1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:04,400 Amen. All right, welcome to Redemption 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,360 Church in North Ogden. Thank you for being here with 3 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:11,520 us. We are going to be in the Gospel 4 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:15,600 of Matthew, chapter 8. We're at the end of chapter 8 5 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:18,400 where we've walked through and and looked at all these 6 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:25,680 different miracles of Jesus. And we're in a story that I have 7 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:31,600 titled The Merciful Son of God to the Demoniacs. 8 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:36,680 That's going to be in Matthew 828 through 34. 9 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:41,200 Now what's a demoniac? Well, these are demon possessed 10 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:46,880 men that Jesus and the disciples encounter as they've just 11 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:51,240 crossed the stormy sea and Jesus calmed the wind in the waves. 12 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:56,040 And now right when they get to shore, they encounter these 13 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:01,400 demon possessed maniacs. So that's why I've titled it The 14 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:05,400 Merciful Son of God to the Demoniacs. 15 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:11,640 Now this story is also in Mark chapter 5 and Luke chapter 8. 16 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:16,320 A little bit about the synoptic gospels. 17 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,760 Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the New Testament are called the 18 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:24,840 Synoptic Gospels because they share a lot of the same content, 19 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:26,960 the same stories, the same narrative. 20 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:29,440 Now, not everything's exactly the same and not everything's 21 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,560 written exactly the same. Some of the chronology is a 22 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,000 little bit different. Some of the groupings of of 23 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:39,640 stories are different based on the person writing it. 24 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:44,840 Now, we must understand that all of scripture is breathed out by 25 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,240 God and he used human authors to write it down. 26 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:52,280 But we do believe that it was. It is without error that it is 27 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,280 infallible and it can be trusted. 28 00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:00,800 But it's beautiful that God uses the man. 29 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,760 He doesn't take away all his mental faculties or his 30 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:13,480 personality, and he uses each one's different, different area 31 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:15,800 of influence. You can say each one of these 32 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,600 guys had a different audience that they were writing to. 33 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:24,120 And so that changes the way in which the gospels are laid out. 34 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:29,160 For Matthew, he's a he's, he's trying to reach a Jewish 35 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,360 audience and trying to teach the Jewish Christians how to reach 36 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:37,720 Gentiles. And so I bring all that up to 37 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:44,000 say, as we start this passage, there are some differences in 38 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,720 the, the different gospels. And I want to teach you this. 39 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:49,840 I didn't, I didn't want to just brush past this. 40 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:54,520 I want, I want to teach you when dealing with a difference in one 41 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,360 gospel story to another, how do we handle that? 42 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:01,440 Because there are no errors in Scripture. 43 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:07,880 So as we look at this, this first verse, Matthew 828 a the 44 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,800 first part of it, it starts out and it says when he came to the 45 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:16,520 other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, 2 demon possessed 46 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:24,000 men met him. Now in Mark and Luke, it says 47 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,280 the area that he went to was the garrisons. 48 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:31,480 So did somebody spell it wrong? No, that's not the case. 49 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,960 Actually, if we go back to our map, I showed you a map last 50 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:37,080 week. If you weren't here, that's OK, 51 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:41,360 I'll explain it. The context where we're at. 52 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,440 We're at the Sea of Galilee. Jesus recently got done with the 53 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:51,720 Sermon on the Mount, and so he came and started doing miracles 54 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:54,360 in Capernaum. He tells the disciples, let's 55 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:56,120 get in the boat and cross the sea. 56 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,960 There's the storm on the sea, and then they come over to this 57 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:04,720 area here, which is where we see the drowning of the swine. 58 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:09,800 That's our story today. Mark says the Gadarenes, the 59 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:14,360 country of the Gadarenes, which is a little bit more down at the 60 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:20,959 bottom of the Sea of Galilee. But this area here is the is 61 00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:24,400 what they say the Garosines or the Girgasines. 62 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:31,640 This area is the specific area where where the thing happens, 63 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,360 but it's in the region of Gadera. 64 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:39,040 So, so to help you help that make sense, we are Redemption 65 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:42,880 Church North Ogden. We're meeting in Pleasant View 66 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:45,600 city. We have people that live in far 67 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:51,280 West and and all of that area. If you didn't know, some of your 68 00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:56,920 mail, I bet says Ogden on it because this isn't the Ogden 69 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:02,120 area like Ogden proper, although they have different city names. 70 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:07,000 That's kind of like what's going on in this story is it's it's 71 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:14,680 Ghijera proper, but but the specific area is the garrisons 72 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:16,520 now. And another thing that's 73 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:21,000 interesting, it says 2 demon possessed men. 74 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:27,080 Now the other, the other gospels only focus on one guy, 1 75 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:31,320 demoniac. And there's a simple explanation 76 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,560 to that. None of them say it was only one 77 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,400 man. And so one must have to conclude 78 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,320 that one of the men was more prominent. 79 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,760 One of the men was the one that was doing the talking, 80 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,840 confronting Jesus. But there was another man who 81 00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:48,840 was going through the same things that he was going 82 00:05:48,840 --> 00:05:50,480 through. Could have been even more than 83 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:52,480 that, right? So that's just a little bit of a 84 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,480 teaching to help you understand when you have differences in 85 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:02,640 gospel stories, how they don't contradict one another at all. 86 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:09,320 And it's a necessary distraction from today's message because 87 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:11,400 when we're walking through Scripture, we've got to handle 88 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,120 this, right? We're, we're, we're not only 89 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:16,280 preaching, but we're teaching. So now that I've got that out of 90 00:06:16,280 --> 00:06:20,240 the way, I've got 3 points in this passage I want to get to. 91 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:24,560 And the first one is that the army of darkness takes its toll. 92 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:28,160 Now I want to ask you this question, Is supernatural 93 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:32,120 activity real? I mean, I think in our world, 94 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:39,360 there's a lot of confusion and and maybe we think it's some 95 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:45,840 kind of just stories or kind of fiction made-up, you know, fake 96 00:06:45,840 --> 00:06:50,000 believe. We all like to be entertained by 97 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:52,920 by certain things like horror stories. 98 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:54,800 Now, now, if you're Christian, I don't think you should be 99 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:58,280 watching rated R horror stories and movies like that. 100 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:05,560 But generally we like to be scared and entertained and, and 101 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:09,520 some, some people think this is a a figment of our imagination, 102 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:14,240 supernatural activity and maybe that some stuff that goes on out 103 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,920 in the world is made-up. It is fake. 104 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:25,120 But the question is, are demons real if the Bible talks about 105 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:27,960 them, and angels for that matter, Is there a spiritual 106 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:30,840 realm that we don't even think about? 107 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:35,400 Because all we're focused on is what we can see, what we can 108 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,800 feel, what we can touch, what we can hear with. 109 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:42,920 Everything that we can grasp with our senses is real to us. 110 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,520 But what about the things that we can't see, feel, touch and 111 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,680 smell? Well, if the Bible says that 112 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:54,480 they're, they're real and it's true and you're a Christian, you 113 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:58,600 believe what the Bible says, then we automatically have to 114 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:00,240 say then yes, that they are real. 115 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,240 Now there are examples of, of supernatural activity that 116 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:08,680 happens out there in the world and it happens all the time with 117 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:15,000 possibly there's sightings of, you know, angels or, or demons 118 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:23,320 said to attack people. Now, do we have to have 119 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:26,440 discernment to realize what's true and what's not true out 120 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:28,840 there in the world? Yes, that's a a spiritual gift, 121 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,720 by the way. But the Bible says in Ephesians 122 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:39,120 2 that this world is in control of the evil. 1 The, the, the 123 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,960 spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. 124 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:49,840 There's a Satan himself who you've heard of is a fallen 125 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:51,200 Angel. Now let me talk about who the 126 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,760 demons are then. If Satan exists and he's the 127 00:08:54,760 --> 00:09:00,000 enemy of God, then demons are the ones who follow Satan. 128 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:06,760 And the story goes in Scripture is that before humans were at 129 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:11,040 least before the fall, before the the narrative where Adam and 130 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,480 Eve are in the garden, sometime in heaven. 131 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:19,000 We don't know the exact time. Sometime in heaven there was a 132 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:23,320 great spiritual war and what took place was Satan, who was an 133 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:26,560 Archangel at the time. He was an Angel, a powerful 134 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:32,640 Angel, decided I want to be like God, I want to have power. 135 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:36,400 I think very highly of myself. So I'm going to take God's 136 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:40,400 position, take God's role. And God cast him out of heaven 137 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:42,600 because of that, because of his pride. 138 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:48,280 And a third of the angels were swept with him and he was cast 139 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:50,960 out of heaven. The Bible says down to the earth 140 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:56,440 now the earth now. So we see in the beginning of 141 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:58,360 Adam and Eve. And then Satan is able to 142 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:03,000 deceive Eve and Adam and, and sin enters the world. 143 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:07,920 And So what, since then, you know what's going on then in 144 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:11,920 the, the spiritual realm with these evil forces and, and the 145 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:18,480 heavenly hosts together in this spiritual war over God's people 146 00:10:18,560 --> 00:10:22,120 and over God's creation. Well, again in Ephesians 6, it 147 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,400 tells us that there are, there is authorities, powers, 148 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:30,400 principalities that we, we, we fight not against flesh and 149 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:34,200 blood, but against, but against the, the spiritual forces in 150 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,920 heavenly places. There are, there is a spiritual 151 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:43,280 battle going on and Satan and the demons do want to thwart 152 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:49,120 God's work on earth. Now, how do they do it? 153 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,560 They do it through twisting of scripture and false religions 154 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:56,040 and false teachings. And they do it through fear and 155 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:58,200 attacks. And so that's why I've labeled 156 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:02,200 this first point, the army of darkness takes its toll. 157 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:08,160 Why do I call it army? Well, there's a in scripture, it 158 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:12,560 tells us that they're organized. It's not just some kind of some 159 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:17,920 happenstance random way that they do this, but in fact, each 160 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:22,360 of these demonic presences have spiritual territories that 161 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:27,560 they're assigned to and they have ranks even they're they're 162 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:31,120 very militaristic. If you want to kind of get a 163 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:35,120 sense of this a little bit more, in the book of Daniel, it talks 164 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:38,120 about how angels and demons are fighting over a territory. 165 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:42,680 But there's a book by CS Lewis called the Screw Tape Letters. 166 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:47,200 And in it, although it's kind of fictional, it's based off of 167 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:52,880 truth about, from scripture about how he thinks that demons 168 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:58,200 work against God's people. And it'll bring up the hairs on 169 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:01,240 your arms and the back of your neck like it's, it's kind of 170 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:07,280 freaky, but it makes you think like maybe some of the things 171 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,120 that we're going through in this world and in this life aren't 172 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:17,080 all just physical, aren't all just because of logical things 173 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:19,160 that we can explain, but it could be because of 174 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,200 supernatural. That's what the Bible says that 175 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:25,120 the the world is in under the control of the evil 1. 176 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:29,400 Now I had to do all of that to get us to this point to talk 177 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:33,360 about what's going on. So let's look at the verses in 178 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:35,720 the text today. It says 2 demon possessed men 179 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:39,000 met him coming out of the tomb so fierce that no one could pass 180 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,400 that way. And behold, they cried out. 181 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,720 What have you to do with us? O Son of God? 182 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:48,560 Have you come here to torment us before the time? 183 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:54,040 Now I'm going to have to go back to the the Mark passage in Mark 184 00:12:54,040 --> 00:13:03,040 chapter 5 because it tells us a little bit more detail about how 185 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:06,280 bad these guys had it. Like because I want to look at 186 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,640 what does demon possession look like? 187 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:15,400 What is demon possession? Well, the word possession is 188 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:21,920 demon ozai, which really just means to be demonized. 189 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:27,560 But that word possessed means to be fully controlled, fully 190 00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:33,840 controlled by the demon. Now, there are different types 191 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:39,360 of of, of demonic activity in the world. 192 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:44,480 You can be attacked by a demon. You can be maybe like oppressed 193 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:47,360 by demonic activity. But then there's this third one 194 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:50,280 that's more of a controlling, which is demon possession. 195 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:53,920 That's what these guys are going through in the area that they're 196 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:55,200 at. They're not Jewish, they're 197 00:13:55,200 --> 00:14:03,080 actually in a gentile area. And so let's look at the toll 198 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:06,320 that it's taking on these guys. And in Mark chapter 5, I don't 199 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,440 have it up here, but it says he lived among the tombs and no one 200 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,720 could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 201 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,480 For he had often bound, been bound with shackles and chains, 202 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:20,520 but he wrenched the chains apart and he broke the shackles in 203 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,000 pieces. No one had the strength to 204 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,920 subdue him. Now, in our verse, it says that 205 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,360 they were so fierce that no one could pass that way. 206 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:37,440 So they had, they're living in basically a cemetery in the 207 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:41,000 tombs. No one in their right mind wants 208 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:44,880 to live in a cemetery, right? I don't even think you see a lot 209 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:47,560 of homeless people living in cemeteries. 210 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:49,960 Why? Because they're kind of freaky, 211 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,760 right? You don't really hang out there 212 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:56,000 much unless you're going to visit in the daytime. 213 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:57,720 But these people are sleeping there. 214 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:01,320 They, they live there. They're banished from society 215 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:05,680 because they're so maniacal. They're so crazy. 216 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:11,280 They're, they're so unable to tame it. 217 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:14,160 They have a supernatural strength, it says. 218 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:17,760 They're so fierce, nobody would even, nobody even wanted to go 219 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:27,440 that way anymore. They were isolated, often times 220 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:32,320 demonic possession or even, you know, evil oppression. 221 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:37,400 The goal is to try to isolate a person so that they can't have 222 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:42,320 any truth spoken to them, the gospel spoken to them, any power 223 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:46,320 of God's word coming around them. 224 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:48,280 And they they'll quick come into church. 225 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,480 They'll, you know, quit being around people there, there 226 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,760 there's a, there's a spirit of isolation that happens with 227 00:15:55,160 --> 00:16:00,480 demonic activity. They try to get people alone and 228 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:03,880 to change their minds and twist the way that they think. 229 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:08,960 And there's also again, some evidence that they're there's 230 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,680 angels are strong. They're not. 231 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:18,280 Humans have their own strength, but angels are not humans. 232 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:22,040 They have supernatural strength and we can see that this isn't 233 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,480 just human strength. They're able to break chains and 234 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:30,560 shackles in pieces easily. Nobody could subdue these guys. 235 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:33,480 Maybe it took many people to try to subdue them. 236 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:38,920 Now, I used to be a a huge fan of this Christian group and I 237 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:41,800 can't remember what their name was, but there were these big 238 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:45,320 guys that would go around and do evangelism and then they would 239 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:48,960 like tear phone books in half and they would they would break 240 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,560 handcuffs and they'd break blocks of ice. 241 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:54,600 I mean, I don't know if you guys remember that. 242 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:57,160 That was so cool. That was why I think I first 243 00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,480 started wanting to get into lifting weights because I was 244 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:03,880 like, I want to do that. Like, I can lift heavy things 245 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:05,720 and break things for Jesus, you know? 246 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:11,960 But even they, as big and as strong as they are, were no 247 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,560 match. Human strength still is no match 248 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:19,319 for demonic strength. And we see that and then it goes 249 00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:21,560 on and it says night and day among the tombs and on the 250 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:23,760 mountains. He was always crying out and 251 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:29,320 cutting himself with stones. There's a certain amount of 252 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:36,000 depression and sadness and darkness and and loominess that 253 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:44,720 that goes with demonic activity. This, these beings are making 254 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:55,160 this man and these men so downcast, so sad, so depressed. 255 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:00,800 They're basically hopeless. They're outcasts of society. 256 00:18:06,100 --> 00:18:09,420 Mark 59 says Jesus asked him what's your name? 257 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:14,800 And he replied, my name is legion for we are many legion. 258 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:21,880 The word legion in in Greek or used in in in the Roman army 259 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:27,640 meant 6000 soldiers. So this guy or these guys could 260 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,840 have been possessed with at least 6000 spirits maybe, or 261 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:38,480 maybe just thousands. There was these guys were so far 262 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:45,240 from God, they are so lost, so isolated from society that 263 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,840 they're, this is a story of basically no hope. 264 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:53,640 We think about our situations and and we go through a little 265 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:57,440 bit of darkness here and there and probably demonic attack and 266 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:01,080 things like that. But these guys are so lost. 267 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:05,560 The question is, how did they get that far? 268 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:11,280 Well, how does a person get possessed? 269 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:17,240 It's not exactly clear. There are some signs in 270 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:21,240 Scripture about how a person becomes possessed. 271 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:23,960 Now, first I'll tell you that Christians cannot be possessed 272 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:29,000 by demons. We have the Spirit of God in us, 273 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:35,760 therefore evil spirits cannot come up and take possession and 274 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,840 residence. If we are God's own possession, 275 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:43,680 He will not share us with evil demonic beings. 276 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:51,040 But I will say that we can, as Christians, give over control to 277 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:53,760 demons. Now the unbelievers, people who 278 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,080 aren't possessed by God, who aren't children of God, that 279 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,600 don't have the Holy Spirit, they are open to attack. 280 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,720 And they can also make it even easier, inviting opening doors 281 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:10,320 by things like Pagan worship practices, sorcery and 282 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:14,960 witchcraft. Now, I think we, we like to 283 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,480 watch our, we have entertainment in Hollywood and we like to, you 284 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,960 know, read our novels and our stories about these types of 285 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:28,920 things, these Pagan magical incantations and things like 286 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,360 that. But it's a big deal to God. 287 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,320 He says that stuff is an abomination to him. 288 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:40,080 Any sort of supernatural activity outside of the out of 289 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:43,040 scripture that humans are trying to seek out. 290 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:48,760 That's not just some lie made-up or, you know, some kind of 291 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:57,800 innocent, innocent fun story. This is real stuff made-up by 292 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:07,400 demons in Ephesus and in these certain churches. 293 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:12,680 Paul in his sin lists, he'll list off these things like 294 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:20,200 sorcery and witchcraft, and then he goes on to talk about orgies 295 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:24,280 and different sexual immorality and things like that. 296 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:28,160 Drunkenness in Ephesians 5, it says don't be filled with wine, 297 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:30,920 but be filled with the spirit. Have you ever wondered why 298 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,520 that's there? The reason why he says that is 299 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:38,520 because in Pagan worship to these false gods, they used to 300 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:43,640 do all of this ritualistic dark magic. 301 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:50,040 Pagan in their worship practices like orgies, like getting drunk, 302 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:57,480 like getting high, like doing seances and things so that they 303 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:02,200 could reach their God or some kind of spirit and try to to get 304 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:06,480 some kind of a an experience or something like that. 305 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:11,320 And this was detestable to God. We then, as Christians should 306 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:16,320 not be doing these same things. We should be apart from this 307 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:18,400 right? We shouldn't, we shouldn't delve 308 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:22,040 into the same practices thinking it's it's fun or it's a hobby. 309 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:31,240 But also Even so, that's even unrepentant sin, though constant 310 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:35,760 unrepentant sin opens the door to more demonic activity in our 311 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:39,400 lives. False teaching sitting under 312 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:42,720 false teaching. Did you know that the Bible says 313 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:46,520 that demons are at the head of every false church? 314 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:53,800 That not these again, aren't just made-up things by men as as 315 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,280 as we're supposed to call out the men for what they are false 316 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:00,240 teachers who've made-up doctrines other than what's in 317 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:05,160 scripture or twisted scripture. But who, who is really behind 318 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,760 the twisting of of scripture and the making up of doctrines? 319 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:11,720 The Bible says there are doctrines of demons. 320 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:17,160 Behind every false church is a demon. 321 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,280 It's not just a man's made-up ideology, it's a demon. 322 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,880 This is spiritual. Satan has been doing this from 323 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:27,920 the beginning, twisting scripture in in the garden 324 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:31,240 saying God did not say but surely you can do this or that. 325 00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:35,600 Satan probably twist scripture more than he tries to get people 326 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:37,400 to deny that God is actually real. 327 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:45,320 First Corinthians 10/20, Paul says this to them. 328 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:49,320 He says no, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to 329 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:51,840 demons and not to God. I do not want you to be 330 00:23:51,960 --> 00:24:00,120 participants with demons. See, every false church has been 331 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:03,680 started by a demon. We need to be aware of that. 332 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:09,160 This is demonic activity. This is how they work now. 333 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:14,240 That's called demonology, by the way, the study of demons. 334 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:17,200 I know, I know we probably don't talk about it a lot in church, 335 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:20,160 but since we're walking through Scripture, we have to handle 336 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:23,280 this. Now, going back to our text, it 337 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:25,840 said, what have you to do with us? 338 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,040 O Son of God? Have you come to torment us 339 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:31,440 before the time? What time? 340 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,680 Well, Satan and the demons know that their time is short. 341 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:38,400 Did you know that they know the Bible? 342 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:43,240 They probably know the Bible better than you and me, word for 343 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:44,720 word. They've been around for 344 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:48,600 thousands of years, by the way, because these beings are 345 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:49,840 spiritual. They don't die. 346 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:54,400 They're roaming the earth, watching us, listening to our 347 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:58,480 sermons. They, by the way, when Jesus 348 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:01,560 comes on the scene, they know exactly who he is. 349 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:04,440 What have you to do with this, O Son of God? 350 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:07,680 Have you come to torment us before the time? 351 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:10,880 And if they know the whole Bible, then they know how it 352 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:13,960 ends in the Book of Revelation. They're going to be cast into 353 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:18,960 the lake of fire and be tormented forever and ever. 354 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:21,440 And so that's why they're saying, have you come to do that 355 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:24,960 before the time? And so they are mad and they're 356 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,160 in denial. They think somehow they can turn 357 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:31,920 this around, but they're also mad that they're rejected and 358 00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:33,760 they'll never get forgiveness for the sin. 359 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:38,120 Only God has forgiveness for humans, not for angels, which is 360 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:42,120 amazing in and of itself. Luke 831 says. 361 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:45,520 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the 362 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,800 abyss. Now, what's the abyss? 363 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,280 That's the bottomless pit in the Book of Revelation, as I've 364 00:25:52,280 --> 00:26:00,120 talked about, where Satan, the beast, demons will all be bound 365 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:03,080 and chained as Second Peter tells us. 366 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,960 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them 367 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:10,440 into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be 368 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:14,960 kept until the judgment or Jude and the angels who did not stay 369 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,400 with their within their own position of authority, but left 370 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:22,200 their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains under 371 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,680 gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day. 372 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:29,320 This is already happening. There are already angels in the 373 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,440 pit. Now that that or fallen angels. 374 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:38,760 That brings up a whole crazy, you know, question of, well, why 375 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,400 are there some demons that are roaming the earth and some that 376 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:44,600 are locked up in hell getting tormented already? 377 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,480 And that's going to be a really fun small group discussion. 378 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,560 I could bring up a lot of stuff. I mean, there's all kinds of 379 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,000 different scenarios that people believe, you know, the Nephilim 380 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:02,200 are involved with that. And so that's a fun one for you 381 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:06,040 to talk about or to go study into research. 382 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,480 But because I don't exactly know for sure the question, I'm not 383 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:13,600 going to teach a doctrine to you on that. 384 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,520 What we know though, is that Scripture says that there are 385 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:20,200 some locked up and there are some that roam the earth and we 386 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:26,720 need to be aware, and that it seems like demonic activity is 387 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:29,880 more noticeable in the unreached areas of the gospel. 388 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,560 Like if you look at when Jesus pops up on the seam, there's not 389 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,000 a lot to talk about demons in the Old Testament, although that 390 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:39,800 they were there, there was few and far between. 391 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:43,640 And then Jesus comes and he brings the Kingdom and they're 392 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,480 like, we don't like this. This is our world, this is our 393 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:48,720 earth. And Jesus was like, Nope, we're 394 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,400 spreading the Kingdom. We're coming to take ground. 395 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:56,440 And that's what we are doing. You might not see it, but 396 00:27:56,440 --> 00:28:01,200 spiritually we are taking ground back from the darkness, from the 397 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:03,240 evil forces. When we get up here and preach, 398 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:08,240 when we gather together, when we send out church plants, when we 399 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:13,240 send out missionaries, when we when we're praying, we are 400 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:19,600 taking ground for the gospel so that that's it. 401 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:23,120 The army of darkness does take its toll and we need to be aware 402 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:25,480 of it. But I wouldn't want to leave you 403 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:28,040 there. We need to talk about the power 404 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,760 of Jesus over these unclean spirits. 405 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:32,320 I don't want to leave you in fear. 406 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:36,120 I don't want you to be worried about it because you don't need 407 00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:43,040 to be as a Christian, it says. And behold, they cried out, What 408 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:45,640 have you to do with us, O Son of God, have you come here to 409 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:48,760 torment us before the time? Now a herd of many pigs was 410 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:50,160 feeding at some distance from them. 411 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:53,280 And the demons begged him, saying, If you cast us out, send 412 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:58,240 us away into the herd of pigs. And he said to them, Go. 413 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:00,560 So they came out and went into the pigs. 414 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:04,560 And behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into 415 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:06,440 the sea and drowned in the waters. 416 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:10,360 All right, let's handle this. First. 417 00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:15,800 We have to handle the fact as I said before the Jesus, the the 418 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:22,680 demons know exactly who Jesus was and is Mark 57 it says 419 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,840 crying out with a loud voice. He said, what have you do to do 420 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:28,560 with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? 421 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:31,720 I adjure you by God, do not torment me. 422 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,400 For he was saying to them, come out of the man, you unclean 423 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:40,000 spirit. They know that he's the Son of 424 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,680 the Most High God. Why did they know this? 425 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:49,560 Because they were angels with him in heaven before they were 426 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:53,240 cast out of heaven. They knew exactly who he was. 427 00:29:57,440 --> 00:29:59,960 Think about this last week, our story. 428 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:07,040 The disciples were going across the lake and Jesus calms the 429 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:10,160 wind and the waves and they ask this question, what sort of man 430 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:13,640 is this that can calm the wind and the waves? 431 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:17,920 But these guys as soon as he comes out onto the shore, said 432 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:24,880 Son of God most high, remember they know who he is. 433 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:29,280 That should help us or challenge us to want to know who he is 434 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:33,600 better than the demons. And this also proves that Jesus 435 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:37,600 is who he says he is. They are witnessing to the fact 436 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:41,160 of who he is. The disciples probably were 437 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,800 like, oh man, they passed the test a lot quicker than we did. 438 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:51,240 Second, he cast them out with one word. 439 00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:54,640 He just says, go. In our passage. 440 00:30:55,240 --> 00:31:00,000 He's not doing a bunch of moaning and wailing and fasting 441 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:10,040 and wordy chants, but he simply just says go and 3rd. 442 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:16,040 The bigger question maybe that's puzzling to us is why the pigs? 443 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:19,040 Why send them in the pigs? It's interesting today I went 444 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:22,560 back in the kitchen and I was like, man, I smell bacon and 445 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:26,040 it's actually ham. You know, we're eating pig 446 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:28,840 today. If you're interested for 447 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:32,960 fellowship at the end after this. 448 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:39,600 But why the pigs? Is there a correlation between 449 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:44,280 unclean spirits and unclean animals Maybe? 450 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,800 Do demons have to inhabit flesh of some kind? 451 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:54,360 We know that angels, you know, can make donkeys talk and things 452 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:55,320 like that. We know. 453 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:01,920 Do they have to be in some kind of flesh? 454 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,880 And then why did the pigs go over the Cliff into the water? 455 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,160 Was it to antagonize the herdsmen toward Jesus? 456 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,520 I'll tell you this. I don't actually know all the 457 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:17,640 answers to that question. Isn't this a great sermon? 458 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:19,080 You just say, hey, this says this. 459 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:22,880 I don't really know what it means, but there are things in 460 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:24,680 Scripture we just have to be honest about. 461 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:26,960 But here's what I will say. Here's some interesting thing. 462 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:31,240 When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, this is in 463 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:33,280 Matthew 12. We'll get to this in some 464 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:36,080 months. Talking about when a demon is 465 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:39,000 cast out of someone, it says this is Jesus. 466 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,200 When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes 467 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:47,480 through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 468 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:52,240 And then it goes on to say, and when it doesn't find its home, 469 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:56,920 it comes back to the house swept clean and brings more demons 470 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,320 back than when it first started. And the state of the person is 471 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:04,680 worse than the first. There's something interesting to 472 00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:07,760 that statement. Waterless places. 473 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:14,640 Which brings up again the idea of the flood and and God judging 474 00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:19,000 the earth and and why? Why do demons need to be in in 475 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,320 some kind of flesh? Can't they just roam the earth 476 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:27,640 as spirits? Again, I don't fully know but 477 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,640 it's just something to think of. I've I've heard stories of 478 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:36,160 exorcists, Catholic exorcists so you don't have to fully trust 479 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:38,880 it. But I've heard that they would, 480 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:44,120 before an exorcism, use a bowl of water and put it next to the 481 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:46,400 person that they were casting a demon out of. 482 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:49,880 And in order to make sure they knew the demon was cast out 483 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:54,080 there would waves would ripple across the water in the bowl. 484 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:56,680 Does that freak you out a little bit? 485 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:03,760 Let's think about it this way in the context of this story where 486 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,960 it's placed at going back a couple of verses. 487 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,560 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea so that the 488 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:12,719 boat was being swamped by the waves. 489 00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:17,360 Remember this storm, the storm that they went through? 490 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:19,199 Jesus was teaching them a lesson. 491 00:34:19,199 --> 00:34:24,480 Now we know God is sovereign, but many theologians would say 492 00:34:24,679 --> 00:34:29,719 it wasn't just that God caused the storm, but it was in fact 493 00:34:30,199 --> 00:34:36,639 possibly demonic activity that was bringing about the waves on 494 00:34:36,639 --> 00:34:39,000 the disciples to bring about fear. 495 00:34:39,199 --> 00:34:43,040 And God was using that as a teaching moment to strengthen 496 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:46,719 their faith because what do they meet on the other side? 497 00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:54,679 But these demon possessed men, something demonic activity that 498 00:34:54,679 --> 00:34:57,440 that stirred the waters possibly. 499 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:05,880 But again, remember this God is sovereign that he still is the 500 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:09,280 one allowing this. He's still the one allowing the 501 00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:11,480 the demonic possession in these men. 502 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:15,120 Knowing that this story was going to be written in 503 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:19,080 scripture. Do you remember these demons 504 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:21,720 have to get permission. We see that in this story. 505 00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:25,040 They're asking for permission to go into these pigs. 506 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:27,520 They couldn't just go on their own. 507 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:32,360 The sovereignty of God and his authority had to allow them to 508 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:40,000 go into the pigs in Job. In the 1st chapter or two of 509 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:46,600 Job, it has a story of Satan coming before God asking if he 510 00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:55,560 can test Job and God says yes. So I bring all of that up just 511 00:35:55,560 --> 00:36:00,800 to say don't think that you're not going to come up against 512 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:06,280 demonic activity in your life as a Christian, because it's most 513 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:09,800 likely going to happen. If it happened to the disciples 514 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:13,360 and it happened to Jesus, it's going to happen to you. 515 00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:17,440 But don't be afraid because Jesus has power over the unclean 516 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:20,880 spirits. They cannot inhabit you. 517 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:26,200 Please don't open the door to them by unrepentant sin or false 518 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:32,400 teaching or Pagan practices or even worldly ideology, But just 519 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:40,920 know that Jesus has the power over all of the darkness in the 520 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:44,640 world, and that power now resides in us with the Holy 521 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:46,120 Spirit. Though disciples didn't have the 522 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:48,840 Holy Spirit at the time, we have the Holy Spirit now. 523 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:52,920 And in first John 44, John reminds us, he says little 524 00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:55,320 children, you are from God. You have overcome them. 525 00:36:55,320 --> 00:37:01,360 For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 526 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:08,240 Don't cower back in fear when you come up against demonic 527 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:15,320 activity in your life. I was doing a marriage class. 528 00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:17,160 We're doing a marriage class in Sunday school. 529 00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:19,960 We recorded it. If you weren't here, we'll put 530 00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:23,880 it up on on Spotify and Apple podcast this week. 531 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:30,840 But I talked about how Satan, if he wants to get at Christians, 532 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:35,080 one of the greatest ways he does it is through our marriages and 533 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:42,000 through our families. If he wants to isolate us, make 534 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:46,080 us lonely and miserable and fight against one another and, 535 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:51,320 and instead of love, we have hate, he's going to be working 536 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:55,280 against us. We need to know that they exist 537 00:37:55,480 --> 00:38:00,880 and we need to know the power that we and Jesus has over them 538 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:03,120 because it is going to come up in our lives. 539 00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:09,200 And I think when we run into scriptures like this, we have to 540 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:11,720 handle it this way. We have to talk about it like, 541 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:13,520 oh, you don't have to worry about that. 542 00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:19,080 No, you don't need to worry about that, but you need to be 543 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:22,920 mindful and prepared. There are other scriptures that 544 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:29,840 talk about spiritual warfare that we must No, Jesus has the 545 00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:33,280 power over these unclean spirits. 546 00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:38,960 And it's like he's saying to the disciples, as he said, let's get 547 00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:40,880 in the boat, let's cross the water. 548 00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:44,400 And some scary time pops up and he says you need to have some 549 00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:46,120 faith. So I'm stealing the water. 550 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:49,840 Now here we are. And now I need to show you the 551 00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:53,720 enemy. I need to show you the enemy 552 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:59,640 personally and they, the disciples are actually doing 553 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:03,040 nothing in this entire story. It's all Jesus, by the way. 554 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:08,360 So don't worry about having to do weird incantations or chants 555 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:12,280 or, you know, saying all these kind of long things and, and 556 00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:19,160 prayers and stuff like that. Just allow this to strengthen 557 00:39:19,160 --> 00:39:23,400 your faith to know God is sovereign over all that happens. 558 00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:28,720 You just need to be prepared and to react with faith, just like 559 00:39:28,720 --> 00:39:32,920 last. And I tell you, this was a mercy 560 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:36,680 of Jesus to cast the demons into the pigs. 561 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:42,920 Not for the demons necessarily, He did give them permission, but 562 00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:47,160 this was the mercy for the herdsmen, the disciples, the 563 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:52,000 others in the area and the men themselves most importantly. 564 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:59,400 But nobody really got what happened, only these men, which 565 00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:04,240 we'll see how they reacted. But first we need to see how the 566 00:40:04,240 --> 00:40:08,760 people reacted. And they rejected Jesus for 567 00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:13,920 their possessions. The herdsmen fled going into the 568 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:15,760 city. They told everything, especially 569 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:17,440 what had happened to the demon possessed men. 570 00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:19,920 And behold, all the city came out to me, Jesus. 571 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:23,000 And when they saw him, they begged him to leave their 572 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:27,120 region. They don't notice the merciful 573 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:29,280 character of Jesus. They don't know that he's the 574 00:40:29,280 --> 00:40:32,000 Son of God. They might understand that he 575 00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:37,920 has power over evil, but they would rather have their evil 576 00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:42,680 than have Jesus. They're more comfortable with 577 00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:47,440 the evil presence in their lives and the way that they're living 578 00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:51,120 and their possessions, rather than have to face the reality 579 00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:56,360 that God, it's real and he's come down to start a war in this 580 00:40:56,360 --> 00:41:02,960 world with its ruler. Mark tells us that there were 581 00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:06,000 2000 pigs. By the way, that's a lot of 582 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:09,920 money. They didn't fear the Lord, 583 00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:14,360 rather they feared the loss of income and change of lifestyle. 584 00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:21,360 Now how about you? What if Jesus coming into your 585 00:41:21,360 --> 00:41:25,600 life meant that some evil and darkness was going to be 586 00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:31,240 exposed, dealt with, and it might change the way that you 587 00:41:31,240 --> 00:41:36,640 live forever? I think that's the reason why 588 00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:41,560 people reject Jesus because they're too in love with the 589 00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:46,520 lifestyle that they have right now, knowing full well there's a 590 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:50,720 lot of evil and sin going on. They're comfortable with that 591 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:55,360 rather than having to deal with that head on, rather than their 592 00:41:55,560 --> 00:42:00,560 their sin being exposed and them being confessing at first, being 593 00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:04,680 forgiven, repenting. Repenting is so hard for people. 594 00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:09,320 What the word repent is, is to change your mind, to turn from 595 00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:12,240 sin. And it's so hard, it's 596 00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:15,800 impossible. It has to be a miracle of God in 597 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:20,720 you because we are so stubborn and we're so idolatrous. 598 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:25,760 We love our lifestyles and our comfort, the way that we've 599 00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:29,000 designed it, the way that we've made it. 600 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:34,400 And we don't like it when when Jesus comes in and he says, I 601 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:39,920 want you to change this, this and this, and oh, by the way, 602 00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:43,880 I'm going to make it known about your sin here and your sin 603 00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:46,080 there. Did you know that's a grace of 604 00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:53,080 God when he does that? Some of you probably have been 605 00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:56,720 accused that you only tell the truth because he got caught. 606 00:42:57,080 --> 00:42:59,720 You ever heard that before? I've heard that before. 607 00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:04,600 But thank God I got caught. And that's the mercy of God 608 00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:12,400 because we're too stubborn to allow the light of Jesus to come 609 00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:17,120 in and just expose it all. They're rejecting that. 610 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:22,520 Brother and sister, if you get caught in a sin, count it a 611 00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:26,680 grace and a mercy of God that He's coming to change you from 612 00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:29,360 the inside out. You need accountability. 613 00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:35,320 Don't live in shame and guilt because of that. 614 00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:39,960 You know that Christ went and died on the cross for that sin 615 00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:42,840 specifically. Don't hold on to it in 616 00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:48,800 unrepentance because that's your comfort, because you're scared 617 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:50,920 of living a different life in a different way. 618 00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:57,840 Except Jesus, while he comes to expose the evil in your midst, 619 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:03,720 the evil around you. We go back two weeks when Jesus 620 00:44:03,720 --> 00:44:07,560 taught before they crossed the lake, he said to count the cost 621 00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:12,920 of following me too. Not just the sin, but but even 622 00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:15,600 the way of your your life. You know, you might have other 623 00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:19,720 things in higher priority than than Jesus that we had the 624 00:44:19,720 --> 00:44:22,760 teacher who said I'll go wherever you go and Jesus like, 625 00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:25,560 no, you won't. I don't even have a place to lay 626 00:44:25,560 --> 00:44:26,840 my head. You think you're going to come 627 00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:28,280 follow me? You're going to leave the 628 00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:32,400 comfort of your life to come do the hard work that I'm doing. 629 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:37,040 No, you won't. The other just the disciples 630 00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:40,080 said, oh, I got I got family things going on. 631 00:44:40,080 --> 00:44:42,320 My father died. I've got to go bury him. 632 00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:45,480 We got some things going on, then I'll come follow you Jesus. 633 00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:51,920 And Jesus was like the kingdom's more important than that. 634 00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:56,120 Now I know we talked about how it's, it's, I'm not, we're not 635 00:44:56,120 --> 00:44:59,640 saying that you can't go to a funeral and have closure with 636 00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:03,400 loved ones. But if anything comes in the way 637 00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:09,920 of, of you having Jesus as your Lord and really excuses to not 638 00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:17,880 worship, excuses to not follow him, then you're not ready to be 639 00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:20,680 a disciple. They weren't ready for Jesus to 640 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:26,760 turn their world upside down. Well, let's end the story by 641 00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:30,800 looking at how the demon possessed man or men respond to 642 00:45:30,840 --> 00:45:32,960 Jesus. And we'll have to go back to to 643 00:45:32,960 --> 00:45:37,440 Mark's story for that. Mark's, Mark's version, it says. 644 00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:41,240 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon possessed man, the one 645 00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:46,120 that had the legion sitting there clothed and in his right 646 00:45:46,120 --> 00:45:48,160 mind. And they were afraid. 647 00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:51,120 And those who had seen it described to them what had 648 00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:53,360 happened to the demon possessed men and to the pigs. 649 00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:56,440 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from the region. 650 00:45:57,960 --> 00:46:00,120 And as he was getting into the boat, the man who had been 651 00:46:00,120 --> 00:46:02,720 possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 652 00:46:03,120 --> 00:46:07,120 And he did not permit him, but said to him, go home to your 653 00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:10,560 friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and 654 00:46:10,560 --> 00:46:14,680 how he has had mercy on you. And he went away and began to 655 00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:17,640 proclaim in the Dicopoulos how much Jesus had done for him. 656 00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:21,120 And everyone marvelled. A couple things I just want to 657 00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:24,640 close with as we look at that he what he was clothed in, in his 658 00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:29,080 right mind, it was physically evident to the people around 659 00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:31,480 that this guy's life had changed. 660 00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:33,480 It said that he used to be naked in the tombs. 661 00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:37,680 Now he's clothed. He's not acting all wild and 662 00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:43,080 crazy anymore, but he's more calm and civil that it it was 663 00:46:43,080 --> 00:46:46,640 physically evident that he wasn't under control of the 664 00:46:46,640 --> 00:46:52,440 demons any longer. What would that look like to us 665 00:46:53,200 --> 00:47:01,080 happened to give up some of maybe even what sin has done in 666 00:47:01,080 --> 00:47:05,960 our lives, the way it's made us act, look, think and talk? 667 00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:14,880 Is is evil or is holiness represented in your life as a 668 00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:17,880 believer? Are you sitting? 669 00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:21,800 He's sitting at his feet. Are you in the the humble 670 00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:26,280 position to learn to sit at his feet and learn as this man is? 671 00:47:26,600 --> 00:47:30,720 Are you willing, do you desire to hear the teaching of Jesus? 672 00:47:32,360 --> 00:47:35,680 And then it says that he begged him that he might be with him. 673 00:47:37,840 --> 00:47:41,200 As I said, do you desire to be with Jesus? 674 00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:45,440 Do you want to follow him and forsake all else? 675 00:47:46,680 --> 00:47:50,080 And then Jesus tells him to go tell his testimony to his 676 00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:53,320 friends. And what does this guy do? 677 00:47:54,000 --> 00:47:57,520 He not only goes to tell his friends and his family about 678 00:47:57,520 --> 00:48:03,280 what Jesus has done, but he goes and tells all of the decopolis. 679 00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:05,480 That's 10 cities. That's what that word means. 680 00:48:05,480 --> 00:48:09,840 Decopolis, 10 cities. He goes into 10 cities and 681 00:48:09,840 --> 00:48:17,320 proclaims the mercy of the Lord Jesus on the worst cases of sin, 682 00:48:18,440 --> 00:48:22,960 that he is merciful and powerful and he wants to help people in 683 00:48:22,960 --> 00:48:28,480 their hopeless spiritual state. And he's powerful enough to do 684 00:48:28,480 --> 00:48:30,520 it. He's powerful enough to change 685 00:48:30,520 --> 00:48:37,560 people from the inside out. Would that be us? 686 00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:41,040 Have we experienced the mercy of Jesus? 687 00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:45,080 So much so that we want to go tell others. 688 00:48:46,600 --> 00:48:50,880 Let it not be the only truth that it's only those who are so 689 00:48:50,880 --> 00:48:55,320 far gone that see the mercy of Jesus and that they become 690 00:48:55,320 --> 00:48:59,800 radical. Let all of us not have to be 691 00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:03,920 demon possessed so that we would go to the Decapolis, that we 692 00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:07,720 would go to the 10 cities, that we would go tell of the mercy 693 00:49:07,720 --> 00:49:10,000 and grace. Because the reality is the 694 00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:15,400 picture of this demon possessed man or man is just like you and 695 00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:21,040 me. We were born and and and acted 696 00:49:21,040 --> 00:49:26,680 in a way that made us further from God than there was no one 697 00:49:26,680 --> 00:49:28,320 further from God than you and me. 698 00:49:28,320 --> 00:49:31,440 Why? Because we're all at equal 699 00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:35,360 footing or on equal level and ground at the foot of the cross. 700 00:49:35,360 --> 00:49:39,520 We we have nothing to bring Him and we are there's nothing that 701 00:49:39,520 --> 00:49:43,960 makes us worthy for him to accept us and love us. 702 00:49:44,520 --> 00:49:48,200 He is so far gone and Jesus could change this man. 703 00:49:48,360 --> 00:49:53,440 And you and I were these men. Maybe our sin didn't get that 704 00:49:53,440 --> 00:50:00,720 far, but just know that this is talking about the helpless state 705 00:50:00,720 --> 00:50:03,760 of depravity that all human beings are in. 706 00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:06,720 And by the way, this is all grace. 707 00:50:07,280 --> 00:50:12,280 The man did absolutely nothing. Did you see any part in this 708 00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:15,800 narrative or any of the narratives where the man spoke 709 00:50:15,800 --> 00:50:19,280 up and said, please help me, Jesus, please save me. 710 00:50:19,440 --> 00:50:22,240 I'll be a better person. I'll do this, I'll do that. 711 00:50:22,480 --> 00:50:25,360 Did you hear him pray a prayer? Did you hear that he went to 712 00:50:25,360 --> 00:50:27,440 church? He didn't do a single thing. 713 00:50:27,720 --> 00:50:31,320 It was all Jesus. Jesus comes and says I'm going 714 00:50:31,320 --> 00:50:35,840 to set this guy free because I have chosen him and I'm going to 715 00:50:35,840 --> 00:50:41,520 use him as a banner and billboard to go tell people of 716 00:50:41,520 --> 00:50:49,640 my mercy and my grace and we are the representatives of Jesus as 717 00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:53,240 well. Would we go do that? 718 00:50:54,280 --> 00:50:57,160 Jesus left this town although they all rejected him. 719 00:50:58,240 --> 00:51:00,160 Jesus even has mercy on this town. 720 00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:05,440 Why? Because they left them, not 721 00:51:06,320 --> 00:51:09,400 these maniacs any longer to where that nobody could pass by. 722 00:51:09,400 --> 00:51:13,600 But he left them a radical missionary that was going to be 723 00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:17,680 bold enough to tell them time and time again for the rest of 724 00:51:17,680 --> 00:51:20,400 his life that Jesus was merciful. 725 00:51:21,960 --> 00:51:24,800 Would we do that? Are you a missionary to your 726 00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:27,920 home? To your workplace, to your 727 00:51:27,920 --> 00:51:34,040 neighborhood. Let us be representative of 728 00:51:34,040 --> 00:51:38,360 Jesus like this guy was. Let's pray, Father. 729 00:51:38,920 --> 00:51:43,440 Thank you, Lord, for sharing with us. 730 00:51:45,520 --> 00:51:48,320 Just a wonderful story, a picture of Your grace, Your 731 00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:56,320 mercy, your love over even the worst cases of sin and evil. 732 00:51:57,480 --> 00:52:01,200 You've come to cleanse and cast out evil from this earth. 733 00:52:01,200 --> 00:52:04,640 And I thank you, God for all those who are are saved. 734 00:52:04,640 --> 00:52:06,240 Father, you have done that in US. 735 00:52:06,240 --> 00:52:09,960 You've made us holy. You've washed us clean and 736 00:52:09,960 --> 00:52:13,600 you've put your spirit in US. Help us to have discernment for 737 00:52:13,600 --> 00:52:17,280 the evil out there in the world, to have faith, to trust you 738 00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:23,160 through it. And I pray, Lord, help us, help 739 00:52:23,160 --> 00:52:27,000 us God, to do your will to go share what you've already done 740 00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:31,160 in our lives, how you've changed us from the Kingdom of darkness 741 00:52:31,160 --> 00:52:34,240 and transferred us into the Kingdom of your son. 742 00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:35,960 I pray in Jesus name, Amen.