Hope for the Hopeless Part 3
Matthew
8:28-34 Hope for Those Who are Oppressed
During the 1983 football season, the college
bookstore at
In
their minds a win against
A) Well in our passage today
we see a situation that looked hopeless to many!{2 Lives radically oppressed
B)We saw in our study last time where Jesus got into a boat with his
disciples to cross over the sea of Galilee –
C)There was a twofold purpose for getting into the boat
that day
1)The Journey was part of the curriculum of the
day for the Disciples
D)They ended up in a storm – The storm provided the
moment in which Jesus would show them that He possessed ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY over even the
forces of nature….
E)Purpose: He can be trusted in the storms of life!
Today
we are going to see the SECOND reason for that perilous journey across the
A)Jesus had a Divine appointment with two
very needy men on the other side of the lake.
B)Immediately following the storm Matthew
tells us.
RD V.28-34
Matthew ‘s
focus is to present Jesus as the King
A)So he doesn’t spend a lot of time telling us
about the men/ His focus is primarily on the power of Jesus
Exceedingly
fierce = Violent
B)But Mark & Luke give us a few more details
about the men. Consider today
1)Actually in those gospels the focus
is only on one of the two men who seems to be the most Dominant
C)Luke tells us{ The man had been in this
condition for a long time.
1)Didn’t live in a house,
but stayed in the graveyard amongst the tombs { Horror movie material
2)He didn’t wear any
clothes – ran around like an animal
D)Mark tells us
that they tried to bind the man with shackles and
chains – he would just break them apart
1)All night in the tombs and MTs
crying out /
2)He would often cut himself! – Self
destruction.
We see in this scene that there are 3 different forces at
Work in this story. Satan / Society and the Savior!
A) These
forces are still at work in our world today
B) 1st we see
a vivid picture of what Satan can do
to people.
1)Satan we are told in the Bible is
a thief & a robber whose ultimate purpose is to kill / ROB / destroy (Jn 10:10)
C) These Two men who lost everything.
1) They lost their Homes / Family Friends
2) They lost their decency running
around naked in the tombs.
3) They lost their self-control living like wild animals, screaming, cutting himself and frightening the citizens.
4)
They lost their peace & purpose for living.
D) That is the kind of
despair & destruction
Satan hopes to bring into a life.
Now
I realize that this is an extreme case – but Satan is still doing this today.
A)Talk about losing
self control – what would motivate a man like Elliot Spitzer NY GOV risk
everything to engage in sex with a High Priced Prostitute
B)That is not normal behavior – Talking complete lack of self control –
Bondage that throws out all rationale
At least 1% of Americans 2 million pp who regularly cut
themselves. –Called cutters
70% are female
A)Angelina Jolie – Christina Ricci – Princess Diana
Amy Whinehouse
All admitted to being cutters
B)Psychologist say that it happens for various reasons –
1) Hide emotional pain by
inflicting physical pain –
C)The Physical pain they feel on the outside becomes more
tangible than the emotional pain they are dealing with on the inside.
1) The emotional pain becomes unbearable
and the physical pain, although unpleasant, is something with which they can
cope."
D)That might make some sense in the mind of the person who is
doing it –
1)but the whole thing is demonic in nature
Now
don’t misunderstand me, I am not suggesting that pp who
cut themselves are demon possessed
A)But I will say this The whole idea
is devil inspired
B)See Satan is constantly trying to get pp who have been made in the image
of God to defile and to destroy themselves
1)Be it through alcoholism &
drug addiction / Sexual immorality or Self mutilation
Satan
knows that most pp are dealing with some form of pain – result of their own
wrong choices or other pp’s abuse -
A)His purpose is to try and get pp to deal with the pain and oppression they
feel in their hearts by turning to anything else – but to God.
B)Satan is very aggressive.
1)He knows that His time is running out – so He is turning up the
temperature – Increasing his game
In Sports we
talk about being a good 4th quarter performer – Satan is a good 4th quarter performer
A)Sometimes his tactics are very blantant
Ex. According to the NCT An estimated 18,000 to 20,000
people are brought into the
2)Here in NC – 30-50 a day are brought in from
SD is considered one of the
Meth capitals of the
A recent study by the San Diego Association of Governments
found that 44 percent of adult male arrestees and 51 percent of adult female
arrestees in our county's system are testing positive for meth at the time of
arrest. Even more troubling is that the
drug is showing up in 21 percent of juvenile arrestees.
Furthermore, 60 percent of adult arrestees who
reported using meth did so before work, and 67 percent of juvenile arrestees
who reported using the drug claimed to have used it before or during school.
Two
examples of the very Blatant ways Satan tries to
destroy lives. – Also Subtle ways
A)Recent Oprah – Denied Christ – Jesus can’t be the only way.
B)Is Oprah a Satanist? No! Is she an
evil person– no! A nice lady who does a lot of good things –
1)But who is also very deceived –
C) Is
Oprah Dangerous – absolutely – Promotes books constantly – New age
1)Finding god in other places contrary to the Bible
D)The Secret – The New Awakening –
1)She said I moved away from the narrow confines of Doctrine to discover God
in other things
All
a part of Satan’s attempt to vamp it up in the 4th quarter – these
last days
A)Think about this Satan and his minions have nothing that distracts them from
that one task of destroying men’s souls?
B)No hobbies..... No vacations!!
They war, non-stop
Against
you in your Christian life/
1)Against Unbelievers keep in darkness ..send to hell!
This event in the Life of Christ sheds
tremendous light on 3 spiritual realities.
1.)
It shows what Satan does for a man.
He
ROBS him of sanity and self-control.
He
ROBS him of the joys of home and friends.
He
FILLS him with fears. And (if possible) condemns him to an eternity of
judgment.
2.)
It also reveals what MAN tries do for a man in his spiritual need.
It
RESTRAINS him.
It
ISOLATES him.
It
THREATENS him.
But
society is UNABLE to CHANGE him.
3.)
It shows what Jesus Christ can do for
a man.
Even
one whose whole life—within and without—is nothing but
bondage and battles.
Jesus sets pp
free!
Note: that
these men were not looking for Jesus but He came looking for them
A)LK 19 He came to seek and to save the Lost
B)Your Child / Your friend Keep praying
C)The Story is really a picture of Contrast:
1)Satan’s goal is to violate a man’s will – and put that man in bondage to His
flesh
D)Why the Bible refers to sin as slavery
The
idea is you have a master: The things you want to do you don’t do / don’t want
to do end up doing
A)Enslaved to lust – can’t quit looking at porn
B)Enslaved to greed – you live to make more money
1)Enslaved to feelings of bitterness and hatred
C)The harder you try to change – the worse it gets
1)Or if you have success in changing an area – you only end up enslaved to
something else.
D)That is the Devil’s strategy! Violate the will – and put you in bondage
Jesus
seeks to do the opposite in a life!
A)This picture is a vivid illustration of the total and complete
transformation that Jesus seeks to bring to a life.
B)Luke’s gospel describes the men in this way: Sitting Clothed and now in their right minds
1)Jesus restores their dignity – their sanity/ what lost
C) Life has meaning and
purpose again!
D)Jesus doesn’t seek to violate a person’s will – not looking to take control
– force Himself on pp
E)Desires that pp would see how much He loves them and willingly surrender – His
purposes – His plan
1)A God ordained purpose for their lives = Blessings
Notice again what the demons
do when Jesus shows up! 29 And suddenly they cried out, saying,
"What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?"
Now
I ask you this question - WHO IS IN CONTROL HERE ? Jesus hasn’t said a word here
A) - He just shows up on the
scene and the Demons are freaking out over His mere Presecne
B)They see Him coming and realize we are in trouble
Beg Him Please Jesus don’t hurt us don’t torment us
before the time
Bb)These demonic beings are also quite aware of their
destiny.
"Then He will also say to those
on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into
the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
Matthew 25:41 NKJV
C)Reminds us that - Hell was not intended for
mankind.
D)Mrk & Luke: [asked name Legion] 5,000- 6,000 { doesn’t
necessarily means 6K demons
1)But it could mean that !
2)Mark tells us there were 2,000 pigs in the herd
E)Here is the Point there were many! 2K / 6K or 500 they are all terrified of Jesus
Now
in V.30-34 we read that the Demons asked permission of the Jesus to go into the
herd of pigs
A)Jesus granted it & the demon the caused
the pigs to run off a cliff plunge to their death’s in water below
B)Why did the pigs want to go into the swine?
demons are bent on
destruction, and hate to be idle.”
C)Demons People or pigs it doesn’t really matter –
they want to destroy things – bent on destruction
1)Frog and scorpion - Don’t sting me – I promise
Sure enough, when
they were halfway across, the scorpion stung the frog. “Why did you do that?”
yelled the frog. “Now I will die and you will drown, too!”
“I know,” replied the
scorpion. “It’s just my nature to sting.”
D)That is the demons – their nature is to Destroy!
So
why did Jesus allow this? Why didn’t Jesus just put these unclean spirits
out of commission?
A)This text has bothered a lot of unbelievers – What right did Jesus have to
destroy someone’s livelihood
Agnostic
Leader Thomas Huxley used this event to suggest that Jesus was evil he called this
event “… the wanton destruction of other
people’s property is a misdemeanor of evil example.”
B)Maybe you feel that way – this is unfair – why would Jesus do this?
1)Jesus allowed it – but didn’t cause the demons …
Suggestions
of why Jesus did this!
1.
Because the time of the total demonstration of His
authority over demons had not yet come - it would come at the cross.
Colossians
2:15 tells us that at the cross Jesus disarmed Satan and his demons in their
attacks on believers, He made a public spectacle of their defeat, and He
triumphed over them in His work on the cross.
Christians can be oppressed
– not possessed –
Light and darkness – can’t
dwell –
Greater is He that is in you
…… world
We can be victorious because
He has been victorious
2.
I think another reason was to illustrate very vividly to everyone to know what the
real intention of these demons was.
They wanted to destroy the
man just as they destroyed the pigs.
Some have suggested – that
because Pork was a food forbidden to Jews, those who raised
these pigs were knowingly in violation
of divine injunction.
B)However we don’t have any real certain way of knowing if these herders were
Jewish or Gentile.
1)Gadera was a Gentile populated region
3.
By allowing the
demons to go into the pigs, Jesus was providing proof positive that the demons
had left the man.
D)When the towns people saw those pig carcasses floating in the lake and when
they saw the man clothed and in his right mind, no one could deny what had
happened.
Whatever
the reason this story is a lesson in relative values.
A)He who is the master of nature is also its ultimate owner.
B)Those pigs belonged to Jesus because he created them.
C)By his actions, Jesus was saying that one man is worth far more than a
herd of pigs.
D)The point of the story is not to destroy the demons but to deliver the
demonized man from their power.
1)
The pigs are purely secondary.
C.
S. Lewis once remarked that “Jesus is not safe, but he is good. He does not
always do what we expect, but what he does is always for the best.”
The
story ends on a sad note: The pp of the town coming to Jesus – asking him to
leave.
A)Why they valued money more than men –
B)Monkey place Yugo – Police chief
C)The truth of the matter was Jesus was willing to give them far more than
they lost
D)But notice He didn’t force himself on them
Matthew 9:1 And he entered into a ship, and
passed over, and came into his own city.
E)He will not force Himself on you – but if you yield your heart –
transformation will happen
Beg Jesus to stay – or to
leave you alone?