He Is Good | Among the Desperate | Mark 5:1-20 | Coleton Segars

Teaching text for today comes from Mark 5.

Starting in verse 1, this is what Mark writes.

He says, They went across the lake to the region of the Garrisons.

When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.

This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain.

For he had often been chained hand in foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet.

No one was strong enough to subdue him.

Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

And when he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him, and he shouted at the top of his voice, What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?

In God's name, don't torment me.

For Jesus had been saying to him, Come out of this man, you impure spirit.

Then Jesus asked him, What is your name?

My name is Legion, he replied, For we are many.

And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

A large herd of pigs was feeding on a nearby hillside, and the demons begged Jesus, Send us among the pigs, allow us to go into them.

And he gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs.

The herd was about two thousand in number and rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside.

And the people went out to see what happened.

When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, dressed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.

Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs as well.

Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.

Jesus did not let him go, but said, Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he's had mercy on you.

So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him.

And all the people were amazed.

This is the word of the Lord.

And one night we were just, I feel like we I just always tell you guys how much we argue.

We were arguing.

One night we were arguing about something.

I mean, who even knows what it was?

You know, it was college.

Could have been anything.

Um in the conversation and the argument and hang up the phone.

And I obviously live in Memphis.

She lives in Chicago.

And uh I was actually living renting a room at Barbara Howell's house at the time.

And um hang up the phone, it's 9 p.m.

And I was like, whatever.

And I hop in my car and I drive through the night to Chicago all the way there, and get there around like uh five in the morning or something like that.

What I didn't do was pack a jacket, and it was freezing.

It was so cold, and I got there at like five in the morning or whatever, so it's like 20 degrees, and I have to sleep in my car because I have to wait for her to wake up and I was gonna surprise her at the door, and so I'm like almost hypothermic in the car uh waiting for the sun to rise.

And uh, but I get out and when it's when it's done and I make it through the night and I didn't die, and I get to her door, and um I'm calling her on the phone, and she's and we're trying to, you know, talking about last night and all those different things, and then she's I was like, what are you doing?

She's like, I'm about to go to the gym.

So she walks out the door, and then there I was.

And uh it was this really sweet thing that we were able to surprise her, she wasn't freaked out, which was actually thought about it looking back, I'm like, that really could have been like just an overstep, you know, it really could have gone the other way.

Um she was excited, and um so she didn't end up working out, we ended up doing something else, but she had to work that day and a bunch of different stuff.

So we really only got to spend like, I don't know, two hours together.

And then I hopped back in the car and I drove back to Memphis.

Um, but for her, it meant a ton.

It was this really small trip that meant a ton to her because it it revealed, um, probably in a um enmeshed kind of way, probably not healthy way, it revealed to her that, like, hey, I'm willing to do what it takes in order to repair our relationship.

Like, I really do want this to be good.

I know that you have boyfriends in the past, relationships in the past where anything got hard, they just bailed.

I want you to know I'm not gonna bail.

I'm actually gonna lean in and I'll drive eight hours.

It's worth it.

I really want to repair with you and I want it to be good.

And so it was this really small trip that actually did a lot in her heart and in the life of our relationship.

And I never did that again because I almost died a couple of times driving back because I was so tired.

But I say all that to say that Jesus takes this really short trip, this thing that he does here in this text, it's 20 verses, and we don't know if he spent 10 minutes in the garrisons, we don't know if he spent a couple of hours in the garrisons, we just know it wasn't a full day.

He wasn't there for more than 24 hours, and he probably wasn't there for more than 20 hours.

Um, and so he was just this really tiny trip that he takes to this particular area, but it has these things in it that are so powerful, and these things that you can learn from this story, even though it was this really small trip, um, it teaches us things about him and about us that I think will be very, very important to us, even though it was like, man, this trip only lasted maybe an hour.

They went through a storm to get here, they're they're almost dying on the sea, and it's like we came over here for 10 minutes and now we're headed back.

And it's like, yes, but there's things that happen here that are so pivotal for us to understand.

And so what I want to do is look at three things that we just see in this passage about Jesus, and then one of them about us, and how that shapes our lives.

So, three things that we see.

The first is uh we see what Jesus can do in our lives.

First thing you see is like, this is what Jesus can do in someone's life.

And so you see in this man's life, in verse um, I believe it's three through five, it says, This man lived in the tombs.

No one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.

He had often been chained hand and foot, tore the chains apart, no one was strong enough to subdue him.

Night and day, he's screaming and crying out among the tombs, living among dead people, cutting himself, trying to kill himself in some capacity, like he is just struggling.

He's in this space, and he's desperate for freedom, he's desperate for peace.

He's tried everything, he's tried every one, nothing is helping, and he's getting worse.

And if you look at verse 3, it says that no one was able to bind him anymore.

And what this means is that there was a time when some of the things that the people did really helped him.

He was dealing with something internally.

There's something going on in his mind, in his heart, in his life, and people were able to help him, but now they can't do it anymore.

Whatever worked before isn't working anymore, he's actually getting worse.

And then in verse 5, we see that he's cutting himself.

And this is either his last resort of like just trying to get out of him what's in him.

And so, like, look, can I bleed this out?

Can I, is there some way that I can bleed this out?

It could be that.

Most likely, what this is is a pagan practice of sacrificing yourself and cutting yourself to bleed as a way to try and become worthy among the gods so that they'll hear your request and actually find favor and they'll answer the prayers that you have.

You see this back in the Old Testament with the prophet Elijah.

They're cutting themselves, trying to get the gods to answer and to, you know, come down and do something on the altar, and so they cut themselves to do that.

That's likely what he's doing.

Doing anything he possibly can.

Like, I will bleed for this.

I will cut myself, I will sacrifice myself, I will do these things in order to find peace.

Please, to the gods, would you please do something and nothing's working?

And then in verse 4, it says, No one and nothing is strong enough to subdue him.

And so he's just in this spot where it's like, it's hopeless.

Like you're just done.

There's nothing that can happen here.

No one is strong enough to subdue him.

And then Jesus shows up.

This man shows up for 10 minutes or however long.

He shows up and we see in verse 6 that the evil that's inside this man that no one can subdue.

In verse 6, you see that the evil runs to him and falls on his knees in front of Jesus.

And it's like, well, this is different.

No, no one's been able to do this.

Like, I can't do anything to bring peace to myself.

I can't do anything to subdue this.

They can't even chain me up.

And all of a sudden now all the evil is running in front of Jesus and they know who's king and they bow the knee.

Jesus is strong enough to do for this man what nobody else could, what he couldn't do for himself.

And he's he's even stronger than that.

He's not just strong enough to bind and subdue the evil that's in him, he's actually strong enough to free the man from the evil that's actually taking over his life.

He does, in some sense, he does what no one else could do, what he couldn't do for himself.

This is what Jesus does for him.

And you see it in verse 15, right here.

This is what they were trying to do.

They were trying to get this man sitting dressed and in his right mind.

Like, hey, just stop being crazy, Jim.

Like, just quit, man.

Like, but they can't.

Like, there's just no, I don't know if his name was Jim, but that'd be kind of cool.

But like, there's this space where it's like, why, what, what is, and and then all of a sudden Jesus just does this thing.

He drives it out.

He doesn't just subdue him, he doesn't bind him, he doesn't chain him up, he just frees him.

And he's able to do what nobody else is able to do.

And this is supposed to be, when we read this, it's supposed to be a picture, it's supposed to testify to a ton of things, but one in particular, it's supposed to testify to us like this is a picture of what is true in all of our lives.

There are things that we want to see happen.

There are longings and issues and just angst that we feel at certain times.

There's anxious thoughts that we don't want to think, there's worries that we have that we'd rather not worry about, that fears that we have that we'd rather not be afraid of.

There's all of this stuff that we sit there and we deal with and all these different things.

And this is supposed to be a picture that tells us what's actually true about our lives.

Jesus is able to do what we can't do for ourselves.

He is able to do what no one else in our lives can do for us.

We wanted that relationship to finally make me feel like I was worthy.

And it did it for a second, but it didn't actually do it all the way.

Why?

It's like because it can't hold the weight of what you need it to do.

Jesus is the only one that can do far more than you can do, and far more than anyone else can do in your life.

Now, it sounds really churchy, sounds really Christian.

He can, Jesus can do more than you can do or anyone else.

Amen.

Let's just move on and you know, just do the last song.

The issue is that uh we struggle to believe that.

Like it's it's it's like a doctrine that we all have, but we just struggle to believe that Jesus is actually all that we need.

He is actually the only person that can do the things that we long for.

We just struggle with that.

And I think one of the reasons we struggle with that the most is because there are other things in our lives.

There's sin, there's evil, there's other forces, there's other stuff that we can give our time to that does stuff for us almost immediately.

There are other forces in our world that you can give your life to, and it does something for you.

It gives you some power.

And you see that in this text.

This man actually has some power.

The evil in him is helping him to break some chains.

Like he has supernatural strength coming from this thing that's inside of him.

And so it gives him a little bit of power, and I think the same is true for us as well.

For those of you who like, if you just struggle with anger, anger is your thing.

This is true for us.

Your anger and your aggression or your passive aggression, whichever one you lean into, it can do stuff for you.

Like it can, it can make sure you get your way.

If I get loud enough, big enough, angry enough, aggressive enough, I will make everybody bow to my needs and my desires.

It will give you power over the people in your life.

It will actively do that.

People will not, they won't love you, they'll fear you, but they will bow and be obedient.

They will do what you say.

Unforgiveness works the same way.

Unforgiveness or holding somebody's issues or holding the wrongs that they've done over them, that will that will get you what you want.

They will they will constantly be placed in a space where they owe you, and you have control over them in that space because like I own you because you did this wrong thing to me.

It will give you power.

I know people in my life who um seeking revenge or um trying to get back at someone in their lives, that desire to get back at them has led them to uh they've never had the willpower to work out, they've never had the willpower to eat correctly, and now all of a sudden it's like, but now I'm gonna get back at her.

Now I'm gonna get back at him.

And so now it's like, now I'm going to the gym, now I'm gonna eat right, and I'm gonna make sure that what I'm able to do is to let them know look what you lost, look what you're missing out on.

It gave them power, new willpower, revenge power, numbing out, drink, drugs, porn, whatever, that can help you cope with your stress.

It's legit.

Like it actually can make your stress dis dissipate for a little bit.

It gives you power.

Keeping up appearances, spending more money than you actually have in order to have things that other people will look at and be like, wow, nice car.

Wow, that's really that's really good.

Overspending and wanting to be seen with some accolade like that.

Look what they look what they have, look at that house, look at their stuff.

It will give you power.

It'll make you feel better when you have those things.

If I just buy this as soon as I have this, then I'll feel better, and it will make you feel better.

Just a little bit.

The issue with all of those things, and I could just go on and on and on.

The issue with all of it is it only works for a little bit.

It's just like this man.

They weren't able to bind him anymore.

Like there was a time when those things helped.

Like that was that was really helpful.

That really did take my stress away.

It really did make people, they just did what I said.

But it just doesn't work that long.

Eventually, sin always, and those things always take more than they give.

They always take more than they give, they always steal from us more than they actually give to us.

Tim Keller says this.

He says, whenever you bargain with the devil, he always gives with one hand while taking with the other.

Whenever you bargain with him, like, hey, I'm gonna do this a different way, I'm gonna do this the non-Jesus way, and it's like, this is definitely gonna work for you.

You're also not gonna see the back door though, because I'm gonna snag some stuff.

Like it never works exactly the same way.

This is how evil works.

It gives us something, and that's why it's enticing.

And that's why it's hard for us to be like, well, I know that Jesus has all that I need, but honestly, I think if I just lie a little bit, I could probably get a promotion.

Like, I don't know that Jesus is gonna give it for me, but I tell you what, though, if I just throw that guy or that girl under the bus and I just do this, I can just have this for myself.

I don't know that Jesus is gonna do it, but I can do it.

But that thing ultimately, it gives a little and steals more.

The anger may get you what you want, but it will ruin your relationships.

They will not love you, they will fear you, and that is not better, that is worse.

Numbing out will satiate your stress levels, but it will steal.

If you're watching porn, it will rewire your brain and break you.

It will steal your intimacy, it will lead to all kinds of mental and emotional problems, and that's true with any numbing out, any of it.

Drinking, drugs, porn, whatever, any addiction will lead you into the space.

It beg beckons you in, and then it ties you into an addiction.

And that's like, well, I didn't want to go this far.

It's like, I take more than I give.

Unforgiveness will make you feel strong and in control, but you'll become a slave to bitterness.

And the people who do the thing and feel like they owe you will talk bad about you behind your back.

It will not build your relationship, it will hurt it.

Overspending may be nice for a second, and you got the car, but eventually the bill comes and you got to pay that bill.

And it's like, what?

I don't, I don't even know.

How?

And then the conversations and all the arguments that happen interpersonally inside your relationships because we don't have enough money anymore.

It's like, yeah, but we really needed that trip.

It's like, I don't know that we needed that trip.

I just think we wanted it and we couldn't wait.

And doing that thing and credit carding it out and doing all this stuff gave us power to do what we wanted to do, but now we're a slave to the debt that we owe.

It always takes more than it gives.

These things always do that.

And this is why Jesus is the only one who we should look to.

Jesus is the only one consistently who always gives more than he takes.

The exact opposite.

Sin, evil, whatever, anything else always causes like, I will give you a little bit, but I'm gonna take a lot more.

And Jesus is like, I will I will give you so much than I take.

I will never take more than I give.

And you see this in the man's story.

The evil inside of this man, the evil inside of him is leading him to cut himself.

Bleed in order to be free.

If you bleed, you might be free.

Bleed for me, and I might let you free.

And Jesus flips that on his head and he's like, I will bleed so that you can be free.

I will be the one who actually takes the bloody death.

I will do that.

You don't have to bleed for me.

Please let me bleed for you.

He always gives more than he takes.

Everything that we're deep down in our hearts looking for, all of that is found in him and him alone.

No one else can save us and do in our lives what Jesus can do.

And this is why we we see this in the text.

This is why you see this thing like he can do more than we can do for ourselves, because everything we normally turn to is a something that addresses a symptom and not the deepest issue.

And Jesus is like, I can give you what you need, I can do that for you.

He always, always, always gives us more than he takes, and everything else takes more than it gives.

This is why Rebecca Pippert in her book says that Jesus should be our Lord, he should be our master, he should be the one that we surrender all of our lives to, even though we don't want to give up control.

She's saying, you do give up control to something, but you should definitely give it up to him.

This is what she says.

She says, the person who seeks power is controlled by power.

You want it?

I need power.

It's like, well, then you'll give your life for it and you'll burn your relationships in order to gain more power.

The person who seeks acceptance is controlled by the people he or she wants to please.

We do not control ourselves.

We are controlled by the Lord of our life.

And this is why she goes on, this is why she says we should make Jesus our Lord over our lives.

She says, Jesus' ownership of our lives is not a control that manipulates us or takes away our dignity.

Jesus never presumes things or decides things for people.

He does not abuse or bully people.

In fact, we find Jesus asking as many questions as people asked him.

He does not decide what people need and then give it to them.

Jesus always preserves our freedom.

He allows us to choose him over all others.

Jesus will not control us in the wrong way, nor will he control us in the easy way by making every decision for us.

He governs our lives in the right way, by being who he is without compromise, and by insisting that we become all that we're meant to be.

And then he tells us that this can occur only through following him, obeying him, and maintaining a living, passionate kinship to him.

Sorry for the error here, but let him have control.

He remains Lord, whether we accept him as Lord or not.

His Lordship, his essence is not affected by what we choose, but our lives are drastically changed by our choice.

Whatever we place is Lord of whatever we look to to be the thing that's going to ultimately give us fulfillment.

The reason Jesus wants us to see this thing and believe this thing is because he can actually, he'll do it correctly.

He will lead your life well.

He will be a proper master, not by dictating you or by forcing you to do things, but by leading you into greater freedom and actually doing things in your lives.

The other things just call you and shackle you and chain you and enslave you.

They take more than they give, and he never does that.

Let him have control.

All the longings that this man had, everything that if you were just asking him while he's living among the tombs, what do you really want?

He'd probably look at you like an idiot and be like, What do you think I want?

I'm bleeding out here.

Like I want I need a lot of stuff.

And everything that he longed for, no one was strong enough to give him, and he couldn't give it to himself, but Jesus was strong enough to give it to him, and he did.

And the same is true for us.

The things that we long for, the stuff that we cannot seem to get on our own, the stuff that other people and other things can't seem to do for us.

Jesus is the one who can give us what we actually need, and he can do far more in our lives than we can ever do.

So that's the first thing.

Second, this is what Jesus will never do.

We see what Jesus will never do.

Next slide here.

What Jesus will never do in our lives.

What Jesus will never do.

Verse 6, it says, When he saw Jesus from a distance, the demon-possessed man ran and fell on his knees in front of him, and he shouted at the top of his voice, What do you want with me, son of the Most High God?

In God's name, don't torment me.

For Jesus had been saying to him, Come out of this man, you impure spirit.

I find it so interesting that in this particular text, the evil inside of this man makes the accusation that what Jesus wants to do, what he's there to do, is to torment us and to torment anybody.

The evil inside of us lies to us and then tells us what Jesus is going to do with your life is torment you.

He's going to torture you.

The lie in the heart of every believer and everybody that the enemy has any the lie in the heart that the enemy wants to pour in is if you follow him, if you obey him, if you listen to his word, if you do his what he's telling you to do, if you do that, he will steal from you, not give to you.

He will take your joy, not give you joy.

He will steal your abundance that you could find on your own.

And like actually, if you just run this play on your own, you'll find a lot more.

That's what the enemy says.

Don't don't surrender.

Just live your truth, live your best life.

He will not be able to do for you what you can do for yourself.

And he Lie consistently is he will torment you.

If you give your life to him, he will take away from you, he will make your life worse.

That's the lie.

And it happened back in Genesis and it hasn't changed.

Genesis 1, what they say, what the enemy says, what the serpent says to Adam and Eve, like he's stealing from you.

He's withholding from you.

This won't kill you.

He actually doesn't want you to be like him.

If you eat this, you will become like him, and he's trying to take from you.

And so consistently, what the enemy tries to tell us is Jesus will torment you.

He will torment your life.

Don't follow him more closely.

Don't give your money to anything about Jesus.

Don't listen to what he says, that if it goes against what you feel, don't do that.

That will be torment to you.

This is what the enemy says to us, this is how he lies to us.

And when we believe that lie, when it takes root in us and we go, okay, I believe I can do better than he can, what we're doing is not leading ourselves into greater joy.

We're actually delaying the joy that he actually has for us.

And then we're staying in the spot where the torment is actually happening.

Because this man, the evil that says this about Jesus, is tormenting this man.

He's actively doing that.

Jesus is going to torment you.

It's like, well, it's not going great so far.

So maybe what he can do is better than what you're doing to me.

But the idea is he, the evil is saying, he will torment you.

I'm not tormenting you.

But that's not true.

And Jesus is constantly, and what he's never going to do in your life is he's never going to torment you.

He's never going to torment us.

Now, Jesus will not torment us, but he will tell us what to do, which may be torment to you.

Like I don't know.

Like in our culture, anybody to tell you what you should do and what you shouldn't do, you're tormenting me.

You're like oppressing me.

And like Jesus will tell you what you should do, he will tell you what you shouldn't do, but that is not torment.

He's actually trying to lead you by his words out of torment and lead you consistently away from the things that are actually hurting you.

And that's what he's saying.

Like Jesus is using in this text, he's using his words, immediately sees the man running to him from the tombs, and immediately starts casting the demons out.

He's not even, he's not mad at the man.

He's not tormenting the man.

He's trying to get out of the man what's tormenting him.

That's what he's doing.

That's what he constantly wants to do.

The reason he says, do this and don't do this is not to torment us, but to lead us away from the things that actually are tormenting us.

That's what he's consistently doing.

Jesus will never, ever, ever torment you.

That's not what he's about.

That's not what he's going to do.

C.S.

Lewis in his book, The Great Divorce, shares a story about what Jesus actually wants to do with us and in us.

And what I love about this story that we're going to do, it's rather long, but this story in the Great Divorce.

What I love about it is I think it does a really good job of helping us see this, what what normal life with Jesus would be like.

Because he's going to reference this man that has this lizard, this evil on his shoulder.

And the evil is tormenting him.

And so Jesus comes to this person as the burning one who's going to deal with that evil.

And the man's like, I'm terrified.

Like this is, don't torment me.

Don't torture me.

And so he's describing a man with that lizard on his that's actually tormenting him.

The man hates the evil, but he doesn't know how he could live without it.

Like I hate this evil, I hate this thing that I battle, but I also don't know how I could live without it.

And then the one described as a burning one with crimson hands comes to him and is having a conversation with him about that particular thing.

This is how the conversation goes.

This is what Jesus wants to do for us.

The burning one asks, Would you like me to make the lizard quiet?

Of course I would, said the man.

Then I will kill him.

The burning one said, taking a step forward.

Oh, look out! You're burning me.

Keep away, said the man, retreating from the burning one.

Don't you want him killed?

asked the burning one.

You didn't say anything about killing him at first.

I hardly meant to bother you with anything so drastic as that.

It's the only way, said the burning one, whose burning hands were now very close to the lizard.

Shall I kill it?

Well, there's there's time to discuss that later.

There is no time.

May I kill it?

Please, I never meant to be such a nuisance.

Please, really, don't bother.

Look, it's gone to sleep on its own accord now.

I'm sure it'll be all right now.

Thank you ever so much.

May I kill it.

Honestly, I don't think that's necessary.

I can manage it.

No use in killing it.

You managing it is of no use at all.

May I kill it?

Get back.

You're burning me.

How can I tell you to kill it?

You'd kill me if you killed it.

It is not so.

Well, you're hurting me now.

Yeah, I never said it wouldn't hurt you to get rid of it.

I said it wouldn't kill you.

Why are you torturing me?

How can I let you tear me in pieces?

If you wanted to help me, why didn't you kill the damn thing without asking me?

I cannot kill it against your will.

It's impossible.

Have I your permission?

The burning one's hands were almost closed on the lizard, but not quite.

Then the lizard began yelling to the man so loud that everyone could hear what it was saying.

Be careful, the lizard said.

He can do what he says.

He can kill me.

One fatal word from you, and he will.

Then you'll be without me forever and ever.

It's not natural.

How could you live without me?

You'd not be a real man as you are now.

He doesn't understand you, and I'll be so good.

I admit I've sometimes gone too far in the past, but I promise I won't do it again.

I'll give you nothing but really nice dreams, all sweet and fresh and almost innocent.

Have I your permission, said the burning one.

I know it will kill me.

It won't.

But even if it did, you're right.

It would be better to be dead than to live with this creature.

Then may I.

Damn and blast you.

Go on, can't you?

Get it over with.

Do what you like, bellowed the man, and then whimpering, he said, God help me, God help me.

The next moment the man gave a scream of agony, such as never heard on the earth.

The burning one closed his crimson grip on the reptile, twisted it, and while it bit and writhed, and then flung it broken back on the turf.

That's it for me, gasped the man, reeling backwards.

And then C.

S.

Lewis goes on and says, But in the next moment, the man was transformed into a new man, and the lizard was transformed into a beautiful stallion.

Both were made new, and then he finishes this particular part of the story by saying, Every sin, every sin is a poor, weak, whispering thing in our ear compared to the richness that will arise once it has been killed.

It's a beautiful story.

But I think it describes a lot of what we feel when Jesus actually wants to do something in our lives.

Like, why are you tormenting me by telling me I can't do that?

Why are you torturing me by saying that I can't just do what I feel like I want to do?

And he's like, I'm trying to help you.

You are being tormented, you are being tortured, but I'm not the one who will ever do that to you.

I'm trying to help, not hurt.

This is what Jesus wants to do for us.

He wants to set us free, and he has no interest in tormenting us.

He actually just wants to free us from the things that actually torment us.

And I'm always amazed, y'all.

Christians, non-Christians, everybody alike, I'm always amazed when I talk to Christian or to people about Christianity or Jesus.

People still think that the message of Jesus and the message of Christianity is do this or you'll go to hell.

They still think that that's the message.

And then it's it's preached, it's evangelized, it's it's on street corners, do this or you'll go to hell.

And the message is the is literally almost the exact opposite.

It's like Jesus, the message is look what I've done so that you don't have to go to hell.

It's the exact opposite.

Do this or you'll go to hell.

That's what we think, but it's like, look what I've done to save you from the torment of hell.

So just trust me and follow me that I'm leading you into a better spot.

Look what I was willing to endure to save you from the torment that you were going to experience.

I'm not saying do this or else.

I'm saying do this because I'm trying to lead you into greater life.

He doesn't want to torment us because Jesus was willing to be tormented on a cross to save us from torment.

And so this idea that like following him is gonna make my life worse.

No, where do you get that other than there's an enemy whispering, living in your ear, and saying it's gonna make your life worse, he's gonna torment you.

Don't listen to him, don't follow him, don't do the things that he says to do, because he's gonna torment you.

And it's like he was willing to show you, I will be tormented so that you can avoid torment.

I promise.

Trust me, he will not.

He's never going to torment you.

Here's what will be true, third point.

Here's what will be true in our lives if we believe these things.

If we believe that he actually can do more for us than anything or anyone, or including ourselves, that he can do, that Jesus can do more for us if we believe that.

And if we believe that he's not trying to torment us, but to lead us away from torment, here's something that will happen in our lives.

Verse 18, it says, As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who'd been demon-possessed begged to go with him.

And Jesus did not let him go, but said, Go home.

Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how much mercy he's had on you.

So the man went away and began to tell into the Capolis how much Jesus had done for him.

And all the people were amazed.

If we will believe that he can do more for us than we can or anyone else can, if we will believe and give our lives to him, believing that he's not going to torment us, he will fill our lives with stories about how good God has been.

He will fill our lives with stories about how much mercy he's had on us.

At the end of our journey and at the end of our days, if we will believe these things, he will fill our lives when we will look back over our lives and be like, look how good he's been.

Look how much mercy he's had on me.

And we will be able to walk into stores with our friends or our families or whoever, and we will have story after story after story after story of God's goodness and God's mercy.

If we will believe it, what is he wanting to do with my life?

He's wanting to lead you into a space where all you have are stories that are filled with his goodness in your life and mercy for your life.

That is what he's trying to lead you in.

That's what he's trying to do.

And if we believe that stuff, you will wind up in a space where your life is a living witness to his goodness and his mercy.

And that's what he wants to do.

Not seeking to torment you, not trying to take from you, just trying to give you stuff that you're like.

All I can testify to is the goodness of Jesus.

His goodness has genuinely been running after me.

He has called me out of grave and death consistently over my life.

Things I thought that I'd never get rid of, things I thought that I needed, all of a sudden now the stories I tell and go like, thank God He was so kind and so merciful to not give me that thing I thought I needed.

Our lives will be filled with stories of his goodness and his mercy.

That's what he's trying to do for us.

And if we believe those things, as much as we believe those, we will step into spaces where we actually experience that taking shape in our lives.

And so for you and for me and for us and the people in your life, surrender your life to him again and again and again.

Give him more space in your journey.

Give him more occupancy in your life.

Let him have his way.

Because he will always give more than he takes, and he will never torment like the things that actually do want to torment us.

He will free us from torment.

So let him lead you in the spaces where he wants you to go, follow him in those spaces.

In the spaces he doesn't want you to go, let him correct you and guide you away from those spaces.

He's not trying to torment you.

He is seeking to free us from the torment, and he is trying as best he can.

And he's just not going to force it.

But he's like, I will fill your life with stories of my goodness.

I will fill your life with stories of my mercy.

You will run into ten towns like the Decapolis.

You will run into all these spaces, and people will be amazed at what you say because that's what I do.

And that's what he wants to do for us.

Let me pray.

Father, with a beautiful story that testifies to your goodness.

For us and our people and those listening to this podcast.

God, that we would just believe these things about you.

That you are the God who can do things for us that we long for and can't do for ourselves.

And so, God, I pray that we would just believe that.

There are spaces and things in our lives that we're holding on to because we don't know who we be without this thing.

It's tormenting us.

It's taking more than it's giving.

God, would you help us to see that you actually want to lead us into freedom away from that thing?

Would you help us to see it in Jesus' name?

Amen.

Communion every week is a reminder, but specifically for this week.

In this story, because there's so many things we could have talked about.

I'm trying to snag three things to talk about from this story, but in this story, Jesus trades, I mean, will one day trade places with this man, and this is what we get to celebrate in communion.

This man was naked, bloody, alone.

He was being tortured by unclean demons.

He was shrieking out in the darkness for his own pardon.

That's what he was doing.

Jesus on the cross would be naked, bloody, alone, tormented by an unclean legion of Roman soldiers, shrieking out into the darkness, but he wasn't shrieking out for his own pardon.

He was shrieking out into the darkness for our pardon and our mercy and for our benefit and for our forgiveness.

He just pivots these things.

He's brilliant, y'all.

Like, I mean, just looking at some of these stories and how they're written and going, like, man, it's just this testimony to his goodness.

This is what he's like.

And what he wants to do with you and what he was willing to do with you is to trade places.

He's like, I don't want you to be tormented.

I'll do it.

Like a good father, like I will be tormented for my son.

Please let me let it fall on me and not fall on them.

This is what he wants for us.

And so you can trust him in this space.

And so communion is this reminder.

Can I trust you?

Like, yeah, you can trust me.

I promise.

I'd much prefer the torment than ever let you experience any.

Look what I've done to make sure you don't experience any.

And so today, as we drink the juice and take up the bread, be reminded.

What do you want to do?

I want to fill your life with stories of my goodness and my mercy.

I do not want to torment you.

And so take some time in your seats.

Thank him for that.

Live in that.

Ask for a help to believe that.

And then let's come and celebrate the Lord's communion together.