Speaker 1: On your way to your seat.
Speaker 2: I know normally I would read my scripture while you're standing,
Speaker 2: and then after the text, I would give you my title.
Speaker 2: But I want to do it different today. I'm wild
Speaker 2: and crazy, y'all. I'm going to give you my title
Speaker 2: and then my text.
Speaker 3: Whoa, whoa?
Speaker 2: All right, but I need your help. Look at the
Speaker 2: person next to give them my title. Say you must
Speaker 2: be important, be seated. Amen. Hey, thank God for our
Speaker 2: worship team. Many are just getting back from tour. Chris
Speaker 2: Brown still smells like diesel fuel and holy ghosts just
Speaker 2: rocking arenas with the presence of God all over the
Speaker 2: country and representing our church. Well, let's thank God for
Speaker 2: our team.
Speaker 1: It's cool. A lot of unseen heroes too.
Speaker 2: I should do a series called Hidden Figures about the
Speaker 2: people in the church that we don't see or nobody
Speaker 2: follows them, but they're very important. Have you noticed that
Speaker 2: who we think is important sometimes maybe God doesn't think
Speaker 2: is as important in culture? I mean, just like, have
Speaker 2: you noticed that it seems like lately I'm praying more
Speaker 2: and more God, show me what's important from your perspective.
Speaker 2: I'm afraid that I'll live my life wasting my energy
Speaker 2: on things that seem important to me, only to find
Speaker 2: out that they weren't as important as I thought they were.
Speaker 2: So I'm just praying more and more in the moment,
Speaker 2: just a very short prayer. God, show me what's important,
Speaker 2: and I'm praying it at the start of my week
Speaker 2: more that God. There's a lot I could do this week,
Speaker 2: but I need you to show me the difference between
Speaker 2: what's urgent and what's important, because some things that will
Speaker 2: be an emergency for other people cannot become my priority
Speaker 2: just because they didn't make a plan. And so this week,
Speaker 2: I need you to show me the difference between what's.
Speaker 1: Urgent and what's important.
Speaker 2: And sometimes it's urgent and important, but I need God
Speaker 2: more and more to show me what's more important. Lately,
Speaker 2: I find that it's not choosing between you know, Netflix
Speaker 2: and Bible study. It's like which show on Netflix or Bible.
Speaker 2: I'm just kidding. I just want to take it there now.
Speaker 2: It's two things that are equally to me, equal priorities,
Speaker 2: because I know that I need to seek first the
Speaker 2: Kingdom of God and his righteousness. I don't always know
Speaker 2: what that looks like in this moment because my role
Speaker 2: in the kingdom consists.
Speaker 1: Of multiple roles.
Speaker 2: So on one level, I am a pastor who needs
Speaker 2: to prepare a sermon. On another level, I am a
Speaker 2: dad with a kid who wants to throw the football.
Speaker 2: And I know you think that you're more important than
Speaker 2: my son's desire to throw a football.
Speaker 1: But the fact of the matter is, you.
Speaker 2: Know, if I drop dead, there'd be another preacher standing
Speaker 2: here this weekend. But he's only got one dad. It's true,
Speaker 2: is so true. Some of the things that I thought
Speaker 2: were more important in my twenties, now that I'm like
Speaker 2: a wise sage at the age of thirty eight, I'm
Speaker 2: realizing that I need God more and more to show
Speaker 2: me what's important now, what's important now? What was important
Speaker 2: to me in one season may not need the same
Speaker 2: priority in this season.
Speaker 1: And that even applies to people.
Speaker 2: I know that everybody is equally important to somebody say,
Speaker 2: I know you're important to God. But God is an
Speaker 2: unlimited resource and he can love everybody equally. I'm not
Speaker 2: that much like God. I only have so much to give.
Speaker 2: Come on, there's only so many bags of chips in
Speaker 2: the vending machine of my heart, and I can't just
Speaker 2: have everybody grab and everything out of me all the time.
Speaker 2: Eventually I will run out. So I need to I
Speaker 2: need to be led by the spirit to know what's
Speaker 2: most important in this moment, in this season of my life.
Speaker 2: What is the priority of God for me? In Mark's Gospel,
Speaker 2: we are going to study today briefly a story that
Speaker 2: he thought was important to include to give us a
Speaker 2: full picture of Jesus as we're coming to know him.
Speaker 2: Savage Jesus. It's been shocking to us some of the
Speaker 2: priorities that Jesus had, and how much different those priorities
Speaker 2: are than maybe what we would have expected. When we
Speaker 2: see him stopping to heal a woman in Mark five
Speaker 2: point twenty one, and following on his way to heal
Speaker 2: a little girl, we are shocked, confounded, and in some
Speaker 2: ways challenged because the one he was going to heal
Speaker 2: was the daughter of someone who was important. His name
Speaker 2: was Gyrus, he was a synagogue leader. The woman who
Speaker 2: came up behind Jesus isn't even given a name. Nobody
Speaker 2: really cared about women like that in this culture. He
Speaker 2: stops en route to the miracle that is more important
Speaker 2: and more urgent, because the little girl has hours to
Speaker 2: live in fact, while he stops to heal this unimportant woman,
Speaker 2: the important girl dies. Jesus isn't concerned about this, because
Speaker 2: he is healer. Yes, also he is resurrection. His priority
Speaker 2: in this moment is to show the people a deeper
Speaker 2: revelation of who he is. The only way for him
Speaker 2: to give them this revelation of the power of his
Speaker 2: presence is to upset their priorities and stop for something
Speaker 2: that they see as less important, so that when he
Speaker 2: gets to the scene which was more important, the little
Speaker 2: girl is already dead. This provides an opportunity for him
Speaker 2: to do something that he couldn't have done if he
Speaker 2: had gone according to their priorities. Sometimes God will upset
Speaker 2: your priorities to show you his power in a new way.
Speaker 2: And I know it's hard to clap for that. But
Speaker 2: if God has been doing some unusual things in your
Speaker 2: life lately and it seems difficult to get Jesus to
Speaker 2: follow your agenda, maybe he is reordering your priorities. Maybe
Speaker 2: what was important to you then shouldn't be important to
Speaker 2: you now, and he's trying to show you an order
Speaker 2: of importance. That's how you can know when the presence
Speaker 2: of God is really increasing in your day to day life.
Speaker 2: It will shift your priorities. Goosebumps don't prove the presence
Speaker 2: of God. I get goosebumps off of Bruno Mars every time.
Speaker 2: Goose Bumpson sometimes I kiss Holly. Feelings don't prove the
Speaker 2: presence of God. What proves the presence of God in
Speaker 2: my life is when my priorities begin to align with his.
Speaker 2: And this is going to require a collision because cultural
Speaker 2: priorities are much different. Now we're ready for Mark chapter five,
Speaker 2: a story that Mark thought was important enough to include
Speaker 2: for us. Imagine you have to write a gospel account
Speaker 2: and you have to decide what's the most important teaching
Speaker 2: Jesus gave that you want to put in Mark four
Speaker 2: or what stories are.
Speaker 1: You going to leave out?
Speaker 2: Because it's not like you could say, well, that wasn't
Speaker 2: any good when he healed that line. Man, you know
Speaker 2: what I'm saying, Like it'd be hard to let something
Speaker 2: hit the cutting room floor, right, Yeah, Well, I mean
Speaker 2: he opened so many death fears.
Speaker 1: You got to pick and choose which ones you're going
Speaker 1: to include.
Speaker 2: Like stuff that Jesus did on his way to his
Speaker 2: appointments would have been our greatest accomplishment in our whole lifetime.
Speaker 2: And now Mark has to decide, all right, what are
Speaker 2: the most important stories, And so in order to do that,
Speaker 2: he has to choose one theme. And he has to
Speaker 2: get this theme across because Matthew, who wrote a gospel account,
Speaker 2: he's gonna have a theme. Luke is is Mark's theme
Speaker 2: he decides is going to be to show the authority
Speaker 2: of Jesus. The authority of Jesus, and authority is illustrated,
Speaker 2: not explained. Can I talk about that people who always
Speaker 2: need to tell you they're in charge aren't really in control.
Speaker 2: When you really have power, you don't have to shout.
Speaker 2: Just walk through my house and watch Holly look at
Speaker 2: one of our kids a certain way, and you will
Speaker 2: see that power doesn't have to shout. I mean, there
Speaker 2: is a look she can give. And I don't know
Speaker 2: where the kids go after that. They crawl under parts
Speaker 2: of the house I've never seen off of one look.
Speaker 2: And this is a demonstration of Jesus authority that I
Speaker 2: don't think you'll soon forget.
Speaker 1: Mirrored it to you. Just relax and listen.
Speaker 2: Okay, They went Mark five verse one across the lake
Speaker 2: to the region of the Garrisones. When Jesus got out
Speaker 2: of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came
Speaker 2: from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in
Speaker 2: the tombs and bind him anymore, not even with a chain,
Speaker 2: for he'd often been chained hand and foot. But he
Speaker 2: tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet.
Speaker 2: No one was strong enough to subdue him, and that's
Speaker 2: called foreshadowing. Class. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
Speaker 2: And this is where we need a savage Jesus. Sweetheart.
Speaker 2: Jesus can't help this man. Cutie pie, Jesus can't bless
Speaker 2: this guy with a little cliche exthus on the back
Speaker 2: of your car, Jesus, jewelry Jesus around your neck. Can't
Speaker 2: do anything about this situation. But you might come to
Speaker 2: a point in your life where you've lost sight of
Speaker 2: who you are and who you are, and in those moments,
Speaker 2: you don't want a little puny Jesus who stands over
Speaker 2: on the side and waits till you rub your hands
Speaker 2: together and pull him out the bottle on Christmas, in Easter,
Speaker 2: or when you decide to bless him with your presence
Speaker 2: at church. Knowing those moments you're gonna want a strong
Speaker 2: savior with a mighty hand, and then outstretched arm, talking
Speaker 2: about a savage Jesus. Somebody shout, I got a great
Speaker 2: big God, night and day. Verse five. Among the tombs
Speaker 2: and in the hills, he would cry out and cut
Speaker 2: himself with stones. Verse six is interesting when he saw
Speaker 2: Jesus from a distance.
Speaker 1: Now this is the first time.
Speaker 2: He's seen Jesus, but this is not Jesus' first vision
Speaker 2: of him. He saw Jesus from a distance. Jesus did
Speaker 2: his ministry in Capernaum. This account is from a Gentile region,
Speaker 2: the region of the Garrisones. No one knows exactly where
Speaker 2: that is. By the way, there's a lot of debate
Speaker 2: about it. I went over to a spot where they
Speaker 2: think this story might have happened last year, and he
Speaker 2: showed me how Jesus would go up in the mountains
Speaker 2: and pray early in the morning and late at night,
Speaker 2: and across the sea of Galilee, where Jesus has just traveled,
Speaker 2: the sound would have traveled. So if this man is
Speaker 2: out day and night, there's a good chance Jesus would
Speaker 2: have been up early while the man was up late,
Speaker 2: and while the man was up late crying.
Speaker 1: Jesus was up late praying, and maybe.
Speaker 2: One morning, after hearing the man cry one more time,
Speaker 2: Jesus decided, today is the day for me to make
Speaker 2: my way toward this man and set him free. Could
Speaker 2: it be that God has heard your cry, and he
Speaker 2: has heard the secret petitions and disappointments of your heart,
Speaker 2: and he had you log on or show up today,
Speaker 2: because today is the day that He came to see
Speaker 2: about you when you thought no one else was listening,
Speaker 2: and you thought you were all alone. Could it be
Speaker 2: that he heard you? And now the man sees Jesus,
Speaker 2: possibly before Jesus even lays eyes on the man, and
Speaker 2: he ran and fell on his knees in front of him,
Speaker 2: Verse sevent He shouted, at the top of his voice,
Speaker 2: what do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the
Speaker 2: Most High God? Oh, by the way, your first response
Speaker 2: to God will often be feared. When he shows up
Speaker 2: in your life in real power. There will be something
Speaker 2: in you that will resist that authority, because it goes
Speaker 2: against everything that is ingrained in our humanity to be
Speaker 2: in the presence of one who is greater than us,
Speaker 2: and it often causes us to reevaluate our priorities. Now,
Speaker 2: in this man's case, there is a specific reason that
Speaker 2: he falls on his knees and shouts, what do you
Speaker 2: want with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God,
Speaker 2: in God's name, don't torture me. For Jesus had said
Speaker 2: to him here it is, come out of this man,
Speaker 2: you impure spirit. And Jesus challenged the spirit that was
Speaker 2: within the man, and the spirit within the man resisted
Speaker 2: the challenge of Jesus because anytime the enemy has occupied
Speaker 2: a territory for a while, he won't let it go.
Speaker 1: Without a fight.
Speaker 2: Jesus asked him a question, not for information, but for revelation.
Speaker 2: He doesn't need to know this, he knows all things.
Speaker 2: But he asked the man because the man might know
Speaker 2: who Jesus is, but this man doesn't.
Speaker 1: Know who he is.
Speaker 2: And Jesus asked the man, what is your name? And
Speaker 2: the man responded, my name is Legion, for we are many.
Speaker 2: And he begged Jesus again and again not to send
Speaker 2: them out of the area. The demons begged Jesus, don't
Speaker 2: make us leave. And this is where the story gets
Speaker 2: interesting verse eleven. And I promise you the Bible is
Speaker 2: way more bizarre than you give it credit for. Exhibit
Speaker 2: a verse eleven, A large herd of pigs. We know
Speaker 2: we're not in Jewish territory anymore, right, because there would
Speaker 2: not be.
Speaker 1: A large herd of pigs.
Speaker 2: Jesus has left this home turf and he's crossed over,
Speaker 2: and now he's in Gentile territory, the region of the
Speaker 2: gar seats.
Speaker 1: And there's a large.
Speaker 2: Herd of pigs standing nearby on the hillside feeding. And
Speaker 2: the demons begged Jesus send us among the pigs, allow
Speaker 2: us to go into them. He gave them permission. Okay,
Speaker 2: you gotta leave the man, but you can jump on
Speaker 2: the pigs. And the impure spirits came out and went
Speaker 2: into the pigs, and the herd, about two thousand in number,
Speaker 2: rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and we're droughting.
Speaker 2: I know you're worried right now that I'm gonna find
Speaker 2: a way to preach about this in a way that
Speaker 2: applies to your life. But trust me, I've been doing
Speaker 2: this a long time. I got a good track record,
Speaker 2: and I promise you there is a connection between you
Speaker 2: and these pigs. And if you give me a few
Speaker 2: minutes and pay close attention. I'll show you what it
Speaker 2: is Verse fourteen. Those tending the pigs ran off and
Speaker 2: reported this in the town in countryside, And the people
Speaker 2: went to see what had happened. And when they came
Speaker 2: to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed
Speaker 2: by the legion of demons sitting there, dressed and in
Speaker 2: his right mind, and they were afraid. Those who had
Speaker 2: seen it told the people what had happened to the
Speaker 2: demon possessed man, and told about the pigs as well.
Speaker 2: And then then then the people began to plead with
Speaker 2: Jesus to leave their region. Touch them again and say
Speaker 2: can I get your autograph?
Speaker 1: Touch them? Say you must be important.
Speaker 2: You must be important that Jesus would go through all
Speaker 2: this trouble to keep an appointment with you.
Speaker 1: Oh, I'm so sorry. I messed up.
Speaker 2: I started reading in the wrong place in the Bible.
Speaker 2: It happens. I'm sorry. This is my third time preaching it.
Speaker 2: You will have to forgive me. I was supposed to
Speaker 2: start at mark four thirty five, and I started in
Speaker 2: mark five. And you can't understand mark five without mark
Speaker 2: four thirty five through forty one. So if you will
Speaker 2: forgive me for my slight oversight. I'm gonna do what
Speaker 2: I should have done before. I want to tell you
Speaker 2: about the storm. It came before the miracle. This passage
Speaker 2: of scripture, we'll preach all by itself, because watch this.
Speaker 2: How many of you are going through a storm in
Speaker 2: your life today? Just raise your hand, or somebody close
Speaker 2: to you is going through a storm.
Speaker 1: Raise your hand.
Speaker 2: Now see how easy it is to preach about storms.
Speaker 1: Did you see the.
Speaker 2: High percentage of hands that went up, except at Blakeney
Speaker 2: They never raised their hands when I ask them to.
Speaker 2: But let me try this one more time. How many
Speaker 2: of you are going through a storm? You just came
Speaker 2: out of a storm, or you know there's probably a
Speaker 2: storm around the corner. Come on, be a meteorologist and
Speaker 2: touch your neighbor and say there's.
Speaker 1: A storm out on the ocean.
Speaker 2: So let me read this to you because it's important.
Speaker 2: Somebody say it's important. That day when evening came, this
Speaker 2: is the same day, Remember the same day. Mark didn't
Speaker 2: divide this into chapters.
Speaker 1: We did that later.
Speaker 2: Mark's writing it all as one story. That day, when
Speaker 2: evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, let's go over
Speaker 2: to the other side. Note he doesn't tell him why.
Speaker 2: He doesn't say, because I've got an appointment on the
Speaker 2: other side. He doesn't tell them why. He just tells them.
Speaker 2: What can you obey what God says when you don't know?
Speaker 2: Why can you just get in and go? Even though
Speaker 2: you don't know where this is going? If you believe
Speaker 2: He has all authority, you don't need full details to
Speaker 2: be obedient. This is just for the obedient Christians who
Speaker 2: are willing to cross over. Now make a note of this.
Speaker 2: You can't cross over without conflict. Jesus is moving the
Speaker 2: mission forward. He's leaving the comfort zone of what do
Speaker 2: we call it? Copernaum? Ooh nahum comfort Copernaum, Copernaum, it's
Speaker 2: the place of the comforter. He's leaving the comfort zone
Speaker 2: and he's moving into enemy territory. Like some of you
Speaker 2: are doing right now in your life. You are beginning
Speaker 2: to move forward in the things of God. You're changing
Speaker 2: your circle, You're changing your value. You have begun to
Speaker 2: prioritize the presence of God. But let me warn you
Speaker 2: when you make God your priority, the enemy will send
Speaker 2: a storm. You never cross over without conflict. Did you
Speaker 2: expect the devil would let you.
Speaker 1: Go without a fight.
Speaker 2: Did you expect that he would let you leave Egypt
Speaker 2: without sending his chariots to chase you down. You've been
Speaker 2: serving the devil forty two years, and now you decide
Speaker 2: to stand up and be a godly man, and you
Speaker 2: think it's just going.
Speaker 1: To change overnight.
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, I want to announce to you,
Speaker 2: the reason the storm is raging might not be because
Speaker 2: your Jonah headed.
Speaker 1: Away from the will of God.
Speaker 2: It might be because you're crossing over into the calling
Speaker 2: that is on your life. This what the conflict is
Speaker 2: all about.
Speaker 3: It.
Speaker 1: I know I should just calm down and talk to you, but.
Speaker 2: Sometimes when you're in a storm, sometimes you need somebody
Speaker 2: to holler at you and say, hey.
Speaker 1: You're gonna make it through this. How do you know?
Speaker 2: Because Jesus said, We're going to the other side, so.
Speaker 1: You can't die in this.
Speaker 2: You gotta make it to that.
Speaker 1: That's what I came to say.
Speaker 2: I've preached so many sermons about this storm, and I've
Speaker 2: told so many people that they can survive what they're
Speaker 2: going through. But there's a more important question than will
Speaker 2: you survive. The better question to ask is why did
Speaker 2: you survive the storm?
Speaker 1: Have you thought about have you ever thought.
Speaker 2: About how many things the enemy did, even early in
Speaker 2: your life to try to stop you from having a
Speaker 2: relationship with God. Remember this is Mark chapter four, not
Speaker 2: Mark chapter five. This man has not even seen Jesus
Speaker 2: yet yet there is a storm that is sent to
Speaker 2: the Sea of Galilee to keep Jesus from getting to him.
Speaker 1: I know you're like, well, how do you know the
Speaker 1: devil started the storm?
Speaker 2: Maybe it was just climate change because it said Jesus
Speaker 2: rebuked the wind in the waves. Jesus doesn't rebuke natural elements.
Speaker 2: He rebukes demons. The same demonic oppression that was oppressing
Speaker 2: that man was in that sea trying to stop Jesus
Speaker 2: from getting to the man. You were on the devil's
Speaker 2: hit list before you were ever born. There were things
Speaker 2: in your family line that were happening before you were
Speaker 2: born that were designed to keep you from being in
Speaker 2: church at this moment today, touch somebody say you must
Speaker 2: be imported because in spite of all the storms that
Speaker 2: had your name on them, in spite of all the
Speaker 2: winds and the waves and the hurricane forces, in spite
Speaker 2: of every attack, look at you in church. Look at
Speaker 2: you clapping, Look at you taking notes, look at you
Speaker 2: praising God, look at you believing for a brighter day.
Speaker 1: Look how you made it. You must be important. You survive.
Speaker 1: You know how I know you're important.
Speaker 2: It takes boldness to call your sermon you must be important.
Speaker 2: It takes boldness to call your sermon that. But I
Speaker 2: know it. Not because of the car you drive, not
Speaker 2: because of the house you live in, not because I
Speaker 2: looked up how many Instagram.
Speaker 1: Followers you have.
Speaker 2: I know you're important because of your storm. See the
Speaker 2: size of your storm tells me something about your importance.
Speaker 2: The size of your storm lets me know the importance
Speaker 2: of your assignment.
Speaker 1: The devil doesn't start a storm.
Speaker 2: For somebody who is not threatened by.
Speaker 1: If you're going through a storm.
Speaker 2: There's something so big on the other side.
Speaker 1: And if you high five three people say you must.
Speaker 2: Be important because that big, bad devil's.
Speaker 1: Been huffing and puffing, and he thought he would blow
Speaker 1: your house down.
Speaker 2: But the trial to serve, to prove your foundation.
Speaker 4: Come on, my.
Speaker 1: House is on the rock. I can't. I was so confused.
Speaker 2: So long. I thought this storm meant that God had
Speaker 2: left me. You know, but in this passage, the storm
Speaker 2: means he's on the way.
Speaker 1: Did you hear what I said?
Speaker 5: If you're going through a storm right now, or if
Speaker 5: one happens to hit on Thursday morning, I want you
Speaker 5: to know that the storm is a sign that Grace
Speaker 5: is on the way.
Speaker 2: The Bible says the storm came up suddenly the moment
Speaker 2: Jesus started in the direction of the man, here came
Speaker 2: a storm, not because God wasn't with him, but precisely
Speaker 2: because he was headed.
Speaker 1: In his direction.
Speaker 2: All right, So if that's true, if what I just
Speaker 2: said is true, that there is a storm that proves
Speaker 2: nobody attacks what isn't valuable, I promise you if I
Speaker 2: went to play Game seven today, Lebron wouldn't guard me.
Speaker 1: I promise you.
Speaker 2: They would let me run all around that court and
Speaker 2: do whatever I wanted to do. They would hand me
Speaker 2: the ball gladly. You only guard.
Speaker 3: Why would you guard someone who wasn't in a position
Speaker 3: to score?
Speaker 1: I know you're important.
Speaker 2: Look here, Brooke, when I prepared this message, I was like, everybody.
Speaker 1: Won't get this message because they'll do this thing.
Speaker 2: When I get to this man called Legion, and I
Speaker 2: say he was living among the tombs and cutting himself
Speaker 2: with stones. They would disassociate themselves and say, well, I
Speaker 2: got some problems, but I'm not that bad. And when
Speaker 2: he says my name is Legion, they'll back up off
Speaker 2: of him and they'll disassociate in the text and they'll say, well,
Speaker 2: I'm like the Disciples going through a storm, but I'm
Speaker 2: not the man called Legion.
Speaker 1: Really, are you so sure?
Speaker 2: Because it said he lived among the tombs, so you
Speaker 2: don't go to dead places? Are you sure? Are you
Speaker 2: sure this isn't you somewhere in here? It may have
Speaker 2: a different demonstration, but it's the same dynamic because it
Speaker 2: said they would try to chain him up and he
Speaker 2: would break the chains and they couldn't hold him anymore,
Speaker 2: and he would hurt himself. Are you telling me there's
Speaker 2: no area of your life where you're out of control?
Speaker 2: I started to study the text, thinking I was like Jesus,
Speaker 2: and who do I need to go help. The more
Speaker 2: I studied it, I thought maybe there's some Legion in me.
Speaker 2: I don't mean demonic possession, but I do mean oppression.
Speaker 1: I've got my own chains.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you the greatest secret God ever showed me
Speaker 2: about you.
Speaker 1: Yes, you.
Speaker 2: He told me that all y'all are crazy.
Speaker 1: True story.
Speaker 2: I was getting ready to preach one time, and I
Speaker 2: wanted to preach from my own dysfunction, and I was
Speaker 2: embarrassed to do it because I thought, like everybody that
Speaker 2: I was preaching to had their act together, and why
Speaker 2: you're gonna listen to a preacher that's crazier than you.
Speaker 2: And it was very interesting for me, the path that
Speaker 2: I went on in those two years that I was
Speaker 2: learning this lesson, watching millionaires who were miserable, and I
Speaker 2: realized the devil doesn't check your net worth before he
Speaker 2: tries to wreck your house. And I saw really nice
Speaker 2: smelling people with like country club memberships and stuff, who
Speaker 2: drive eco friendly cars and eat hummus, freaking out on
Speaker 2: depression medication and yeah. And once I found out y'all
Speaker 2: were crazy, I was no longer intimidated to preach this
Speaker 2: Bible like.
Speaker 1: It really is. Once I realized.
Speaker 2: That you might be out of control and your spending,
Speaker 2: you're eating your sexuality. If I kept going long enough,
Speaker 2: i'd clear the whole room out of self righteousness. There
Speaker 2: would not be one more Pharisee spirit left to hear
Speaker 2: this sermon. If I kept going, dare me to do it.
Speaker 2: I will name every demon in this room, because once
Speaker 2: I stopped talking about the stuff you can't see, then
Speaker 2: I would move over to gossip. Some of y'all can't
Speaker 2: stop talking about people. You are so ugly to. Okay,
Speaker 2: see what I told you, I told you, I told you.
Speaker 1: You were crazy.
Speaker 2: He knew the man was crazy when he got on
Speaker 2: the boat. It didn't stop him from coming. That got
Speaker 2: me excited. I figure maybe he knows about my issues too.
Speaker 2: I am Legion And he said, Legion is six thousand
Speaker 2: foot soldiers.
Speaker 1: That's a lot of demons. Jesus said, what is your name?
Speaker 2: You know my name? Do you know yours? Do you
Speaker 2: know who you are? Or do you have so many
Speaker 2: different personas you know, because we're all Legion, we're all
Speaker 2: a little bit of Legion. There are many mes. Somebody
Speaker 2: told me that Abby looks just like me. They say
Speaker 2: she's your mini me. I was like, you don't know
Speaker 2: how true that is. There are many mes.
Speaker 1: Huh.
Speaker 2: There's online you. There's Sunday morning you. That's the only
Speaker 2: one I ever get to see. But then I found
Speaker 2: out there's a Friday night. You don't make me interview
Speaker 2: your spouse, please, I won't pull them up here and
Speaker 2: give them the mic. There's a you only she knows,
Speaker 2: he knows. There's a youth that only you know. There's
Speaker 2: a youth that cries out day and not. You don't
Speaker 2: cut yourself with stones. I understand that. But sometimes you
Speaker 2: inflict pain on yourself and you can't stop it, and
Speaker 2: you don't even know why you keep pushing people away.
Speaker 2: You've been living among the tombs so long. Somebody's tomb
Speaker 2: is them all. Somebody's tomb is pornography. Somebody's tomb is
Speaker 2: an addiction that if we named it in the room,
Speaker 2: you think, surely that person wouldn't come to church. You'd
Speaker 2: be surprised how quick the demons run to Jesus.
Speaker 1: Those demons ran.
Speaker 2: Before Jesus and fell before him and said, don't make
Speaker 2: us leave. Got it like we wanted here? We got
Speaker 2: these people on lockdown. But they knew that this man
Speaker 2: was important to Jesus, and they knew.
Speaker 1: They knew.
Speaker 2: That they were about to have to vacate the premises
Speaker 2: of this man's personality and his psychology. And they knew
Speaker 2: that someone strong enough to subdue them had finally shown
Speaker 2: up in the region of the garri scenes because you've
Speaker 2: tried everything else, and you've run to everyone else. But
Speaker 2: I declared today you were in the presence of a
Speaker 2: greater grace. And what works couldn't do, and the law
Speaker 2: couldn't do, and chains couldn't do, and shackles couldn't do,
Speaker 2: God's about to do it in your life. Grace can
Speaker 2: do what change can't do. So now we get to
Speaker 2: the part about the pigs. We hadn't even got to
Speaker 2: the pigs yet. The pigs are the most important part.
Speaker 2: This is the part where I'm wondering why the demons
Speaker 2: wanted to get inside the pigs. And on the surface,
Speaker 2: I understand that the devil never wants.
Speaker 1: To give up any ground.
Speaker 2: You understand once he has established a foothold. How many
Speaker 2: of you don't believe in the devil? I want to
Speaker 2: see who had kids? Yet, That's all I'm trying to do.
Speaker 2: He doesn't want you to be the first one in
Speaker 2: your family not to need drink to.
Speaker 1: Feel good about yourself.
Speaker 2: He doesn't want you to be the first one in
Speaker 2: your family to be able to stay stable in a
Speaker 2: relationship rather than running around. So what does he want?
Speaker 2: He wants to stand guard in the area. And this
Speaker 2: is a brilliant strategy. I gotta give it to these devils.
Speaker 2: The devils are smarter than a lot of church people.
Speaker 2: They know how to get information, they know how to
Speaker 2: accomplish a purpose, and they know how to discern what
Speaker 2: is valuable. This is it. Stay with me?
Speaker 1: Are you with me?
Speaker 2: Come on, We're on something.
Speaker 1: Are you with me?
Speaker 2: Lean into this word. The word you resist is the
Speaker 2: one that you need. Jesus is in this house. The
Speaker 2: presence of God is in this place. The power of
Speaker 2: a mighty God is in this moment. So Jesus says,
Speaker 2: you gotta go. Let that man go. He's important to me.
Speaker 2: I went through the storm to get to him. I
Speaker 2: went through the thunder and the lightning to get to him.
Speaker 2: I went through bucketfuls of water bill out of Peter's
Speaker 2: boat to get to him. I came two hours across
Speaker 2: the Sea of Galilee. And I've only got three years
Speaker 2: to change the world.
Speaker 1: This man is a vip. I know everybody else has.
Speaker 2: Forgotten about him, but I want him now.
Speaker 1: Let me say something real quick.
Speaker 2: If he went through the storm for this man, and
Speaker 2: he went to the cross for you.
Speaker 1: How valuable must you be? How much is your life?
Speaker 2: For he said.
Speaker 3: God, and Jesus said, okay, you can go into the pigs.
Speaker 2: And they went into the pigs. And then they made
Speaker 2: trou because the demons know two things. One pigs can't swim.
Speaker 1: But we all know that what the demons know that
Speaker 1: we don't know.
Speaker 2: I think the demons understood that the people in the
Speaker 2: region cared more about the pigs than they did about
Speaker 2: the man. This is two thousand pigs. This represents a
Speaker 2: significant part of the portfolio of these pig owners. This
Speaker 2: is a region that is known for raising pigs. So
Speaker 2: what does the enemy attack? Whatever you value the most,
Speaker 2: and yes, he knows what you value. And yes he
Speaker 2: knows how to hit you where it hurts the most.
Speaker 2: And that's why he'll use people to get to your
Speaker 2: relationship with God. What's really most valuable is your relationship
Speaker 2: with God. But he knows if he can get people
Speaker 2: to offend you, you will do what the people that
Speaker 2: you will send Jesus away because you are offended by people.
Speaker 1: He knows where to hit you.
Speaker 2: He knows where your insecurity is, he knows your playlist,
Speaker 2: what you say to yourself, about yourself. He knows your proclivities,
Speaker 2: your perversions. He knows what makes you feel ashamed, so
Speaker 2: he hits you there to make you lash out in anger.
Speaker 1: He knows how to keep you bound.
Speaker 2: And since he couldn't stay in the man, the devil
Speaker 2: went into the pigs.
Speaker 4: If I killed the pigs, they'll send Jesus away.
Speaker 1: Let me hurt Job. This is when the devil had
Speaker 1: a meeting with God. He said, I've.
Speaker 2: Been going to and fro looking for somebody to devour.
Speaker 1: And God said, have you checked out my boy? Job?
Speaker 3: Job's a bad dude. This is an updated translation. It's
Speaker 3: a little more modern. Probably says it in your Bible.
Speaker 3: And the devil said, he's only serving you. He's only
Speaker 3: serving you because his herd is still intact. Let me
Speaker 3: touch his body, let me touch his children. The enemy
Speaker 3: will use anything to get to your faith. What he's
Speaker 3: after is your relationship with God. But he will use
Speaker 3: the pigs to get you to push away the presence
Speaker 3: of God.
Speaker 1: He knows exactly where you're vulnerable. Guess where you're the
Speaker 1: most vulnerable.
Speaker 4: Wherever you place the greatest value. These pigs were worth
Speaker 4: two million dollars in modern money. He said, if I
Speaker 4: can get in the pigs and make the pigs in
Speaker 4: the water, the people will be so afraid because they
Speaker 4: lost their pigs that they.
Speaker 2: Will send Jesus away. I wonder where the enemy attacked you.
Speaker 2: I bet it was in the place of your greatest value.
Speaker 2: But guess what I got good news. He only attacks
Speaker 2: what's valuable. So if he has attacked you lately, get
Speaker 2: ready to shallow. Guess what that means about you?
Speaker 1: You must be important, you, o God.
Speaker 2: The devil knows more about your destiny than you do.
Speaker 2: There must be something on your life. Can I preach
Speaker 2: this like God gave it to me? God said, some
Speaker 2: of you are breaking generational curses and you don't even
Speaker 2: know it. And that's why it's been so hard. And
Speaker 2: that's why it's been so strong, and that's why it's
Speaker 2: been so dark, because you're so strong, and you're so positioned,
Speaker 2: and you're so important to his purpose.
Speaker 1: You must be important.
Speaker 2: The devil wouldn't tie you up if he wasn't afraid
Speaker 2: of what would happen if you got loose. I can't
Speaker 2: buy an amen, but I don't need one. This is
Speaker 2: good in my soul, I said, he wouldn't tie you up.
Speaker 2: It's the opposite. I thought the storm meant God had
Speaker 2: left me. I found out it meant that Grace was
Speaker 2: on the way. I thought the shackles meant God couldn't
Speaker 2: use me.
Speaker 1: I found out that.
Speaker 2: The shackles mean God is looking for someone who knows.
Speaker 1: How to break sames.
Speaker 2: Now I just wonder, are there any chain breakers in
Speaker 2: the house today? I mean, you see chain breakers, rock
Speaker 2: hill shain breakers. If you're a chain breaker and you
Speaker 2: know it, and you've been through some things and you
Speaker 2: have some issues, and you forgot who you were for
Speaker 2: a moment, but in the presence of God today, you're
Speaker 2: starting to remember.
Speaker 1: I am a child of God.
Speaker 2: Take a few moments and praise Him.
Speaker 1: For what's on the other side.
Speaker 2: Come on, children, come on, come on saying breakers, Come
Speaker 2: on and praise him.
Speaker 1: I don't care I'm on the screen.
Speaker 2: Shallah to God with the voice of trial. I don't
Speaker 2: care you belong to a country club. Shullah to God
Speaker 2: with the voice of trial. I'm a samee breaker.
Speaker 1: You must be important.
Speaker 2: He threw you in the fire so he could show
Speaker 2: never Cannissur that he is God. You must be important.
Speaker 2: He lets you spend the night with the lions, so
Speaker 2: he could shut the lion's mouth and demonstrate his strength.
Speaker 1: You must be important.
Speaker 2: He drowned all those horses in the Red Sea so
Speaker 2: that the nations.
Speaker 1: Would know that he is God. You must be important.
Speaker 1: Hot five. Everybody looks happy. Say you must be important.
Speaker 1: You gotta be, You gotta be.
Speaker 2: How else do you explain the fact that you're still here.
Speaker 2: Everything that can be shaken will be shaken, so that
Speaker 2: only that which cannot be shaken will remain.
Speaker 1: You know what it means if you're still here. You
Speaker 1: weren't shaken.
Speaker 2: The trial came the foundation's quick, but the house stood
Speaker 2: firm because it wasn't on the side.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this man.
Speaker 2: Was so important that Jesus went through the storm to.
Speaker 1: Get to him.
Speaker 2: And you were so important that Jesus went through gethsemine
Speaker 2: to get to you. And you were so important that
Speaker 2: he passed through the membrane of eternity into the construct
Speaker 2: called time to come to you. Don't you ever let
Speaker 2: the devil tell you against somebody else needs to.
Speaker 1: Raise those kids. Don't you ever.
Speaker 2: Let the devil tell you against somebody.
Speaker 1: Else belongs in that spot. Don't you don't.
Speaker 2: And the next storm that comes, I.
Speaker 3: Want you to wave it on by, because there must
Speaker 3: be something so great on the other side.
Speaker 1: Listen. In my Bible, it says something better, very strange.
Speaker 2: It says that when Jesus set the man free, the
Speaker 2: man went and got down in the boat because he
Speaker 2: was like, you are not leaving me here with these people.
Speaker 2: Look at verse eighteen. I didn't read it to y'all
Speaker 2: saving him. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the
Speaker 2: man who was demon possessed begged to go with him.
Speaker 2: That's like, if you're in my car on the way home,
Speaker 2: that would be weird. Now we got a contrast because
Speaker 2: the demons are like, don't make us leave, and the
Speaker 2: man is like, don't make me stay.
Speaker 3: And it's sexy to want to step out into something new.
Speaker 3: And the brother is clothed.
Speaker 2: And in his right mind, and he's amazed and he's grateful.
Speaker 1: And he wants to be on Jesus team.
Speaker 2: So he's like, I'm gonna come with you, all right,
Speaker 2: that's cool. I promise no more of that cutting, chain
Speaker 2: breaking stuff. I'm let me keep the books. I see
Speaker 2: that guy you got Judas, I don't think he see
Speaker 2: the devil knows the devil.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, let me be your treasurer.
Speaker 2: But something happened so strange to me, because I just
Speaker 2: read in Mark two where Jesus called the disciples and
Speaker 2: he said, come follow me. Leave what you know and
Speaker 2: follow me, and I'm gonna show you how to do
Speaker 2: something new for my glory. And they had the faith
Speaker 2: to go, and it takes a lot of faith to
Speaker 2: leave a.
Speaker 3: Situation you're familiar with. Takes faith to go. But Jesus
Speaker 3: did something kind of strange. She looked back at the
Speaker 3: man and he said, you can't follow me. Jesus didn't
Speaker 3: let him leave, but said, I need you to go home.
Speaker 1: To the same.
Speaker 2: Situation that I delivered you in. I'm not going to
Speaker 2: take you out of it. I took it out of you.
Speaker 2: I changed your condition, but I'm going to leave you
Speaker 2: in the circumstance because I want these people to watch this.
Speaker 2: Go home and tell.
Speaker 1: Them how much the Lord has done for you.
Speaker 2: Give me my verse, please thank you, and how he
Speaker 2: has had mercy on you.
Speaker 3: I want you to be a trophy. In fact, it's
Speaker 3: better than that. Look at verse twenty.
Speaker 1: Touch somebody say you must be so important.
Speaker 2: I don't know why the ushers let me sit next
Speaker 2: to you.
Speaker 1: You must be so important. And he went away.
Speaker 2: I begin to tell him to the capitalists, that's ten cities.
Speaker 2: The man became a missionary. You know, we could call
Speaker 2: this sermon from maniac to missionary. I need somebody crazy enough,
Speaker 2: because when the people see how much you've changed, they're
Speaker 2: going to be amazed. Sometimes God gives you the faith
Speaker 2: to go. Other times he gives you the grace to stay.
Speaker 2: And I think that's amazing too, because some of you
Speaker 2: are in a difficult place and all you want to
Speaker 2: do is escape.
Speaker 1: Jesus, take me with you. I mean, let me get
Speaker 1: a new start.
Speaker 3: And in those moments, and you know, if you're in
Speaker 3: one where you just want to escape the situation or
Speaker 3: the pain of the trial, God says, I'm going to
Speaker 3: give you something better than the faith to go.
Speaker 2: I'm going to give you the grace to stay. See,
Speaker 2: you are so important to me. And the man who
Speaker 2: wasn't even living with the people became the first missionary
Speaker 2: to the Gentiles. He was the first one. Some of
Speaker 2: you are going to be the first. You are going
Speaker 2: to be the first to break a chain. None of
Speaker 2: your friends have done it, none of your family did it.
Speaker 2: Nobody around you believes you can do it, and you
Speaker 2: didn't believe in yourself. But in this moment, the presence
Speaker 2: of the Lord is in this place.
Speaker 1: Because now I know who I am.
Speaker 2: I thought I was worthless. I believe that for years,
Speaker 2: But now I know who I am. He came through
Speaker 2: all that for me. Now I know who I am.
Speaker 2: Because the enemy only attacks what's valuable.
Speaker 1: So now I know.
Speaker 2: Come on, I need about seventy more people who know
Speaker 2: who got this word? And you know that you had
Speaker 2: to be here today, not just so you could survive
Speaker 2: the storm, so that after you've survived it, after you've
Speaker 2: lived through it, after you've broke the chains off of
Speaker 2: your life. Now God is ready to use you. If
Speaker 2: you're ready to be used by God, why don't you
Speaker 2: glorify him right now.
Speaker 1: In this moment. Come on, glorify him.
Speaker 2: I need some.
Speaker 1: Crazy people who know.
Speaker 2: Declary, thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those
Speaker 2: of you who give generously to this ministry. Is because
Speaker 2: of you that this ministry is possible. You can click
Speaker 2: the link in the description to give now, or visit
Speaker 2: Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information and if
Speaker 2: you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share
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Speaker 2: and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening.
Speaker 2: God bless you.