Matthew pt. 25 - Two Demon Possessed Men

All right, so you can turn in your Bible to Matthew Chapter 8.

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

Today we will finish Matthew Chapter 8.

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

This series has been so good just because the word of God is

so good. There's been so much light, so

much helps. There's so much growth, so much

maturity that comes as we look through the Gospels.

The Gospels are so full. There's always something there.

The Gospels were intended to be read, you know, in in in a

sitting. That was the point, like, hey,

beginning to end. These were letters that were

written. So a quick reading of Matthew

will give you a certain perspective, but a more studied

reading gives us that and much, much more.

So we want both, and we're going to continue to consider both.

So what would a what would a quick reader of Matthew take

away from this passage? And then we're going to continue

to dive in and say, but what other gems are here?

The word of God is living and active.

It's not just historical narrative.

It's not just, hey, this happened in the past.

Now you have the facts of what took place.

The word of God is also powerful.

It's not just a history book, but this is the word of the

living God for his people. So the passage that we're going

to read today, it continues to reveal Jesus's authority.

The Jewish readers like us up until this point would be

stunned by all of Jesus's power on display.

His genealogy. Remember at the beginning of

Matthew, Matthew wrote the. He he wrote his gospel for the

Jews. So he starts with the genealogy.

We're just kind of going so and so had so and so so and so had

so and so like this isn't that big of a deal to me, but we

studied it and we said wow, this is awesome.

This is awesome because it's prophecy fulfilled.

This is showing who the Messiah had to come through.

This is also awesome because we see the gospel being preached

through all that. We see who God would use in the

process. So we saw the genealogy of Jesus

laid out. We see the morality of Jesus

displayed. How do we see his morality?

We see him resisting temptation of the Devil.

So the Jews would be expecting their Messiah to not just be

good, but to be perfect. And of course the Messiah is

perfect. So Jesus is moral as he resists

Satan's temptations. We see Jesus fulfill the

prophets over and over. That's why Matthew keeps saying

as it was written. And then we see His instruction,

We see His teaching, we see His miracles.

And in this passage that we're going to read, we continue to

see his dominance and his power. Jesus is this wave that just

never stops crashing. He never lands fully and then

washes away and Withers. He is this massive wave.

He just He comes and he keeps coming and he keeps coming and

you're going. He just doesn't stop.

That's right. That's what Jesus is like.

That's what his Kingdom is like. That's what his reign is like.

That's what his power is like. The gospels just continue to

swell. You're going.

What can he not do? He heals.

That's amazing. He controls the weather.

That's amazing. He drives out demons.

Demons beg him for mercy. That's amazing.

Oh, he dies. Oh, I guess that's the end of

it. No, it's not.

He comes back to life and he rules and reigns on the throne

forever. That's amazing.

Jesus is amazing. There's nobody like Jesus.

Amen. We're in verse 28, so remember

we just said we were going to, He said, we're getting in the

boat, we're going to the other side.

The storm came up. He called the storm in verse 27

and the men marvelled, saying what sort of man is this, that

even the wind and the sea obey him?

Verse 28. And when he came to the other

side, to the country of the Gadarenes, 2 demon possessed men

met him coming out of the tombs so fierce that no one could pass

that way. These are violent men.

They were naked men. They would shriek.

Other gospel accounts tell us that these guys were just lost,

a horrifying sight, living in the tombs, shrieking, screaming,

violent. Sometimes there were times where

they had chained them up in hopes to contain them.

They broke the chains. So these men are dangerous to

most people, very scary to most people.

Verse 29 and behold, they cried out.

What have you to do with us, O son of God?

Have you come here to torment us?

Before the time now a herd of pigs was feeding at some

distance from them, and the demons begged him, saying, if

you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.

And he said to them, go, So they came out and went into the pigs.

And behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into

the sea and drowned in the waters.

The herdsmen, the guys who have been hurting, the pigs, they

fled. And going into the city they

told everything. You just lost 2000 pigs.

You just lost a lot of wealth, a lot of resource, a lot of money.

You run into the city, you tell everybody everything, especially

what had happened to the demon possessed men.

And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus.

And when they saw him, they begged him to leave their

region. Heavenly Father, thank you so

much for your perfect word. It's true.

It's alive. It's active.

It tells us what happened. But it also tells us something

today about us. It tells us something today,

today, about the moment that we live in.

It tells us about who you are. It tells us about human nature,

and it equips us. It encourages us, it challenges

us, and it blesses us. Lord, help us to be like the

King Jesus, the ultimate disciple, maker, who goes far

and wide, who Patrick followed in his footsteps, going far and

wide to his enemies, to those who weren't even welcoming to

carry the goodness of your gospel as salt and light.

That's our desire as well. Open our eyes to receive all you

have for us right now. In Jesus name we thank you.

Amen. So Jesus goes to the other side,

the the lake that he crosses, the Sea of Galilee.

It's called the Sea of Galilee, but it's a lake about 8 miles by

11 miles. So you know it's a lake he

crosses over. And in this other region, we're

still in Israel here, but there's a large influence of

Gentiles. So there's a lot of anti Jewish

behavior taking place as evidenced by the fact that

there's 2000 pigs being herded here.

So pigs are unclean animals, We're not supposed to touch

them, we're not supposed to eat them.

Not only are we touching them and eating them, we're we've got

a big piece of our economy is happening built off of raising

pigs. So we don't know who's gentile

and who's Jew necessarily over here on the other side of the

lake, but we do know that this is a demonic place because we

know that Satan has a lot of influence here.

Maybe This is why some people wouldn't have followed Jesus

over there. I followed him over here where

it's comfortable, where it's clean, where it's good.

But I'm not going to follow him over there if he's going over to

the Gadarenes, like also depending on where he lands,

like I know I've heard about a couple demon possessed guys over

there. Like I don't want any part of

that. I don't have anything to do with

it. So there's a lot of wicked

things going on. This place needs the Kingdom.

Not only do people disobey God's commands, but you know, they're

building big business out of it. Here we have a herd of at least

2000 pigs. Where there's darkness, though,

light is going to move in. So Jesus is going.

Where is it dark? Well, that's where I'm going to

head. That's always where I'm going to

pursue. He didn't stay where it was

comfortable. He didn't stay where it was

familiar. He went where there was a need.

In Mark, Chapter 2, Mark. Mark is actually telling us

Mark 2 · chapter mention

right in Chapter 2, verse 17, about the calling of Matthew,

which we're going to get to in Chapter 9 of Matthew.

Matthew hasn't even been called yet as a disciple up until this

point. He's giving us all the accounts

from the other disciples as they were given to him.

But from Chapter 9 on, Matthew is going to be eyewitness to

everything that was taking place.

But what What did? What was happening in Mark

Mark 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2? Jesus said those who are well

have no need for a physician, but only those who are sick.

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

So this is how our Lord sees things, and this is how we as

well should see things. Now, I feel called to go to

these people. I feel called to go to those

people. Well, the whole world needs the

gospel. And in particular, the darker it

is, the more the church is attracted to that, the more the

church goes, oh, oh, that's dark.

That's got my name written all over it.

That's, that's, that's the mission that the Lord has called

me to. If you're grieved by something,

if something that you see is dark, if something that you see

moves you, there's a purpose for that.

There's a reason that that thing's stirring inside of you.

When you see darkness, you should ask the Lord.

And you can do this very quickly, very, very quickly.

When you see darkness, when you've got that grief that hits

you, When the Holy Spirit inside of you is grieved by situation

or scenario rather than just going, that's so sad.

Well, it is sad, but that didn't do anything.

Nothing just changed by you. It's good that you have the

compassion of God in you. That's the right thing.

But let me teach you. What is your next step to do

when you see darkness? Ask the Lord quickly.

What would you have me do, Lord? Maybe he'll tell you to pray

that's action that will actually make power available, that will

actually do and change something.

Maybe he'll give you other instructions.

Maybe he'll say I want you to go and minister in this way.

But you know what he's not going to say?

He's not going to say nothing. And of course, that's why some

people don't pray, because they know that the Lord's going to

answer. Lord, would you have me do in

that situation? Well, the disciple prays that

way. That's the what the faithful

disciple asks and looks for. How can I be of service, Lord,

if you're the head and I'm the body, then I want to submit to

your will. To love God and to love neighbor

enough to act in ways that we would not have acted before we

came through the cross. Just like we talked about

Patrick this morning. Slave in a land for six years.

Kidnapped as a teenager. Goes home for six years or no,

sorry. Slave for six years.

Goes home and eventually returns with a with a love for these

people. It's a love.

It's not a yes Lord as your slave, I'll go in.

In one sense, yeah, we're we're slaves to the Lord.

But it was a love for the people that he said, I want to go see

these people walk in freedom. They're walking in darkness.

These people are in bondage. That's what everything is

outside of Jesus. I've got some friends.

They seem really happy, except that they're not outside of

Christ. There's always bondage outside

of Jesus because we're always slave to something or someone.

If you're not a slave to Christ, you are a slave to your sin.

If you're not a slave to Christ, you're a slave to your own

flesh. If you're not a slave to Christ

now, it might look decent on the surface, but in the end it leads

to death. There is a way that seems right

to a man. It seems good, and it might even

yield decent fruit along the way as you accidentally sprinkle in

Kingdom concepts and the Lord's principles.

But to actually have the King himself is the only guarantee of

blessing, of provision. So as you come, as you because

you have come through the cross, you're now salt that's here to

preserve the world. Because you have come through

the cross, you're now light that's here to guide the world.

And you should have this this idea that says I will not be

obsolete. Like we keep saying, I won't

just be a part of the crowd. I like the Lord.

I like His blessings, but I don't want to be a part of his

mission. But instead of the disciples are

going, I mean, I wonder what they were doing as these men

come running after him, other gospel accounts tell us more

other gospel accounts, in case you're confused, you say, wait,

I thought there was one man depending on which gospel you've

read. Well, other gospel accounts say,

you know, a man came out to meet Jesus and he had many demons

inside of him. You go, wait a second, was it

one guy or was it 2 guys? I thought the Bible's perfect.

Did we just find a flaw and a contradiction?

No. So whenever we have gospel

accounts like that, it's a really, really simple

explanation. There were two men.

There were two men. One gospel writer emphasized

someone in particular. Maybe one of them had stepped

forward. Maybe the other was farther back

in the distance. Maybe this guy's kind of the the

spokesman for the two. Who knows?

But this isn't anything to trip you up.

This is just very simple, very simple explanations.

Here. There were definitely two guys.

How do you know? Because the Scripture says so.

And the other account that talks about one, he's just emphasizing

a particular detail, just highlighting a particular thing.

So anytime you see slight changes in the gospel accounts,

the stories haven't lost their truth.

It's just that something is being emphasized for a

particular reason. So these two men are dangerous

because of Satan's grip on them. They're a threat to others.

They stay in the tombs with dead bodies, which are also unclean.

Like, this is a this is like a horror movie, right?

Like, just this is really, really weird.

This is really, really dark. But that's what Jesus does.

Jesus comes to rescue dead men. Jesus comes to rescue these

zombie like men. Jesus comes to rescue somebody

and totally restore them. Other gospel accounts tell us

that these men were restored, they were clothed and they were

in their right mind. I mean, what a night and day

turn around. What a 180.

The Kingdom of darkness. These men were trophies of Satan

and now they're trophies of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He comes over here because he loves them.

Look at verse 29 and behold they cried out.

What have you to do with us, O son of God?

Have you come here to torment us before the time?

I'm going to ask you two questions.

The answer to both of them is Jesus.

Say with boldness. Who are demons scared of Jesus?

Who torments demons? Jesus.

So notice what demons do in the Bible.

Whenever they approach Jesus, they go.

Please don't hurt me. Please don't torture me.

I know you're going to torture me for all eternity, but have

you come to do it before? It's not time yet.

I didn't think it was time yet. We know it's coming.

The demons understand their future.

They know what's coming. Where?

Where is this recorded? This is in Revelation 20, verse

Revelation 20:10

10. And the devil who had deceived

the people was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where

the beast and the and the false prophet were.

And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

This is Satan's finish. This is all all the fallen

angels, all the demons. This is their finale, tormented

day and night at the will of God forever and ever and ever.

Hell was designed only for Satan and his demons, and now through

the rejection of Christ, we also will join Satan as our Father,

as our master, if we reject the Lord Jesus Christ.

So Hell was never intended for humans, and yet anyone who

rejects the blood of Jesus cannot be in the presence of

God. Anyone who doesn't love and

follow Christ cannot have the glory and grace of God that he

has provided to them. So they know they said that this

is coming at the appointed time, right?

But this is very different from what media movies always

portray. Demons is this powerful,

powerful thing and humans are just at their mercy.

Humans outside of Christ are at their mercy.

This is why the ministry of exorcism in the church is so

important. This is why every Christian

should know that you are an exorcist.

Jesus is an exorcist. The body of Christ should cast

out demons. The body of Christ moves into

dark and demonic situations and says you have no power here, you

have no authority here. Doesn't matter if somebody's

growling, foaming at the mouth, contorting Slytherin on the

ground. Irrelevant, irrelevant

theatrics. Irrelevant theatrics for the

Saint who walks in the power of Christ.

I can't do anything about that. No, I can't.

I can't. I can't heal a mosquito if he

had a headache. And I and my own power can't

make a a spiritual, unseen thing go somewhere.

I can't do anything but in the power of Jesus.

In the name of Jesus, with the authority of Jesus.

This is what Jesus he said. I send you out into the world to

go and do the works that I've done and greater works will you

do so. Healing, preaching, delivering

Where is there Darkness Saints? You're well equipped.

You're well equipped to cast out demons.

The scriptures don't spend a lot of time giving us formulas and

giving us instruction. Here's 7 simple steps to cast

out any demon. We don't get that.

We just see Jesus walking in authority.

We see the Saints walking in authority and we see that demons

are cast out and Christ didn't didn't see fit to get into

detail. So I think we should be led by

the Holy Spirit. I think we should expect his

direction and his instruction to us in those moments.

I think we should say God, what would you have me do?

What would you have me say? Holy Spirit, what do you want?

I know what the word says. Did I just is it just shut up

and come out? I can do that, Lord.

But what would you have me do in this moment?

And to not be moved, to not be fazed by anything that happens

because we're set and settled in the word of God as final.

Jesus has all authority. Demons are scared of Jesus.

You have nothing to be afraid of.

Men, women, boys and girls you should not fear.

Demons call upon the name of Jesus.

If there's any supernatural activity in your life, if it

does not come from heaven, it originates from hell.

So we're not interested in anything that might be sticking

around. There are plenty of people who

have experienced lots of supernatural things in their

lives, like, hey, yeah, I've I've had this experience and

this has been going on since I was a child.

And and I see this thing and we kind of interact with one

another and we're kind of comfortable with one another

there. There are many variations of

people who are comfortable with supernatural things.

All of that is to be rejected. All of it is to be rejected and

pushed away. No, no.

I've seen some things that are really beautiful and but they

taught me about this and they taught me about that.

All that's to be rejected. I've talked to people who are in

in New Age World. A friend online, he reached out

to me because he saw me talking and preaching about Jesus

regularly and he said I want to know about Christ and I said

let's get on a zoom call together.

So we got on a zoom call and this guy is really into a lot of

things and he says I've done a lot of meditations and and I and

I interact with many different gods and and Christ has come to

me one time in one of my meditations and it was so

beautiful and and and Christ was just so there was just such a

warmth and Christ was there and and Christ was just blessing me

and and and then this other God came and was encouraging me and

this other guy came and so he said so what's your take on on

that? I said there's only one God.

His name is Jesus. There is the Father, the Son,

and the Holy Spirit. Everyone and everything else is

to be rejected if they do not glorify the name of Jesus, no

matter how comfortable they may seem, no matter how familiar you

may get with them. The scriptures also call them

familiar spirits. And we don't want to get

familiar with familiar spirits. We don't want any opening

because sometimes we think, well, demons are always going to

be bad, but if it's something beautiful.

But the scripture says that Satan can even disguise himself

as an Angel of light. So we don't play.

We don't toy with anything like that.

We don't play anything, anything.

We have an adamant anger. We have a determined

stubbornness against darkness in all of its forms.

Astrology. Ouija boards, this is not these

aren't things that we approach with any kind of neutrality.

These are things that we approach with the righteousness

of God. And we say nothing, absolutely

nothing can direct and instruct my life.

Not a board, not not the, not the astrology, not anything else

except for Jesus and His powerful Holy Spirit.

So we don't want to play with any of these things.

We want to actually recognize that we have enemies and they

have many inroads into people's lives.

Man, this crystal. I like to collect these

crystals. Why do you like to collect these

crystals? Because I think they're

beautiful rocks that the Lord made.

Fine, fine. You can enjoy beauty, beautiful

rocks that the Lord has created. I like these crystals.

I like these stones because they provide.

Stop, reject all of this. This is what we see throughout

the scriptures in the New Testament, in the book of Acts.

When people had magic arts, they had books, they had spells.

Was that? Was there actually something to

it? Yes, there was something to it.

Yes, there were curses. And yes, there's all kinds of

things that could be taking place.

Oh, that's kind of interesting. Stop.

Don't be interested in anything except what's pure and true and

holy. We want no part of these things

because the Scripture continually says these things

lead to rebellion. These things lead to deception,

and Satan has many inroads to deceive.

The New Age movement is actually gaining a lot of momentum right

now in the West. People are people are hungry,

people are searching, people want power, so they'll go for it

anywhere. And of course, Satan and demons

are eager to try and deceive and convince people.

So we don't reject these things because we are afraid of them.

We reject these things because we hate them.

We reject these things because we hate the devil.

Because let me tell you something about demon demons and

the devil. They hate you, they hate God,

they hate Jesus, and they hate you.

Again, nothing to be afraid of, nothing at all.

We walk in the power of God, and we can laugh in our enemy's

face. We walk through the valley of

the shadow of death, and we fear no evil.

Though we're surrounded on every side, it's irrelevant for the

Saint who walks in the power in the presence of the Lord.

So the more you read the Bible, you should not become more

concerned about darkness. You should be more bold in the

face of it. You should be more bold in every

circumstance, in every situation.

What was that noise? What was that?

It was goodness and mercy following you all the days of

your life. Those are the only things that

have jurisdiction in our lives. But you should have a

stubbornness. So in the Book of Acts, when

people repented and they had all their magic arts and their books

and all their their statues and all these things, they burned it

all. They burned it.

They didn't just say, well, I'm not going to mess with that

anymore. They burned it as a ceremonial,

as a as a as a vow, as a representation.

I can't go back. That's something that happens

often in Scripture. When you want to show that I'm

not going to return to something, you burn it.

Instead of like, well, I'm going to put it in the attic.

Why? So you have a Plan B in case you

in case you want to have something to come back to,

something to lean back on, but to burn it, burn it, abolish it,

and plead the blood of Jesus. Ask for forgiveness, for

participation in anything like that, and you will receive

mercy. You will receive God's grace,

You will receive his protection. But you have to pick the light

or the dark. Well, I kind of want both.

Then you pick dark. That's it.

And that's what the people did here, isn't it?

What are they going to do? They're going to beg Jesus to

leave, for crying out loud. You should beg him to stay.

Beg Jesus to stay. Lord, stay with me.

Well, I'm leaving then. I'm going with you.

We don't have any more room on the boat.

I'm hanging on the rudder. Jesus is not leaving me.

I'm going where the master goes. But it said they beg him to

leave. It's a demonic place with people

who don't want the light. So they hate you.

They hate God. They hate his creation.

They work to oppress, to possess, to disrupt, to seal, to

kill and to destroy. They have limited time and they

have limited ability. God has all authority over them,

and he has delegated that power to His church so that we too can

and should now drive out demons out of love for God and love for

neighbor. Let's keep going here.

Verse 30. Now.

Herd of pigs was feeding at some distance from them and the

demons begged him. Demons beg Jesus for mercy.

Demons beg Jesus for permission. Because Jesus is all powerful

over demons. They can't do anything apart

from his authority allowing it. And they said let us go into the

herd of pigs if you cast us out, he said go.

And they went into the herd of pigs.

And behold, the whole herd of pigs rushed down the bank to the

sea and drowned in the waters. These demons, they're looking

for a vessel, a being that they can dwell in, and Jesus grants

their request. I always thought that was weird,

but that should be an encouragement to you.

If Jesus will answer the prayer of demons, how much more will he

answer your prayer? So you have little faith.

The demons say, could we please do this?

He says, I'll allow it now. He had motive for it.

He had reason for it. He's like, all right, we've got

a bunch of swine here, We've got a bunch of pigs that shouldn't

be here, So we'll allow this. But how much more will he hear

the prayer of his Saints, the people that he actually loves,

as opposed to the demons who are his enemies.

Verse 33, the herdsmen fled and going into the city they told

everything, especially what had happened to the demon possessed

men. And behold, all the city came

out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they

begged him to leave their region.

So the whole city understands like they know what's going on

these this is a bigger place. This isn't a tiny village.

And yet they they would still have awareness of their own

economy. They would have an awareness of

them. Oh, that's where they keep pigs.

There's like thousands of pigs out there.

Pigs are filthy, by the way, in case you didn't know that there

were many reasons why Jews would have been repulsed at this whole

situation. The disciples are scandalized.

Like, man, if our mom knew that we were out here with Jesus,

like, I don't think she would be OK with this.

Pigs are pigs are filthy. They're really, really gross.

What they roll around in, what they eat, they taste delicious.

And we thank God that now he's declared, Jesus declared all all

foods clean. And yet, like the the disciples

are probably scandalized in this field trip that they're on with

the Lord with the master. But what do we see going on

here? We see Jesus setting two men

free. We see them going.

We see the herd's been going to testify and say this is what

just happened. We just lost our entire herd.

So that's going to affect a lot of businessmen, a lot of people

who are relying on different things, the way this would work.

But then the whole city comes out and goes, what happened?

What's going on? Tell us what took place.

We got to come see these two men in their right mind, clothed,

self controlled, restored. But then they begged Jesus to

leave and to get out. This is something that

continually happens and we all have faced the temptation, do I

want the blessings of Jesus while rejecting the purity of

Jesus. And this is what many people

face the temptation of because they they honestly and

rightfully recognize that if Jesus is going to be here, then

he's going to be all in and they recognize we can't control this

guy. I don't know what.

I don't know who he is or where he comes from, what this

supernatural power is about. But he is disrupting our world.

And Jesus will disrupt your life.

He will disrupt your life. He will disrupt your economy.

He will disrupt your paycheck. He will disrupt everything.

Does that mean he won't provide for me?

Of course. That doesn't mean he won't

provide for you. He will always provide for you.

But he will disrupt the way you saw things happening.

Well, I'm not really interested in that.

I beg you to lead my life. Jesus, you can do it.

They did. They did it before.

They begged him. They pleaded with him to leave

their region. We might want the blessings of

Jesus and the power of Jesus, but do we want the purity of

Jesus? Most people don't.

The crowd wants the power, but they don't want the purifying.

They don't want the process. I don't want to walk in any

process with you. I just want to go to heaven when

I die. That's all I'm really looking

for from you, Lord. I wonder, could a person who has

that perspective actually say that they love Jesus?

Could you say that you really love him?

If that's your perspective? Now there's degrees of maturity.

So as we mature, as we grow, our love deepens.

But could a person who says all I'm really looking for is an

escape hatch to get to heaven? That person would take any route

they could get to go anywhere. Jesus just happens to be the one

that serves them best. But does that person love Jesus?

Would that person be sad? Wouldn't that person also be

satisfied if they got to heaven and there was no Jesus there?

Whoa, I thought Jesus was like, no, no, no, no, there's no

Jesus. But you're in heaven like

Saints, true Saints. You can't even imagine that You

may as well be hell. What if to to have a heaven

without Jesus then there is no heaven.

Like I couldn't be satisfied. Like where's the king?

Where's the master? He's but he's the point.

He's my purpose. But if I just wanted blessings,

but I didn't want His Lordship. I don't want his reign.

He reigns above it all. It's not just a song, it's

revelation. It's the revelation that Patrick

had. He reigns above it all.

And these people recognize as this guy reigns and rules.

If he stays here, who knows what he's going to do next?

Guy's been here 30 minutes and look what he's already doing.

Please just leave. Let us go back to doing things

the way we used to do them. We had a system in place.

Jesus tells us why this happens in John 3 verses 19 through 20.

John 3:19–20

He said the light has come into the world and people loved the

darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does

not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

So that's why they're responding this way.

Just take the light away. You're you're exposing

everything. You're exposing my heart.

You're exposing my life. It's how the Lord works.

When the Lord shows up, you got to see yourself and then we go.

I don't like this. This is why the world

constantly, This is why the world constantly accuses you and

I of being judgmental. Because you turn the light on,

you come into their room, you turn the light on and you go,

hey, this bed is unmade and they go judge not.

And he said, hey, you know, there's like a glass of milk

over there that's looks like it's been sitting there for four

weeks. And they say, don't judge me.

Well, I'm just turning on the light.

I'm just. I'm just saying things as they

are. The Lord can turn this whole

room around. The Lord will build you a new

house and a new room entirely. And they say you're so

judgmental. Doesn't the Bible say something

about not judging? Of course, in their ignorance

they don't know that we are to judge with accuracy, but not to

condemn with shame. And also remember that with the

with the measure that we use to judge, it will be measured back

to us. So we judge with love.

We judge with a motive of love to restore.

Hey, that milk is really gross and it really stinks.

Don't judge me well. I love you.

And let could I? Could I please help you?

The king will come. He'll wash.

He'll wash everything. He'll restore everything.

He'll fold the clothes. He'll bring order to chaos.

That's what the Kingdom of light always does.

Jesus brings order to chaos. These men possessed by thousands

of demons. Chaos, nakedness, insanity, all

that comes along with that. Jesus brings order.

They're restored. They're sitting down.

They're peaceful, they're clothed.

But light comes into the world, and the world love the dark

rather than the light. Why?

Because it exposes me. So now I feel exposed.

Well, this is your moment. If you feel exposed, this is

your moment. This is a gift from God.

This isn't wrath. This is to spare you from wrath.

This is your moment to choose repentance.

It's going to be repentance or it's going to be pride.

Those are the possibilities. Repentance.

God, I humble myself before you. I belong to you.

I need you. I reject everything.

And I submit to you, I am yours. I am yours.

I'm no longer mine. It's no longer I who live, but

it's Christ in me. So as Jesus is rejected, he gets

back into his boat and he leaves.

That's what Chapter 9 tells us. Verse one.

And getting back into the boat, he crossed over and came to his

own city. So these two men lives changed,

blessed and restored. Everybody else said no thanks,

we don't want any of that. And Jesus said, all right, well

it was worth it for you. 2 And then he leaves and goes back on

to the other side. They love their filth more than

they love Jesus. Some people clearly recognize

the disruptive reign of Jesus, and they accurately discern that

they don't want it. Have you ever been there?

Do you want your pigs more than you want Jesus?

Do you want your drugs more than you want Jesus?

Do you want your pornography more than you want Jesus?

Do you want the trashy novels that you read more than you want

Jesus? Do you want your gossip more

than you want Jesus? Do you want your uncleanness in

any form more than you want Jesus?

No. I want to be free of those

things. That's a pure desire from the

Lord. I hate these things.

I want to walk in freedom from these things.

Well, the Lord will grant that. But you got to pursue him, You

got to walk with him, and you got to say, Jesus, help me as

opposed to Jesus. This, this is one thing you're

not allowed to have. Jesus, I love you, but there's a

limitation here. I love you, and yet I have a

boundary that you're not allowed to cross.

You're Lord of everything except this also meaning he's not Lord

of anything. Jesus will mess with your

economy. He will mess with your money.

He will mess with your old way of doing things.

Ask Matthew, the disciple who had more to lose than all the

other disciples. Extremely, extremely wealthy man

because of the fact that he's working for the Romans.

He's a tax collector. There's taxes for everything.

Y'all there's taxes on your cart, depending on how many

wheels your cart has, right? It's kind of like going over the

bridge. How many axles do you have?

So, so there's taxes on how many fish you catch.

There's taxes on just for breathing Roman air.

There's taxes for just standing on Roman dirt.

And so Jewish tax collectors understood their people,

understood their culture. So remember, the Romans would

use Jews and say, hey, we'll make you super rich if you'll

just betray your countrymen and go, I'm in.

Sign me up for that. I'd like to be ridiculously

wealthy. So now the Romans know they can

trust you because you're a purchased man and also the Jews

hate you. You're not allowed in Temple

worship anymore. You're not allowed in the

synagogue. You're a traitor.

Jesus talks about it. He says, hey, if someone does

wrong, if someone does like this or does like that, then treat

them as a tax collector, he says so I know how you already treat

tax collectors. There is a certain time and

place to treat people as a tax collector shunned from civil

civilization. We're going to see even more of

that as we look at the calling of Matthew in the next few weeks

and how scandalized the disciples would have been.

They're walking past the tax. Hey Jesus, tax collector.

And Jesus goes Levi, Matthew, come follow me.

And they're like, gross. I can't believe the master would

call him. He's definitely not going to

follow. And then Matthew leaves it all,

which, by the way, meant he could never return to it.

If you leave the Roman post, you can't return to the Roman post,

so you're done forever. And Matthew walked away from all

of it. Is he worth it?

Is he worth it? He knows he is.

Do you know that he is? I've got something I'm really

holding on to. Patrick decided that the

comfort, the safety, the love of his family, his home in Britain

was not worth it compared to following the mission of Christ

for his life. Matthew decided the same thing.

I'm going to follow the teacher. I'm going to follow the master.

I'm going to follow my Lord. He's worth it.

To be with Jesus is worth it. But is there anything that the

Lord wants to deliver you from that you don't want to be

delivered from? Is there anything?

Maybe the answer is no, but it's often yes.

There's this thing, there's something here I really don't

want to be delivered from that holding on to that.

It's kind of a keepsake. Might not be monumental, might

not be as large. There's a spectrum to sin,

people. There's a spectrum.

And the more you mature, the more you're grieved.

And the more the Holy Spirit is grieved, even by the subtle

things. And he's going, Can I have that?

And you go, oh Lord, I didn't even know that was a problem.

Is that really a problem? He goes, can I have it?

Well, let's just negotiate a little bit here, Lord, He goes,

Can I have it? Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, listen,

listen, listen, listen. Slow down, Slow down.

Lord. May I have it?

May I have it? Do you love me, Lord?

You know I love you. So may I have that?

The Lord wants to deliver you from things.

And he wants to deliver you to what?

To himself? To more of Jesus.

There's two Mad Men. There's two lost men.

What a day. What a story, what a testimony.

But again, we get to choose the crowd or the disciples, The city

who comes out and begs. Lord, just leave me alone.

Leave me alone. Leave that thing alone.

Lord, I've given you. Haven't I given you enough?

And he says, well, have you given me everything then?

No, Everything is enough. That's what Jesus requires of

his disciples. Everything.

That's the cross. There was no bait and switch.

He didn't trick you into this. It's the cross.

Take up your cross and follow me.

Because I'm worthy. He's loving.

He's good. You've only heard good news

today. By the way, Saints, you've only

heard good news. There's nothing, there's nothing

that's been dark or overwhelming to to to the humble heart, to

the flesh. Now the flesh is being crucified

today. Praise God for it.

That's what we signed up for. God, less of me, more of you.

Lord, that's our prayer. Would you strengthen us in our

spirit and help us to crucify the flesh?

More and more we have been washed by the blood of Jesus.

We've been made new. We have been given the Holy

Spirit and His power inside of us.

And yet we can still have this temptation to put on the wrong

set of clothes. We get out of that that shower

where we've been cleansed from our filth, and we have this

option still now to put on the old man or to put on the new

man. But you command us, you tell us,

and you equip us to put on the new man.

God, as your Saints today have put on the new man again, we've

been reminded of what these beautiful clothes, these high

quality clothes look like. These clean clothes, these fresh

clothes, these robes that Jesus purchased for us with his own

life. We're encouraged, Lord.

We're helped. We're restored.

We're walking out the calling that you actually called us to

live in. Lord, anytime we start to

approach the old man. Help us like Matthew, to walk

away from all of it. Help us like Patrick, to walk

into your perfect will and your perfect calling for our lives.

Help us like those in the book of Acts who turn from demonic

lifestyles to burn everything that doesn't please you.

To be jealous for your glory, to be eager for your praise so that

your name alone will be lifted up in our lives, not our will,

but yours be done. We thank you for your strength

and for your help, for changing our desires and empowering us to

follow. You will in Jesus name.

We thank you. Now the Lord bless you and keep

you. The Lord make his face shine

down upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you great

peace. In Jesus name.

Amen.