2. Jesus and the defeat of evil

[0:00] is going to be on Jesus and evil.

[0:16] And indeed, the Gospel of Mark is what we're going to be looking at. So let's turn to the Gospel of Mark.

[0:26] We'll start at chapter 1. And we won't, obviously, in the time we have, be able to do everything in the Gospel of Mark. So I just want to give you a small snapshot of what happens in the Gospel of Mark in the battle between the Lord Jesus Christ and evil.

[0:47] Let's pray first. Gracious Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the Bible overview. Now please help us to concentrate and focus on the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and how he came to defeat evil for us.

[1:04] For Jesus' name's sake. Amen. So, we now come to the story of Jesus and evil.

[1:16] And as I just explained a couple of minutes ago, that Israel in those days was infested by evil.

[1:27] not merely because we see so many evil and impure spirits and demons which the Lord Jesus Christ battles, but because all the godly Jews of Jesus' time had this impression that the Holy Land of God was under the control, of course, of the pagan Romans.

[1:53] There was no Davidic king in Jerusalem anymore. It was run by the Romans, the pagan Romans, who were under the control of the evil one.

[2:07] So how come there is such a crushing evil in the people of God? And of course, that is a feeling that many of us might well have today about the church or the people of God worldwide.

[2:21] How is it if the gospel is so strong and God is so holy? Well, we are so oppressed by evil forces, especially, of course, the evil forces of those who do not belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.

[2:37] So let's have a look at this, and I want to start with the big picture and the initial focus in the gospel of Mark, and that is the initial temptation of Jesus in the gospel of Mark.

[2:53] So turn with me, please, if you would, to Mark chapter 1, verse 12. Look what Mark writes in chapter 1, verse 12.

[3:07] At once the Spirit, that is, of course, the Holy Spirit, sent, or better, through him into the wilderness. Jesus was thrown out of the presence of God, which we see at the baptism when his Father blesses him, and the Spirit throws him out into the wilderness, a place of evil.

[3:28] Why? Why did the Holy Spirit push Jesus out into the wilderness and the place of evil? Well, so that he can do combat with Satan.

[3:40] Look at verse 13. And he was in the wilderness 40 days, just as Israel was in the wilderness for 40 years, being tested and falling into sin.

[3:54] So now Jesus is in the wilderness for only 40 days, but this time there is a victory, being tempted or better tested by evil.

[4:08] And even more than that, not only did Satan test the Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness, look below. He was with the wild animals, symbols of evil forces.

[4:24] But angels, holy angels, attended him. This is the start, if you like, the first battle of this great and terrible war. Just as wars today start and are tense, and you have that first battle, which then sets the course of the war.

[4:43] So here you have a battle, which sets the course of the war, between the Lord Jesus Christ and God on one side, and Satan and evil on the other side.

[4:55] But notice what happens after that. After John was, verse 14, after John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, the gospel.

[5:11] The time has come, he proclaimed in that first great and extraordinary sermon. The time has come. The age of evil is over.

[5:23] The age of Satan is over. The kingdom of God is knocking at the door now, he announced in Galilee. For I am God's king, bringing God's rule to bear upon God's people.

[5:41] And what is the response we ought to have to the Lord Jesus Christ, announcing the defeat of evil and the kingdom of God? Kingdom of Satan's gone.

[5:52] Kingdom of God is here now. Repent and believe the good news. Change your life. That is, by the way, what the word repent means.

[6:02] It's a word about a journey, that basically you're walking in one direction like this. To repent is to stop and turn around and go in the opposite direction.

[6:16] That is what repentance means. It doesn't simply mean saying sorry for things. It means changing your life, a radical life transformation because of Jesus and believe the gospel.

[6:30] That is the heart and the key of the defeat of evil for us. Only if we change our life, only if we are transformed by Jesus Christ himself and trust in him alone for the good news, the victory.

[6:45] Can evil be defeated? And if we do that, then evil will flee, as we'll see in our third talk after lunch.

[6:57] That's the first thing. But how does Jesus defeat evil, we might ask. And that's the second thing we see.

[7:10] Jesus and his authority over evil. Or Jesus and his authority over evil. Or to put it another way, Jesus' word is really authoritative.

[7:26] Jesus' word is really authoritative. Have a look at that amazing story right at the beginning of the Lord's ministry in Mark chapter 1, verses 21 and onwards.

[7:43] They went into Capernaum. That is Jesus and his disciples. Capernaum is a town in Galilee. And when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach.

[8:00] The people were amazed at his teaching because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

[8:12] Just then, a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, What do you want to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

[8:26] Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Be quiet, Jesus said sternly.

[8:37] Come out of him. The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out with him with a shriek. The people also were so amazed that they asked each other, What is this?

[8:51] A new teaching with authority. And he even gave orders to the impure spirits and they obeyed him. News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

[9:06] Let me explain what goes on in this history. Jesus is in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, the equivalent for us of Sunday when a preacher comes to preach God's word.

[9:25] But notice what it says, that he teaches as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. That is, you see, in those days, the teachers of the law, that is the teachers of the Bible, basically read out a passage of the Bible and they said, Rabbi X comments this way on this passage.

[9:48] But on the other hand, Rabbi Y comments the other way on this passage. Rabbi Z comments on something different. I don't know what it means. You see, they're all confused.

[10:01] They have no authority in themselves. They're relying on other people. But do you see what Jesus does? He comes into the synagogue. He opens up the scriptures, the Old Testament, and he says, this is what God says to you.

[10:16] He teaches as one with authority. Why? Because he is God come to earth. He knows the scriptures because he wrote the scriptures.

[10:27] That is the amazing thing about Jesus' teaching, you see. He teaches the scriptures directly, without contradiction. This is what God says to you now.

[10:39] And suddenly, because of the word of God being so present in that synagogue, a man possessed by an impure spirit, an evil spirit, an unclean spirit, most probably one of those spirits of the dead giants who had escaped and become the impure spirit, a spirit with a clash of human and angelic.

[11:09] He cries out when he hears that word of God. He's under the conviction. What do you want to have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?

[11:21] And whenever the gospels, by the way, ask a question, they want us to answer it. They want the reader to answer the question. We must answer this question, what do you want to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

[11:35] He wants to destroy the powers of evil. Have you come to destroy us? Yes, Jesus has come to destroy you. And then he goes, I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

[11:47] You see, the evil spirit is attempting to think that he might be more powerful than Jesus. By naming Jesus, he thinks he can have power over Jesus. I know who you are.

[11:59] That's the way exorcism or spiritual warfare happened in those days. If you name the supernatural one, then you have authority over the supernatural one.

[12:11] So the evil spirit says, look, I know who you are. I know what your name is. You're the Holy One of God. But it doesn't work. Do you see? It doesn't work with Jesus.

[12:24] Spells and incantation and magic, Jesus doesn't need to do these things. He doesn't need all this magic. Magic and incantations and exorcism, rituals and things, that was very common in those days.

[12:41] It might even be very common today. But do you see? Jesus doesn't need all that. All he says is, be quiet. That's it. All we need is the power of Jesus.

[12:56] Come out of him, he says. And the impure spirit shakes him and flees. That is what it means for Jesus to exercise an impure or corrupting spirit.

[13:13] Yes, we do see, of course, from this passage. As we see all the way through the Gospels, that this poor man, well, his whole personality was swallowed up.

[13:25] Rather, in the same way that a bird picks the seed up and swallows it, as Jesus says in the parable. You know, the word of God comes and Satan swallows it.

[13:37] This man's personality is swallowed up by the evil demons. But Jesus brings him to health.

[13:49] Not through magic. Not through rituals. Not through anything else. Just the word of God. So that's one thing we learn about Jesus.

[14:02] But how come? How is Jesus so extraordinarily powerful? Well, there's a lot in Mark's Gospel, of course, and you will know if you go through Mark's Gospel, and I would recommend it if you have some time.

[14:15] Just go through Mark's Gospel looking at Jesus' confrontation with the evil powers. We only have so much time to do it this morning. But I just want to concentrate on another passage now.

[14:28] If you would please move into chapter 3. chapter 3. And I want to start by reading from verse 22 to 30.

[14:41] Of chapter 3, now, of Mark. And I'll start reading at verse 22.

[14:53] And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, He is possessed. That's Jesus is possessed by Beelzebul. By the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.

[15:07] So Jesus called them over and began to speak to them in parables. How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

[15:21] If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and he is divided, he cannot stand. His end has come.

[15:33] In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man's house. Truly, I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter.

[15:48] But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. they are guilty of an eternal sin.

[16:03] Let's have a look at this because it's very important. The teachers of the Lord, the Bible teachers of those days, they come down from Jerusalem to Galilee where Jesus is.

[16:14] And they actually accuse Jesus of being evil. Now, in one sense, while we might find that a little bit surprising, it is, it is actually, you can understand why they might think that.

[16:29] If Jesus is not authorized by them, then, well, Jesus must be on the other side. So they say, he is possessed by Beelzebul, by the prince of demons.

[16:42] That's the name they gave for Satan, one of the other names. It means, basically, lord of the flies or a pagan master. It is by Beelzebul, the pagan master, i.e. Satan, the devil, that he is driving out demons.

[17:00] But then, do you see what Jesus does? He employs reason and logic. He says, look, guys, this really does not make any sense whatsoever.

[17:12] How can Satan drive out Satan? After all, if there is civil war in any nation, that nation cannot stand. We've seen that, of course, in recent years in Syria, haven't we?

[17:26] There's been a massive civil war going on in Syria and it's destroyed the country, hasn't it? So, if Satan is divided, if there's civil war in Satan's kingdom, Satan will fall.

[17:40] So, how can I be driving out Satan? It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. If a house is divided against itself and he has this picture, I suppose, of a house literally being split in half or a family being split in half, it doesn't make sense.

[17:59] Satan can't oppose himself, can he? You see what he's saying? He's saying that the kingdom of Satan is a unity. They're all working together. it's a collective nation under the prince of evil, Beelzebul, Satan himself.

[18:16] He doesn't fight himself. That doesn't make any sense. They're all focused on one thing, the bondage of human beings. And then he goes on to another illustration.

[18:28] Do you see that in verse 27? No one can enter a strong man's house without first tying him up. And I guess he has in mind sort of common stories of household robberies.

[18:42] You know, burglars, we would say today. In those days, if a burglar comes into a house, what does he do if the house owner is present? You have to tie the house owner up in order to take the goods.

[18:56] Isn't it? I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it? If a thief comes into your house while you're still there, you somehow have to silence the house owner. And then he can take the goods.

[19:08] Makes sense. And that is basically what Jesus is saying. He's saying, if you like, he is the stronger man who is robbing Satan in his house of his goods.

[19:24] Who are the goods that Jesus is robbing? Human beings. It's us. We have been captured by Satan, the humanity.

[19:37] And Jesus is saying, I am the stronger one who has come to destroy the kingdom of Satan. How does he do it? Ties up Satan and then says to the human beings, you belong to me, you belong to me, you belong to me, you belong to me.

[19:53] I'm taking you, I'm redeeming you, I'm washing you clean by the Holy Spirit. That's what he does for us, you see. And then he goes on to this very strange thing which has frightened a lot of Christians since.

[20:08] Truly I tell you, and whenever Jesus in the Gospel says truly I tell you, he means this is very, very important. I'm telling you the absolute truth. People can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.

[20:27] They are guilty of an eternal sin. How come? How can one sin be unforgivable?

[20:40] Well, put it this way. Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, as Jesus himself says with the stress, is on the Holy, the Holy Spirit of God.

[20:55] Yes? God himself, the third person of the Trinity. If you actually blaspheme, that is actually say, I do not need the Holy Spirit in my life, I don't want the Holy Spirit, I don't believe in the Holy Spirit, I don't think there's a Holy Spirit, I don't need the Holy Spirit, I can live my own life, then how can we be forgiven?

[21:21] We can't, can we? If we say to God himself, I don't want you, God, and the Holy Spirit brings the forgiveness of Jesus and puts it into our heart, then how can we be forgiven?

[21:35] It's not possible, is it? If we say to the, you know, if we're not born again of the Holy Spirit, then we're not forgiven. And it's in that sense, I think we need to understand, it's an unforgivable sin.

[21:48] Not in the sense that we Christians can say, you know, something, a slip of the mind or doubts or something like that. That's not what Jesus is talking about. Please be aware, if you ever think you've committed the unforgivable sin, you haven't, by definition.

[22:03] Because it means you're worried about your own sin. And if you're worried about your own sin, you haven't committed the unforgivable sin. The unforgivable sin is simply to reject the things of God.

[22:18] And hence, if you've rejected the love of God in the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness that he offers, you can't be forgiven. Unless you turn to Jesus Christ and ask for the power of the Holy Spirit.

[22:33] Do you see? So it's not actually saying what many Christians have thought down the ages. So let me bring you some assurance and confidence in that.

[22:44] That actually, it's not saying that at all. What it is saying is that the Holy Spirit is there in my ministry to bring the forgiveness of sins.

[22:57] Yeah? So that's one thing. The more powerful Jesus. Jesus. But I actually also want to climax before us that we break again for lunch on Jesus and the liberation of evil or the freedom that Jesus brings the captives of Satan.

[23:25] Jesus and the liberation from evil or the freedom that Jesus brings. please move now to Mark chapter 5 just a couple of chapters on.

[23:36] and I'll start reading from verse 1 of chapter 5 and I'll read right down to verse 20 of chapter 5 Mark chapter 5 verse 19 they, that is Jesus and the disciples went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes when Jesus got out of the boat a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him this man lived in the tombs and no one could bind him any more not even with a chain For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet.

[24:40] No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

[24:52] When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted out at the top of his voice, What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name, don't torture me.

[25:16] For Jesus had said to him, Come out of this man, you impure spirit. Then Jesus asked him, What is your name? My name is Legion, for we are many.

[25:32] And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.

[25:43] The demons begged Jesus, Send us among the pigs, allow us into them. He gave them permission. And then the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs.

[25:56] The herd, about 2,000 in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside.

[26:09] And the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there dressed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.

[26:24] Those who had seen it told the demons what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told them about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

[26:37] As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, Go to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.

[26:54] So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

[27:10] In many parts of the world, people are in fear and fear that they are living in a land or a territory or a state full of evil.

[27:23] And some Christians who go into these areas fear the presence of evil because it seems almost so terrible that you can touch it, the evil darkness of that place.

[27:39] Maybe, perhaps, it has been so in parts of Borneo, at least in history. Well, this story then is very relevant.

[27:57] Because Jesus crosses from the land of Israel into what is called the region of the Gerasenes, pagan territory, Gentile territory.

[28:10] The territory where they worship idols and spirits and other things like that. A region of utter and terrible darkness.

[28:24] And indeed, that is precisely what happens to Jesus and the disciples when they come out of the boat on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Do you see, a man with an impure spirit meets them.

[28:40] This man is marked by death. Do you see that? This man lived in the tombs. Death was upon him.

[28:51] The evil spirit made him live in the region of death. Which is not surprising if they are the spirits of the dead giants.

[29:04] And more than that, he has a supernatural strength. Do you see that? No one, no human being could bind him. Not even with a chain. He has amazing supernatural strength.

[29:19] Even if he is chained hand and foot, he can rip the chains apart. So terrible is the evil that is binding him.

[29:32] And look at the poor man in verse 5. What the demon is doing to the man. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

[29:44] I.e. it was driving him to self-harm. He's in a terrible mess, isn't he? This man. He's in a terrible, terrible mess.

[29:57] Utterly demon-possessed, living in the realm of death, supernatural strength and self-harming. And yet the demon-possessed man runs towards Jesus and shouts out at the top of his voice.

[30:16] Again, you see, the demon thinks that he might be stronger than Jesus. What do you want from with me, Jesus, son of the most high God? In God's name, don't torture me.

[30:27] Basically, actually, please do not exercise me. Because Jesus had been saying, come out. Then Jesus asks him, well, what is your name?

[30:43] I don't need to know your name, but actually, let me just find out. My name is Legion. Legion. So he refuses, because Legion just means many.

[30:55] Or it's the name of a Roman troop of soldiers. And he begged Jesus not to send them out of this area. And so the demons then say, they recognize that this Jesus is one they cannot defeat.

[31:12] They have no power over this Jesus. Even though there's a huge number of them inside the man, they can't win against Jesus. And they say, well, okay, if we're going to go out of the man, let's go out into the pigs, because then we can, well, you know, pigs are unclean creatures, according to the Jews, and we can live happily in them, because we are unclean spirits.

[31:38] We can live in unclean animals. That's quite a natural sort of fit, or supernatural fit, really. And Jesus says, yes, go. But then he destroys the pigs.

[31:52] But by destroying the pigs, Jesus destroys the demons. Do you see, we're not meant to interpret like Jesus lets the demons off, and just they go to another place or inhabit another natural thing.

[32:13] No. Jesus destroys the vast number of the demons. And what we have here is actually, in one individual, the human predicament, the human problem, and the human solution.

[32:37] Because actually, even though we, before we've come to Jesus Christ, and non-Christians do not have a vast array of demons inhabiting us, as we have already seen, if we're not Christians, then we're on the other side.

[32:55] That is the human predicament, that we are chained or enslaved, because of sin, in the kingdom of the evil one.

[33:09] We're slaves to Satan. Our will is in bondage to the kingdom of evil, before we come to Christ. But notice what we have here.

[33:25] When the people of the region come out, what do they see about the demon-possessed man? Look at verse 15. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, dressed and in his right mind.

[33:43] That is a picture of conversion. Do you see that? The man now is sitting at the feet of Jesus. He's dressed now.

[33:55] He's no longer naked and cutting himself and mad, but he's in his right mind listening to the words of Jesus.

[34:07] That is precisely what happens to us when we turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. We sit at the feet of Jesus. We are dressed in the clothes that Jesus gives us, his perfect righteousness, and we are in our right mind.

[34:26] We can know God and the things of God. It's a picture of conversion. And that's, brothers and sisters, what has happened to exactly every one of us.

[34:37] We sit at the feet of Jesus. We're dressed in the clothes that Jesus gives us and we know God. Therefore, we're in our right mind. But notice the reactions of the other people to this man who's now been amazingly converted.

[34:58] They're frightened. They're fearful. They ask Jesus, go away. Now, isn't that what many people do today?

[35:08] Why? They simply say, I don't want to know about this, Jesus. You keep your religion to yourself. You keep your Jesus to yourself. I don't want to know.

[35:18] Thank you very much. I'm happy with my life. You just go. If you want to believe in Jesus, you'd believe in Jesus, but I'm happy. They tell Jesus to go away. Very common even today, but it happened in Jesus' time, isn't it?

[35:34] But notice what Jesus' instruction to the converted man is. 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.

[35:54] That's our job, isn't it? Go back to your family. Tell them the goodness and the grace and the love and the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[36:06] And he does that. And look at the last little sentence. And all the people were amazed. Wouldn't that be wonderful if we went out from the seminar today, went home to our families, our friends, our neighbors, our work colleagues, and told them how much the Lord has done for us so that people are amazed.

[36:30] Something for us to ponder on. But let me end now this session by actually focusing and coming back to what we looked at briefly in the last session.

[36:48] And that is, of course, the great victory. The victory itself on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And for that, I want to focus, actually take us to another gospel, this time, the gospel of John.

[37:06] And I'd like us to turn, first of all, please, to John chapter 12, verse 31. I'll start, actually, by reading it from verse 27 of John chapter 12.

[37:28] This is Jesus just before the last week of his life, or rather, it is the last week of his life. He's just coming to Jerusalem in the last week of his life in order to die.

[37:45] And in verse 27, this is what Jesus says. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?

[37:57] No. It was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven.

[38:11] I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. The crowd that was there heard it and said it had thundered.

[38:23] Others said that an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, this voice was for your benefit, not mine.

[38:34] Now is the time for judgment on this world. Now the prince of the world will be driven out, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

[38:49] He said this to show the kind of death that he was going to die. Here we have Jesus' simple heroism in the last week of his life.

[39:07] Here we have Jesus doing ultimate battle with the evil one and all the forces of evil. And extraordinarily, he is on his own.

[39:22] His soul is troubled because he knows what is going to happen to him in the last week of his life. he is going to face the horror and the shame and the degradation and the torture of the cross and die.

[39:41] Do you see what he says in verse 27? Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? If all, if, when people know that they face death, there is a very serious and sobering prospect, isn't there?

[40:02] Our souls are indeed troubled. But notice Jesus' reaction. He shares in that trouble because he's very human. He is the word made flesh.

[40:15] He's a human being. But what does he say? Father, save me from this hour, the hour of the cross, the hour of death? No, he says. It was for this very reason I came to this hour of death.

[40:32] And then he says, Father, glorify your name. The Father responds from heaven. He thunders from heaven. I have glorified your name and I will glorify it again.

[40:45] I glorify it now on the cross and I will glorify it at the resurrection. I will glorify it at the ascension. I will glorify it once you are reigning again in heaven and I will glorify it at the last judgment.

[41:00] The crowd are confused. Maybe it was great thunder. Maybe an angel from heaven was speaking to Jesus. And then Jesus explains, this voice was not for your benefit, was for your benefit, not mine.

[41:17] I know what the plan of God is. The Father says it for our benefit. it. And then he focuses, this is the crucial thing, verse 31.

[41:28] Now is the time for judgment on this world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out. You see, in the Gospel of John, unlike, say, the Gospel of Mark, which we've looked at already, there are no exorcisms.

[41:46] John purposely decides his focus is going to be on something else. But there is one real exorcism in the Gospel of John.

[41:58] That is the cross. That is the place for John. I'm concentrating the battle against evil, says John, by making you focus on the cross.

[42:10] Because that's the place that evil is eradicated. Do you see? Now, the time of the cross is the time for judgment on this world.

[42:20] And whenever Jesus in God's Gospel refers to this world, he means the world not in the sense of the physical, natural sense, but actually human beings in rebellion and opposition to God.

[42:35] And even more than human beings, it is the cosmos, the cosmic realm which is in rebellion against God. The cross is the time of our judgment.

[42:47] judgment. Because the cross tells us what our judgment ought to be. Shame, degradation, torture, death, and actually the lack of the presence of God.

[43:01] Darkness at noon on the cross. That is what the world deserves. Condemnation, death, and hell.

[43:13] And now is the time for that judgment. The cross shows us what we deserve and indeed what the entire human race in opposition to God deserves.

[43:25] But even more than that, there is another judgment happening on the cross. Now the prince of this world, that is the ruler of this world, i.e.

[43:36] Satan himself, who rules this world in opposition to God, will be driven out. Do you notice that exorcism term?

[43:47] He'll be cast out because Jesus wins on the cross. And what is the result?

[43:59] When I am lifted up on that cross, says Jesus, and the cross in John's gospel is the exaltation, the first step to him going back to heaven.

[44:09] when I am lifted up, physically speaking, but also symbolically on the cross, lifted off the ground, I will draw all peoples in this world to myself.

[44:23] The cross is where we are drawn to Jesus Christ himself. Because that is the place of the exorcism of evil itself.

[44:39] and let me reiterate or Jesus can explain for himself what really happens at the cross if we move now to chapter 16, verse 8.

[45:01] Jesus here expands his teaching on what happens at the cross by involving the Holy Spirit, the comforter. Look please at verse 8. I'll actually start at verse 7.

[45:14] I think that's probably the right place. John 16 now, verse 7. Very truly I tell you, i.e. I'm speaking the real absolute truth here. It is for your good that I'm going away.

[45:27] That is, I'm dying, rising, and going to heaven. Unless I go away, the advocate, that's the name Jesus has for the Holy Spirit, will not come to you.

[45:38] And by the way, the advocate is actually again a legal term. If Satan is the legal prosecutor, the Holy Spirit is our legal defense lawyer.

[45:52] He is the defense attorney. That's what the word advocate in Greek means, basically. Defense lawyer. Unless I go into heaven, the defense lawyer, the Holy Spirit, will not come.

[46:10] But if I go, I will send him to you. We need someone, don't we? We need someone when we die, and when the last judgment comes, and all our sins are displayed before the entire universe.

[46:25] I mean, think of it, if there were a DVD taken of each and every thought and action throughout your life, and then in the celestial court of judgment, that DVD was put in the celestial recording, and before the whole universe, all our sins were displayed, and the prosecuting lawyer says, Roe, he's guilty, isn't he?

[46:49] Guilty as charged. it's true of all of us, isn't it? But what happens then when the defense lawyer, the Holy Spirit, rises?

[47:03] He says, but God the Father, look again at the DVD. Look again. Suddenly, the DVD is changed, and it has Roe dressed in the robes of righteousness and says, where are the sins?

[47:24] They've been paid for by Jesus. Look at him. Not only is he not guilty, look, he's perfect because he's wearing Jesus' clothes of righteousness.

[47:36] He's 100% perfect. Therefore, I demand acquittal. Isn't that wonderful? And then Jesus goes on.

[47:48] But there is another thing the Holy Spirit does. When he comes, he will prove the world to be wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.

[48:00] Paradoxically, the Holy Spirit can also become somewhat a convicting lawyer as well. Not for us, but for notice that, the world, about sin because people do not believe in me.

[48:16] If we do not believe in Jesus, we cannot have the Holy Spirit as our defense lawyer. About righteousness because I am going to the Father where you can see me no longer.

[48:30] Jesus is seated on the throne of heaven. How do we know that? Because of the internal witness of the Holy Spirit. And about judgment, the Holy Spirit will insist that the prince of this world, Satan, stands condemned at the cross.

[48:52] Now, isn't that utterly wonderful? Isn't that actually the heart of what the Bible is saying about the unseen world? God the Father has sent Jesus into our world so that we might not be condemned.

[49:08] him. He loved us so much that he sent his son. Jesus Christ himself has decided to exorcise evil by dying in our place.

[49:20] And the Holy Spirit has come into our hearts to insist, we are innocent, not guilty, before Satan's judgment.

[49:31] And even more than that, we are perfect before God's throne. And the world is condemned because of its evil.

[49:42] That is the great story and the heart of the Bible story about the defeat of evil. The definitive, once for all, absolute, unrepeatable, final, finished work of Jesus.

[50:01] For he cries in triumph at the moment of his death. It is finished. Let's pray.

[50:35] To farewells to the use them to follow to Thank you.