Thirteen: SATAN EXPOSED. Mark 5.

In the previous chapter, (Mark 4) we read that Jesus had been teaching the crowds beside the lake of Galilee, He was obviously tired, and said to His disciples “Let’s go over to the other side”. He got into the boat and went to sleep. Then we read about the storm, how the Disciples woke Him. He calmed the wind and waves and rebuked His Disciples for their lack of Faith. (I think it’s important to get teachings in context, it helps us to understand situations and circumstances better.) Arriving on the other side at a town called Gerasenes, Jesus got out of the boat and was met by a man with an impure Spirit in him. He had run from where he lived among the the tombs to meet with Jesus and He fell at His feet. This tells us, he not only had heard of Jesus, but knew and believed what He could do for him. Verse 3 says this man lived in the cemetery and “No one could bind Him any more, not even with chains, for He had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. (Verse 5) “Night and day he would cry out and cut himself with stones.” Satan is often called “The Strong Man” in Scripture. Make no mistake, he is very strong spiritually as well as physically also very devious and cunning. He has a fascination with death, tombs, cemeteries and the dark side of life. It often amazes me the number of people, (even Christians) who have a sinister fascination with the dark side of life and like to watch such films, delve into books and things of that sort. Parents and grandparents beware! These things are not good for you or the children, we can never grow out of the wiles of the Devil who is “like a roaring lion wandering around seeking whom he may devour.” (That means he’s hungry for us, our children and grandchildren. Also pay attention when people or youngsters start cutting themselves, they will tell you it relieves pain, “It doesn’t,” I know, I’ve had an eighteen year old tell me they have been convinced to believe that it doesn’t hurt, but that’s not true or real it does hurt. He’s the father of lies. (If people you know are cutting themselves, get help immediately from your Paster, a trusted Christian or even civil authorities. V 6,7. “When He saw Jesus he ran and fell at His feet. Shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me.” Now, the evil spirit in the man recognised The Son of God, and addressed Him as such as he spoke through the man. But Jesus’ ignored the demons request because His first response was to alleviate the suffering man. He said “Come out of him.” Notice Jesus’ first consideration was to free the man from the demon. Only then did He ask the name of the evil spirit, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” This may or may not be true because we know he is a liar. But just to let you know “Legion” is originally a Latin word meaning 6000 that’s the number of men in a legion of Roman solders. So this poor man could have accommodated and been harassed for a long time by thousands of demons. V10 “and he (the evil Spirit) repeatedly begged Jesus not to send them out of the area, but to send them into a large herd of pigs which were grazing on the hillside”, Why? I would think the demons had built a very comfortable home for themselves in that area. Also demons or evil spirits, need a body to live in to stay on earth, so as long as the people there were being controlled by Satan’s demons why would they leave? However, when Jesus gave them permission to go into the pigs v13 (even demons need God’s permission to act see Job 1.12.) they rushed down the bank into the lake and were drowned. Please don’t feel sorry for the pigs, Jesus was and still is in the business of saving the souls of people. He was there, not only for the Demon possessed man, but also for all the other people of the town who eventually rejected Him, He was there to make a way for them to confess their sin and come back to God. He is the God of second chances, we should recognise this and take the chances God gives us to return to Him, if we don’t one day it will be too late. After the herdsman went into the town and told the inhabitants what had happened the people came to see Jesus, and saw the previously possessed man sitting there, dressed and in his right mind. Jesus had cured him completely. V15 tells us the people were afraid and pleaded with Jesus to leave their town, Why? Scripture doesn’t tell us but these were probably Syrians, according to Josephus , and as such would have no knowledge of The God of Israel and people fear what they don’t understand. Additionally, 2000 pigs lost (that potentially were to be supplied to the Roman garrisons?), would have been a significant economic hit to the local economy. V18 Jesus will not stay where He is not wanted, so He was getting back into the boat when the Man who had been possessed came and begged to go with Him. But Jesus wouldn’t let this happen instead, He made him the very first missionary. He told him “Go home to your own people and tell them how much The Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you.” so the man went home and told all the people of the Decapolis (Ten Cities) how much Jesus had done for him. Perhaps we should sit down and think of all that Jesus has done for us, and tell someone in our own town about it. I want to give You seven ways we can know, see and recognise Satan when He’s at work in people we encounter. There are probably many more, but these will be very obvious. I would say, before looking for Him under every bush and around every corner, check your own standing before and with God, praying for the protection of the Holy Spirit. Here are the seven ways 1. These People have an unhealthy attitude towards the dark side of life. 2. They have unusual strength, and very often don’t look you in the eye when speaking with you. 3. They often cut and disfigure themselves. 4.They want to control you, or be the boss, the head person, or leader of the group or situation. 5. They are keen on destruction, “He comes to steal, kill and destroy.” 6. They quite often display insanity and or nudity. 7. Their power is limited, because they must get permission from God before they can act. Thank you for reading this very interesting chapter from Marks Gospel. May God protect and bless all of us. Phaline.

Twelve: THE HOLY SPIRIT. JOHN 3. 1-15.

The Holy Spirit of God is the third person of the Holy Trinity, equal with the Father and The Son The completeness of God is made up of these three persons, although they have been given different characteristics they do not act independently of each other, but in complete unison, because they are ONE. One God in three persons, often referred to these days as the Triune God. This is perhaps the greatest mystery of our Faith. However, today I am going to concentrate on the personality and characteristics of the Holy Spirit, and why Jesus, when talking with Nicodemus emphasized the importance of being “Born Again” of The Holy Spirit. Over the centuries The Holy Spirit, though acknowledged, doesn’t seem to have been given much space in (Traditional) church affairs, certainly not at a Congregational level. I don’t know if that was due to ignorance or misunderstanding but in the last one hundred years or so, The Holy Spirit and His particular attributes have come to the fore. When I started reading the Bible regularly, attending Bible studies and learning Scripture, He became to me: “In my life” an identity and personality in His own right. As the Father is attributed with Creation and His Son Jesus with Redemption, so The Holy Spirit is attributed with Sanctification. He is the Spirit of God who points the way to Holiness and how to achieve it through Jesus Christ. Many of us believe we have to be really holy to get close to Christ but in fact the reverse is true, we need to go to Jesus who said “learn from me” He will teach us, like He did Nicodemus. When we have a keen willingness and want to know Jesus and His Father better, The Holy Spirit will take us and slowly minister to us, changing us into what we need to be and what God wants us to be. In the book of Deuteronomy we read in Ch4 v29 “But if from there you seek the Lord your God you will find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” So if we really want to know God we must Look, Seek and find Him, and the best way to find Him is to follow Jesus Christ His Son who, when one of His Disciples, (Philip) asked Him “Show us the Father” Jesus replied ”If you have seen Me, you have seen The Father.” What was Jesus actually saying? I believe He was saying exactly what He said in other Scriptures,-- I only do what The Father tells Me”--” The Father is in me, as I am in Him.”-- “The Father and I are one.* (there are many other such Scriptures that acknowledge the Tri-unity of God )” He is saying “Like Father, Like Son”. Yes, there is a mystery tied up here, which we won’t fully understand until we get to Heaven, then all will be revealed. There are some things which God expects us to accept by faith alone, just because He said so. However I don’t think He could have been much clearer than when He said to Philip “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen The Father.” Think of it this way; We may forget someone’s name or face but we’ll never forget what they did, climb Mount Everest, invent the electric light or the telephone, or discovered Penicillin. Remember when Jesus told the Pharisees, “Even if you don’t believe in me for who I say I am, at least believe in what you see. (All the miracles and signs I do.) John 3.1 tells us about Nicodemus a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council who visited Jesus at night. I think he went at night, because he needed to find out for himself who Jesus really was, without the influence of the other religious leaders. He was obviously interested in what Jesus had to say, and also witnessed many of His miracles. He called Jesus Rabbi and said “We know you are a Teacher sent by God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with Him.” (v2). Then Jesus said “No one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again” (v3). So what was Jesus talking about here? Jesus was saying, to see and understand what I am talking about, you need your spiritual eyes and ears to be opened and enlighten your understanding. For this to happen, your spirit needs to be “Born Again” and that can only be done by the Holy Spirit. Why? Because Jesus said (v6) “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but Spirit gives birth to spirit”. When this New Birth takes place, you will see, hear and understand the scripture more clearly, you will find your relationship with God will improve dramatically and you will recognise more readily the hand of God moving in your daily life. You will also learn to know and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. This may not happen immediately but it will happen as you spend more time in prayer and the Scriptures. The Spirit also gives you an eagerness to want to know more about God and His Son Jesus Christ. To be Born Again or “Baptised in the Spirit” is a wonderful refreshing experience also, I believe, a rewarding necessity for any Christian who wants a closer relationship with God and in the light of our eternity why wouldn’t we want that” We need to know that we are made-up of Body, Soul and Spirit. The body is the flesh or the tent which accommodates the soul and the spirit, and although this is the visible part of us it is not the most important part. Because, at some stage, in our lifetime it will die and return to dust from which it was made The soul and spirit will at that time leave the body. The spirit is from God, it contains our conscience and mind, the ability to learn, understand, discerning right from wrong and the implications of your choices. The spirit will also leave the body when it dies, because the Spirit with no body to direct will be redundant. So we are left with our soul, Our soul is the most important part of our being, because that is the real YOU or ME. The soul is what Jesus died for, it will live forever through all eternity. The Soul is our “Decision Maker”. After listening to our conscience and hopefully getting all the facts, we are in a position to make a rational decision, then the Soul can choose which way to go (Free Will). But our Soul is basic, very selfish and Pproud and only wants to gratify the demands of the body. It is self indulgent and will often override the conscience in spite of all our learning and integrity. This is why we need The Holy Spirit’s input in our lives, to teach us selflessness, generosity, kindness, etc. These qualities don’t come naturally, we are not born with them, (Go to any Preschool or Kindergarten and you will see what I mean). When we are “Born Again” the Holy Spirit not only teaches and helps us to achieve these qualities but also shows us why we need them to see, hear and understand the Kingdom of God. Our souls are going to live for all eternity. The state of our soul is what will determine our eternal destiny because that soul has made every decision in our lives, Good, Bad and or Ugly. So we need all the help we can get to bring it in to submission to a well informed conscience and the Will of God via the Cross of Jesus Christ and His gracious forgiveness. I believe The Holy Spirit is the Power, The Light and the Strength of God, when we pray He anoints our desires, achieves and facilitates our activities as we follow God’s Will. I believe He should be a permanent resident in the life of every believer. Nicodemus understood this, he also knew he would have some serious decisions to make, “Was this Jesus the long awaited Messiah? Was he a Prophet? Or just some guy with a few magic tricks up his sleeve? Jesus told Nicodemus, “Don’t be surprised when I say you must be born again”. Why? Because The Spirit is God. He will do the will of God when and wherever He chooses (v8). With or without our consent. That’s why we should live our lives after the Spirit, always following Him, He will lead the way. As soon as we go ahead of Him ,we get into trouble. This is a tough lesson to learn. Moses and some of the prophets learned it the hard way and it cost them dearly. Jesus then asked Nicodemus, why he, a teacher of the Jews didn’t believe His testimony or understand and teach the truth about God , the Holy Spirit, (v 10) and about what was going to happen to (The Son of Man) “I have spoken the truth to you in earthly terms (about being born again) and you don’t understand, so how can you understand heavenly things (v13) Jesus is identifying Himself as the Messiah. “No one has gone to Heaven, except the one who has come from Heaven (Jesus). Then He explained more graphically in verse 14. He used an Old Testament happening which Nicodemus would understand clearly. Like Moses lifted up the snake on a pole in the wilderness and whoever looked at it was saved from their illness and death, so it will be with Me; when I am lifted up on a cross all who come to me and believe, I will free from their spiritual bondage (Sickness and death “Sin”) and they will have eternal life in them. (Paraphrased). Towards the end of His ministry Jesus told the disciples, “I will send The Holy Spirit, and He will teach you all things.” He has been well named The Counsellor, The Comforter and helper. If we let Him, He will lead us right to the throne of God. He is as gentle as a dove, pure as the snow and deals in the only currency used in Heaven “Truth” If you want to make a friend of The Holy Spirit, get “Born Again” and enjoy a Spirit filled life. This can be done by attending a Bible believing and Teaching Church. Thank you for reading my thoughts on the Holy Spirit of God, I pray they bring us all blessings of love peace and Joy Phaline.