I'm standing in the synagogue at Capernaum.

So this is not a symbolic location.

This is not just a general area.

This is the place that the Gospels explicitly name.

All right, so in Mark, chapter one, it tells us that Jesus entered this synagogue on the Sabbath and he began to teach.

Right?

And the Scriptures say, and immediately on the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching.

But it's going to shock you, so stay with me.

What happens next is not acc.

It's actually a revelation of the unseen realm.

So if you look at the text, it says, and immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.

Okay, this phrase really matters in your Bible.

So the demonized man was not brought in.

Okay.

He was not confronted later.

He was already inside this synagogue.

Okay, so what does that mean?

It means that this religious space had learned to coexist with bondage.

Jesus had not addressed the demon yet, so he was just simply teaching.

And then when you go to verse 22, it tells us that people were astonished because he's teaching with authority, not like the scribes.

And the Greek word is exousia, which means inherent authority, not borrowed, not quoted.

Authority that carries power in and of itself.

And they were recognizing this power.

Before Jesus ever commands a spirit, the word itself begins to expose what has been hidden.

In Hebrews chapter four, it says that the Word of God is living and active, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

And so light does not hunt darkness.

Darkness reacts to light.

This is what happened in this space.

That's why the demon manifests immediately.

We've seen this happen in many services, as well as I've been preaching.

It's just the demon begins to cry out, what have you done with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

Have you come to destroy us?

This is not confusion.

This is demonic recognition.

In James, chapter two, it says that the demons believe and they shudder.

The demon knows something that the congregation doesn't even fully grasp, that Jesus is not merely a teacher.

He is a threat to the entire kingdom of darkness here in Capernaum.

And actually, the demon continues to speak.

I know who you are.

The Holy One of God.

This is true theology spoken from a place of rebellion.

You know, demons, they can actually confess identity without submitting to authority.

Think about that.

Jesus immediately rebukes him, and he says, be silent and come out of him.

All right, so that's just two commands that you have.

First, be silent.

And then Jesus refuses testimony from an unclean source.

He's not even interested in a dialogue.

Truth spoken by rebellion.

Still distorts.

You hear what I'm saying?

Second, he says, come out of him.

Jesus does not negotiate.

He's not begging.

Jesus does not manage the spirit.

He evicts the spirit.

The text says that the unclean spirit convulsed.

The man, cried out with a loud voice and then came out of him.

This is not resistance to power.

It is exposure of control.

As a matter of fact, when you go to Luke chapter 11, it says that when a strong man enters the house, he strips the strong man of his armor and takes what is held captive.

This.

This was not a conversation.

It was a transfer of authority.

Okay?

Because a stronger man came in to evict the strong man.

And then notice where this happens.

Right here in the synagogue, on the Sabbath, in Jesus Ministry headquarters in Capernaum.

Jesus is actually now redefining holiness.

Holiness is not avoiding broken people.

Holiness is authority over what binds broken people.

Come on, help me with this.

Religion had allowed this man to sit, like, undisturbed.

He can just attend the services.

But authority would not allow that.

See, the people, they respond.

What is this?

A new teaching with authority, he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.

This is what the people are saying.

They do not separate doctrine from deliverance.

In Jesus teaching, it does something.

It's not just words being spoken.

This moment reveals something that's very, very critical for each and every one of you watching.

Demonic influence can exist in religious environments.

Attendance does not equal freedom.

Some of y' all need to hear that.

Exposure does not equal transformation.

But when the authority of Jesus begins to enter a space just like it entered this space, hiding becomes impossible.

Come on.

Jesus does not chase demons.

He reveals the truth.

And then what happens is demons begin to react.

Come on.

We've seen that all over the world.

This synagogue exposes the real battle that's taking place.

Not against flesh and blood, but.

But against rulers and authorities in the unseen realm.

And Jesus, he doesn't struggle against them.

No, he commands them.

He commands them because here's the thing.

The kingdom of God does not coexist with darkness.

It commands darkness.

It confronts it.

It silences it.

And actually it drives it out.

You know that same authority was given to you, right?

The question that this place still asks is very simple.

When the authority of Jesus confronts what is hidden in us, do we submit or do we resist?

You know, his authority, it is not changed.

As a matter of fact, he wants to give that same authority to you.

The only thing that really changes is our response to it.

So if you'll say yes to Jesus right now.

If you'll say, Jesus, I'm responding to your authority.

I want to be free, and I want to use my life to free others.

As a matter of fact, when you go through the scriptures, you find that eventually he empowers disciples to go out and cast out demons.

And then when you go into the early church, they're still casting out demons.

And how many of you believe that 2,000 years later, we are still doing the work of confronting and evicting demons from people who desperately need deliverance?

And this synagogue is a reminder that you can go to church.

Just like standing in your garage does not make you a car, standing in a church does not make you a Christian.

You can learn the Scriptures, people all the time.

Oh, I love reading the Bible.

Listen, the devil can quote the entire Bible to you, but he does not submit to any of it.

He doesn't surrender to any of it.

It's the word of God that you don't just hear, but you obey and you do.

And so this is.

This is the question I want to ask you from this synagogue is are you going to continue to work with the enemy to actually hide and stay in secrecy?

Or like the man that was in here, are you going to participate with the deliverer as he's bringing deliverance?

Come, I want to pray for you right now.

And by the way, there's one last group of people.

Use the authority that you've been given.

You've been given authority.

When Jesus was here teaching the Scriptures, they acknowledged it.

You need to acknowledge that that same spirit is living on the inside of you right now.

And greater he that is in me than he that is in the world.

And so use that authority.

A lot of times people, you know, go to church for years and years, they don't fully understand what they have access to.

But it says, in my name, they will cast out demons in my name.

They heal the sick and even raise the dead.

Father, I thank you right now for everybody watching that you have given them the authority, the same authority that Jesus exercised here in Capernaum.

God, you've given to them.

And Lord, I thank you that they're going to rise up as breakers in your name, breaking every single chain of darkness through your power, through your blood, Jesus.

And we thank you for that.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.