24 – Part 2

Hey podcast listeners. Thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. And right now your generous gift will have twice the impact thanks to the Proclaim the Gospel matching challenge active right now through December 31st. To give a special year-end gift, go to ptv.org slash podcast and click the donate button or follow the link in our show notes. Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. This is Robert Jeffress. In response to the horrific attack on Israel, I've written a brand new book called Are We Litting in the End Times?

Go to ptv.org to order your copy. Jesus knew he had to get away and spend time with God to revitalize his own relationship with God. If that was important for Jesus to spend time alone with God every day, remember this is a 24-hour period. If it was important for him to do that every day to maintain his relationship with God, how much more important is it for you and me? It is important that we keep that time alone with God. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he left his disciples with an important charge, to go and make disciples of all nations.

Now we have made some serious progress, but still there's work to be done. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress shows us how to fulfill that important mission by examining a 24-hour snapshot in the life of Jesus. Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David. There's a lot of excitement these days at Pathway to Victory because we're just ramping up with an enormous matching challenge. A group of faithful friends has designated and set aside $500,000 as an incentive to motivate people like you to give generously.

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In fact, you can give to the matching challenge right now by going to ptv.org. And be sure to specifically request the 2024 Pathway to Victory Daily Devotional. Remember the television show called 24? It was enormously successful because each episode featured a one-hour snapshot in the life of the main character. Well, as we turn to Luke chapter 4 together, we'll examine a one-day period in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

For that reason, I titled today's message 24. God has called us to the same purpose of His Son. His Son came to seek and to save those who are lost. To be a disciple of Christ means to imitate the life of Jesus. We're going to talk about four components of Jesus' life that made Him such an effective person during the time He was on earth.

If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to Luke chapter 4. In this passage, we're going to discover what 24 hours in the life of Jesus looked like. And I want you to notice in those 24 hours of His life how He balanced His life with four different key components that made Him so effective. Number one, His life was marked by authoritative teaching. Look at Luke 4.31, and He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath. Capernaum became His home base for His ministry. And the Bible says that part of His ministry was regularly teaching in the synagogue.

The Greek tense here indicates this wasn't a one-time action. Central to Jesus' life was teaching and teaching the Word of God. Look at verse 32. And they were amazed at Jesus' teaching, for His message was with authority. What made Jesus so powerful? First of all, His life, His ministry was rooted in teaching the Word of God that changes people's lives.

Secondly, His life was marked and characterized by supernatural power. When Jesus taught, it not only stirred up the people, it also stirred up the demons. Look at verses 33 to 37. And there was a man in the synagogue possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, Huh, what do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth?

Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be quiet and come out of him. And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him without doing him any harm. And amazement came upon them all. And they began discussing with one another, saying, What is this message? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.

And the report about him was getting out into every locality in the surrounding district. Now, I know this story raises all kinds of questions. We've talked about demons before in my series, The Divine Defense. And I encourage you to get that series if you want an in-depth study of demons. But let me just make three important points about demons and then apply it to our lives today. First of all, this passage, this story reminds us that demons are real. Some people have said, Well, this idea of demons, that's just a crude first century attempt to explain mental illness. You know, they didn't know what it was, and so they called it demons. Demons are just some attempt to explain mental illness. Well, if that's true, then Jesus ought to be put in a straitjacket and locked up in an asylum because Jesus was talking to demons.

He was interacting with them, and they were talking to him, so something was going on there. The fact is, demons are real spirit beings. Paul talks about them in Ephesians 6, verses 11 and 12. He said, Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes, the plan, literally the blueprint that the devil has for your life. But the devil is not like God. The devil is not omnipresent. He can't be more than one place at a time. He's a created being. So if he can only be in one place at a time, how does he accomplish his purpose in your life?

Well, it's found in verse 12. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, plural, against the powers, plural, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. He's talking about demons here. Demons were originally angels who joined Lucifer in his rebellion against God and was cast to the earth and some underneath the earth. Demons are real beings, helpers of Satan to carry out his plan.

They are real. Secondly, demons can control people. They have the ability to indwell and control people. I think many of the unspeakable crimes you hear about today, the acts of torture and brutality against other people, the only explanation for that is demonic control of an individual. Demons have the ability to control people.

Now, people always ask, well, can Christians be possessed by demons? Well, it depends on what you mean by possessed. Sometimes we use the word possessed to refer to ownership. If you possess something, you own it. And in that sense, no, Christians cannot be owned by demons.

Ephesians 1 13 says that when we become a Christian, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of God. We are owned by God. God doesn't share his possessions with anyone.

He's real stingy when it comes to his possessions, and we're grateful he is. So by ownership, no. But can demons control or influence Christians?

You bet they can. Any area of your life as a Christian that is not being controlled by the Spirit of God is being controlled by Satan. You may think you're the one directing your life. No, there are no spiritual vacuums. Either God is controlling your life or Satan and his demons are controlling your life. And that's why Ephesians 5 18, Paul says, be filled, literally be controlled by the Holy Spirit of God.

You say, is that really true? Can Satan really control the life of a believer? Just look at the example of the Apostle Peter. Remember, Peter loved Jesus. In fact, he loved him so much, he said, Jesus, all this stuff about going to the cross and dying, you don't have to do that.

Forget that. Jesus turned around to him and said, get thee behind me, Satan. Satan, that's pretty harsh. Satan, it's Peter, the guy who loves you.

But Peter was allowing himself to be influenced not by God's plan, but by his own desires. Yes, it's possible for demons to control people. Number three, demons are under Christ's authority. Isn't it interesting? This demon here recognized Jesus.

He said, I know who you are. You're the Holy One of Israel. By the way, did you know demons are very conservative in their biblical beliefs? They believe in the inerrancy of the Bible. They believe every word of the Bible. They believe Jesus is who he said he is.

They believe he's the savior of the world. That ought to remind us that believing the right things up here is not what makes you a Christian. You can believe all the right things about Jesus and go straight to hell when you die. It's not enough to believe he's the savior of the world. You have to come to a point in your life when you cling to him to be your savior. You trust in him for the forgiveness of your sins. These demons, this demon, believed Jesus was who he said he was. Notice verse 35. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, be quiet.

Literally, be muzzled. Put a lid on it and come out of him. And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him without doing any harm. Notice how quickly he obeyed Jesus. Jesus didn't go through any rituals here.

He didn't go any theatrics. He said, come out. And the demon came out. Did you know in the Old Testament there's not one single instance of demon possession? Not one recorded in the scripture.

Not a single one. With Jesus, there was a lot of demon activity in the world. There was something unique when the Son of God was on earth about a rise in demonic activity. Jesus cast out demons. When it came to the early chapters of the book of Acts, some of the apostles had the ability to cast out demons as a sign that they were truly sent from God. But when you get into the latter chapters of Acts and through the rest of the Bible, not a mention about exorcism, not a mention, not an instance of casting out demons. Interestingly, Paul, Peter, John never commanded Christians to get involved in exorcism or casting out demons.

Here's why. Now that we have the Holy Spirit within us, the responsibility for living a life that is free from demon control is our individual responsibility. It's not what somebody else does for us. It's what we do in cooperating with God's power to live a demon-free existence.

How do we do that? How do we do it by Ephesians chapter six by putting on that supernatural armor that God has given us? If you use that spiritual armor God has given you, you can have the same kind of supernatural existence, power over Satan that Jesus experienced. There is a third element in Christ's ministry. His ministry is marked by genuine compassion.

Look at verse 38. And he arose and he left the synagogue and he entered Simon's house. This was Simon Peter.

He had not received his new name, Peter, yet. He was Simon. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they made request of him on her behalf. Now Simon, Peter, had a mother-in-law.

What does that tell you about Simon? He also had a what? You have to have a wife to have a mother-in-law. So Simon Peter was married, contrary to the teaching of some. He was married. He had a wife. He had a mother-in-law. She got sick. And amazingly, he wanted her healed. Isn't that something?

We're not going to go there very far. So he made a request of Jesus in verse 39. And standing over her, Jesus rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately arose and waited on them.

Isn't that interesting? When Jesus healed, it was just simply with a word. It was instantaneous and it was complete. Verse 40, and while the sun was setting, he left the house there and the Bible says, and while the sun was setting, all who had any sick with various diseases brought them to him. And laying his hands on every one of them, he was healing them. Jesus healed, first of all, out of compassion. But he also healed to prove that he was indeed the son of God. Now, people again ask the question, does God heal today like he did back then? You bet he does. Of course he does. I like what Dr.

Crystal used to say. He said, I believe in faith healing. I just don't believe in faith healers.

There's a difference. God doesn't need any intermediary today. If God wants to heal, he can heal instantly. Again, the reason Jesus healed and the apostles healed was to prove that they were sent from God. Today, the way we judge a messenger is whether he came from God is whether or not his teaching aligns with the Bible.

But in Jesus' day, in the apostles' day, there was no New Testament by which to judge whether somebody was speaking from God's authority. Their ability to perform signs was the stamp of approval on their lives. Today, I believe God heals. Now, he doesn't heal all of the time. If there were something that happened all the time, it wouldn't be a miracle, would it? Miracles are miracles because they're the exception to the rule. But even though I don't believe we've got the ability to heal, only God heals, we do have the ability to show the same compassion for those who are ill that Jesus showed.

Let me show you something I think will be encouraging to you. Turn over to Matthew 8, verses 16 and 17. A similar passage. They brought to him many who were demon-possessed, and he cast out the spirits with a word, and he healed all who were ill, in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, He himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.

Circle that word took. In the Greek language in which it was translated from Isaiah, it's the word bastazo, bastazo. He bore our infirmities. That word bastazo literally means to bear another person's burden.

It's a picture of somebody who is carrying a heavy load, and he's buckling under that heavy load. You see him, and you come alongside of him, and you say, I'll help you shoulder that load. I'll help you carry that. That's what Jesus does for us. Jesus doesn't always take away our sickness, but he helps us carry the load of our sickness. When we see a Christian who is suffering from physical illness, we ought to pray for him, but we also ought to come alongside him and help him carry that load so he's not by himself. One way we demonstrate the ministry of Jesus is by showing compassion, walking alongside those who are suffering and helping them carry the load.

Finally, Jesus' ministry was marked by regular solitude. He was healing, and then verse 42 says, and when day came, he departed and went to a lonely place, and the multitudes were searching for him. And they came to him and tried to keep him from going away from them.

They said, Lord, where are you going? Don't you know there are more people to be healed? Listen, there are always going to be more people who need to be ministered to, but Jesus knew he had to get away and spend time with God to revitalize his own relationship with God. If that was important for Jesus to spend time alone with God every day, remember this is a 24-hour period, if it was important for him to do that every day to maintain his relationship with God, how much more important is it for you and me to make sure we get alone with God? Even though there's still an endless list of tasks to perform, more people to minister to, it is important that we keep that time alone with God.

Austin Phelps observes, it has been said that no great work in literature or in science was ever wrought by a man who did not love solitude. We may lay it down as an elemental principle of religion that no large growth in holiness was ever gained by one who did not take time to be often alone with God. Don't forsake your time alone with God. During the time I was in college, I set aside an hour every day in which I read and memorized the scripture. Much of the scripture I have in my heart right now is scripture I committed to memory, not in my high school days, but in my college days. I memorized whole books of the Bible during my time in college because I knew it was the time in my life I was getting ready to make some important decisions about my calling, about my mate, about so many things. I wanted to be sure I was walking with God and make that a priority. Spend time with God.

You'll find every excuse not to do it, but do it and God will bless your life. That's what Jesus did. He made solitude with God a regular part of his life. Now in closing, the last three minutes here, I need to take some of my own medicine and that is apply what I've taught you this morning. What's the application of this message? Let me give you two quick, timeless principles from this passage. Number one, we are to submit to the authority of Jesus. We're to submit to the authority of Jesus.

The reason Luke includes these vignettes from Jesus' life is to prove that he really was the son of God by his authority, his authority in teaching, his authority over demons, his authority over sickness, all proved that he was really who he said he was. You know, isn't it interesting that every creature in heaven right now, the untold millions of creatures in heaven, they are submitting to Jesus' authority? The demons underneath the earth, they're submitting to Jesus' authority? There is only one place in this vast universe where there are creatures not submitting to God's authority.

It is on this little spinning clot of dirt called planet Earth. But one day, every creature in this world will submit to Jesus' authority. Philippians 2 10 says, one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is krios, Lord.

Let me ask you, are you right now doing what you will do one day? And that is submitting to Christ's rule in your life. Are you obeying what you know to be the will of God in your life? We're to submit to Christ's authority. Secondly, we're to model the ministry of Jesus. In John 14 12, Jesus said, truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I shall do, he shall do also. And greater works than these shall he do because I go to the Father. Do you wanna have the same power in your life that Jesus had? Do you wanna know that you're making a difference like Jesus did?

You can even do more than Jesus did if you have the same balance that Jesus had in his ministry. One pastor summed it up this way. He said, just notice the four locations of Jesus' ministry.

It shows the balance in his life. First of all, he ministered in the synagogue. That would be the church today. That was home base for his life. Secondly, he ministered in the home. It was Peter's home, but it was still the home.

That's the most basic unit of society. We're to have a ministry with our own family. Thirdly, he ministered in the world, filled with all kinds of people and with all kind of needs. And finally, Jesus, his ministry placed him in the wilderness where he spent time alone with God.

If you want to experience the supernatural power of Jesus in your life, then you have to demonstrate the same balance that Jesus demonstrated. Today we're tracing the footsteps of Jesus in the fourth chapter of Luke. Did you know that moments like this one were predicted generations before they actually occurred? Well, I'm pleased to tell you that Pathway to Victory has prepared a unique resource for you. It contains a list of 37 prophecies that predated Jesus' arrival. The title I gave this resource is Jesus, The Fulfillment of God's Prophecies. And a copy is yours today when you give a generous gift to our active matching challenge.

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That's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins. Wishing you a great weekend, then join us again next week as we continue our series called The Incomparable Christ, right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. In response to the alarming war in the Middle East, Dr. Robert Jeffress has written a brand-new book for you. It answers pressing questions like, are we living in the end times? In this time-sensitive book, Dr. Jeffress answers seven questions about the future, such as, what are the major events of the end times? Request a copy right now by going to ptv.org. It's called Are We Living in the End Times?

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