Sabbath Ministry

Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out . . . (NASB) Mark 1:23

The man was possessed by a demon and apparently had been in there while Jesus was speaking. It is obvious that the man was not a follower of God, since he had allowed a demon to possess his body. It appears that he wanted to be there, and sat through the entire meeting. Why would a demon possessed man sit and listen to God speak?

Are you surprised that the man and the demon would attend “church”? Some might be surprised that the man would even enter the synagogue. This is an important reminder that anyone can attend a church service without it effecting them. No one receives a spiritual blessing by just attending a meeting at a church. It is not any different than attending a social club or being a member of a sports club. There is nothing beneficial about attending a church service if one’s heart is not open and sensitive to God. God does not think well of us because we attend a church service or give money. He is interested in something else. He is interested in your heart’s response to Himself.

Revelation 2-3 and 3 John 9-10 refer to eight churches that were displeasing to God. Most of them were not submitting to the authority of God. Some of them did not love God very much. The leadership in one of those churches was acting like a bully toward others in the church. Other churches allowed false teaching to occur, and other churches ignored sexual promiscuity and sin. The last church in Rev. 3 was content with its religious activity, and another church praised people for being successful. But God was not happy, because they had a heart problem. They needed spiritual triple-by-pass open heart surgery. Their hearts were closed to God just as cholesterol clogs the veins. Attending church does nothing for a person who is not sensitive and open to God. So, it is not surprising that the demon possessed man entered the synagogue and sat down to hear Jesus teach.