Participants:
Series Code: WHO
Program Code: WHO210073S
|
00:28 Hello, I'm Jill Morikone, and I want to welcome you
00:31 to another edition of 3ABN Worship Hour. 00:34 You may notice this does not look like our usual set 00:37 for 3ABN Worship Hour 00:39 when we get together and we open up 00:41 the Word of God and we study His Word. 00:44 That's because it's a special time of year. 00:46 We're in the month of December, 00:48 and we are celebrating the birth of Jesus. 00:51 Now in case you think, 00:53 okay, this sermon is going 00:54 to be all about the birth of Jesus. 00:56 It's not, but it is all about deliverance. 01:01 The title of the message for today is Time for Deliverance. 01:05 Is it time for deliverance in your life? 01:07 Do you want to experience Christ's deliverance? 01:10 And maybe you have already experienced His deliverance, 01:14 and God wants you to extend that promise 01:17 of deliverance to someone else. 01:20 Our scripture is John 8:36. 01:24 I love this reference. 01:25 John 8:36, "If the Son makes you free, 01:30 you shall be free indeed." 01:31 Let's pray. 01:33 Holy Father, we come before You in the name of Jesus. 01:35 This is Your time, 01:37 we ask that Your Word which is already anointed 01:40 and inspired would come alive in our hearts and minds. 01:44 We ask for the outpouring of Your Holy Spirit, 01:47 and that You would set us free. 01:52 And we thank You in Jesus' name. 01:55 Amen. 01:57 There was a Chinese farmer who was... 02:00 This was several years ago, and he lived in mainland China, 02:03 inland China in one of those little villages. 02:06 And one day, he walked along ways, 02:09 and he ended up at the clinic. 02:12 This was a clinic run by Christians. 02:14 And he walked in and he said, "I'm blind and I can't see it. 02:19 I don't know what's wrong with me." 02:22 And they took a look at him and decided he had cataracts. 02:26 And they performed cataract surgery, 02:28 and all of a sudden, he could see. 02:31 Well, a couple days went by and a couple of weeks. 02:34 And then all of a sudden, 02:36 the people at the mission clinic looked out 02:38 the front door one morning and here came the man 02:41 that used to be blind, walking, 02:44 holding a very long rope. 02:48 There were probably a couple dozen people, 02:52 blind people holding on to the rope 02:55 because they couldn't see and they didn't know 02:57 where they were going. 02:58 This man who used to be blind wanted all of his friends, 03:02 all of his neighbors, all of the people that he knew 03:06 had struggled with the same affliction he had, 03:09 dealt with the same issue he had. 03:11 He wanted them to experience healing too. 03:15 If you have ever experienced healing, 03:19 if you have ever experienced deliverance, 03:22 then you want to pass that on to someone else. 03:25 You want to tell someone else, what you have experienced. 03:28 That's what we see in our story today. 03:30 We see a man who was in the tombs, 03:32 a man who was lost, a man who needed deliverance, 03:36 a man who was inhabited by thousands of demons, 03:40 and yet Jesus came to set him free. 03:43 This is a story, of course, of the demoniacs. 03:45 And we find this in the Book of Matthew, 03:47 Mark, and Luke. 03:49 But before we get to that story and the 14 takeaways, 03:53 yes, you heard me right, 14 takeaways of deliverance 03:57 that we can find from the story of the demoniacs. 04:00 Before we get to that, let's look at the prologue. 04:03 Remember, Jesus had to cross the Sea of Galilee 04:06 from the western side over to the eastern side of the sea. 04:10 And that sea is beautiful. 04:11 Greg and I several years ago 04:13 had the opportunity to go to Israel, 04:14 and it is incredible. 04:16 The sea is calm, and it's beautiful. 04:18 But when the wind comes, and when the storms arise, 04:23 it can be whipped up to a foment. 04:26 And that is what happened. 04:27 We see the story of the disciples 04:29 crossing the sea with Jesus and Jesus arising, 04:33 and what does He say? 04:34 "Peace, be still." 04:37 Now in the Greek, it's even more forceful. 04:39 It's a command. 04:41 He's not just saying, "Peace, be still." 04:43 It's a command. 04:44 And He says, basically, shut up, be calm, 04:50 and instantly the sea became calm. 04:54 You see, this miracle demonstrated Jesus' 04:56 authority over nature. 04:58 The next miracle is going to demonstrate His authority 05:02 over Satan himself. 05:04 This miracle we see Jesus' ability to tame the wild sea. 05:09 The next miracle, we see Jesus' ability to tame the wild man. 05:14 This miracle we see Christ giving peace in the midst 05:18 of a storm. 05:20 And the next miracle 05:21 we see Christ giving peace in a soul. 05:25 Before we actually unpack the story of the demoniacs, 05:30 I want to look just a moment at the integrity 05:32 of the Synoptic Gospels. 05:33 You know the Synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark, 05:36 Luke, and John. 05:39 They all tell the story of the demon-possessed man. 05:42 But yet there seems to be an apparent contradiction 05:45 in this story. 05:46 And what is that? 05:48 Matthew says that there are two demoniacs. 05:51 But Mark and Luke only mentioned one demoniac. 05:55 And critics of the Word of God have taken 05:58 that apparent disparity. 06:00 And they have said, 06:02 "Well, that proves that the Bible is uninspired. 06:03 Why in the world would Matthew say there's two, 06:06 when Mark and Luke say there is only one." 06:09 I would submit to you that the apparent contradictions 06:12 actually authenticate 06:15 the validity of the historical story. 06:17 Each author would have remembered the story 06:20 just a little differently. 06:22 Each author would have focused on a different portion 06:25 of the story. 06:27 You know, if they had forged the account, 06:29 if they had said, okay, Matthew, Mark, Luke, 06:31 they're going to get together, 06:33 and they're going to see what is actually accurate. 06:35 And they're going to try to forge the gospel account, 06:38 they would have compared notes. 06:40 And they would have said, I'm going to say one, 06:42 well, you better say one person as well. 06:46 Only Matthew would have actually been there. 06:48 Remember, Mark was written by John Mark, 06:51 which would have been dictated by Peter, 06:53 but it was written by John Mark. 06:54 And Luke, of course, was written by Luke, 06:57 the Gentile doctor. 06:59 You know, it's kind of like if you are a witness 07:00 to an accident, and say, 07:03 the accident happened here 07:05 in the middle of the intersection. 07:06 We pretend our lectern is the middle of the intersection. 07:09 And I'm over here on this side, 07:12 and I saw the accident and I said, 07:13 "There's two people in the car." 07:15 And I was a bystander on the street corner, 07:17 there were definitely two people. 07:19 But somebody over here on this side, 07:21 said, "No, no, no, there were three people in the car. 07:25 I saw that." Now who is true? 07:27 They're both eyewitnesses. 07:31 That word is martus in the Greek, 07:32 we're going to get to that at the end of our story. 07:35 And they're both eyewitnesses 07:37 of something that took place. 07:39 There's no apparent contradiction from this side, 07:42 baby, I only saw two people in the car, 07:45 because maybe one person blocked another person, 07:47 from this side, that person wasn't blocked, 07:49 and you actually saw three. 07:52 The apparent disharmony in these little minutiae 07:55 that we see in the gospels 07:56 actually proves the validity of the gospels. 08:00 There's many similarities in the stories, 08:02 Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 08:04 all three discussed Jesus crossing the lake 08:07 and calming the storm. 08:10 All three discussed the demon-possessed man 08:13 who was set free. 08:15 All three discussed the pigs. 08:17 And all three discussed Jesus 08:20 who healed this man. 08:22 The different number of men Mark and Luke, 08:24 maybe their focus was just on the one man, 08:27 maybe he talked more, 08:29 maybe he talked more with Jesus, 08:31 and they focused more from that aspect. 08:33 You know, I could say, 08:35 there's two apples on this table here 08:36 or I could say, 08:38 there's an apple on the table. 08:39 And it doesn't mean there aren't two, 08:41 it just means I'm focused on one particular apple. 08:44 So as we tell the story, 08:46 we might say demoniacs or the man demoniac. 08:49 But it's still all the same story. 08:51 So let's look at the story. 08:53 We're in the Book of Luke. 08:54 Most of our account, 08:56 we're going to pull from the Book of Luke. 08:57 Luke Chapter 8, 08:58 we pick it up in verse 26. 09:00 It is time for deliverance. 09:05 Luke 8:26, 09:06 "Then they sailed 09:08 to the country of the Gadarenes, 09:09 which is opposite Galilee." 09:12 So they're going to mainly Gentile territory. 09:15 Jesus has focused His work. 09:18 He's focused His mission really mainly on the Jews, 09:22 but not just the highfalutin Jews, 09:25 not just the echelon of society, 09:27 not just the religious leaders, 09:29 He came to seek and to save those who were lost. 09:32 He came for the outcasts. 09:34 He came for the lepers. 09:36 He came for the untouchables. 09:38 He came for the woman, 09:39 and He also came for the children. 09:41 We see those that were marginalized in Jewish society, 09:45 those that would have been cast aside, 09:48 Jesus came specifically to set those people free. 09:53 But He didn't just come for the nation of the Jewish people. 09:57 He came for the Gentiles. 09:59 He came for the entire world. 10:01 We see this in John Chapter 4 10:02 as Jesus visits with a Samaritan woman. 10:05 We see this in another account in the gospel, 10:08 as He goes in visits with a Syrophoenician, 10:11 the Canaanite woman. 10:13 And in this account, we see Him crossing the sea, 10:16 going to the country of the Gadarenes, 10:18 which was mainly Gentile territory. 10:23 Takeaway number one, 10:24 remember these 14 takeaways of deliverance. 10:27 Takeaway number one, 10:28 deliverance is for everyone. 10:32 It's not just for the people we like. 10:34 It's not just for the people we know. 10:36 It's not just for the people that we want to help. 10:40 Deliverance is for everyone. 10:44 It's for the stranger, 10:46 it's for the foreigner, 10:47 it's for the outcast. 10:49 You know what? 10:50 It's even for the person I don't necessarily like. 10:54 The gospel is for everyone. 10:57 The Book of Galatians really tells us very clearly. 11:00 I love the Book of Galatians. 11:02 We see the gospel portrayed in such an incredible way. 11:07 And in Galatians 3:28-29. 11:11 It says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, 11:13 there is neither slave nor free, 11:15 there is neither male nor female, 11:18 for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 11:22 And if you are Christ's, 11:23 then you are heirs, according to the promise 11:26 you are Abraham's seed." 11:29 So what is Paul saying here? 11:31 The gospel is for everyone. 11:32 Deliverance is for everyone. 11:35 It's not just for the people that we want it to be for. 11:38 It's not just for the people 11:39 that we naturally are inclined to. 11:42 It's not just for the good people, 11:45 or the people we think are good. 11:47 Deliverance is for everyone. 11:49 Let's read the next verse. 11:50 Luke 8:27, 11:53 "And when He stepped out on the land, 11:54 there met Him a certain man 11:56 from the city who had demons for," 12:00 just a week or two. 12:01 No, it doesn't say that, does it? 12:03 "He had demons for a long time. 12:06 And he wore no clothes, 12:09 nor did he live in a house but in the tombs." 12:13 Takeaway number two, deliverance is, 12:17 especially for those who have been bound the longest. 12:22 I love that, 12:23 Jesus did not just come for those who were just 12:27 stepped into sin, 12:28 or just stepped off the abyss into something 12:31 that God did not want them to be in. 12:33 What did it say? 12:34 This man had demons a long time. 12:37 Deliverance is especially for those 12:40 who have been bound the longest. 12:42 Do you feel like you're bound? 12:43 Are you in addiction? 12:45 Are you in sin? 12:46 Do you feel like there is no way out 12:48 and you say, but you don't understand, Jill. 12:49 I have been in bondage a long time. 12:52 I haven't walked in sin just a week 12:54 or a month or a year or two, 12:56 or 10 or 20, or 30. 12:58 I've been 50 years, I've been 60 years, 13:01 I've been 70 years steeped in addiction and sin. 13:07 Deliverance, Jesus came especially to set you free. 13:12 Satan is the accuser of the brethren, 13:14 and we see that in Revelation Chapter 12. 13:16 Turn with me there, keep your finger in Luke, 13:18 we're coming back. 13:19 But let's go to Revelation 12:10, 13:23 "Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 13:26 'Now salvation, and strength, 13:28 and the kingdom of our God, 13:30 and the power of His Christ have come, 13:33 for the accuser of our brethren, 13:35 who accused them before our God day and night, 13:40 he has been cast down.'" 13:41 You know, what's amazing to me, 13:43 is that Satan is the one who wants to lead us into sin, 13:45 does he not? 13:47 He's the one who tempts. 13:48 He's the one who entices. 13:49 He's the one who wants to wrap us up 13:52 in addiction, in bondage. 13:55 And yet, when he does that, 13:57 when he wraps us up in sin, 13:59 when he cloaks us with darkness, 14:01 when he covers us with all that, 14:03 then he stands and accuses us. 14:06 He's the one who enticed us and pulled us into sin. 14:09 And as soon as we step into it, 14:11 he stands in judgment. 14:13 He stands in condemnation over us. 14:16 He is the accuser of the brethren. 14:21 Have you ever heard any of those accusations 14:25 from the enemy? 14:26 I have. 14:28 You're not good enough. 14:29 You don't obey well enough. 14:32 You don't measure up. 14:35 You aren't holy enough. 14:37 Who do you think you are? 14:38 You messed up yet again. 14:41 You think God would take you back after what you have done? 14:46 If I'm being honest with you and transparent with you, 14:48 I have wrestled with this. 14:49 There have been times in my Christian experience. 14:51 I accepted Jesus in my heart 14:53 and life as a little girl. 14:55 And I grew up wanting to walk with Him, 14:57 wanting to follow Him, 14:59 wanting to sense His smile upon me, 15:03 to feel His breath as it were on my cheek, 15:06 to walk in concert with Him. 15:09 And yet there have been times in my experience 15:13 that Satan has enticed me. 15:15 And instead of me clinging to Jesus, 15:18 I have walked the other direction, 15:20 I have gone in a way of my own choosing. 15:23 I've said, "I want to do my own thing, God." 15:25 And when I did, 15:27 when I stepped into sin, 15:30 Satan instantly pounced on my back and said, 15:33 "Who do you think you are? 15:34 You think you're a Christian? 15:36 What type of Christian would do that? 15:38 Jesus, He's not gonna forgive you. 15:41 You need to do penance, 15:42 you need to try harder. 15:44 You need to be good 15:45 before He will even accept you back to me." 15:51 Nothing is further from the truth. 15:53 Jesus came that you and I would have life 15:56 and have it more abundantly. 15:57 He came that we could experience forgiveness, 16:00 and freedom, and deliverance from bondage. 16:04 So do not listen to the lies of the enemy. 16:08 Do not listen to Satan's accusations that say, 16:12 you aren't good enough, 16:13 or you've gone too far, 16:15 or you've done too much 16:17 that He cannot forgive you. 16:20 Do not listen to that. 16:21 For Satan is the accuser of the brethren. 16:24 In Luke 5:32, Jesus is speaking, 16:27 he says, "I have not come to call the righteous, 16:32 but sinners, to repentance." 16:35 You see, deliverance is especially 16:37 for those who are bound. 16:39 Deliverance is especially 16:40 for those who have been bound the longest. 16:44 Think about Jesus in His ministry, 16:46 the woman who was bound for 18 years 16:49 Jesus came and delivered her. 16:51 Think about the woman with the issue of blood 16:53 for 12 years, Jesus came and delivered her. 16:57 Think about the man who was born blind. 16:59 That is a lifetime of bondage, 17:02 Jesus came and delivered him. 17:05 Think about the woman caught in the act of adultery. 17:08 And I have a feeling it was not the first time 17:10 she was caught in that, 17:11 but not the first time she engaged in that, 17:13 it was just the first time she was caught in that. 17:16 And yet Jesus came to set her free. 17:20 Takeaway number two, deliverance is for those 17:23 who have been bound the longest. 17:25 Deliverance is for us. 17:27 Takeaway number three, this is still from the same verse. 17:30 Deliverance is for those who struggle with shame, 17:33 who struggle with sin. 17:35 Remember the demoniac? 17:36 What does the Bible say? 17:37 He wore no clothes. 17:40 That's a symbol of the shame that he lived under. 17:44 Remember, in the Garden of Eden, 17:45 Adam and Eve walked and talked with God 17:48 in the cool of the day. 17:50 And then in Genesis Chapter 3, 17:52 we see sin entered this world. 17:55 We see sin brought separation from the Father, 17:58 sin brought fear and guilt, 18:00 sin brought shame and condemnation. 18:04 In Genesis 3:7, 18:07 "The eyes of both of them," 18:08 this is Adam and Eve, "were opened, 18:10 and they knew they were naked, 18:12 and they sewed fig leaves together 18:14 and made themselves covering." 18:17 Why? 18:18 Because they were ashamed and they recognize their nakedness. 18:22 Deliverance is especially for those who struggle 18:26 with shame and with sin. 18:28 Isaiah 50:7, I love this promise. 18:31 I love the Book of Isaiah. 18:32 The first half, of course, 18:33 being the book of judgment, 18:35 but the second half being the book of comfort 18:39 and healing, and we're in the second half. 18:41 We're in Isaiah 50:7, 18:45 "For the Lord God will help Me, 18:47 therefore I will not be disgraced, 18:50 I have set My face like a flint, 18:53 and I know I will not be ashamed." 18:56 Isn't that incredible the Lord God says, 18:58 "You do not have to be afraid. 19:00 You do not have to walk in shame. 19:03 You do not have to wallow in guilt and condemnation." 19:07 Jesus came. 19:09 Takeaway number three, 19:10 deliverance is especially 19:13 for those who struggle with sin and shame. 19:15 Let's read the next verse. 19:17 We're in Luke Chapter 8, 19:18 we're picking up verses 28 and 29. 19:22 "When he saw Jesus," this is the demoniac, 19:25 "he cried out and fell down before Him, 19:28 with a loud voice and said, 19:30 'What have I to do with You, 19:32 Jesus, Son of the Most High God? 19:35 I beg You, do not torment me!' 19:39 For He, that's Jesus, had commanded 19:42 the unclean spirit to come out of the man.'" 19:44 Takeaway number four, 19:45 deliverance is for those who cannot say 19:49 what is in their heart. 19:51 What do I mean by that? 19:52 Was that the demoniac speaking, 19:54 saying, "What do I have to do with you? 19:56 Leave me alone." 19:57 Was that the man speaking or was that the demons 20:01 that inhabited him? 20:03 You see, Jesus looked beyond the words 20:04 that were merely spoken. 20:06 He looked beyond the demon that was possessing the man 20:08 and he looked into the man's heart. 20:11 And he knew that this man, 20:13 he wanted deliverance, 20:15 he wanted to be set free. 20:17 You see, it was time for deliverance 20:20 in the life of the demoniac. 20:21 And Jesus knew this. 20:23 He says in 1 Samuel 16:7, 20:26 "The Lord said to Samuel, 20:28 'Do not look at his outward appearance, 20:31 or his physical stature, for I have refused him. 20:34 The Lord does not see as man sees, 20:37 man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord, 20:40 He looks at the heart." 20:44 I love that. 20:45 Because when you cannot even get out exactly 20:48 what's in your heart, 20:49 when you don't know how to express your desire 20:52 for freedom and deliverance, 20:54 the Lord sees your heart. 20:56 The Lord knows your heart. 20:57 Think about Peter when he's walking on the water 20:59 to meet Jesus. 21:01 And what happens? 21:02 He begins, he takes his eyes off Jesus, 21:04 and he begins to sink 21:05 and he doesn't have time for a big, long prayer. 21:08 He doesn't have time to articulate the way 21:10 he had sinned or stepped off and looked away from Jesus. 21:14 All he says is, "Lord, save me." 21:17 God sees our hearts. 21:19 God sees your heart. 21:22 God knows what is in your heart. 21:25 And God wants to bring you deliverance. 21:28 Let's look, we stop halfway through verse 29. 21:30 So let's read the second half of verse 29. 21:32 We're in Luke 8:29, 21:34 "For it," this is the demons, 21:37 "had often seized him, 21:40 and he was kept under guard, 21:42 bound with chains and shackles, 21:45 and he broke the bonds 21:47 and was driven by the demon into the wilderness." 21:53 Takeaway number five, deliverance is for those 21:57 who others can't control. 22:01 What do I mean by that? 22:02 That's kind of an interesting, 22:03 how can deliverance be for those 22:05 who others can't control? 22:07 Now did people want to control the demoniac? 22:10 It's very clear, they would not have bound him 22:13 with chains unless they were afraid of him. 22:15 And less, they wanted to keep him restrained, 22:18 unless they didn't want him to break away and hurt them. 22:21 And yet other people tried to control him 22:25 and he was uncontrollable. 22:27 He was a wild man, he was uncontrollable. 22:30 And yet, deliverance was even for him. 22:33 You could say, well, if other people couldn't do it, 22:35 how could Jesus bring him deliverance? 22:37 Jesus is the master of the sea. 22:39 Jesus is the master of men. 22:41 Jesus is the master of demons. 22:44 And He can deliver where other methods fail. 22:48 Have you tried other methods? 22:50 Have you tried school or tried church or tried discipline? 22:54 Are you a parent 22:56 and you're looking at your children and say, 22:57 "But I want them to walk in obedience, 23:00 I want them to follow Jesus. 23:02 But yet, it seems like all the controls 23:05 I put on aren't working, 23:06 and they are out of control." 23:09 Are you an adult and you think, 23:10 but I want these 12 step groups, 23:13 I am not knocking 12 step groups 23:15 because I believe there's a lot of healing 23:16 and help and wholeness to be found in that. 23:19 Yet at the same time, 23:20 there comes a certain point where we say 23:22 all these outside things that we put on ourselves, 23:25 they're not really helping, 23:27 and I need deliverance. 23:29 I want deliverance. 23:31 Deliverance is for those who other methods have tried. 23:34 Other people have tried and they have failed. 23:37 Deliverance is for you. 23:40 The next verse. 23:42 Before we get to that, in the same section, 23:44 we're jumping over to Mark, 23:46 Mark Chapter 5. 23:47 Remember, the story is told in Matthew, 23:49 Mark and Luke, and I like this particular instance 23:51 that Mark brings out that Luke does not. 23:53 So let's go to Mark 5. 23:55 This is our takeaway number six, 23:56 but we find it in Mark. 23:58 Mark 5:5, "And always, night and day, 24:02 he was in the mountains and the tombs, 24:05 crying out and cutting himself with stones." 24:11 That word cutting in the Greek means to cut, 24:14 to gash, to mangle, 24:16 so he wasn't just lightly cutting himself, 24:19 he was cutting himself deeply with the stones. 24:24 Takeaway number six, 24:26 deliverance is for those who self harm. 24:29 Deliverance is for those who self abuse. 24:34 Deliverance is for those who self inflict pain. 24:39 She was a beautiful girl. 24:42 Probably 16 upperclassman in school, 24:45 blond hair like that, 24:46 peaches and cream, 24:48 perfect looking complexion, 24:50 tall, lot of gifts, lot of abilities. 24:53 I was a brand new teacher fresh out of college, 24:58 my very first job, 25:01 didn't know anything about anything. 25:04 And I was so busy, 25:07 caught up in the rounds of teaching for the first time, 25:11 of grading papers, 25:13 making lesson plans 25:15 and trying to maintain classroom control, 25:17 all those new things that you've never done before, 25:19 you really don't know how to do. 25:21 And I was so caught up in that, 25:24 that I forgot, 25:25 or I was too busy to take time to ask about this girl. 25:30 We'll call her Megan. 25:32 That's not her real name. 25:33 But I was too busy to ask about Megan, 25:37 to ask how her heart was, 25:40 to ask was she okay. 25:42 She smiled. 25:43 She seemed okay. 25:45 But I never took time to even ask. 25:48 And I'm ashamed to tell you that, 25:49 this was 20-25 years ago. 25:53 And I still remember it as if it were yesterday. 25:56 Several months went by 25:57 and we took the students on a getaway. 26:00 It was a boarding school, academy. 26:03 We took them on a getaway for the weekend. 26:05 It was one of those weekend retreats at this cabin. 26:09 And we got together and did all this stuff 26:13 for community and team building within the school. 26:17 And I'll never forget, 26:18 Megan came to me and she said, 26:20 "Miss Jill, can I talk to you?" 26:21 And I said, "Oh, sure, I'd love to talk to you." 26:24 And we sat down on the bed. 26:26 And for the first time 26:27 I remember she looked at me in the eyes. 26:30 And for the first time I was really amazed 26:33 at the pain in her eyes. 26:38 I'd known her for months. 26:39 And I'd never even noticed and it 26:42 kind of caught my breath. 26:43 And I remember thinking, has she always had this pain? 26:47 Have I never even noticed that pain before? 26:52 And I said, "Megan, I'm so sorry," 26:54 because the pain was evident on her face. 26:57 She said, "No, no, no, Miss Jill, 26:59 you don't understand." 27:00 And so she began, 27:02 she was wearing a long sleeve shirt. 27:03 And she unbuttoned it and she began to roll it up. 27:05 And just at that moment, it hit me 27:06 that I never seen her in a short sleeve shirt. 27:09 She always wore sweaters even when it was warm, 27:13 long sleeve shirts. 27:14 And I thought that's odd, 27:15 why didn't I ever notice that before. 27:17 And she unrolled her shirt and pull it up 27:20 and I'll never forget on her forearm 27:24 she'd been cutting. 27:25 You could see the scratches in her arm 27:28 and the dried blood across her arm. 27:29 But what she had done was not just random slashes 27:34 in her skin. 27:35 She had cut four letters into her forearm. 27:39 And they spelled help, 27:42 H-E-L-P. 27:48 And I remember, I sat there. 27:50 And I thought, Jill, you've been too busy 27:54 to see the pain in this girl, 27:57 to see that she was literally crying out for help, 28:03 cutting herself. 28:06 And yet you never saw that before, 28:08 and you never reached out before. 28:11 This man had been in the mountains in the tombs, 28:16 cutting himself with stones. 28:19 Deliverance is especially 28:22 for those who self harm. 28:25 Deliverance is for the bulimic, and the anorexic, 28:28 and the cutter, and the drug addict, 28:30 and the drug dealer, and the alcoholic, 28:34 and the prostitute. 28:36 And for those who are suicidal, 28:37 deliverance is especially for you. 28:42 John 6:37, I love this scripture. 28:44 "Jesus says, 'Whoever comes to me, 28:46 I will never cast out.'" 28:49 You might be saying but I'm afraid 28:51 I'm going to be cast out, 28:52 but He doesn't know what I've done. 28:54 Of course, He knows what you've done. 28:55 Of course, He knows all about you. 28:57 He created you. 28:58 He made you, He wants to redeem you. 29:00 He knows that you're trapped in bondage. 29:02 He knows that you're in addiction. 29:04 He knows all about that. 29:07 And yet He came to deliver you. 29:10 It is time for deliverance. 29:14 And not just Jesus came for you. 29:17 But John 16:27, I love this scripture, 29:19 it says, "The Father Himself loves you." 29:24 So many times we think the God of the Old Testament 29:26 is this God of justice, and this God of harshness, 29:28 and He's all about rules. 29:31 And the God of the New Testament 29:32 is all about love and all about relationship. 29:34 But the truth is they are one and the same God. 29:38 Yes, God is a God of justice. 29:40 Yes, God is a God of judgment. 29:42 God is a God of fairness. 29:43 His law is holy, just and good. 29:45 At the same time Jesus came, 29:47 so that you and I can be set free 29:49 and so that you and I can be delivered 29:51 and that we don't have to walk in bondage. 29:54 We don't have to cut with stones, 29:56 we don't have to walk in that anymore. 30:01 Takeaway number seven, 30:03 deliverance is for those who feel they are dead, 30:08 or wish they were dead. 30:10 Now you say, "Jill, where did you get this?" 30:12 Where did the demoniac live? 30:14 He dwelt in the tombs, 30:16 he dwelt in the caves. 30:18 This is where they buried dead people. 30:22 And yet Jesus came to set them free. 30:27 He dwells in those places. 30:28 Deliverance is especially for those who feel 30:31 they are dead, 30:32 who feel like you dwell in a cave, 30:35 and I wish my life were over. 30:38 Deliverance is especially for you. 30:42 I love this promise in Romans 4:17. 30:45 This tells us the power of the God that we serve, 30:48 and the power of the Word of God. 30:52 There is tremendous power in this Word. 30:54 Romans 4:17. 30:56 This is, of course, talking about Abraham. 30:59 But it says, God who gives life to the dead, 31:01 meaning Abraham and Sarah were past the age 31:03 where they could have children, Sarah specifically. 31:06 And yet God gave life to her dead womb, 31:10 you could say, her dead body. 31:11 God who gives life to the dead, 31:14 and calls those things which do not exist, 31:17 as though they already did. 31:21 So do you feel that you are in a dead place? 31:24 Do you feel like there is no hope? 31:25 Do you feel like there is no deliverance? 31:28 Deliverance is especially for those who feel 31:32 they were dead or wish they were dead. 31:36 Jesus came to give us life. 31:39 Jesus came to set us free. 31:42 Jesus came to bring deliverance. 31:46 Let's turn to Ephesians, Ephesians Chapter 2. 31:48 I love this passage, because this is about 31:51 how you and I are all dead in trespasses and sins. 31:54 And this is all of us. 31:55 You could say, "But I'm a pretty good person, 31:57 and I'm a good Christian. 31:59 And I'm not one of those addicts, Jill. 32:00 And I'm not one of those prostitutes. 32:02 You know, I don't cut and I don't, 32:04 I'm not a drug addict. 32:05 I don't walk in those ways." 32:07 But we will get in just a moment, 32:10 to not the demoniac but the other people, 32:13 the townspeople, who still were in bondage, 32:17 who still needed deliverance. 32:20 You see, deliverance is for all of us. 32:22 If we feel like we're in the muck in the scum, 32:26 we might recognize our need of Jesus more. 32:29 Yet, deliverance truly is for all of us 32:34 whether we recognize it or not, 32:35 whether our sins are more sanitized than others, 32:40 deliverance is still for us. 32:41 We're going to Ephesians 2. 32:43 Ephesians 2, it says in verse 1, 32:45 "And you He made alive, 32:47 who were dead in trespasses and sins, 32:51 in which you once walked according to the course 32:53 of this world, according to the prince 32:54 of the power of the air." 32:56 That's all of us. We all walked in sin. 32:58 The Bible says, "All have sinned 32:59 and fallen short of the glory of God." 33:02 "The spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience," 33:05 verse 3, 33:06 "among whom also we all once conducted ourselves 33:10 in the lusts of our flesh, 33:13 fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, 33:17 and were by nature children of wrath, 33:19 just as the others." 33:20 But God, it does not stop there. 33:22 We do not have to live in addiction. 33:26 We do not have to live in that place 33:28 where we were dead in trespasses and sins. 33:31 Verse 4, "But God, 33:33 who is rich in mercy, 33:35 because of His great love with which He loved us, 33:37 even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, 33:40 have made us alive together with Christ, 33:44 by grace you have been saved, 33:47 and has raised us up together, 33:48 and made us sit together in the heavenly places 33:50 in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come 33:54 He might show the exceeding riches 33:55 of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." 33:58 And then it goes on to the passage we all know, 34:00 by grace we've been saved through faith. 34:02 But I love that preamble to that, 34:05 because it shows that we were dead 34:06 in trespasses and sins. 34:08 Yes, we were lost. 34:09 We were without God. 34:11 We were without hope. 34:12 And yet, but God demonstrated His love toward us 34:16 while we were yet sinners, still, even now. 34:19 He came to pull us out of that dead place 34:24 of trespasses and sins, pull us out of the tombs, 34:27 and bring us deliverance. 34:30 We're going back to Luke, Luke 8:30. 34:33 This is takeaway number eight. 34:36 "Jesus asked him saying, 34:38 'What is your name?'" 34:40 And he said, now, this is the demons speaking, 34:42 "'Legion,' because many demons had entered him.'" 34:47 Takeaway number eight, 34:49 deliverance is for those who are overwhelmed 34:53 or controlled. 34:56 I don't know about you, but I cannot even imagine 34:58 being controlled by a legion of demons, 35:00 not just one demon but a legion. 35:03 You know, a legion was the largest unit 35:05 of the Roman army, 35:06 and it consisted of up to 6,000 men. 35:11 Now, we don't know 35:12 how many demons resided inside this man. 35:15 But you could say there was at least a thousand or two, 35:18 or maybe three, maybe four, 35:19 we don't know, 35:21 multitudes of demons in one person. 35:25 Deliverance is especially for those who are controlled, 35:29 or for those who are overwhelmed 35:32 with a seeming multiplicity of issues. 35:35 When you're at the end of your rope, 35:37 when you cannot carry on, 35:39 when you can't get the victory, 35:40 Jesus shows up. 35:43 Jesus encountered a legion of Satan's army 35:46 there in the man right there at the shore. 35:49 And he not only had authority over them, 35:51 he put them to route 35:52 and we see that in the next verse. 35:54 We're in Luke 8:31-32, 35:57 "And they begged him," this is the demons, 36:00 "that he would not command them to go out into the abyss. 36:04 Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. 36:08 So they begged Him He would permit them 36:10 to enter into them. 36:12 And He permitted them." 36:14 So what did the demons say? 36:15 Don't just cast us out, 36:16 don't send us out of the country, 36:18 don't send us into the abyss. 36:19 We want to go into the swine. 36:20 They're right over here, 36:22 that's where we want to go. 36:24 And amazingly, what does it say? 36:27 He permitted them. 36:29 Jesus allowed it. 36:31 Takeaway number nine, 36:32 deliverance does not always happen 36:34 the way you and I expect. 36:38 You know, if I were doing this, and I mean this, 36:42 not in a sacrilegious way. 36:43 But if you were doing this, say you were Jesus. 36:46 And I don't mean that disrespectfully. 36:48 But would you say, okay, yeah, 36:50 we'll have the demons come out of this man 36:51 and go into a whole bunch of pigs, 36:53 I wouldn't have expected that. 36:55 That is not what you would naturally think 36:57 would have happened. 36:59 Deliverance does not always happen 37:01 in the way that we expect. 37:03 We kind of put God in a box. 37:04 And we think He has to function in a certain way, 37:07 He has to function in a certain capacity. 37:10 And this is, this is how God's gonna heal me. 37:13 This is how God's gonna deliver me. 37:15 This is what it is going to look like. 37:17 But you know what? 37:19 When Jesus shows up, 37:20 deliverance does not happen 37:23 always the way that we expect. 37:27 Now, this is very interesting to me. 37:28 When I study this passage, 37:30 you would think that Jesus would answer the request 37:33 of His eager follower, would you not? 37:35 Because later, what does the demoniac say? 37:37 Jesus, let me go with you. 37:39 So you would think Jesus would answer that request. 37:43 You would think He would deny the request of the demons 37:46 and He would deny the request of the unbelievers. 37:50 And yet, that's not what we see in the story. 37:52 Jesus agrees to the request of the demons. 37:57 Jesus agrees to the appeal from the townspeople, 38:00 from the unbelievers. 38:02 Later, we'll see, they say, leave our country, 38:05 and He agrees to that. 38:07 And yet Jesus denies the request of the man 38:10 who says, "Please, please just let me go with you." 38:14 And Jesus says, "No." 38:16 It's very interesting to me, 38:18 Jesus granted the appeal of the demons, why? 38:22 I think because their time of final judgment 38:25 and destruction was still in the future. 38:27 We know they will be cast into the lake of fire 38:30 at the end, not to burn forever, 38:32 but to be burned up. 38:34 But that time of judgment has not come yet. 38:37 Until that time comes, 38:39 Ephesians 6:12 tells us, 38:41 we're still going to wrestle. 38:42 We wrestle not against flesh and blood, 38:46 but against principalities, against powers, 38:48 against the rulers of the darkness of this age, 38:52 against spiritual hosts of wickedness 38:55 in heavenly places. 38:57 In other words, 38:59 we are still engaged in the great controversy, 39:02 this battle between good and evil 39:04 between Christ and Satan. 39:06 And demons are still around and still real, 39:09 but our God has victory over them. 39:14 Why did Jesus allow the demons to enter into the swine? 39:18 Now, of course, we know that swine are unclean animals, 39:21 and they entered into these unclean animals. 39:26 I would say a couple of reasons. 39:27 Now, this is Jill's interpretation, 39:29 you might have something different. 39:30 I think it really got the townspeople attention. 39:33 That was their livelihood, 39:35 their pig farming, you could say, 39:38 was very important to the community there. 39:40 And when they ran off the cliff, 39:41 which we'll see in just a moment, 39:44 that had a profound effect on the town. 39:47 That coupled with the demoniac's testimony 39:52 made a big difference in many of the townspeople, 39:55 later making a choice when 39:57 we see Jesus coming back to the community, 40:00 making a choice to accept Jesus. 40:04 People are more important than any livelihood. 40:09 Now Jesus granted the appeal of the townspeople, 40:11 which is really fascinating, too. 40:13 And He granted that 40:14 because He knew that He never forces people. 40:20 You know, they said, "We don't want you." 40:22 And now was Jesus gonna say, "But yes, you do. 40:24 You need to come." No. 40:25 If they said, "We don't want You, 40:28 Jesus, leave, leave our country. 40:30 We don't want anything to do with You." 40:32 What's He gonna say? 40:34 I will respect your free choice. 40:38 We also see Jesus denying the request 40:40 of the healed freed man, 40:42 the man who used to be a demoniac, 40:43 who's now healed. 40:45 But he knew 40:47 that this man would be a witness 40:52 to what Jesus has done, 40:53 and he would testify to other people 40:55 of the deliverance that he had experienced 40:59 through Jesus. 41:00 So let's read the next verse. 41:01 We're in Luke 8:33-34, 41:03 "Then the demons went out of the man 41:05 and entered the swine, 41:07 and the herd ran violently down the steep place 41:10 into the lake and they drowned. 41:12 When those who fed them 41:14 saw what had happened, 41:17 they fled and told it in the city 41:19 and in the country." 41:21 So you can just imagine these caretakers of the swine 41:23 are kind of watching over here, 41:25 what's happening, and they see this demoniac, 41:28 who's raging and mad, 41:30 and yet, all of a sudden, he becomes calm, 41:32 and their pigs go mad, 41:34 and they run off the herd and there's nothing 41:35 the caretakers can do to stop it. 41:37 So they run back to the city and say, 41:39 "Wait a minute, we just lost our livelihood. 41:41 Look at what has happened." 41:43 Now, if you read Mark's account, 41:44 we learned that there was 2000 pigs. 41:46 That's a lot of pigs. 41:48 Two thousand ran off the cliff and into the sea. 41:51 Takeaway number 10, 41:53 deliverance is never kept a secret. 41:56 What happened to this man was about to be told 41:59 to the entire countryside. 42:01 You know Romans 1:16, I love this verse, 42:04 "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, 42:07 for it is the power of God to salvation 42:09 for everyone who believes, 42:12 for the Jew first and also for the Greek." 42:17 I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. 42:20 Deliverance is never kept a secret. 42:23 When Jesus has set you free, 42:25 you want to go and tell. 42:27 And when Jesus sets you free, 42:30 other people see that, 42:33 other people experience that. 42:34 Remember in Luke Chapter 5, we are in Luke 8. 42:37 But if you jump back a couple chapters, 42:39 and you look at Luke Chapter 5, 42:40 we see the healing of a leper. 42:41 And what did Jesus tell this man? 42:45 Don't tell anybody that I have just healed you. 42:50 We see that in Luke 5:15, 42:52 when the report, but the man didn't keep quiet, 42:55 because in Luke 5:15, 42:56 we see, "When the report went around 42:58 concerning Him all the more, 43:02 great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed by Him 43:06 of their infirmities." 43:08 So the leper didn't keep his mouth shut. 43:10 And he told and then the report went out tremendously 43:13 and more people came forward to see 43:16 because deliverance is never kept a secret. 43:20 When Jesus has healed you, others know. 43:22 We see the healing of the leper in Luke 8 and then later, 43:26 we see when the healing of the paralytic, 43:28 there were so many people, 43:29 because Jesus' fame had gone abroad around Galilee. 43:33 There were so many people who had heard about Jesus 43:37 who wanted to see, 43:38 who wanted to be touched, 43:40 who wanted to be healed, 43:41 who wanted to be delivered, 43:43 that they could not even fit in the house 43:45 and they had to remember open up the roof 43:47 and let the paralytic down through the roof. 43:49 The woman who was caught in adultery, 43:51 all the religious leaders knew 43:54 that Jesus was setting her free. 43:57 Lazarus, when he was resurrected, 43:59 what happened when he was resurrected? 44:01 As a result, the fame of that miracle 44:04 of His resurrection was so great 44:06 that Jesus was later arrested and tried. 44:09 Deliverance is never kept a secret. 44:13 Let's read the next two verses. 44:14 We're in Luke 8:35-36. 44:16 Then they went out, this is the townspeople 44:18 who heard about the deliverance 44:19 and the pigs going off the cliff. 44:21 "They went out to see what had happened, 44:23 they came to Jesus, and found the man 44:25 from whom the demons had departed." 44:26 I love this. 44:28 This is my favorite part of the whole story. 44:29 What was the man doing? 44:31 Cutting himself. 44:32 Was he in the tombs? 44:34 Was he naked? 44:35 Was he based in shame? 44:36 Or did he wish he were dead? 44:38 Was he still self inflicting abuse, self harming himself? 44:42 No, no, no. 44:44 "He was sitting at the feet of Jesus, 44:46 clothed and in his right mind. 44:51 And they were afraid. 44:54 They also who had seen it told them by what means 44:56 he who had been demon-possessed was healed." 44:59 Takeaway number 11, 45:00 deliverance always changes us. 45:04 The demon-possessed man was now whole. 45:06 He was sitting, he was clothed. 45:08 He was in his right mind. 45:10 You see, when God gets a hold of us, 45:11 when God delivers me, 45:13 when God delivers you, what happens? 45:16 He heals us physically. 45:17 He heals us mentally. 45:19 He heals us emotionally. Most important, 45:22 He heals us spiritually. 45:25 That demon-possessed man was now made whole. 45:29 Deliverance, it always changes us. 45:33 I remember Monday nights was our night 45:35 going in to give Bible studies in the jail. 45:37 And I remember this one particular woman. 45:39 We were talking about the change 45:40 that Jesus makes in our lives, 45:42 and how He can take 45:44 what once was sick and stony heart. 45:49 What once we were crawling in the mire, 45:51 in the muck of sin, 45:52 what once was bound in addictions, 45:55 and He can set us free. 45:57 And I remember one of the women there, 45:59 and she looked up, I can't remember her name. 46:00 It's been several years, but she looked up at me 46:02 and she said, "Jesus has set me free, 46:05 and He has changed me." 46:08 But I wish you all could see in. 46:10 And the truth was, 46:12 we told her it is so evident, 46:13 it is so apparent that Jesus has set you free 46:17 and that Jesus has changed you. 46:19 Because I remember 46:20 when she would come into Bible study before, 46:23 she was afraid, 46:24 and she would cower in the corner, 46:26 and her face was dark. 46:27 You know how people's face looks 46:29 when they're clouded by sin? 46:31 Their eyes look when there's guilt 46:34 and condemnation and shame. 46:36 You know how people look after years of use and abuse. 46:40 That's how she used to look, 46:42 but she didn't look that way anymore. 46:44 When you looked at her face, there was joy 46:46 and there was peace on her countenance 46:48 and she smiled. 46:50 There was assurance in her eyes. 46:53 You know why? 46:54 Because deliverance always changes us. 46:58 Now, she didn't know that she'd been changed. 47:01 She didn't see that she'd been changed, 47:03 but we saw, 47:04 the evidence was apparent that she had been changed. 47:10 Takeaway number 12, 47:11 we also get this from the same verses we just read. 47:13 Takeaway number 12, 47:14 deliverance causes fear in others. 47:16 It was very interesting to me 47:18 'cause here's the demoniac 47:19 sitting clothed in his right mind. 47:23 And what were the townspeople? 47:25 It said, they were afraid. 47:30 Deliverance causes fear in others, not always, 47:34 but it can cause fear in others. 47:38 Why were they afraid? 47:39 You know, we really like the status quo. 47:41 Have you noticed that? 47:43 We like no changes. 47:45 Why were they afraid? 47:47 Maybe they were afraid because they just lost 47:48 their livelihood, the 2000 pigs went off the cliff. 47:51 Maybe they were afraid because they'd never seen 47:53 anyone before who had power to control demons. 47:57 Maybe they were afraid 47:58 because they thought Jesus was coming to make changes 48:00 in their lives and they weren't ready for that. 48:04 You know, anytime Jesus enters the room, 48:09 anytime Jesus enters someone's life, 48:13 you and I are forced with the decision as well. 48:16 What are we going to do with Jesus? 48:18 Are we going to make the same decision 48:20 that the demoniac made to be healed, 48:22 to be transformed, to be set free, 48:24 to be delivered? 48:26 Are we going to continue in our own sin? 48:30 1 Corinthians 1:23-24. 48:33 Paul's talking here, he says, 48:34 "We preach Christ crucified, 48:38 to the Jews as a stumbling block." 48:39 Why was it a stumbling block? 48:41 Because they were taught from Deuteronomy, 48:42 cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree. 48:45 So they thought Jesus was under a curse, 48:47 and he was to be blasphemed. 48:48 And they had an issue with that. 48:51 "To the Jews a stumbling block, 48:52 it was difficult for them to accept Jesus as the Messiah, 48:56 to the Greeks foolishness, 48:59 but to those who are called both Jews and Greeks, 49:02 Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God." 49:06 You see Galatians 4:4, 49:08 "When the fullness of time was come, 49:10 God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, 49:14 born under the law to redeem those, 49:16 that's you and I who are under the law." 49:19 You see, it's time for deliverance. 49:21 It's time for a deliverer, that deliverer, 49:25 that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. 49:28 So let's read our next verse, we're in Luke 8:37. 49:30 We're almost done with the story. 49:32 Luke 8:37, 49:34 "Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region 49:36 of the Gadarenes asked Him, 49:38 that's Jesus, to depart from them, 49:41 for they were seized with great fear. 49:44 And He got into the boat and returned." 49:48 Takeaway number 13, 49:50 deliverance of one reveals the dominion of others. 49:56 Now what do I mean by that? 49:57 The demoniac was set free, 49:59 the demoniac was delivered. 50:01 His deliverance, 50:03 all of a sudden revealed that the townspeople, 50:06 they needed deliverance too. 50:08 They needed Jesus too. 50:09 Now their sin did not look the same 50:12 as that of the demoniac. 50:15 The demoniac was cutting and he lived in tombs, 50:17 and he had all these problems, and he broke chains, 50:20 and he was a wild, crazy person. 50:22 And you would say, oh, clearly, he's a sinner. 50:23 Clearly, he's lost in addiction. 50:25 And the townspeople thought they were respectable, 50:27 and they thought that they were maybe even good Christians. 50:32 And yet, the demoniac's deliverance 50:36 revealed that these townspeople were still, 50:40 they themselves were under the dominion of Satan. 50:45 The demon-possessed man clearly needed deliverance, 50:48 but the people from his village 50:49 they needed deliverance just as much. 50:52 Did you notice this was in Mark, 50:53 you can find that in Mark 5:10. 50:56 This is a demon speaking to Jesus. 50:58 They begged Him earnestly, 51:00 Jesus, that He would not send them out of the country. 51:03 So that tells me 51:04 that the demons were at home in that country. 51:07 They weren't just at home in the demoniac. 51:09 They were at home in the country, 51:11 because when they left the demoniac, they said, 51:12 "Please don't send us out of the country," 51:14 because they were at home. 51:15 They had settled down and taken up residence. 51:18 The people, the townspeople were more concerned 51:21 about the loss of the swine 51:23 than about the healing of the demoniac. 51:26 They begged Jesus to leave. 51:28 Now clearly, they were afraid of legion. 51:30 They were afraid of the demons 51:31 because they tried to bind the man in with chains and fetters, 51:35 and, of course, it didn't work, 51:36 but they were afraid of the man and yet, 51:39 they were even more afraid of Jesus. 51:41 They were afraid of the demon, 51:43 but they were more afraid of Jesus and they said, 51:45 "Please get out. 51:46 Leave our country." 51:49 The last two verses, Luke 8:38-39, 51:54 "Now the man from whom the demons 51:55 had departed begged Him." 51:57 He begged Jesus, please I want to be with You. 52:01 But Jesus sent him away, why? 52:05 Saying, in verse 39, 52:07 "'Return to your own house, 52:09 and tell what great things God has done for you.' 52:12 And he went his way 52:14 and proclaimed throughout the whole city 52:15 what great things Jesus had done for him.'" 52:18 Now Mark, I like how Mark expresses it, 52:20 Mark 5, halfway through verse 19. 52:23 It says, "Go home to your friends..." 52:24 This is Jesus speaking to the demoniac again. 52:27 "Go home to your friends, tell them what great things 52:29 the Lord has done for you, and how He had," 52:32 what's the word? 52:33 "Compassion on you." 52:35 I love that. 52:36 The compassion of our God, the love of our God, 52:39 Jesus who said, "I have compassion on you. 52:42 Yes, you're lost in sin, 52:43 yes, you're lost in addiction, 52:44 but I want to deliver you." 52:47 And he departed. 52:48 This is the demoniac, who's now healed, 52:50 who's now delivered. 52:52 "He departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis 52:56 all that Jesus had done for him, and they marveled." 53:00 Now, Decapolis comes from two words Deca meaning 10, 53:03 Polis meaning city. 53:04 So this is 10 Gentile cities in that region, 53:08 on the eastern side of the shore 53:10 of the Sea of Galilee. 53:12 And this man, 53:14 this man who had once been bound in addiction, 53:16 this man who needed deliverance, 53:18 who had experienced deliverance, 53:20 went to the 10 surrounding Gentile cities 53:23 telling them what? 53:25 What Jesus had done for him. 53:28 Our last and final takeaway. 53:30 Takeaway number 14, 53:32 delivered people share deliverance. 53:37 That's what the demoniac did. 53:39 He was delivered, 53:40 and then he shared that deliverance with someone else. 53:46 You and I can only share what we have experienced. 53:51 The word martus, 53:53 we mentioned at the beginning, I told you, we come back to it. 53:55 The word martus in the Greek is, 53:58 it's the word witness in English, 54:00 and it's in Greek, it's martus. 54:03 But the word doesn't just mean witness as you and I 54:05 would consider a witness. 54:06 It literally means an eye or an ear witness. 54:12 In other words, you and I are to share 54:15 what we've seen, what we've heard, 54:18 what we've experienced of the deliverance of Jesus. 54:23 Let's turn to 1 John, 54:24 this is our last scripture. 54:25 1 John Chapter 1. 54:28 I love this passage. 54:30 1 John Chapter 1. 54:31 Now, John, clearly John, the beloved apostle, 54:34 disciple, he was an eyewitness, and an ear witness. 54:39 He was a martus of the Lord Jesus Christ, 54:42 because he walked and talked to Jesus for three years 54:44 when He was on this earth. 54:45 We're in 1 John 1, 54:47 "That which was from the beginning, 54:48 which we have heard..." 54:50 The Greek means to give in the audience of, meaning, 54:52 he just didn't hear it secondhand, 54:55 he didn't hear about Jesus from a cousin 54:57 or from a mother or someone else. 54:59 He actually was there on the Sermon on the Mount. 55:02 He heard Jesus' voice with his own ears, 55:05 he was there on the boat, 55:07 the Sea of Galilee, when Jesus said, 55:09 "Peace, be still." 55:11 "He heard him, 55:12 which we have seen with our eyes, 55:15 which we have looked upon and our hands have handled." 55:17 Literally means to verify by touch, 55:20 I touched Jesus, I felt Him, 55:22 I walked with Him, I experienced Jesus. 55:25 Jump down to verse 3, 55:27 "That which we have seen and heard 55:28 we declare to you, 55:30 that you also may have fellowship with us, 55:33 and truly our fellowship is with the Father 55:35 and with His Son Jesus Christ." 55:37 So what's John saying? 55:38 That which I've seen, that which I've heard, 55:40 that which I've touched, that which I have experienced, 55:44 that's what I'm sharing with you. 55:46 Because delivered people, 55:47 they share deliverance. 55:49 What are those 14 takeaways? 55:52 Deliverance is for everyone. 55:54 It's for you. 55:56 Deliverance is for those 55:57 who have been bound the longest. 56:01 It's for those who struggle with sin and shame. 56:04 It's for those who cannot even express what's in their heart, 56:07 but yet so long for deliverance. 56:10 It's for those who other people 56:12 and other methods have failed to control. 56:15 It's for those who self harm. 56:18 It's for those who feel they are dead, 56:21 or wish they were dead. 56:23 It's for those who are overwhelmed 56:25 or controlled. 56:26 It's for those who need Him the most. 56:30 Deliverance does not always happen the way we expect. 56:32 It is never kept a secret. 56:35 It always changes us 56:37 and impacts the lives of those around us. 56:40 Deliverance of one reveals dominion in other people, 56:45 and delivered people share deliverance. 56:49 In 1947, 56:50 Robert Pierce went to China 56:53 and he was touched by the widespread hunger 56:56 specifically in the children that he saw there. 56:59 And he wrote in the flyleaf of his Bible, 57:02 "Let my heart be broken 57:05 with the things that break the heart of God." 57:09 So I want to ask you today, 57:11 it is time for deliverance. 57:14 Do you want to experience deliverance in your life 57:17 and in your heart? 57:18 And do you want to share that deliverance 57:23 with someone else? 57:24 Ask God, "Let my heart be broken 57:27 with the things that break the heart of God." |
Revised 2022-01-13