In verse 26 of Luke chapter 8, follow along on your copy of God's Word, or if not, you can follow on the screen.
The Bible says this,
And they arrived to the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.
And when he went forth to land, there met him out of a city, a certain man, which had devils long time and wear no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.
When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said,
What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.
For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, for oft times it had caught him, and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters, and break the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.
Verse 30,
And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name?
And he said, Legion, because we are many devils, were entered into him.
And they besought him that he would not condemn them to go out into the deep.
And there was a herd of swine feeding on the mountain, and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them, and he suffered them.
Then went the devils out of the man and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and were choked.
And when they that had fed them, talking about the pigs, fed the pigs, saw what was done, they fled.
No kidding.
I mean, just to picture what is going on here, and they are thinking, Oh man, we're about to lose our job.
Because they were probably a hired hand out there.
They fled and went and told it in the city and in the country.
So they go and tell everybody what's going on.
Verse 35.
Then they went out to see what was done, and came to Jesus and found the man out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
They also which saw it told them by what means that he was possessed of the devils was healed.
Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them, for they were taken with great fear.
And he went up into the ship and returned back again.
Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him.
He's begging him that he might be with him.
But Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house, and show how great things God hath done unto thee.
And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.
And it came to pass that when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him, for they were all waiting for him.
What a crazy account, really, when you look at it in the Bible.
But it's more than just this man a long time ago in a place you've probably never been that Jesus delivered him from these demons.
Really, the truth is found here in this text.
Jesus can deliver you.
Because we may not be like this man on the outside.
But let me remind you that Satan is still alive and well.
He is still here to seek and to kill and destroy.
But Jesus came.
This is his mission.
To seek and to save that which was lost.
He came to give us life and to give it to us more abundantly.
We're going to pull some great truths, I think, that can be a help to us this morning.
Before we do, let's go to the Lord in prayer, and then we'll jump right in.
Father, thank you for this chance to be together.
Thank you for the songs that have reminded us of what you've done for us.
Thank you for the great truth that every breath we have, Lord, has borrowed from you.
Lord, I'm thankful that your mercies are new.
That your faithfulness is overwhelming, Lord.
And I pray that we would be reminded of that even here today.
Maybe there's some here today that just need a great reminder of what you've delivered them from.
But, Lord, we also understand in a crowd this size, maybe there's somebody here that does not know you as their Savior.
Maybe they're bound by their sin and their habits and their things going on in their life.
Lord, you want to meet them where they are.
But, Lord, you don't want to keep them there.
You want to deliver them.
But I pray that you would guide my thoughts.
You would guide my words, Lord, that it would be a help to these people gathered here this morning.
I pray you'd be with the children's church, Lord, as they open up the Word of God there as well.
But I pray you'd be with everything that's said and done today.
And we ask it in Christ's name.
Amen.
Thank you so much for standing.
You may be seated.
I'm sure you've realized and you see just through media and all kinds of things
that our culture is really kind of fascinated with the battle between good and evil.
It's really been that way for a long, long time.
It's not just American culture in that sense.
Human beings are fascinated with this battle for good and evil.
But our culture pours billions of dollars into books and movies and shows where the good guy faces off with the bad guy.
And we love those stories.
At least I do.
I'll speak for myself.
I love those kind of stories even though we generally know how they end.
We want them to end well.
All right.
This is for all my nerds in here.
Who is a Star Wars nerd?
That's what I'm talking about, man.
Best friend.
I'm a Star Wars nerd.
I love Luke Skywalker versus Darth Vader.
I love to see that.
And I love to see it take place.
Maybe you're more of a Rocky Balboa versus Yvonne Drago kind of guy.
Anybody like that here?
Yeah.
Now we're getting there.
Some of you may be Dorothy versus the Wicked Witch of the West.
You know.
Some of you guys like those red sparkly slippers, I guess.
I mean, that's another sermon for another day.
How about Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant?
Some of you, now we're going to your childhood.
I'm sorry if you just found out it wasn't real though.
Don't throw anything at me.
I mean, why do we love these stories?
I think because deep down we long for good to triumph over evil.
It's really built into us.
It's there.
And as we come to our text today in Luke chapter 8, we're not looking at a script.
We're not looking at a fairy tale.
We're not looking at a WWE match.
What we're looking at is a real story of a real man that was consumed by evil.
That was dealing with some things that it's really kind of hard for our 2025 American mind to wrap our heads around.
But this is not a fiction.
This is a thing that was real.
And Jesus came to him.
And really what we find in this text, it's really this ultimate showdown.
Really, really it paints this picture of evil in its rawest form.
That this man's life is being destroyed.
And the devil cares nothing about it.
The Bible reminds us in Peter that we have an adversary.
And he's not there to be our friend.
No, he is there seeking whom he may devour.
Has the idea of that lion walking about when you watch the Discovery Channel.
That lion doesn't see that little antelope and just kind of pat it.
No, no.
There's blood everywhere.
It's ripping it apart.
It's destroying its life.
Listen, that's what our enemy is still out to do.
And this evil meets Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God in the flesh and all his authority.
And before we kind of get wrapped up and we start just thinking about the story and kind of some of the details and kind of the crazy things we see.
Luke wants to make something very clear.
That the purpose of Satan is always to destroy.
And the purpose of the Savior is to always deliver.
That's really what this text is about.
And if we're going to understand the victory that Jesus gives, we have to first see the devastation that the enemy brings.
And I believe that's why this is recorded here in the Gospels and recorded in Mark's Gospel as well.
See, before you can really appreciate a cure, you have to realize how deadly the disease is.
If you're not sick, hey, it's no big deal.
But if you get a really bad diagnosis from the doctor, then you're going to realize how important that cure is.
And that's kind of the picture that's being painted here in our text this morning.
And Luke does not hold back with showing how destructive Satan's work is.
That's what we see in those first few verses.
Number one, that the purpose of Satan is to destroy.
So we looked last week, and there in verse number 22, that Jesus and his disciples, they had been ministering for a while.
And I'm sure the disciples were like me and you.
Like, I need a break.
Anybody just need a break?
I mean, just tired.
And even doing good things, sometimes we just need to pull away a little bit.
And they thought, man, finally we're getting in the boat, and we're just going to have nobody bothering us.
Well, we saw last week they got in the boat, and they ran into a massive storm.
Not the kind of R&R that they were looking for and that they were afraid for their lives, and in fact they even questioned if Jesus loved them.
They woke him up from his nap and said, don't you even care we're about to die?
Oh, and he did care.
We saw last week that the reason they got in that boat is because Jesus had a divine appointment.
They didn't know what the divine appointment was.
But we are introduced to that appointment here this morning.
That appointment was this man of Gadara.
That's why Jesus got in the boat.
That's why they went through this difficult storm.
That Jesus was teaching the disciples who he was, but he also had somebody that he was chasing after.
Let me just remind you, we didn't find Jesus.
He found us.
Jesus is still pursuing people today, and this is just a gorgeous picture of that truth.
They're there, and they finally get out of the boat.
Man, I can't imagine the disciples when they got out there, I'd be kissing the ground.
I mean, if you almost died in the middle of a storm in the Sea of Galilee, you'd probably kiss the ground too.
And they get out there, and they're like, maybe their knees are kind of wobbly.
You ever kind of been in a situation where you're scared and you're kind of all antsy?
And they're thinking, man, I'm not sure I'm getting back in that boat.
And they're kissing the ground.
And as soon as they're there, though, the Bible says this in verse number 27.
And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time,
and wear no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.
This was not the greeting party they were looking for.
I just wonder what their face saw, because we kind of see this man described, we can see it in pretty vivid detail in Mark's account, Mark chapter 5 as well.
This guy must have been a sight to see.
I bet it scared them, you know.
I wonder if Peter is like normally the big, bad, tough guy, and he's like trying to hide behind somebody.
You ever see somebody kind of coming down the street, and you're thinking, I'm going to go the other way.
You ever been in Walmart, and you see somebody come down, and you're like, I'm going to go to the other aisle.
Yeah, you've been there.
Don't act like you don't.
You're like, sometimes you know them.
You're like, I'm definitely going down the other aisle.
I don't want to talk to those people.
That man was used to it.
I'm sure when he saw the reaction, it was nothing new to him.
This man had just been cast off.
Nobody wanted this man.
They said things like this.
He's too far gone.
Nobody can help him.
In fact, in that little parenthesis in verse 29, and you read in Mark's gospel as well, here's what they did.
They just tried to chain him up.
They treated him like a wild animal.
They couldn't tame him.
They bound him with fetters and chains.
And the Bible says that he was just so possessed by the demons, he just broke him.
He's running around.
He's not clothed.
He's cutting himself.
He's crying and screaming at night.
This guy's in a bad spot.
And Luke gives us this vivid description that this man is exposed.
He's humiliated.
He lived in the tombs.
That's where his house was, so to speak.
Listen, you don't hang out with people that live in a graveyard.
This man was just completely shunned.
I'm sure he had family.
Jesus tells him at the end of this text, go home.
I wonder what his family thought.
What do they do?
How do they handle that?
See, what's taking place and why this picture is just so grotesque is because it's a living picture of what Satan wants to do to lives even still today.
Because we think, well, thank goodness I'm not like him.
No, we were a lot worse.
We were dead in our trespasses and sins.
That's what the Bible tells us in the book of Ephesians.
Listen, this is a picture of what sin does.
Sin doesn't make your life better.
No, it over-promises and under-delivers.
But ultimately what it does is it chains you and it binds you and it causes you just to be absolutely on the wrong track.
That's what sin does.
And Jesus put it plainly there in John chapter 10, verse number 10.
The thief cometh not, and he's talking about Satan, but for to steal and to kill and destroy.
And this man is a picture of that.
Can you imagine living close to this man?
You know, I thought the train in Gainesville was bad.
I don't know how some of you that live closer to the train, I don't know how you do it.
I guess you just block it out.
But it's just like all the time I'm just laying in bed.
And we live a decent ways away.
And I'm like, good night.
How many trains are going today?
And it always goes when you need to get past that, right?
I mean, I just, ugh.
The one time I'm like, oh, I won't get stuck by it.
I'll just go this way.
Every single time.
Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.
But we hear the train all the time.
What have you heard this crazy maniac screaming and crying and cutting himself and just doing all of these things?
Can you imagine that?
I mean, every time you send your kids outside, hey, make sure you don't go over there by that graveyard.
That crazy man lives there.
You got to stay away from him.
Hey, listen, he's too far gone.
You don't want to get anywhere near him because we don't know what he's going to do.
He's unhinged.
But friends, let me just remind you that Satan's destruction is in ancient history.
That as bad as this man was, Satan's fingerprints are still everywhere just like that today.
See, addiction is a very real thing.
It's something that has overtaken our world.
Maybe it starts as harmless, just one drink, just one pill, just one click.
But you know what it ultimately does?
It chains you.
It binds you.
It destroys you.
And like this man, the chains just don't affect them.
They affect everyone around them.
Families break and trust shatters and joy disappears.
That's what Satan does.
You think, hey, it's not that big a deal.
It doesn't bother anybody else but me.
Not true.
We see mental torment and mental disease even today.
And yes, there's some real clinical struggles and depression and PTSD and anxiety orders.
But here's what Satan does.
He takes those and he prays on you and he whispers hopelessness and he pushes those towards despair where they think the only option I have is just to give up.
We see it around our world today.
We see it around our own community.
We see it in people on the street.
We think, well, how did they get there?
We don't know how they got there.
But here's what.
Satan wants to keep them there.
He does.
Sometimes God uses, Satan uses out of control emotions.
There's nothing wrong with emotions.
God's given us emotions.
But if we don't check them, if we just allow them to navigate us, emotions show us certain things but they shouldn't be the driving factor.
Some people may have anger.
Some people may have anger and it can destroy a marriage.
Bitterness can poison friendships.
Anxiety can paralyze people from moving forward in any area of their life, much less their Christian life.
Satan uses the past.
He replays those old mistakes and those old wounds and those old sins.
Listen, maybe it was something that was done to you or maybe you did something and you just can't get past it.
And either way, he just keeps pushing rewind and rewind and rewind.
You think, God can't use me.
No, he can.
God doesn't intend for anybody to live like this.
And he sure didn't intend for this man to live like that.
We don't know how he got there but we know this.
Jesus came for him.
And Jesus brought hope to him.
And you might look, you might even look in your own life and you think, well I look kind of clothed and in my right mind somewhat on a Sunday.
But inside you might feel like this man.
You might feel like there's no hope.
You might feel like there's no chance, no way to get past it.
You're trapped and you're restless and you're hopeless.
Or maybe you know somebody like that.
Maybe there's a spouse or a child or a friend.
And the truth that Luke is painting and that God wants us to see is that's what Satan does.
Sin is always advertised as fun.
But that's not how it operates.
It might be fun for a season but hey, listen, payday comes.
And it destroys lives.
And if the story ended here with this awful picture of destruction, this would probably be one of the most depressing passages in the Bible.
But praise God, that's not where this story ends.
That's not where your story ends.
That's not where that loved one ends or that one that you're praying for.
See, right now when we read it, we just stop.
The darkness looks unbeatable.
And maybe that's where you feel you are or you know somebody and you think, how are they ever going to get past this?
There's no hope.
Jesus shows up.
His own family had put him in the tombs.
His own friends had put him in.
I mean, you've got to think, this is not a large city.
Sometimes we think of these cities like, oh man, it's Dallas.
Everybody in this town knew this man.
These are small villages.
It wasn't like, oh, I wonder who that is.
Everybody knew, but nobody knew what to do.
And they just said, well, I guess the only option we have is just to get rid of them.
But Jesus shows up with healing.
So we see the purpose of Satan is to destroy, but the purpose of the Savior is to deliver.
Just those first two verses are rough, but verse 28, the whole scene shifts.
When he saw Jesus, he knew exactly who he was.
The devil knows who Jesus is.
The devils believe and they tremble.
They don't believe like we do in the sense of for salvation, but they know who he is.
Notice what he says in verse 28.
This demon that is possessing him.
What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of the God most high?
He's crying out.
He knows what's coming.
Let me just remind you, the devil knows he lost.
He knows he's lost.
But he's going to go down with a fight.
And he's going to take as many people as he can with him.
That's what's taking place here.
And even if it's just one person, he's going to fight and he's going to drag him down.
And he says, hey, what are you going to do?
I beseech thee, torment me not.
Verse 30, and Jesus asked him, saying, what is thy name?
And he said, legion, because many devils were entered into him.
So the devils are there and they're begging with Christ not to destroy them.
Verse 32, it tells us that there was a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain.
So that Jesus is having this conversation with this legion, this many devils, 2,000 devils or something.
And he said, hey, see those pigs over there?
Don't send us out.
Don't send us into the abyss, into the everlasting torment that they know is coming.
Why don't you just send us into those pigs?
Jesus said at the end of verse number 32, and he said, okay, if that's what you want to do.
Verse 33 is one of those pictures that I want to see this.
I wonder how this happened.
Because in my mind, it's like a cartoon.
This is how my mind works.
You just got to bear with me.
It's a very steep mountain.
And it comes down like this.
And then there's like a little launch ramp.
And they're running down here.
And these pigs, pigs can fly.
It's right here in the Bible.
They're just flying down.
The Bible says they're running violently down the mountain.
And they just fly off this mountain.
And they drown themselves in the sea.
In the verse 34, I mean, it's just absolute chaos.
And the man is sitting there.
And all the people that are watching were like, like, this was not on the application when I filled it out.
Because this wasn't, I can almost guarantee that the men watching it, these weren't their pigs.
They were just the hired hand.
Like, and they had to go tell their boss real quick because they're, our boss is never going to believe this.
You know, this, they couldn't get their cell phone out.
I mean, I just want us to picture it.
And they go into verse, in verse 34, they flee into the city.
I mean, they're panicking.
They're like, you are never going to believe what we saw.
We were just out there.
We were, you know, whatever his name is.
We don't know what his name is.
He's over there just yelling and screaming.
And all of a sudden, all the pigs are yelling and screaming.
And they run down and boom, and they're all dead.
Wait, what?
Verse 35 says, I'll believe that when I see it.
That's what they did.
So what, all the people, they didn't want to miss it.
They couldn't check Facebook.
So they had to go out and actually see it.
But notice verse 35.
Then they went out to see what was done.
And came to Jesus.
And found the man out of whom the devils were departed,
sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind.
And notice this.
They thought they were scared when the pigs came down.
And they were afraid.
Because this was the man that was beyond hope.
This was the man that was too far gone.
This was the man that everybody in the town had written off.
Even his own family that loved him, they said, well, it's just what it is.
There's nothing we can do.
And they were right.
There was nothing they could do.
But Jesus can do all things.
And he does all things well.
And they go out there.
And it just, it really, really made them scared.
Because here's this man that they had bound him with chains.
And they had tied him up.
And they couldn't even keep those on.
And he's screaming.
And he's a wild maniac.
And he's sitting there.
And he's got clean clothes.
I wonder where he got them, by the way.
Maybe they had some extra ones.
Like, Peter, give them some of your clothes.
Like, I don't know.
See, why such a drastic event?
Why such a crazy thing with a bunch of pigs running down and drowning themselves in the sea?
Why did Jesus do this?
Why did he allow that?
I think the reason is this.
Because he wanted to make a point.
I think, number one, he was showing his disciples.
He was showing those watching the pigs.
He was showing the town that the demons were real.
And they were destructive.
And they were deadly.
That that's what was going on inside this man's life.
That they had heard about sin.
And they know they weren't supposed to.
That the devil's real.
But it was like this.
Jesus was saying, this is what it looks like in real life.
This is the kind of destruction that it brings.
I think here's the main reason.
It's because Jesus wanted to show that he had all authority.
It didn't matter what this man was facing.
Jesus is above it.
There's nothing that Jesus comes up against where he says, not sure how to do this.
No, no.
No, he's greater than all of those things.
And that's really what this chapter is about.
It doesn't matter if it's nature.
Our demons.
We're going to see next week disease and death.
It doesn't matter what it is.
Jesus can handle it.
All power is given unto me both in heaven and earth, Jesus said.
That that same power is being displayed.
And it's not just for a maniac of the era.
Listen, there may be something in your life right now.
And Jesus is reminding us this morning.
He still has the authority to handle it.
He still has the power to help us to move forward in our life.
In verse 35, it's just a, it's an unbelievable before and after picture.
We've all seen those infomercials where if you buy this medicine or you do this and you do that, you just take this one thing and you're going to go from this to looking like you work out every day.
Like, wow.
What a drastic change.
And then results may vary.
Not here.
Because this is what Jesus wants to do for everybody.
The results are the same when Jesus shows up.
When your faith and trust in Christ is there, that's what happens.
This is the power of Christ.
Where Satan enslaves, Jesus sets free.
Where Satan shames, Jesus restores dignity.
Where Satan isolates and says, nobody wants to be a part of you.
Jesus says, no, you're welcome and come in my family.
That's what Jesus is doing.
He is bringing another child to the table.
He said, why don't you come in and just enjoy what I can offer you.
And the great news today is that he still does it.
That Jesus can free the addict.
He can give peace to the anxious.
He can calm the angry spirit and heal the bitter heart.
Listen, he can restore broken marriages.
He can fix all of those things.
But only Jesus can do that.
See, that's what happens when we bring our brokenness to Jesus.
Jesus seeks us out.
And maybe that's why you're here this morning.
You think, why am I here?
Because Jesus is pursuing you.
And it may not be something as drastic as this.
But Jesus wants our whole life.
Maybe there's some things that are holding you back.
And you're just saying, well, I cannot get over it.
And I can't seem to get past this habit or this hang up.
No, you can't get past it.
But Jesus can.
He says, come unto me, all you that are heavy laden.
Come unto me, all you that are struggling.
And when we, where we fail again and again and again and again, here's what Jesus does.
He succeeds.
See, this count just reminds us the Savior's power is always greater than Satan's power to destroy.
That's what Luke wants us to see.
But the story doesn't end there.
See, this wasn't just about Jesus delivering.
And when Jesus delivers you, he doesn't do it just for you.
Now, it helps you.
And it changes your life.
And it moves you a different direction.
And you were going one way.
And he sets you on a rock.
And he sends you the other way.
And he puts a new song in your heart.
And yeah, everything's different.
But he delivers us so that others might see his power too.
See, Jesus didn't just save you to save you.
He saved you so you could let your light so shine.
So you can show others what Jesus Christ can do.
Listen, every miracle points outward.
Every testimony that's in this room is meant to be shared.
That's what's taking place here.
And in this story, this man's response shows us exactly what we should do once we've experienced Jesus' saving power.
Here's what we should do.
Proclaim.
That's the only right response.
The only right response is to proclaim.
Because this man's life is changed.
And he's sitting there.
And he's clothed.
And he's in his right mind.
And the Bible says in verse 36,
Now this is where it gets kind of weird.
You would think the townspeople would be excited this man's life was changed.
You'd think they'd say, man, thank goodness somebody helped him and we couldn't help him.
But let me just remind you that sometimes when you give your life to Christ, when Jesus delivers you, not everybody's going to be excited about it.
Not everybody understands it.
Oh, you think you're too good for us now.
Oh, you think you're some holy roller.
Maybe it's at a Thanksgiving or a family event.
Like, oh yeah, well they used to be fun, but now they go to church.
Maybe some of you have heard stuff like that.
Like, you really take that so seriously?
Well, if you used to live in the graveyard, if you used to be dead in your trespasses and sin, if your life was chained up and Jesus saved you, you should be a little different.
But they don't understand it.
They were a lot more comfortable just hanging out with the pigs than being in the presence of God.
And they didn't really know how to process it.
So instead of really processing it and asking questions, they said, we're going to need you to leave now.
That's what they told Jesus.
They besought him to depart from them.
For they were taken with great fear and he went into the ship and returned back again.
You think, well, that's kind of interesting.
That they just told Jesus to leave and he said, okay, I'll leave.
But he knew what he was doing.
Because what we see taking place here is the man that was delivered had a much different response.
The town was saying, get out of here.
But look at verse number 38.
Now the man out of whom the devil has departed besought him that he might be with him.
So they tell Jesus to get in the boat and go back where he came from.
Jesus says, okay.
And you picture this man.
That was running around like a crazy man.
Now he's running after Jesus and saying, hey, hey, hey.
Take me with you, please.
Hey, I want to be with you.
I mean, I just want to be as close to you as I possibly can be.
Thank you so much for changing my life.
Thank you so much for saving me.
Lord, just take me home.
And I may have thought that in my own life.
I sometimes think it would be a lot easier if you just get saved and go right to heaven.
And the Lord's like, you're in Texas already.
What else do you want?
Okay, he didn't say that.
But, you know, sometimes we think that.
It would be a lot easier to just go be with Jesus.
I've thought that.
I mean, there's days where you think, even so, Lord, come quickly.
We should think that all the way, by the way.
That Jesus Christ is coming back and we should be living for that moment.
But we see this man naturally begging to go with Jesus.
The end of verse 38, Jesus said this.
Nope.
What?
Why would Jesus turn this man away?
Why would he say, no, you can't go with me.
I don't need you here.
He said, I actually got something much better that I need you to do.
I got a job that I want that's specifically designed for you.
You got a story that I need you to tell somebody.
Look at verse number 39.
Jesus said, no, you can't go with me.
Here's what I want you to do.
Return to thine own house.
Which would really just mean the area he grew up in.
Everybody knew this man.
He was the wild maniac that everybody thought, nobody can help him.
I want you to go home and here's what I want you to do.
Tell everybody what great things God has done for you.
See, because they didn't know how to process Jesus.
There was something new and it was just kind of this random thing.
Everything is going good.
It's just a normal day.
Now all the pigs are dead and it's because of this guy.
I'm not sure we want to mess with this guy anymore.
But he leaves this man here and he said, they need to know who I am.
And I want you to tell them.
I want you to share the good news.
Because they knew him.
They knew how he operated.
I can imagine every time he's just walking through town.
Even if it's just the next day.
They're still going to be leery.
Like what kind of smoke and mirror show was this thing?
Because they were just waiting for him to go crazy.
And he's just like, hey, how you doing?
Hey.
Yeah.
I know.
I know what you're thinking.
I got a haircut.
I know what you're thinking.
Yeah.
These are new clothes.
Obviously.
You know what he said?
Listen.
I can't believe what Jesus did for me.
Like I know it's not your fault.
And you didn't know what to do.
And you were maybe just doing the best you can.
And obviously the graveyard seemed to be the only place.
But Jesus changed that.
I would imagine every person he met.
They say, hey, what did you used to do?
Oh, let me tell you.
I lived in a graveyard.
And I was crazy.
And they chained me up.
I mean, look at these scars.
They're awful.
And I cut myself.
And I was screaming.
And everybody just said, hey, you can't do anything.
But then this guy come in a boat.
And he got on the boat.
And he said, hey, why don't they go in the pigs?
And he just told this whole story.
You know what he's doing?
Sharing the gospel.
They didn't maybe understand Jesus.
But they all knew who this man was.
And they knew who he used to be.
And now they see him.
And they see the evidence of a life change.
And if anybody had doubts about what Jesus can do,
here's the poster child of what Jesus does.
Satan tried to destroy him.
And addictions.
And all the things we're trying to eat him alive.
But Jesus said, nope, not going to happen anymore.
And that's where this story connects to us.
That if Jesus has delivered you, you have a story.
Some people used to know who you used to be.
And what you used to do.
And where you used to go.
And what you were involved in.
And they're thinking, hey, what happened to you?
I'll tell you what happened to me.
Jesus Christ showed up.
And everything's been different.
I'm not perfect.
But I know I'm on the way to heaven.
I know I've got a purpose in my life.
And the best place to start, you know where it is?
With the people that knew you.
He said, go home to your family.
Go tell the people in the city.
You know where you need to go?
To your family.
To your coworkers.
To your classmates.
To your neighbors.
Why?
Because they know who you are.
You don't have to have a seminary degree to be a witness.
Well, what am I supposed to tell them?
Here's who I was before I met Jesus.
And by the grace of God, this is where I am now.
And he can do the same thing for you.
Because if God can save me, God can save anybody.
That's what this is a picture of.
Nobody can save that guy.
Jesus did.
And we can look at him and we can be reminded.
And we started by this message by talking about our love for stories where good triumphs over evil.
But see, this isn't a movie.
This account's not fiction.
It's the real story of a man.
In many ways, it's the story of you.
You can see your life here.
Maybe you're here today and you're still bound by sin.
You're trying to be a good person.
You're trying to do Christian things.
And trying to just maybe turn over a new leaf.
Here's where it needs to start.
Run to Jesus.
And place your faith and trust in him.
That's his mission.
He came to seek and to save.
And maybe that's why you're here this morning.
And that still small knock that's on your heart.
You're thinking, that's what you're looking for.
It's not some step-by-step process.
And there's a time and a place for that.
But where it all starts is at the feet of Jesus.
But maybe you've been delivered in the past.
And you can go back to that moment in your life where you realize that you were a sinner.
And that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
But it wasn't just for everybody.
That was for you.
And the Bible says that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
And you took that seriously.
And you said, God, I'm a sinner.
Would you forgive me?
And he changed your life.
When's the last time you told somebody about that?
Because we get excited about a lot of things.
Like I am hyped up about next weekend.
College football, baby.
And I'll talk about it, man.
You want to talk after church today?
We'll talk about it.
You want to talk about golf?
Let's go.
I got to go down and see TPC Sawgrass.
Super famous if you saw.
I got to see that.
I did preach this week.
I was like, man, this is a pretty nice little golf course right here.
I'll tell you all about it.
I'll show you pictures.
We'll talk about anything and everything.
When's the last time you told somebody you were dead, but now you're alive?
You were lost, but now you're found.
You're blind, but now you see.
You're not perfect, but by God's grace, you're moving towards him.
And he's changed it.
And your marriage was falling apart.
And you were addicted to this.
And you were at the end of your rope.
And you know beyond a shadow of doubt if God didn't show up, you might not even be here this morning.
You might be dead in jail or who knows.
But Jesus Christ shows up.
And everything changes.
That's what this text is about.
So maybe you're here this morning and Jesus says, come unto me.
You need deliverance.
You need to come to him and just let it go.
Stop trying to do it all yourself.
He's already done it.
That's why on the cross he said, it is finished.
He paid the debt.
Maybe you're here and the Lord's laying somebody in your heart.
Go share your story this week.
Say, well, I'm not a preacher.
You don't have to be a preacher.
You're a Christian and that's your job.
You have a story to tell.
Because when Jesus saves you, the only right response is to go tell how great things God has done for you.
That's what he wants us to do this week.
Would you stand with your heads bowed, with your eyes closed?
See this?