a rock out in the wilderness, you find all kinds of squiggly things running when the light comes into that damp and dark place when it was under the rock.
So the light comes from Jesus. The people are amazed, and there is one man sitting there who suddenly is. The one used by the demons within him as he shrieks, and we're allowed to see from the writing of Mark what the demon says and what he was thinking. We read just then, there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. Let's don't go any further.
The word unclean could be rendered foul, f o u l. There is a foul spirit, unclean. Also, suggests estrangement from God. Moving in the sphere of that spirit's power is this individual. Could have been the best kept secret in the synagogue.
They may have never seen the man before, or he may have been among them before. But one of them, we read, in their synagogue.
So it isn't his synagogue. I take it that he's come in to hear this teacher Jesus, and while there, he's hearing more than he ever expected, and the demon within him cries out. Notice twenty-four. He is saying, "What business do we have with each other?" Look at the pronoun. It's plural.
We remember that. Let me begin now in another direction. Let me give you four observations regarding regarding this whole realm of demons from this passage. First is that people with demons can be in a house of worship. People with demons.
Can be in a house of worship by being with them. I mean, they are inhabited by, oppressed by.
Some would use the word possessed by, though demon possession is not ever found in the New Testament. Demonized is, and the best we can come with a translation is demon possessed. This man is demonized. He lives his life at the mercy of the demon. The demon's drive becomes his drive.
The demon's thoughts become his thoughts. The demon's words become his words. And this demon cries out, literally, "What to us and to you?" Notice again, plural. "What to us and to you?" It's kind of a colloquialism in that day for. What do we have to do with one another?
So the second observation is: more than one demon can inhabit an individual. There may have been two. Could have been a host of evil forces at work in the man's life, but it was too much for the demon to endure, and so there was an outcry. The demon is in the presence of truth delivered in this peerless, flawless manner by the one who knew the truth better than anyone who has ever known it. And as the scroll is opened and as the truth is presented, the demon screams out, "Look at the third!
What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God." Third observation: Demons are fully aware of who Jesus is. Demons are fully aware of who Jesus is. They acknowledge him as the Messiah before anybody else in Galilee did.
In fact, note their theology in verse twenty-four. Number one, they knew he was from Nazareth, so they had been aware of him since his earliest years. Demons are ageless and demons are timeless. Therefore, they transcend all time. The demons at work today were at work in the first century.
The demons at work now will be at work in the twenty third century. They have no age. There is no time. They have no resistance. They can move through space and move from here to another land in a blink of an eye.
They're supernatural creatures. They also knew his mission. He said, "They said, 'You have come to destroy us.'" Notice again the plural. Third, they knew him to be deity. We know who you are.
You are the Holy One. Third, they knew him to be deity, and fourth, they knew his origin. You are of God. It takes some people years to come to the place where they fully grasp those four theological truths. Demons have known it throughout their existence.
Let me show you a very intriguing verse of Scripture. Hold here. Look at James, chapter two, verse nineteen. If you're not familiar with your Bible, you go toward the end, shortly before Revelation. You will find some letters, and one of them is James, chapter two, verse nineteen.
This is going to surprise some of you. Others of you are fully aware of this. James writes, "You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe and shudder." Just look at that. Please observe—they not only know.
But they shudder. The demons also believe those theological facts, and it makes them shudder. Back to Mark one. I want to add a statement here that I have so carefully crafted. I'm going to do what I rarely do, and that's to read the statement directly from my notes, because I don't want to mess it up.
Whenever the authority of Christ is invoked in preaching or teaching, there is a violent confrontation with the evil spirits who are present in the gathering, possessing men and women's souls and ruling their lives. As they are brought into the presence of such light. They cannot and they will not remain passive or tolerant. This demonized man was under the sway of evil. The demon usurped the core of his being and even utilized his vocal cords.
The unclean spirit so fused with his that he was coarse. And foul and base within. That's what we have in this situation. The man finds himself screaming out, probably not expecting to scream. The demon is now speaking through him in an attack on the one who is teaching and preaching.
Please observe how Jesus responded. Verse twenty-five. Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet." The word means to muzzle, to muzzle, and come out of him.
So, what does he do? He silences him. He muzzles him. It's like a judge will say to a witness that keeps talking, "The witness will be quiet." It's amazing what that does to a witness. Suddenly, you stop talking.
If you don't, the judge says it more loudly. You will be quiet, and that's like this: be quiet. And the second thing, he exorcises him; he casts him out. Come out of him, he commands.
So, the fourth observation in our list: demons must submit to the authority of Jesus Christ. You know what I love about this right here. Jesus simply casts out the demons, and the people (verse 27) are amazed.
Now, if they thought his teaching was amazing, they never seen anything like this in the synagogue. Whoa, Reuben, did you see that? Whoa! You know what I love about it? Jesus doesn't set up a deliverance ministry.
Come tomorrow night and bring your demons with you. I'll cast them out right here. Don't forget your money. There's no showmanship. There's no showmanship here.
There's none. When you have the truth, you don't need showmanship. Sheep come where there's good food. You don't need to be a star of some show. That sheep is the gospel.
There's no promotion. There's no look at me or watch how I handle these demons. He simply says, "Be quiet. Come out," and he shut up and came out. Where'd he go?
Well, come next week. Nah, just kidding. Why do I say things like that? I don't know where he went, but I know this: he doesn't want to be uninhabited, so he's looking for someone else. How do demons come in?
I had a young man ask me following the first service. Sustained anger will give entrance to demons. Unresisted and unrestrained lust will open a door for demons. Habitual habits of the flesh will open the door of the heart for demons. It's a treacherous thing.
You often do not know they've come in. People who become uncontrollable are often that way, not because of mental illness. Though there is mental illness, please, I know that. Don't write me. I know that.
But I will say to you many times: those who are treated mentally are not really mentally deranged. They are demonically inspired. God, raise up some brilliant physicians and bright counselors who know the difference. We need you to help us. They were all amazed, and they all debated among themselves, saying, "What is this?
A new teaching with authority." There again is that authority, that astonishing authority. They've never seen anything like it. Not only does he teach in a fresh way, but he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. What they didn't know is those unclean spirits have to obey him. They have no other choice.
When he says come out, they ain't no staying. They coming out. They're great to serve a master like that.
Now, immediately the news about him spread everywhere into all the surrounding districts. What makes teaching authoritative? First of all, it is sourced in the Word of God. The closest you can get to the voice of God is the Word of God, the Book of God. Don't ask God for an audible voice.
Don't stay up late hoping for writing on your window or for a cloud formation that spells Jesus. Please spend your time looking in the book. Look in the book; it's all right there for you. Teaching is authoritative when it's sourced in the Scriptures, when it is empowered by the Spirit, when it gives witness to the authority of Christ. Christ is the preeminent one—cheap way to put it, but He's the star of the show.
God delivers from a show. He is the featured speaker. He is the magnificent one. Teaching is authoritative when you are brought face to face with Christ. Do we have authority over demons?
No, we don't.
Some of you say, "Wait, no, hold on, I'm not through." My "no" has an ellipsis. No, we don't.
But in Christ, we do. You see, Christ has the authority. If you do not know Christ, you are an absolute helpless victim of demonic forces. You have no way of resisting them, none whatsoever. I don't care how many letters behind your name, and I respect the letters, but none of those letters will give you the shield to protect you.
For you to have protection and authority over demons, you need Christ.
Now, if we are in Christ, yes. First John four verse four: Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. Yes, in Christ we have authority. Why must we submit to God's authority? Because without it, we are hopelessly at the mercy of evil forces.
You are hopelessly bound for a life of depression, discouragement, disillusionment. Brokenness. Operating under that authority, we live in hope. How great is that? Kent Hughes writes it this way, and I close with these words: "There is hope for the worst of us.
You or someone you know may have the hardest heart in the nation. To you and everyone else, it appears impenetrable, irredeemable, impossible. Chances are." If you have the hardest heart in the city, it is a religious heart. You may have the proudest will. In quotes, he writes, "A damned will." In the full sense of the word, it is bloodied, unbowed, unbroken, condemned.
Since you are a child, you have never given in to anyone, and even your parents or your mate. Would be included. Yet there is one great hope for you. Christ can free you from the evil that has you in that bondage. Praise God for that.
Bow with me, please.
Some of you will end this message with us, and you will be frightened. If you have the Lord Jesus Christ, there's no reason to be. If you do not, there is every reason. To stay awake at night, there's every reason you're not going to sleep well. You have no power in yourself to withstand.
Therefore, I urge you in this moment, right now, that you give your heart to the Savior. Simple prayer, Lord God, I come to you, helpless, hopeless, lost, sinful. I have nothing to offer you that would impress you, and I need everything you can offer me because I can't provide any of it for myself. I take Christ. I give you my sinfulness.
I take His hope. I give you my hopelessness. I take His love, and I give you my lovelessness. I take His deity. I give you my depravity.
Thank you for coming into my life, Lord. Fill us with a reminder that Your Word is truth, and without it, we are hopelessly ignorant. We have lost our way. Remind us again that it isn't the the book itself we worship; it's the Savior we worship. But the book leads us to Him.
So make it far more important than any newscast, any periodical, any opinion, any so-called authority. May we submit to your truth, and may our lives reveal submissiveness to such.
Now to Him who is able to guard you from stumbling and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding great joy. To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty and dominion and power, forever and ever and ever and ever. And all God's people said, "Amen." There is nothing quite like the authority of Jesus. When He speaks, even the darkness has to obey. If you're facing something today that feels bigger than you can handle, remember what we saw in Mark chapter one.
The same Christ who silenced that unclean spirit stands ready to meet you in your need. This is Insight for Living with Bible teacher Chuck Swindoll. Chuck, title today's message: Astonishing Authority. It's the fourth message in a brand new study through the Gospel according to Mark. The whole series is titled Jesus, the Servant at Work.
And because of the size of Mark's Gospel, Chuck has divided this series into three volumes. All three Bible study workbooks for Mark are available today, well in advance of their release on this daily program.
So, for personal or group study, we invite you to purchase all three Searching the Scriptures workbooks for Mark. Just go to insight.org/offer. You can also call us at 800-772-8888. And now a special word about Chuck's latest book. Most memoirs are written to impress.
Awakened by Grace was written to reveal, not Chuck Swindoll, but the God who has held him every step of the way. With remarkable candor, Chuck pulls back the curtain on his own life—the doubts, the detours, the disappointments, and the seasons when he couldn't yet see what God was doing. He doesn't write to earn your admiration; he writes so you'll recognize the same faithful hand at work in your own story. Awakened by Grace has just been released; it's hot off the press, as they say, and you're invited to purchase a copy from Insight for Living. Chuck wants to show you how you too can see a thread of God's artistry woven through the beautiful tapestry of your life.
Reach out for Chuck's memoir, *Awakened by Grace*, by calling eight hundred seven seven two eighty eight eighty eight, or go to insight dot org slash memoir. I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindoll gives us a peek at what he calls a page from the personal journal of Jesus. Tuesday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, "Astonishing Authority," was copyrighted in 2010 and 2026, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2026 by Charles R.
Swindoll Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
