WEBVTT 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:06.540 You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:09.359 podcast, a ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:12.099 Church in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:14.160 Merrick, and it's our prayer that this message 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.500 strengthens your faith and draws you closer to 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:21.640 Christ. Let's dive in. Pretty famous passage. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:28.940 And I'm not going to get in depth on demonology, 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:32.219 the study of demons, OK? If you would like for 00:00:32.219 --> 00:00:35.390 me to do more, of an in -depth study, like do 00:00:35.390 --> 00:00:38.770 a podcast or something, a series on the supernatural, 00:00:38.890 --> 00:00:41.429 I'd be more than happy to do that. Cause I have 00:00:41.429 --> 00:00:43.530 a feeling that today, just the little bit that 00:00:43.530 --> 00:00:46.590 I'm gonna give you will probably spark some questions. 00:00:47.090 --> 00:00:49.890 But if you have more, if you have a question 00:00:49.890 --> 00:00:53.450 about this particular passage, I've also done 00:00:53.450 --> 00:00:57.270 a podcast on this about why the demons asked 00:00:57.270 --> 00:01:00.149 to go into pigs and all of those things. So you 00:01:00.149 --> 00:01:02.909 can go back and listen to that, because I'm not 00:01:02.909 --> 00:01:04.329 going to go super in depth on that. I'm going 00:01:04.329 --> 00:01:07.430 to be talking about something else in regards 00:01:07.430 --> 00:01:10.609 to this passage. So, but the title of my sermon 00:01:10.609 --> 00:01:14.530 today is The Voices That Beg. And the big idea 00:01:14.530 --> 00:01:16.290 that I'm going to kind of drive home is, regardless 00:01:16.290 --> 00:01:19.689 of the voices that plead for our attention, Jesus 00:01:19.689 --> 00:01:22.510 offers true freedom and belonging, calling us 00:01:22.510 --> 00:01:25.049 to follow him and share our testimony with others. 00:01:27.849 --> 00:01:32.890 How many of you guys have encountered evil? Like, 00:01:33.090 --> 00:01:36.450 true legit evil. And I'm not just talking about 00:01:36.450 --> 00:01:40.250 like, oh yeah, well, you know, I've experienced 00:01:40.250 --> 00:01:44.049 something here or there. Like you saw, if you've 00:01:44.049 --> 00:01:45.810 been on missions trips before, there's been some 00:01:45.810 --> 00:01:47.650 crazy things. A lot of my missionary friends, 00:01:47.670 --> 00:01:51.590 they will tell you that there is no such thing 00:01:51.590 --> 00:01:54.230 as someone who does not believe in the supernatural 00:01:54.230 --> 00:01:56.829 once you've gone on a missions trip to someplace 00:01:56.829 --> 00:02:00.709 that's... with witch doctors and crazy demonic 00:02:00.709 --> 00:02:06.370 things. And so if you are here and you do not 00:02:06.370 --> 00:02:12.250 believe in demons or angels, I would hope that 00:02:12.250 --> 00:02:14.650 by the end of this you would, but the other thing 00:02:14.650 --> 00:02:16.490 is, is if you call yourself a Christian and do 00:02:16.490 --> 00:02:22.270 not believe in demons, I would consider you what 00:02:22.270 --> 00:02:25.250 I would call a Christian atheist, materialist, 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:28.259 You do not believe in the supernatural. And here's 00:02:28.259 --> 00:02:33.659 the deal. Everything in this book is supernatural. 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:39.020 Like the God that we serve is supernatural. And 00:02:39.020 --> 00:02:42.919 so what we're going to read today really happened. 00:02:43.759 --> 00:02:46.099 And I'm going to give you a personal story. And 00:02:46.099 --> 00:02:51.300 I don't share this story to make much of evil. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:56.080 I don't share this story. in a way that is meant 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:01.580 to stir up fear or be hyperbolic in any way. 00:03:01.580 --> 00:03:03.800 I'm going to tell it to you exactly as it happened 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:07.639 to me. And unfortunately, my wife is not here, 00:03:07.639 --> 00:03:10.080 so I can be as crazy with this story as I want 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:13.680 to be. If you were here last week, she was telling 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:15.659 a story. She's like, that's not how that happened. 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:17.500 And I'm like, that's exactly how I remember it 00:03:17.500 --> 00:03:20.340 happened. But she has heard me tell this story 00:03:20.340 --> 00:03:23.319 many times. She was there. You can confirm with 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:26.300 her next week that this really happened. But 00:03:26.300 --> 00:03:28.479 when I was about 22 years old, Tracy and I were 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:30.639 newly married. She was pregnant with Noah at 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:34.379 this time. And we did ministry. My first ever 00:03:34.379 --> 00:03:39.099 ministry experience was in this very low income 00:03:39.099 --> 00:03:46.800 area, very, very rough area. And if you're white, 00:03:47.379 --> 00:03:50.500 you do not want to be out past a certain time. 00:03:50.500 --> 00:03:52.849 And that's not just Pastor Logan saying that 00:03:52.849 --> 00:03:55.189 like the kids in my youth group would say, Pastor 00:03:55.189 --> 00:03:57.069 Logan, you and Miss Tracy should probably get 00:03:57.069 --> 00:04:00.449 home. It's getting dark. And so this is a really, 00:04:00.490 --> 00:04:03.909 really rough area. And I will never forget that 00:04:03.909 --> 00:04:05.949 our pastor, his name was Pastor Music, and he 00:04:05.949 --> 00:04:10.250 was literally this tall little bitty guy. And 00:04:10.250 --> 00:04:11.849 one day he was closing out his sermon and he 00:04:11.849 --> 00:04:15.030 said, I just I just feel this this need to just 00:04:15.030 --> 00:04:17.509 ask everybody to come to the front and let's 00:04:17.509 --> 00:04:20.410 just hold hands and just in the service and prayer. 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:22.980 Like he wasn't trying to be weird or anything. 00:04:23.079 --> 00:04:24.180 He was just like, I just feel like we should 00:04:24.180 --> 00:04:26.019 probably just, let's all just end in prayer. 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:30.459 Well, this lady had come in, real small woman 00:04:30.459 --> 00:04:34.980 and she had stringy long hair and she had come 00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:38.259 in the back and never seen her before. Nobody 00:04:38.259 --> 00:04:40.220 had ever seen her before. She's sitting in the 00:04:40.220 --> 00:04:43.040 back. Well, he has everybody to come forward. 00:04:43.100 --> 00:04:44.879 So everybody comes forward. We all get in a circle 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:46.639 and we're holding hands and he just starts praying 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:50.920 and I will never forget. So I'm on this side 00:04:50.920 --> 00:04:54.060 of the church and I'm holding Tracy's hand and 00:04:54.060 --> 00:04:56.480 holding somebody else's hand over here and the 00:04:56.480 --> 00:05:00.259 lady is directly across from me and he just starts 00:05:00.259 --> 00:05:05.920 praying and she lets out this crazy shriek like 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:08.920 something I've never heard before and still haven't 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:11.680 to this day and she comes tearing across the 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:18.800 circle. Well, my first instinct was to just rare 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:20.519 up I was just going to punch this lady because 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:24.740 she's coming right at Tracy and I. And Pastor 00:05:24.740 --> 00:05:28.860 Music, he he just goes, because I told you he's 00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:31.100 sure he gets right in between us and he just 00:05:31.100 --> 00:05:33.100 throws up his Bible and starts speaking in Jesus 00:05:33.100 --> 00:05:37.319 name. And I kid you not, she went face first 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:39.680 onto the ground and she's pulling her hair out 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:42.600 and she's shrieking. And Pastor Music says, turn 00:05:42.600 --> 00:05:44.899 her over, turn her over. So all these ushers 00:05:44.899 --> 00:05:47.540 and men just start flipping her over. And he 00:05:47.540 --> 00:05:50.800 starts like. and like talking to her talking 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:54.040 to these demons and she looks at me because I'm 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:55.800 on like I'm like I've never seen anything like 00:05:55.800 --> 00:05:58.980 this in my life okay so I'm just like what is 00:05:58.980 --> 00:06:01.139 going on and I'll never forget she turns and 00:06:01.139 --> 00:06:08.240 she looks at me true true completely honest and 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:11.139 it was like just this like dead darkness in her 00:06:11.139 --> 00:06:13.879 eyes and this chill went down my spine and I 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:16.800 looked at Tracy and I go let's leave and so we 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:20.149 just left And I slept with the light on that 00:06:20.149 --> 00:06:22.949 night because it scared the living daylights 00:06:22.949 --> 00:06:27.029 out of me. And because I was like, I up until 00:06:27.029 --> 00:06:29.009 that point, like I said, never had experienced 00:06:29.009 --> 00:06:30.850 anything supernatural, never seen anything like 00:06:30.850 --> 00:06:35.370 that. And Pastor Music was he gave me a hard 00:06:35.370 --> 00:06:38.649 time and he just said, welcome to what ministry 00:06:38.649 --> 00:06:41.389 really looks like. It doesn't just look like 00:06:41.389 --> 00:06:44.189 suburbia when you're not in suburbia, you know. 00:06:44.589 --> 00:06:48.589 And so. Demons are real, but I tell you that 00:06:48.589 --> 00:06:52.069 story not to be like, oh, this was so crazy and 00:06:52.069 --> 00:06:54.689 scary. I tell you that to say like, they're very 00:06:54.689 --> 00:06:57.490 real, they are powerful, but the beautiful thing 00:06:57.490 --> 00:07:00.129 is this, as we were about to see, Jesus has conquered 00:07:00.129 --> 00:07:02.589 all of it. And so we don't have to be afraid 00:07:02.589 --> 00:07:07.410 of it. And so the spiritual world is not a metaphor 00:07:07.410 --> 00:07:10.990 and the Bible is not speaking in symbolic language 00:07:10.990 --> 00:07:14.139 when it talks about evil. You don't get to claim 00:07:14.139 --> 00:07:16.720 the God of scripture and then explain away the 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:19.319 supernatural parts that make you uncomfortable. 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:23.699 It's one or the other. And so hear me clearly, 00:07:23.699 --> 00:07:27.699 this isn't about fear because what I saw in that 00:07:27.699 --> 00:07:30.439 moment and what we're going to see in this passage 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:32.800 today, no matter how dark it gets, no matter 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:36.399 how real evil is, it is never equal to Christ 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:39.439 and it is never a rival to him. It is subject 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:42.250 to him. And so in the gospel of Mark chapter 00:07:42.250 --> 00:07:45.069 five, we are introduced to a man who didn't just 00:07:45.069 --> 00:07:48.110 have a brush with evil, he lived in it. A man 00:07:48.110 --> 00:07:51.889 possessed not by one demon, but by a legion, 00:07:52.329 --> 00:07:55.350 thousands of demons, and a man completely overtaken, 00:07:55.589 --> 00:07:58.310 isolated, and hopeless. And yet when Jesus steps 00:07:58.310 --> 00:08:01.889 onto the scene, everything changes. And what's 00:08:01.889 --> 00:08:04.170 fascinating about this story isn't just the presence 00:08:04.170 --> 00:08:07.149 of evil, it's how everything responds to Jesus. 00:08:07.810 --> 00:08:09.850 Because as we're gonna see in this passage, we're 00:08:09.850 --> 00:08:12.509 gonna see, the reason why I titled it, The Voices 00:08:12.509 --> 00:08:14.949 That Beg, we're gonna see all these different 00:08:14.949 --> 00:08:17.649 people and things that are begging. So we're 00:08:17.649 --> 00:08:19.430 gonna see darkness that begs, we're gonna see 00:08:19.430 --> 00:08:21.410 demons that beg, we're gonna see people that 00:08:21.410 --> 00:08:23.790 beg, and then at the end, we will see a redeemed 00:08:23.790 --> 00:08:26.730 man that begs. So the question is not whether 00:08:26.730 --> 00:08:29.829 Jesus has authority, the question is, when he 00:08:29.829 --> 00:08:33.029 shows up, what will you beg him for? So let's 00:08:33.029 --> 00:08:36.299 go ahead and read. Mark chapter five, verses 00:08:36.299 --> 00:08:40.779 one through 20. If you do not have a Bible, there's 00:08:40.779 --> 00:08:45.240 one in the back for you. There are two handsome 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:46.980 young guys sitting back there that would love 00:08:46.980 --> 00:08:51.860 to give you a Bible. Talking about my sons. So 00:08:51.860 --> 00:08:54.240 I don't just call out other men being handsome. 00:08:56.519 --> 00:08:58.919 Or you can check it out right up here. So here 00:08:58.919 --> 00:09:01.980 we go. They came to the other side of the sea, 00:09:01.980 --> 00:09:05.190 they being Jesus and the disciples. to the country 00:09:05.190 --> 00:09:08.950 of Jusarnas. And when Jesus had stepped out of 00:09:08.950 --> 00:09:13.409 the boat, immediately there met him out of the 00:09:13.409 --> 00:09:16.789 tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived 00:09:16.789 --> 00:09:23.230 among the tombs and no one could bind him anymore, 00:09:23.370 --> 00:09:26.509 not even with a chain. For he had often been 00:09:26.509 --> 00:09:28.970 bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched 00:09:28.970 --> 00:09:31.610 the chains apart and he broke the shackles in 00:09:31.610 --> 00:09:35.039 pieces. no one had the strength to subdue him. 00:09:35.580 --> 00:09:39.360 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:41.720 he was always crying out and cutting himself 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:44.820 with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, 00:09:44.940 --> 00:09:48.720 he ran and fell down before him. And crying out 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:51.700 in a loud voice, he said, what have you to do 00:09:51.700 --> 00:09:56.220 with me, Jesus, son of the most high God? I assure 00:09:56.220 --> 00:10:00.080 you that by God, do not torment me. For he was 00:10:00.080 --> 00:10:02.379 saying to him, come out of the man, you unclean 00:10:02.379 --> 00:10:05.639 spirit. And Jesus asked him, what is your name? 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:09.580 And he replied, my name is Legion, for we are 00:10:09.580 --> 00:10:12.820 many. Now I imagine in this moment, by the way, 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:16.740 that because there are thousands of demons, I 00:10:16.740 --> 00:10:18.840 think that at that moment, they all spoke at 00:10:18.840 --> 00:10:25.879 one time. That'd be a creepy scene. And he begged 00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:28.639 him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 00:10:28.970 --> 00:10:31.830 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on 00:10:31.830 --> 00:10:34.029 the hillside, and they begged him saying, send 00:10:34.029 --> 00:10:36.750 us to the pigs. Let us enter them. So he gave 00:10:36.750 --> 00:10:38.690 them permission. You should probably highlight 00:10:38.690 --> 00:10:43.009 that gave them permission. And the unclean spirits 00:10:43.009 --> 00:10:46.110 came out and entered the pigs in the herd numbering 00:10:46.110 --> 00:10:50.610 about 2000, rushed down the steep bank into the 00:10:50.610 --> 00:10:53.570 sea and drowned in the sea. And the herdsman 00:10:53.570 --> 00:10:56.889 fled and told it the city and the country and 00:10:56.889 --> 00:11:00.519 in the country. And people came. to see what 00:11:00.519 --> 00:11:02.860 had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw 00:11:02.860 --> 00:11:05.080 the demon -possessed man, the one who had the 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:07.299 legion sitting there clothed and in his right 00:11:07.299 --> 00:11:10.559 mind, and they were afraid. And those who had 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:13.639 seen it described to them what had happened to 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:15.220 the demon -possessed man and to the pigs, and 00:11:15.220 --> 00:11:18.740 they began to beg Jesus to depart from the region. 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:22.259 As he was getting out of the boat or into the 00:11:22.259 --> 00:11:24.639 boat, the man who had been possessed with demons 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:28.250 begged him that he might be with him. And he 00:11:28.250 --> 00:11:32.509 did not permit him, but said, go home to your 00:11:32.509 --> 00:11:34.750 friends and tell them how much the Lord has done 00:11:34.750 --> 00:11:39.029 for you and how he has had mercy on you. And 00:11:39.029 --> 00:11:42.250 he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis 00:11:42.250 --> 00:11:45.269 how much Jesus had done for him and everyone 00:11:45.269 --> 00:11:48.610 marveled. So do you see why I titled this The 00:11:48.610 --> 00:11:51.549 Voices That Beg? Hopefully you saw the constant 00:11:51.549 --> 00:11:54.870 repeating word beg. So if you're taking notes. 00:11:55.529 --> 00:12:02.330 Our very first point is darkness that begs. So 00:12:02.330 --> 00:12:05.789 when we look at verses one through five, we see 00:12:05.789 --> 00:12:09.129 Jesus steps onto the shore and he doesn't get 00:12:09.129 --> 00:12:11.370 met with the crowd, but he gets met by this man. 00:12:13.129 --> 00:12:15.269 And this man is the picture of what darkness 00:12:15.269 --> 00:12:18.669 does when it takes hold of a life. The text tells 00:12:18.669 --> 00:12:22.029 us that he lives among the tombs. He doesn't 00:12:22.029 --> 00:12:28.299 live near them. He lives literally in them. This 00:12:28.299 --> 00:12:31.740 is a man who has been completely pushed out of 00:12:31.740 --> 00:12:34.259 society, and he's not just struggling, he's been 00:12:34.259 --> 00:12:37.559 removed. He's isolated. He is forgotten in a 00:12:37.559 --> 00:12:40.039 way that is no one wants to be friends. He can't 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:44.879 be forgotten completely because he terrorizes 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:50.940 an entire town night and day. He is left to exist 00:12:50.940 --> 00:12:54.799 among the dead. And that's where darkness wants 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:59.100 you and I. It wants you and I alone. Because 00:12:59.100 --> 00:13:01.500 if it can get you isolated, it doesn't even need 00:13:01.500 --> 00:13:05.519 to shout anymore. It can just whisper. And in 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:10.100 isolation, those whispers get loud. How many 00:13:10.100 --> 00:13:11.700 of you guys have ever heard someone say, I don't 00:13:11.700 --> 00:13:14.879 need the church. I can be a Christian on my own. 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:23.090 That's a lie from darkness. Hebrews is very clear 00:13:23.090 --> 00:13:26.470 that we need the church. We need each other. 00:13:27.110 --> 00:13:29.409 We need to cheer each other on when it gets hard, 00:13:29.669 --> 00:13:33.190 when we face hard things. But if it can get you 00:13:33.190 --> 00:13:35.710 isolated and believing that you can do this all 00:13:35.710 --> 00:13:37.649 on your own, here are the things that might sound 00:13:37.649 --> 00:13:40.210 familiar. You're too far gone. He can't save 00:13:40.210 --> 00:13:46.370 you now. No one wants you. This is just who you 00:13:46.370 --> 00:13:50.429 are now. Accept it. There's no way out of this. 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:53.879 And the longer you sit in that place, the more 00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:57.799 those lies start to sound like truth. This man 00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:01.559 wasn't just isolated, he was tormented. The Bible 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:03.639 says he was crying out night and day, cutting 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:06.419 himself with stones. And there's no peace here. 00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:14.799 There's no rest, just constant anguish. But don't 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:17.700 miss the fact that it says that essentially people 00:14:17.700 --> 00:14:20.690 tried to help him. They bound him with chains. 00:14:20.690 --> 00:14:22.769 They tried to restrain him, but nothing worked. 00:14:22.929 --> 00:14:25.169 He would just break them apart. He'd be like, 00:14:25.169 --> 00:14:27.090 well, wouldn't they just be trying to bind him 00:14:27.090 --> 00:14:30.610 because he terrorized them? Sure, yes, but also 00:14:30.610 --> 00:14:32.690 he's cutting himself open. And so they're probably 00:14:32.690 --> 00:14:38.370 trying to also help him. But eventually they 00:14:38.370 --> 00:14:40.669 all stopped trying and they just left him out 00:14:40.669 --> 00:14:43.929 there. And that's what darkness does. It isolates 00:14:43.929 --> 00:14:46.409 you, it torments you, and then convinces everyone 00:14:46.409 --> 00:14:50.149 else to keep their distance. But here's what 00:14:50.149 --> 00:14:52.309 I want you to see while everyone else pushed 00:14:52.309 --> 00:14:59.009 him away. What does Jesus do? He moves in. He 00:14:59.009 --> 00:15:02.690 invades it. This man didn't clean himself up 00:15:02.690 --> 00:15:07.289 first. He didn't get free first. He didn't take 00:15:07.289 --> 00:15:12.490 a step. He just comes rushing to Jesus and Jesus 00:15:12.490 --> 00:15:16.929 steps towards him. Jesus steps into his world. 00:15:17.819 --> 00:15:19.620 And some of you need to hear this because you 00:15:19.620 --> 00:15:22.399 believe that the lie that you've gone too far, 00:15:22.500 --> 00:15:24.240 that you're too messed up, that you're too buried 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:26.419 in your sin or you're too trapped in your thoughts. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:30.220 And Jesus is not repelled by your darkness. He 00:15:30.220 --> 00:15:34.840 actually walks straight into it. I don't want 00:15:34.840 --> 00:15:36.980 you guys to get scared. I'm not about to read 00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:41.700 this entire book, okay? But I've referenced this 00:15:41.700 --> 00:15:45.649 story before. and it's one of my favorite books 00:15:45.649 --> 00:15:48.570 by C .S. Lewis called The Great Divorce. And 00:15:48.570 --> 00:15:50.870 I want to read to you guys a portion because 00:15:50.870 --> 00:15:53.370 I think it gives a perfect example of what darkness 00:15:53.370 --> 00:15:56.970 does to us when we're isolated. And so in The 00:15:56.970 --> 00:16:00.490 Great Divorce, what it's about is you've got 00:16:00.490 --> 00:16:03.250 people that are in hell, they get on a bus and 00:16:03.250 --> 00:16:06.309 they go to heaven. And they have this opportunity 00:16:06.309 --> 00:16:10.070 in heaven to be redeemed. Now, Pastor Logan, 00:16:10.070 --> 00:16:11.710 can people be redeemed if they're already in 00:16:11.710 --> 00:16:14.429 hell? No, that's not, don't get caught up in 00:16:14.429 --> 00:16:16.210 that. What you should get caught up in is how 00:16:16.210 --> 00:16:19.690 people still, in the story, people still reject 00:16:19.690 --> 00:16:24.330 heaven, even when they go there. And so here's 00:16:24.330 --> 00:16:28.970 this, what the author, cause you're getting a 00:16:28.970 --> 00:16:31.929 firsthand experience from this guy. And so he 00:16:31.929 --> 00:16:35.340 says, everyone looks like ghosts, okay? So here 00:16:35.340 --> 00:16:38.120 he's observing a ghost, one of the spirits from 00:16:38.120 --> 00:16:42.620 hell that goes into heaven. And this is what 00:16:42.620 --> 00:16:44.539 this is what takes place. I'm just going to read 00:16:44.539 --> 00:16:50.120 a portion of it. Also soon said a voice and the 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:52.419 speaker was more or less human in shape, but 00:16:52.419 --> 00:16:54.899 larger than a man and so bright that I could 00:16:54.899 --> 00:16:58.100 hardly look at him. His presence smote on my 00:16:58.100 --> 00:17:01.779 eyes and my body, too. For there was heat coming 00:17:01.779 --> 00:17:04.619 off from him as well as light. This is an angel. 00:17:05.700 --> 00:17:07.859 Like the morning sun at the beginning of a tyrannous 00:17:07.859 --> 00:17:11.119 summer day. Yes, I'm off, said the ghost. Thanks 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:13.779 for all your hospitality, but it's no good, you 00:17:13.779 --> 00:17:17.819 see. I told this little chap and here he indicated 00:17:17.819 --> 00:17:21.380 there was a lizard on his shoulder. He had to 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:24.740 be quiet if he came, but instead he did not. 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:27.920 And so, of course, his stuff won't do here. And 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:31.519 I realized that he won't stop. I'll just have 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:37.609 to go home. Listen to what the angel says. Would 00:17:37.609 --> 00:17:44.789 you like for me to quiet him? Of course I would, 00:17:44.849 --> 00:17:47.230 said the ghost. Then I will kill him, said the 00:17:47.230 --> 00:17:50.609 angel. Take a step forward. Oh, ah, look out. 00:17:50.769 --> 00:17:53.029 You're burning me. Keep away, said the ghost, 00:17:53.150 --> 00:17:58.109 retreating. Don't you want him killed? You didn't 00:17:58.109 --> 00:18:00.650 say anything about killing him at first. I hardly 00:18:00.650 --> 00:18:03.170 meant to bother you with anything so drastic 00:18:03.170 --> 00:18:06.380 as that. It's the only way, said the angel, whose 00:18:06.380 --> 00:18:08.599 burning hands were now very close to the lizard. 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:12.599 Shall I kill it? Well, that's a further question. 00:18:12.660 --> 00:18:14.720 I'm quite open to consider it, but it's a new 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:17.559 point, isn't it? I mean, for the moment, I was 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:20.240 only thinking about silencing it because it's 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.420 up here. Well, it's to be damned embarrassing. 00:18:24.759 --> 00:18:27.900 May I kill it? Well, there's time to discuss 00:18:27.900 --> 00:18:32.410 that later. There's no time. May I kill it? Please, 00:18:32.410 --> 00:18:34.789 I never meant to be such a nuisance. Please, 00:18:34.789 --> 00:18:37.390 really don't bother. Look, it's going to sleep. 00:18:37.509 --> 00:18:40.589 It's on its own accord. I'm sure it'll all be 00:18:40.589 --> 00:18:43.930 fine now. Thanks ever so much. May I kill it. 00:18:44.250 --> 00:18:46.730 And this keeps going on. This keeps going on 00:18:46.730 --> 00:18:49.089 back and forth, back and forth until we get to 00:18:49.089 --> 00:18:53.750 this one part. The angel's hands were almost 00:18:53.750 --> 00:18:56.130 close to the lizard, but not quite. Then the 00:18:56.130 --> 00:18:59.250 lizard began chattering to the ghost so loud 00:18:59.250 --> 00:19:02.859 that even I could hear what it was saying. Be 00:19:02.859 --> 00:19:06.319 careful, it said. He can do what he says. He 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:09.200 can kill me. One fatal word from you, and he 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:12.259 will. Then you will be without me forever and 00:19:12.259 --> 00:19:16.480 ever. It's not natural. How could you live? You'd 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:19.200 be the only sort of ghost, not a real man as 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:23.079 you are now. He doesn't understand. He's only 00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:27.279 a cold -blooded, less abstract thing. It may 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:31.299 be natural for him, but it isn't for us. Yes, 00:19:31.380 --> 00:19:33.920 yes. I know that there are no real pleasures 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:36.440 now, only dreams, but aren't they better than 00:19:36.440 --> 00:19:40.019 nothing? And I'll be so good, I admit, I've sometimes 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:42.819 gone too far in the past, but I promise I won't 00:19:42.819 --> 00:19:45.259 do it again. I'll give you nothing but really 00:19:45.259 --> 00:19:48.500 nice dreams, all sweet and fresh and almost innocent. 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:52.099 You might say quite innocent." Then the angel 00:19:52.099 --> 00:19:56.440 speaks up, have I permission? I know it will 00:19:56.440 --> 00:19:59.759 kill me, the man responds. It won't. Let's suppose 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:04.599 it did. You're right. It would be better to be 00:20:04.599 --> 00:20:06.980 dead than to live with this creature. Then may 00:20:06.980 --> 00:20:13.279 I blast you, go on, get it over with, do what 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:16.319 you like, bellowed the ghost, but ended up whimpering, 00:20:16.740 --> 00:20:20.119 God help me, God help me. And the story goes 00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:25.359 on where the angel does kill the lizard, this 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:29.900 demon, and the man becomes free. and he goes 00:20:29.900 --> 00:20:33.460 from being a ghost to being fully a man in heaven. 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:39.319 So as the man hesitates, he makes all of these 00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:42.680 excuses. Did you notice that? But what about, 00:20:42.700 --> 00:20:45.940 but what about? And the darkness, the lizard 00:20:45.940 --> 00:20:48.160 begins to speak to him, but if you don't have 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:51.759 me anymore, right? But the man just, not yet, 00:20:51.819 --> 00:20:54.480 maybe later, don't hurt me. What will I be without 00:20:54.480 --> 00:21:00.819 it? That's how darkness works. It convinces you 00:21:00.819 --> 00:21:03.980 that the very thing that's destroying you is 00:21:03.980 --> 00:21:08.160 something you can't live without. And as long 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:12.000 as you believe that, you stay in the tombs, alone, 00:21:12.500 --> 00:21:15.819 tormented, listening to lies. But the moment 00:21:15.819 --> 00:21:18.240 Jesus shows up and everything begins to change, 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:20.099 you can write this down. I'll have it right up 00:21:20.099 --> 00:21:25.079 here. Because darkness may beg, but it never 00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:31.250 wins when Christ steps in, amen. Point number 00:21:31.250 --> 00:21:38.009 two, demons that beg. In verses six through 10, 00:21:38.009 --> 00:21:41.529 we see the story shifts. The man who is isolated, 00:21:41.769 --> 00:21:43.990 tormented, living among the tombs, he sees Jesus 00:21:43.990 --> 00:21:47.130 from a distance and he runs towards him. But 00:21:47.130 --> 00:21:49.049 before we go any further, I want to answer the 00:21:49.049 --> 00:21:52.910 question, what exactly is a demon? And this could 00:21:52.910 --> 00:21:55.210 be a debated topic among scholars and many in 00:21:55.210 --> 00:21:57.950 the church have been taught. that demons are 00:21:57.950 --> 00:22:00.690 a part of the one third of the angels that rebelled 00:22:00.690 --> 00:22:02.369 against God. How many of you guys have heard 00:22:02.369 --> 00:22:06.109 that before? Demons are fallen angels. They are 00:22:06.109 --> 00:22:15.230 not, they are disembodied spirits of Nephilim. 00:22:15.329 --> 00:22:16.930 What are Nephilim? They were the giants. Well, 00:22:16.970 --> 00:22:18.750 what are you talking about? How can that possibly 00:22:18.750 --> 00:22:23.130 be, Pastor Logan? Okay, well, a couple of things. 00:22:23.269 --> 00:22:28.220 One, If you read Genesis 6, you see that the 00:22:28.220 --> 00:22:32.539 sons of God, the rebel angels that rebelled against 00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:34.720 God, they come down. It says they look upon the 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:37.240 daughters of men and they cohabitate and they 00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:41.180 create these things called giants. They have 00:22:41.180 --> 00:22:44.339 six toes, six fingers, and they're giant, literally. 00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:48.920 Well, but how are they not demons? Well, or how 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:53.220 are they demons? Well, whenever they have to 00:22:53.220 --> 00:22:57.470 have a body, They have to, they have to have 00:22:57.470 --> 00:23:00.210 somewhere to go. And you don't see anywhere in 00:23:00.210 --> 00:23:02.190 scripture where a fallen angel needs a body. 00:23:03.650 --> 00:23:05.430 They can go in and out, they can disappear, they 00:23:05.430 --> 00:23:08.009 can go through walls. Demons need bodies with 00:23:08.009 --> 00:23:11.809 which to dwell. That's why they asked to go into 00:23:11.809 --> 00:23:15.150 the pigs. But there's a whole lot more to this, 00:23:15.190 --> 00:23:17.829 but I'm having to just give you like this much. 00:23:17.950 --> 00:23:21.269 If you wanna know more, just after church, just 00:23:21.269 --> 00:23:24.059 say, Pastor Logan, would you do more? But if 00:23:24.059 --> 00:23:29.319 you want to read more about it, the biblical 00:23:29.319 --> 00:23:31.519 evidence for it, write this down. There's a book 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:33.420 called The Unseen Realm by Dr. Michael Heiser. 00:23:33.460 --> 00:23:35.619 He was my Hebrew professor when I was in seminary. 00:23:35.660 --> 00:23:38.700 He's a very, very smart man who he's recently 00:23:38.700 --> 00:23:42.079 passed away, but his works live on. So The Unseen 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:43.700 Realm, and then he has a book called Angels and 00:23:43.700 --> 00:23:47.079 a book called Demons. And so he goes into the 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:50.839 demonology. But let's look back at our text. 00:23:51.470 --> 00:23:54.069 Because I want you to understand like demons 00:23:54.069 --> 00:23:57.930 are lower. There's a big, there's fallen angels, 00:23:58.230 --> 00:24:02.430 there's demons. This man is so tormented by these 00:24:02.430 --> 00:24:05.589 demons that he has supernatural strength. He 00:24:05.589 --> 00:24:07.710 is mutilating himself and cutting himself with 00:24:07.710 --> 00:24:10.009 stones and demons are hell bent on destruction 00:24:10.009 --> 00:24:13.029 because they hate the image of God that we represent 00:24:13.029 --> 00:24:18.589 as people. But this isn't just a man that's running. 00:24:18.730 --> 00:24:21.720 This is a man or this is darkness inside him 00:24:21.720 --> 00:24:24.680 reacting to the presence of Christ so when he 00:24:24.680 --> 00:24:29.259 runs to Jesus this is darkness running to him 00:24:29.259 --> 00:24:33.000 running to Jesus because why why are they running 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:43.160 to Jesus what do you think because they have 00:24:43.160 --> 00:24:47.079 to submit to him they know who he is and they 00:24:47.079 --> 00:24:49.589 have to submit And so they're running in submission 00:24:49.589 --> 00:24:53.049 to him. And when he gets to Jesus, he falls down 00:24:53.049 --> 00:24:54.730 before him and he cries out with a loud voice, 00:24:54.869 --> 00:24:57.250 what have you to do with me, Jesus, son of the 00:24:57.250 --> 00:25:02.730 most high God? Do not torment me. So the demons 00:25:02.730 --> 00:25:06.130 know exactly who Jesus is and they are confused 00:25:06.130 --> 00:25:10.650 by who he is and they know exactly who he is. 00:25:11.230 --> 00:25:13.769 They don't need any more evidence. They know. 00:25:14.250 --> 00:25:16.450 And not only do they recognize Him, but they 00:25:16.450 --> 00:25:19.990 submit to Him. They fall down and they beg. And 00:25:19.990 --> 00:25:22.849 here's what should stop you in your tracks. You've 00:25:22.849 --> 00:25:25.069 got people today who will argue about whether 00:25:25.069 --> 00:25:29.509 Jesus is Lord. And here you've got demons in 00:25:29.509 --> 00:25:32.529 this text who are on their face before Him pleading. 00:25:32.650 --> 00:25:36.049 They know exactly who He is. They understand 00:25:36.049 --> 00:25:38.910 something we often forget. Jesus is not one option 00:25:38.910 --> 00:25:42.269 among many. He is the absolute authority. over 00:25:42.269 --> 00:25:44.750 the physical and the spiritual. So last week, 00:25:44.970 --> 00:25:47.430 we talked about Jesus in the midst of the storm 00:25:47.430 --> 00:25:52.069 and he calms the physical storm, the chaos. And 00:25:52.069 --> 00:25:56.130 here he is commanding and directing the spiritual. 00:25:57.549 --> 00:25:59.309 And so when Jesus says, what is your name? And 00:25:59.309 --> 00:26:02.589 the response comes back, my name is Legion for 00:26:02.589 --> 00:26:05.730 we are many. It's meant to hit you pretty deep 00:26:05.730 --> 00:26:08.289 because Legion is a Roman military unit, which 00:26:08.289 --> 00:26:11.589 represents thousands. And this man isn't dealing 00:26:11.589 --> 00:26:14.670 with one voice, he's overwhelmed by many voices. 00:26:15.950 --> 00:26:18.690 Layer upon layer of darkness, lies, torment, 00:26:18.930 --> 00:26:21.490 oppression, and even more intense, possession. 00:26:22.269 --> 00:26:24.269 Let's stop for just a second. Pastor Logan, can 00:26:24.269 --> 00:26:26.269 Christians be possessed by demons? No, but they 00:26:26.269 --> 00:26:29.890 can be oppressed by demons. What do you mean? 00:26:30.210 --> 00:26:36.369 Okay, we sang the song, Gratitude, and that song 00:26:36.369 --> 00:26:39.390 gets me worked up because before I was your pastor, 00:26:39.630 --> 00:26:43.650 and struggling, I went through a very, a very 00:26:43.650 --> 00:26:46.430 depressing time in my life. And I can remember 00:26:46.430 --> 00:26:49.670 not even wanting to get out of bed. And I remember 00:26:49.670 --> 00:26:58.069 feeling just completely void of life. And I put 00:26:58.069 --> 00:27:00.210 on the song gratitude and I remember singing 00:27:00.210 --> 00:27:06.150 it in my bed and just weeping. Because all I 00:27:06.150 --> 00:27:08.109 had in that moment was a weak hallelujah. But 00:27:08.109 --> 00:27:10.500 here's what's funny. The more I sang it, the 00:27:10.500 --> 00:27:14.839 more I felt life, the Holy Spirit and things 00:27:14.839 --> 00:27:17.359 begin to move. And so you can have these oppressive 00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:19.519 spirits. They cannot possess you because you 00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:21.980 are filled with the Holy Spirit, but they can 00:27:21.980 --> 00:27:25.119 make you feel like life is ending. Does that 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:31.640 make sense? So if you are a believer who is filled 00:27:31.640 --> 00:27:33.440 with the Holy Spirit, don't think that you can 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:42.440 be possessed by a demon because you can't. So 00:27:42.440 --> 00:27:47.500 what I love about Christ is even, so what I love 00:27:47.500 --> 00:27:50.019 about, what I love though is Christ isn't even 00:27:50.019 --> 00:27:55.359 challenged by demons. They're nothing to him. 00:27:55.500 --> 00:27:57.319 And they don't fight him mostly because they 00:27:57.319 --> 00:27:59.539 know it wouldn't go well for him, so they plead 00:27:59.539 --> 00:28:03.720 with him. And what do they beg for? They do not 00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:06.660 beg to be sent out of the region. They beg not 00:28:06.660 --> 00:28:09.980 to be cast into the abyss, and they beg for permission. 00:28:11.150 --> 00:28:15.349 Did you catch that? When I told you to highlight 00:28:15.349 --> 00:28:18.769 it right they beg for permission because here's 00:28:18.769 --> 00:28:24.450 the thing demons need permission Even from you 00:28:24.450 --> 00:28:31.450 What do you mean well you grant access to demons 00:28:31.450 --> 00:28:36.789 whenever you participate in things Even if it 00:28:36.789 --> 00:28:40.339 was Ouija boards, whatever when you're thinking 00:28:40.339 --> 00:28:42.259 you were just messing around, or even it can 00:28:42.259 --> 00:28:45.099 be something as little as things that you watch. 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:47.900 You're granting permission, whether you realize 00:28:47.900 --> 00:28:49.839 it or not. Well, now you're starting to sound 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:51.339 a little kooky, Pastor Logan. Well, I'm just 00:28:51.339 --> 00:28:53.319 telling you that this is what the scripture shows 00:28:53.319 --> 00:28:58.559 me. Again, this goes back to believing supernatural 00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:03.519 really does exist. But again, they ask for Christ's 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:06.490 permission. and Christ's authority is on display. 00:29:06.569 --> 00:29:08.470 Like children asking for permission to go to 00:29:08.470 --> 00:29:10.589 the bathroom or eat a snack or go outside and 00:29:10.589 --> 00:29:12.470 play, these demons are asking for permission 00:29:12.470 --> 00:29:17.869 from daddy. So write this down, even demons don't 00:29:17.869 --> 00:29:23.529 have, don't move without his authority. So there's 00:29:23.529 --> 00:29:25.490 nothing in the spiritual realm that operates 00:29:25.490 --> 00:29:29.809 outside the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. And 00:29:29.809 --> 00:29:31.990 then comes the part that catches people off guard. 00:29:32.299 --> 00:29:36.140 They see a herd of pigs and they beg him, send 00:29:36.140 --> 00:29:38.579 us into the pigs, let us enter them and Jesus 00:29:38.579 --> 00:29:42.759 allows them. But why? Why would he permit that? 00:29:44.420 --> 00:29:46.299 Because what you're about to see is the true 00:29:46.299 --> 00:29:48.900 nature of evil on full display. The demons enter 00:29:48.900 --> 00:29:50.940 the pigs and then what happens? What do the pigs 00:29:50.940 --> 00:29:58.259 do? They drown themselves. The entire herd rushes 00:29:58.259 --> 00:30:00.799 down the steep bank and into the sea and they 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:04.609 drown. So we have chaos, destruction, and death. 00:30:05.250 --> 00:30:11.750 That's what evil does. Who asked that? Yeah. 00:30:11.910 --> 00:30:16.009 Yeah. So now, now, now you're going to get me 00:30:16.009 --> 00:30:18.210 going off on something. Hold on. Hold on. Hold 00:30:18.210 --> 00:30:19.849 on. Just for a moment, Doug, just for a moment. 00:30:19.910 --> 00:30:25.769 That's a great question. So we can't, I can't 00:30:25.769 --> 00:30:28.609 just go, yeah, speaking like we can just look 00:30:28.609 --> 00:30:30.230 at it in scripture, right? So I'm going to go 00:30:30.230 --> 00:30:32.920 off of what I know. theologically and philosophically, 00:30:32.920 --> 00:30:35.460 okay? This is Pastor Logan speaking. I'm not 00:30:35.460 --> 00:30:39.019 saying that this is in here, okay? Because it's 00:30:39.019 --> 00:30:42.539 all going to just be happenstance. I think that 00:30:42.539 --> 00:30:45.660 because you read in a lot of Hebrew, ancient 00:30:45.660 --> 00:30:48.859 Hebrew texts about Solomon had the ability to 00:30:48.859 --> 00:30:51.160 cast out demons along with David, and they did 00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:57.859 so with using water. And if demons being disembodied 00:30:57.859 --> 00:31:03.509 spirits of giants, when did giants get backhanded 00:31:03.509 --> 00:31:06.710 pretty good in the scriptures, in the flood. 00:31:07.150 --> 00:31:09.710 And so I think that water has something to do 00:31:09.710 --> 00:31:13.730 with trapping and embodying or getting them into 00:31:13.730 --> 00:31:15.430 the abyss. And so I think this is one of the 00:31:15.430 --> 00:31:18.329 ways in which Jesus knew, which I say that in 00:31:18.329 --> 00:31:21.190 that podcast, Jesus knew that the pigs would 00:31:21.190 --> 00:31:23.309 run off of a cliff and ultimately send them to 00:31:23.309 --> 00:31:27.230 their judgment anyway. But that's just me speculating 00:31:27.230 --> 00:31:31.470 and just having done more. also asked that same 00:31:31.470 --> 00:31:34.490 question. And it's driven me to read more and 00:31:34.490 --> 00:31:36.829 more. I'm like, water has something to do with 00:31:36.829 --> 00:31:39.910 something in regards to demons because they do 00:31:39.910 --> 00:31:42.269 not. If you read the scriptures, it says that 00:31:42.269 --> 00:31:46.230 they go into waterless places. It's just so there's 00:31:46.230 --> 00:31:48.230 a lot of strange things. So I think that they 00:31:48.230 --> 00:31:52.349 ultimately found were put into judgment. Great 00:31:52.349 --> 00:32:04.400 question. So where was I? Give me a sec. The 00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:06.720 same voices that were destroying that man are 00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:08.819 the same kinds of voices people listen to every 00:32:08.819 --> 00:32:11.720 day. Voices that say, follow this, give in to 00:32:11.720 --> 00:32:14.619 this, this will satisfy you. And all the while, 00:32:14.660 --> 00:32:17.519 it's leading somewhere. And it's never toward 00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:20.259 life. It's always toward destruction. But in 00:32:20.259 --> 00:32:22.440 the middle of all of that, don't lose the main 00:32:22.440 --> 00:32:25.099 point. You can write this down. Jesus is not 00:32:25.099 --> 00:32:29.430 reacting to chaos. He's ruling over it. And so 00:32:29.430 --> 00:32:32.069 he allows it to be exposed so that his authority 00:32:32.069 --> 00:32:35.430 can be clearly seen. So that no one walks away 00:32:35.430 --> 00:32:37.710 from the story thinking evil is equal to him. 00:32:37.869 --> 00:32:41.029 It's not, it begs, it submits, and it answers 00:32:41.029 --> 00:32:44.470 to him. And here's where this turns to us. What 00:32:44.470 --> 00:32:47.410 voices are you listening to? Because make no 00:32:47.410 --> 00:32:51.529 mistake, you are listening to something. Whether 00:32:51.529 --> 00:32:53.990 it's voices of fear, voices of temptation, or 00:32:53.990 --> 00:32:57.930 voices of despair. or listen to the voice of 00:32:57.930 --> 00:33:00.150 Christ. But the difference is this, one leads 00:33:00.150 --> 00:33:05.349 to chaos, the other leads to life. And the invitation 00:33:05.349 --> 00:33:07.710 in this passage is not just to observe what Jesus 00:33:07.710 --> 00:33:10.710 does, it's to trust Him enough to say, Lord, 00:33:10.710 --> 00:33:13.130 I need you to step into this. I need you to take 00:33:13.130 --> 00:33:16.529 authority over what I can't control. Because 00:33:16.529 --> 00:33:20.130 the same Jesus that demons begged before is the 00:33:20.130 --> 00:33:23.690 same Jesus who still has authority today. Point 00:33:23.690 --> 00:33:32.420 number three. discomfort that begs. This is the 00:33:32.420 --> 00:33:38.559 part of the story that always gets me. So Jesus 00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:41.359 permits the demons and the pigs rush down the 00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:45.079 embankment and they drown. So chaos is exposed 00:33:45.079 --> 00:33:47.519 and evil is revealed for what it is and a man 00:33:47.519 --> 00:33:49.799 who was once out of control is now sitting there 00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:54.700 in his right mind. If this, okay, I'm just gonna 00:33:54.700 --> 00:33:56.759 ask you guys, if this was a person here in O 00:33:56.759 --> 00:34:03.910 'Neill, He's famous for causing destruction and 00:34:03.910 --> 00:34:08.570 scaring people and cutting himself and crazy 00:34:08.570 --> 00:34:10.750 things and he terrorizes everyone. And all of 00:34:10.750 --> 00:34:13.550 a sudden, he is freed from these demons. He's 00:34:13.550 --> 00:34:18.170 in his right mind and he's clothed. How would 00:34:18.170 --> 00:34:25.809 you respond? Excitement. Yeah, I agree. Anybody 00:34:25.809 --> 00:34:39.630 else? Cautious? Anybody else? Weird it out? I 00:34:39.630 --> 00:34:44.010 could see that too. It's how the town responds 00:34:44.010 --> 00:34:48.150 to me that blows my mind. We've read it. Let's 00:34:48.150 --> 00:34:51.769 dive into it some more. You would think that 00:34:51.769 --> 00:34:54.070 the town would celebrate. You would think that 00:34:54.070 --> 00:34:55.650 they'd come running and go, what just happened? 00:34:55.670 --> 00:34:58.579 Who is this man? But that's not what happens 00:34:58.579 --> 00:35:00.639 when they hear about it. They come out they see 00:35:00.639 --> 00:35:02.460 the man clothed He's in his right mind and instead 00:35:02.460 --> 00:35:05.539 of rejoicing. They're afraid I Want to I want 00:35:05.539 --> 00:35:08.340 to be clear about something. Yeah, I get I get 00:35:08.340 --> 00:35:11.980 the being afraid part. I Would probably be terrified 00:35:11.980 --> 00:35:16.400 too. I Too would be trying to make sense of what 00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:20.019 I just witnessed but to know that this man and 00:35:20.019 --> 00:35:24.159 I say nice Men, I should say men, because if 00:35:24.159 --> 00:35:26.000 you read in the other accounts of the Gospels, 00:35:26.019 --> 00:35:27.679 there's actually two of them and they both get 00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:31.460 set free. Why are they in a mark? Well, yeah, 00:35:31.460 --> 00:35:34.800 this is corroborated. Got a podcast about that 00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:37.239 too, if you want to hear it. Why we can trust 00:35:37.239 --> 00:35:40.380 the Gospels. But I say men because we know, like 00:35:40.380 --> 00:35:43.119 I said, that there were two. They have terrified 00:35:43.119 --> 00:35:46.519 the town for years and now something completely 00:35:46.519 --> 00:35:50.800 incredible has freed them both. It's to know 00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:53.789 that we They have tried everything from chains 00:35:53.789 --> 00:35:57.550 and ropes. They've tried everything to bind this 00:35:57.550 --> 00:36:00.010 man and to keep him from harming the people, 00:36:00.070 --> 00:36:03.230 the children, and nothing worked. And now this 00:36:03.230 --> 00:36:05.789 man, one man shows up on the scene and he just 00:36:05.789 --> 00:36:08.849 speaks to them and they, and all of these demons 00:36:08.849 --> 00:36:13.369 flee. That is hair raising. So I understand the 00:36:13.369 --> 00:36:15.550 fear, but I don't understand the rest of the 00:36:15.550 --> 00:36:21.170 reaction when they tell Jesus, They beg him to 00:36:21.170 --> 00:36:26.250 leave. The same Jesus that demons begged for 00:36:26.250 --> 00:36:29.250 mercy is now being begged by people to go away. 00:36:30.909 --> 00:36:37.289 Why? Why do you think that is? Remember, they're 00:36:37.289 --> 00:36:41.369 in a Gentile region, by the way. Why would they 00:36:41.369 --> 00:36:48.519 ask Jesus to leave? What's that? People don't 00:36:48.519 --> 00:36:50.300 like change. I agree with that what you say Scott 00:36:50.300 --> 00:36:57.599 They don't know him yeah He just destroyed their 00:36:57.599 --> 00:37:07.619 life 2 ,000 pigs That's a livelihood But it's 00:37:07.619 --> 00:37:10.179 even more than that because they're also pagan 00:37:10.179 --> 00:37:14.460 And so he's disrupted their world their economy 00:37:14.460 --> 00:37:17.059 is now just taking a hit their comfort just got 00:37:17.059 --> 00:37:19.599 shaken, and their categories for how life works 00:37:19.599 --> 00:37:22.760 just got blown up. And instead of leaning in, 00:37:22.760 --> 00:37:26.420 they pushed Jesus out. You can write this down, 00:37:26.739 --> 00:37:29.920 because here's the truth, and I just lived this 00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:35.300 this week talking with someone. People will tolerate 00:37:35.300 --> 00:37:37.599 a lot as long as it doesn't cost them anything. 00:37:42.380 --> 00:37:44.480 The townspeople, they were willing to live next 00:37:44.480 --> 00:37:47.000 to a man possessed by a legion of demons. They 00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:49.159 were willing to let him stay in the tombs, cutting 00:37:49.159 --> 00:37:51.880 himself and crying out day and night. They adjusted 00:37:51.880 --> 00:37:57.900 to it. They got used to it. But the moment Jesus 00:37:57.900 --> 00:38:01.059 shows up and actually fixes it and it costs them 00:38:01.059 --> 00:38:06.840 something, that's too much. We don't necessarily 00:38:06.840 --> 00:38:11.980 like that. It's kind of like how I am with my 00:38:11.980 --> 00:38:17.079 van and our transmission. I'm just letting that 00:38:17.079 --> 00:38:19.079 thing go as long as I possibly can. I've gotten 00:38:19.079 --> 00:38:20.619 used to the fact that the transmission slips 00:38:20.619 --> 00:38:22.820 in and out, but when they gave me the bill for 00:38:22.820 --> 00:38:26.039 $4 ,000 to have it repaired, I'm like, ooh, I'll 00:38:26.039 --> 00:38:30.760 live with it. But think about how they're reacting. 00:38:30.820 --> 00:38:34.920 It feels very, very backwards. They would rather 00:38:34.920 --> 00:38:38.780 keep their pigs than see a man set free. They 00:38:38.780 --> 00:38:41.280 would rather cling to what they have than submit 00:38:41.280 --> 00:38:44.380 to the one who has authority. And before we get 00:38:44.380 --> 00:38:47.019 too critical of them, we need to be honest, this 00:38:47.019 --> 00:38:50.300 is not just their story, it's ours as well. Because 00:38:50.300 --> 00:38:52.340 there are people sitting in this room, myself 00:38:52.340 --> 00:38:54.599 included, who are perfectly fine with Jesus as 00:38:54.599 --> 00:38:57.519 long as he stays at a distance. As long as he 00:38:57.519 --> 00:39:01.539 doesn't touch my habits, my relationships, my 00:39:01.539 --> 00:39:06.699 priorities, my comfort, or my control, I'm good. 00:39:07.340 --> 00:39:09.840 But the moment he steps in and says this has 00:39:09.840 --> 00:39:14.280 to change, that's when the resistance shows up. 00:39:15.320 --> 00:39:18.019 Not because he's wrong, but because it's uncomfortable. 00:39:18.719 --> 00:39:21.400 And we would rather manage our dysfunction than 00:39:21.400 --> 00:39:24.219 surrender to his authority. I'm gonna say that 00:39:24.219 --> 00:39:26.460 one more time, because there's a lot of us that 00:39:26.460 --> 00:39:29.780 would rather live in dysfunction than surrender 00:39:29.780 --> 00:39:34.760 to the authority of Jesus. We'd rather keep the 00:39:34.760 --> 00:39:37.409 familiar Ever heard of a thing called familiar 00:39:37.409 --> 00:39:41.730 demons? We would rather keep the familiar even 00:39:41.730 --> 00:39:43.849 if it's broken than trust Jesus with something 00:39:43.849 --> 00:39:53.030 new. That town chose demons over a person. You 00:39:53.030 --> 00:39:59.730 guys listening? They chose demons. They chose 00:39:59.730 --> 00:40:03.090 comfort over transformation, and they chose control 00:40:03.090 --> 00:40:06.139 over Christ. and they begged him to leave. So 00:40:06.139 --> 00:40:09.099 here's the question you and I can't avoid. Where 00:40:09.099 --> 00:40:11.340 are you doing the same thing? Where is Jesus 00:40:11.340 --> 00:40:14.400 pressing in on your life right now? And instead 00:40:14.400 --> 00:40:16.780 of surrendering, you're pushing back. Not that 00:40:16.780 --> 00:40:19.400 Lord, anything but that, anything but that. Don't 00:40:19.400 --> 00:40:22.179 touch that. Don't touch that part of my life. 00:40:22.440 --> 00:40:25.460 Don't mess that up right now. Just leave it alone. 00:40:25.699 --> 00:40:28.880 Everything else we can talk about. It sounds 00:40:28.880 --> 00:40:33.690 just like the man in the story, right? Do you 00:40:33.690 --> 00:40:36.690 want me to kill it? No, no, no, no. Wait, hold 00:40:36.690 --> 00:40:42.570 on. We've got time. But listen to me. He's not 00:40:42.570 --> 00:40:46.630 coming to take from you. He's coming to set you 00:40:46.630 --> 00:40:52.630 free. Write this down. But freedom, as Americans, 00:40:52.730 --> 00:40:56.429 we know this to be true. Freedom always costs 00:40:56.429 --> 00:41:01.090 something. And if you're not careful, you will 00:41:01.090 --> 00:41:03.369 cling so tightly to what you have that you will 00:41:03.369 --> 00:41:06.170 miss the one who has authority to change everything. 00:41:06.889 --> 00:41:08.869 And just like that town, you'll find yourself 00:41:08.869 --> 00:41:13.429 begging Jesus to leave you alone. Here's the 00:41:13.429 --> 00:41:20.309 last point. Devotion that begs. So we've seen 00:41:20.309 --> 00:41:24.190 how darkness begs. We've seen how demons beg. 00:41:24.349 --> 00:41:28.469 We've seen how people beg. or discomfort that 00:41:28.469 --> 00:41:34.210 begs. But now let's see how the man who's set 00:41:34.210 --> 00:41:37.949 free begs. So now we have the scene shifts again. 00:41:38.949 --> 00:41:41.429 And the town has begged him to leave. And as 00:41:41.429 --> 00:41:43.730 Jesus is getting back in the boat, the man who 00:41:43.730 --> 00:41:45.969 had been possessed, the one who had lived in 00:41:45.969 --> 00:41:47.949 the tombs, the one who was cutting himself, crying 00:41:47.949 --> 00:41:51.570 out, completely overtaken when he comes to Jesus. 00:41:52.429 --> 00:41:55.570 And now he's begging Jesus. But this begging 00:41:55.570 --> 00:41:57.309 is different because he's not begging out of 00:41:57.309 --> 00:41:59.489 fear and he's not begging out of control and 00:41:59.489 --> 00:42:02.030 he's not begging to protect his comfort. He's 00:42:02.030 --> 00:42:05.630 begging to be with Jesus. Let me come with you. 00:42:06.389 --> 00:42:08.769 This is a man who just hours ago was running 00:42:08.769 --> 00:42:11.570 wild, isolated, tormented out of his mind and 00:42:11.570 --> 00:42:15.369 now all he wants is the presence of Christ. Brothers 00:42:15.369 --> 00:42:16.969 and sisters, that's what real transformation 00:42:16.969 --> 00:42:20.940 looks like. It's not just behavior change. It's 00:42:20.940 --> 00:42:24.340 not just relief from pain. It's a whole new desire. 00:42:27.119 --> 00:42:31.400 I just want to be near him. And there's something 00:42:31.400 --> 00:42:33.119 even deeper that's happening here if you're paying 00:42:33.119 --> 00:42:35.619 attention because there's a story in scripture 00:42:35.619 --> 00:42:38.000 that feels a little familiar to this one. Can 00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:40.420 you think of it? It's just the flip reverse. 00:42:45.230 --> 00:42:47.809 Let me give you some hints. In it, we also see 00:42:47.809 --> 00:42:52.449 nakedness, also we see sin, and also we see demonic 00:42:52.449 --> 00:42:57.969 presence all in the same story. Garden of Eden, 00:42:58.050 --> 00:43:00.510 Genesis chapter three, what happens though? When 00:43:00.510 --> 00:43:04.289 they sin, they hide, they run, they cover themselves 00:43:04.289 --> 00:43:06.150 and flee from the presence of God and shame. 00:43:06.190 --> 00:43:09.590 But here, this man is restored, he's clothed, 00:43:09.610 --> 00:43:11.570 he's in his right mind, and instead of running 00:43:11.570 --> 00:43:15.090 from God, he's running to him. And that's the 00:43:15.090 --> 00:43:17.730 difference that grace makes. Write this down. 00:43:17.809 --> 00:43:20.710 Sin makes you hide, but grace makes you draw 00:43:20.710 --> 00:43:24.409 near. And this man has tasted something he never 00:43:24.409 --> 00:43:27.349 wants to lose. And that's exactly what the psalmist 00:43:27.349 --> 00:43:29.989 is saying in our verse of the week in Psalm 84 00:43:29.989 --> 00:43:34.030 10. Better is one day in your courts than a thousand 00:43:34.030 --> 00:43:37.329 elsewhere. Jesus, I don't care where you're going. 00:43:37.369 --> 00:43:39.170 I just want to be with you. There's a song by 00:43:39.170 --> 00:43:43.219 the band Lifehouse that I love where. The song 00:43:43.219 --> 00:43:47.980 is just a cello and some acoustic guitar, and 00:43:47.980 --> 00:43:51.079 it just says, if I can just sit outside your 00:43:51.079 --> 00:43:53.179 door and hear you breathe, that's all I need. 00:43:57.219 --> 00:44:01.199 But here's what's surprising. Instead of allowing 00:44:01.199 --> 00:44:03.760 the man to get in the boat, Jesus tells him no. 00:44:04.639 --> 00:44:06.119 He doesn't let him get in the boat. Instead, 00:44:06.159 --> 00:44:11.239 what does he say? Go home. Tell everyone what 00:44:11.239 --> 00:44:14.440 the Lord has done for you and the mercy that 00:44:14.440 --> 00:44:20.280 he's had on you. So write this down. The man 00:44:20.280 --> 00:44:23.800 begs for proximity and Jesus gives him purpose. 00:44:26.199 --> 00:44:29.360 You don't need to come with me, you need to go 00:44:29.360 --> 00:44:32.300 tell everyone. And this is where it lands on 00:44:32.300 --> 00:44:35.690 us, not because. are because a lot of us love 00:44:35.690 --> 00:44:38.150 the idea of being close to Jesus, but we're not 00:44:38.150 --> 00:44:41.349 excited about being sent by him. We want the 00:44:41.349 --> 00:44:43.789 comfort of his presence without the responsibility 00:44:43.789 --> 00:44:47.349 of his mission. But the proof of a transformed 00:44:47.349 --> 00:44:50.409 life isn't just that you want to be with Jesus, 00:44:50.510 --> 00:44:53.230 it's that you're willing to go for Jesus. This 00:44:53.230 --> 00:44:55.550 man becomes the first missionary to that region, 00:44:55.989 --> 00:44:58.829 the very place where people beg Jesus to leave 00:44:58.829 --> 00:45:01.730 as the place where the man starts his ministry. 00:45:02.849 --> 00:45:05.150 But he doesn't have a seminary degree, and he 00:45:05.150 --> 00:45:08.309 doesn't have all the answers. But he does have 00:45:08.309 --> 00:45:14.269 a story. I was this, and now I'm this, and Jesus 00:45:14.269 --> 00:45:19.170 did it. And that's it. And for some of you, that's 00:45:19.170 --> 00:45:21.090 exactly where you are. You're overthinking it 00:45:21.090 --> 00:45:23.170 way too much. You're waiting until you know more, 00:45:23.349 --> 00:45:25.710 or until you feel ready. Meanwhile, Jesus is 00:45:25.710 --> 00:45:28.329 saying, just go and tell what I've done for you. 00:45:29.630 --> 00:45:32.130 Because your story of freedom is the very thing 00:45:32.130 --> 00:45:34.610 God will use to bring someone else out of the 00:45:34.610 --> 00:45:37.469 tombs. So the final question here is, what are 00:45:37.469 --> 00:45:40.789 you begging Jesus for? Because in the passage, 00:45:41.190 --> 00:45:44.489 everybody is begging. Darkness is begging for 00:45:44.489 --> 00:45:49.030 your attention. Demons are begging. And the world 00:45:49.030 --> 00:45:53.469 begs for you to leave behind Jesus and join them. 00:45:53.650 --> 00:45:57.150 But the redeemed, the redeemed beg to be near 00:45:57.150 --> 00:46:01.190 him. and then go wherever he sends them. So I'm 00:46:01.190 --> 00:46:03.829 gonna ask, which are you? Let's pray.