LUKE 8:26-39 REQUESTS FOR JESUS2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 8:26-39 Requests For Jesus

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You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012. This morning as we look at this portion, we're going to be looking at three requests that are given to Jesus.

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Before we get to those requests, though, we need to take some time and consider the subject of demons as it's explained here quite thoroughly, some different aspects. And we learn a lot about demons through this encounter, this exchange that takes place between Jesus and this man who is demon-possessed.

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We're going to deal with it kind of briefly and then move on into the other things that God has put upon my heart. But there's some parallel passages that you can consider if you'd like to pursue this a little bit further. Matthew and Mark both record this account. Matthew records it in Matthew chapter 8 and Mark records it in Mark chapter 5. And particularly in Mark, there's a little bit more detail there.

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than we have here in the book of Luke. And so there's some things there that God might be able to give you insight on and speak to you about if you want to check that out later on. But as we start out this morning, before we get into the requests for Jesus, we need to deal with the subject of demons because we learn a lot about demons here in this passage.

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And it's important for us to understand a little bit about the demonic forces that are at work in the world. Now, there's a lot that we don't know. There's a lot that we don't understand when it comes to these types of spiritual things and demonic forces. But there are things that are revealed, and we need to have a good grasp of that because, well, as we'll see, there is a reality to demonic forces and demons that we need to have a good grasp of.

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Well, we pick it up in verse 26. It says, Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. So last week, we were with Jesus and his disciples on the shore. They got into the boat. They started to cross over Galilee. And remember, this big storm came up, and Jesus was sleeping. He rebuked the wind and the waves when the disciples wakened him up. And the sea was calm. The wind was still there.

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And then they continued on their journey across Galilee. So now here in verse 26, they've reached the other side. They've landed on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. And now verse 27, and when he stepped out on the land, there met him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house, but in the tombs.

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And so there's eight things I want to point out to you briefly from our passage today about demons, about what we can learn about demons from this portion. And the first thing I want to point out is the very simple truth that demons are real. It may not be a subject we want to consider or we like to think about, but you need to know that demons are real.

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That this is not just mythology. It's not just, you know, something that's made up in Hollywood. There is a reality to demonic forces, to demonic entities. There is a real spiritual battle that rages around us. These demons are what we consider them to be the fallen angels as Satan rebelled against God. The scriptures indicate that a third of the angels joined him in that rebellion against God.

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In Revelation chapter 12, verse 7, it talks about the war that takes place in heaven between Michael, the archangel, and his angels, and then Satan, the devil, and his angels. And there's this battle that goes on there in Revelation chapter 27.

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And so Satan has those fallen angels, those minions with him. We refer to them as demons. Sometimes the scriptures refer to them as unclean spirits. There's various things that are used to refer to these entities. But the reality is they exist. They're real and they are at work in this world. And so first of all, we see Jesus...

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dealing with this man who is demon-possessed, and we can see very clearly, demons are real. It's not made up. It's not fiction. It's for real.

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Now, the second thing we can learn from this passage is that demons can possess people. Again, this is not just something that was made up for movies or for TV or something. This is not just mythology. There is a reality of demon possession. And this man, it says, had demons for a long time. Literally, it means that he was demonized. And so he had this

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possession, or the demons possessed him for an extended period of time. So what does this mean that he was demonized or he was demon possessed? Well, David Guzik puts it this way. He says, demonic possession is when a demonic spirit resides in a human body and at times will exhibit its own personality through the personality of the host body. It's when a demonic spirit

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occupies a person and they take over. Not necessarily a hundred percent of the time, but there's times where they take over and they are responsible. This demonic force is responsible for the actions, for the words. They move, they act, they speak on behalf of this demon who possesses them. And so demons can possess people.

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Now, again, this may not be something that you get excited to hear about or to consider. In fact, it might be quite scary for you. You might want me to move on pretty quickly. And I will move on. There's other things that God has for us. But you need to know that there is a reality. Paul says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. There's real demonic forces at work in this world. They're all around us, whether we recognize it or not, whether we know it or not.

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And there are those who are severely impacted by those demonic forces. And there are those who are possessed by demons as well. And you may not see it every day, but it happens every day. You may see it one day, and that's why you need to know these things that the scriptures reveal about these demonic forces so that you'll be equipped and prepared for that day.

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Well, verse 28 goes on to say, So the next thing we learn about demons is that demons know that Jesus is God. They're not confused about this at all. It's not like, well, you know, we think maybe he is. No, they know that he is God.

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It's a reality to them. In fact, Jesus would often silence the demons when he encountered them in his ministry because like this guy, they would come crying, you're the son of God. You're the son of the most high. They would testify of who Jesus is because they know that he is God. But another thing we see here in this portion in verse 28, another thing we learn about demons is that demons are weaker than Jesus. Notice what the demon does.

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Through this man, the demons say, I beg you, do not torment me. The demons that possessed this man could not fight against Jesus. They couldn't do anything except beg. Demons are much weaker than the Lord. I'm sure that's pretty obvious, but it's good to be reminded that

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Sometimes we start thinking about demonic forces and demonic things and we get kind of all freaked out and we get consumed by those things and we start seeing demons everywhere. But it's important to remember they're weaker than Jesus. They don't have their way. Their will is not accomplished. It's God's will that is accomplished. Understand that Jesus could wipe out all the demons with a snap, with a word, just in an instant. He just, they're gone. No more demonic forces, no more demons.

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Now that causes perhaps the question in our heart, well, why doesn't he do that then? And if that's your question, I would say, well, you should ask Jesus. I don't know. Ask him. He knows what he's doing. I mean, we have the promises of the scripture, right? God works all things together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. So,

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Even though there is demonic forces and they are real and they really do possess people and wreak havoc, yet in the midst of all of that, God is able to bring forth good because he rules on high and he's on the throne. So I don't understand a lot of what God does, but I do understand those things that he has revealed to me. But one of the things I was thinking about and wrestling with this question is I was comparing it to a chess game.

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You know, in a game of chess, for those of you who play, you know that your strategy as you engage in a game of chess is not to wipe out all of the pawns of your opponent. That's not your main objective. I mean, you might take one out here or one out there, you know, as it's appropriate, but it's not the objective. It's just to get to the objective, which of course is to get those key components, those key players.

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Well, in the spiritual scope of things, the demons are pawns. That's not God's main concern. That's easy. He's got that. No problem. More important than demons are people. And that's what the Lord's focused on. Bringing salvation, redemption, deliverance to people. He'll deal with the demons. They'll get their day. But they're pawns. They're not anything for God to worry about.

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They're much weaker than him. He's more focused on the more important pieces, the more important things, the people that he loves so dearly. Verse 29, For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, for it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles. And he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. So here, Jesus has this encounter with this man who is demon-possessed.

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And he commands the unclean spirit to come out of the man. And we get a little bit of insight here about what happens with demon possession. The next thing we learn is that demons enable great strength. This demon would often seize this man. So take over so that he would not have control any longer. And so the people around the community tried to keep him under guard.

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Because of whatever would happen whenever this demon would seize him. So they would try to contain him. They would bind him with chains, with shackles. They would set guards around him, you know, with instruction. Hey, don't let him out of this cell. Don't let him out of this place. But they weren't able to bind him. They weren't able to hold him. Even with chains, even with bonds, even with shackles.

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Demons enable great strength. He could break the bonds that were placed upon him. And it says here the demon would drive him into the wilderness. And so he was out there on the hillside in the tombs because of this demon that possessed him. Verse 30, Jesus asked him saying, what is your name? And he said, Legion, because many demons had entered him. And so here we learn that multiple demons can possess one person.

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Demon possession is not always one demon in one person, but sometimes there's multiple, there's many. And we see this several times in the scriptures. Here, Jesus asked him and saying, what's your name? And he says, Legion. One commentator stated, Jesus didn't ask him his name because he didn't know his name, but for you and I, for our benefit, to understand the scope of this man's problem. It wasn't one demon, that's bad enough, but Legion.

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There's many demons that were possessing this man. How many? Well, we don't know for sure. The demon responds that his name is Legion because there are many. A Roman legion in those days was 6,000 soldiers. I don't know that that means that there was 6,000 demons in this man, although that may indeed be possible.

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In Mark chapter 5, Mark gives us another detail about when these demons are cast out and go into the pigs, and the pigs run off the hill into the water, that there's 2,000 pigs that die as they rush off the cliff into the water. And so...

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Maybe that's an indication. Maybe there was 2,000 demons in him. We don't know for sure. It could have been 10. It doesn't say exactly. It just says that there's many demons that entered him. And again, the point is multiple demons can't possess a single person. Verse 31, and they begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss. The next thing we learn about demons here in this portion is that demons fear judgment. They were begging Jesus,

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Don't send us to the abyss. Now the abyss is a whole other subject that we're not really going to get into. But real quickly, in the book of Revelation, it refers to the bottomless pit. And there's angels that are bound in the bottomless pit. It's the same word. It's the same thing. The abyss is the bottomless pit.

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And so the angels that are bound in the bottomless pit are released during the tribulation period. Then Satan later on is bound in the bottomless pit during the thousand-year reign of Christ. The bottomless pit, the abyss, was a place of incarceration, a holding cell, a prison, if you would, for demonic forces. Right?

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And so they're saying, don't send us into the abyss. Don't send us to prison. Because what happens is after prison, well, comes the execution. Demons fear the judgment that they know awaits them. The judgment of being cast into the lake of fire. Verse 32. Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged him that he would permit them to enter them. And he permitted them.

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The final thing I'll point out from this passage is that demons desire to possess someone or to occupy something. There was a herd of pigs over across the way and they said, look, don't send us to prison. If you're going to cast us out, then let us go into that herd of swine over there. They have this desire to occupy, to possess something.

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Jesus alluded to this as well in Matthew chapter 12, verse 43 through 45. He talks about when an unclean spirit goes out of a man, that the unclean spirit goes through all the different places seeking rest. And if it finds no rest, then that unclean spirit will go back to the person he was cast out of. And if there's still opportunity...

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To enter into that person. Jesus explains that unclean spirit will get seven others like him and enter into that person. They desire, they seek, there's this unrest when they're not occupying, when they're not possessing something. And so we don't understand it fully. We don't know exactly, you know, what that's like. But it has this desire. They have this desire for rest.

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That comes when they possess or occupy something. Verse 33. Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. So here it kind of winds up with the demons are cast out by the Lord. They enter into this herd of swine, and then all the pigs run off the cliff and drown in the Sea of Galilee.

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And so here's some things that we learn about demons from this passage, but there's still a lot that we don't know. There's still much that we don't understand. As I look at this portion, it causes me to ask, why would demons ask to go into pigs and then immediately kill the pigs? That doesn't make sense to me. I'm not a demon though, so maybe that's why. I mean, I don't know what it's like

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I don't know why they would ask that, but that's what they asked and that's what they did. The next question is, well, where did all these demons go after this? Again, we don't know. There's a lot that we don't know, but what we do know, we have revealed because it's essential for us, it's important for us to understand there is a reality to spiritual warfare and to demonic forces. You may not encounter demonic possession on a regular basis, but

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But it happens. It happens worldwide. And there's a good chance you will encounter it within your lifetime. And so I want to give you three quick things. If you encounter demon possession, three quick pointers to consider. First, you call Richard. 951. No, I'm just kidding. No. First thing is you call the Lord. Prayer and fasting.

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Prayer and fasting. Jesus explained to his disciples in Matthew chapter 17, as they tried to cast out the demon out of this kid, they were unable to. They said, how come we couldn't do it? Jesus said, this kind only comes out with prayer and fasting. You need to first of all seek the Lord and go before the Lord and call out to the Lord because there is some serious spiritual warfare that goes on.

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in this type of encounter. Also, I would encourage you to remember 1 John 4, verse 4, where John tells us, greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. So, we can get a little bit freaked out about this idea of demonic possession, demons in general. It can be something that maybe is very spooky to you or creepy to you. You could be terrified of the thought of ever encountering someone who is demon-possessed. But you need to remember, greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.

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And so if you're in Christ, he's your protection. The scriptures say, no one can snatch you out of the Father's hand. And so you don't need to fear in that way. Now that doesn't mean that you just kind of have a cavalier attitude like, you know, start yelling at demons and things like that. No, no, no. To God they're pawns. They're, you know, nothing. But to you and I,

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They're far smarter, more intelligent, wiser, more powerful. They have a better understanding of spiritual things. I mean, we're outranked. And so that's why we need to go into prayer and fasting. Secondly, when you encounter demonic possession, you rebuke the demon in Jesus' name.

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Not in your strength, not in your power, but in Jesus' name. And in order to have the authority to do that, you have to be his child. There's an account in the book of Acts where some of the disciples of the Pharisees try to cast out demons in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches. And it didn't go over very well. It was not successful. In fact, they were beat up by the demon-possessed person.

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In this attempt. Because they weren't children of God. They were talking about Jesus who somebody else preaches. So going back to the beginning. Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. You need to make sure he's in you. And as he is in you. In his strength. You rebuke the demon in Jesus' authority. In his name. And then finally point number three. If you encounter someone who is demon possessed. You share the gospel.

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When they've been set free, when they've been delivered, it's essential. You need to make sure that you share the good news, that you share the gospel with them because Jesus explains again in Matthew 12, 43 through 45, when a demon is cast out, it's going to go around. It's going to look for somewhere to occupy. It'll come back to the person it was cast out of and if...

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Well, if there's still opportunity, it'll get seven more. And the worst or the end result, the condition of that person will be worse than before the demon was cast out in the first place. So you need to make sure to share the gospel, to give them an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, that he would be in them. And then greater is he who is in them than he who is in the world.

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And so they must have that opportunity, otherwise they could end up worse off than when they started.

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So those are a couple quick things, pointers on dealing with demonic possession, what we learn about demons from this passage. There's a lot more there, but really we don't want to be consumed with these things. We need to know them and have a good grasp of them, but we really need to be consumed with the things of the Lord. And so enough talk about demons, now let's take some time and talk about Jesus. And

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And so we want to finish up our time together looking at three requests for Jesus. Three requests that are given to the Lord and things that we can learn from them. And through this, I would ask you and I ask myself, what is your request? What is my request? Because you will fit into one of these requests. You are asking the Lord one of these three things. And so which one are you asking? What is your request?

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for Jesus this morning? Well, the first request we see is in the portion we've been looking at already. There in verse 28, we see the request for Jesus to not torment. Verse 28 says, when he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, what have I to do with you, Jesus, son of the most high God? I beg you, do not torment me. Here's the request.

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The demons within this man say, I beg you, do not torment me. The request that we see here, the request for Jesus to not torment is a demonic request. It's demonically inspired. And with that in mind, I ask you, is this your request? Now, I'm not trying to say that you're demon-possessed.

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But you know, as we consider this request, it's important to understand that, well, there's many who still make this request today. There's many who are within the church who make this request today. And it's not a request that's inspired by the Holy Spirit. It's not inspired by God. It's demonically inspired. The problem with this request is

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is that there's no repentance attached to it. Essentially, the person who makes this request is saying, I don't want to serve you, Jesus, but I also don't want judgment. And so the request is, do not torment me. I beg you, do not torment me. Torment is real. There is a reality that, again, it's one of those things we may not like to consider today,

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But demons will experience a very real torment. In Revelation chapter 20 verse 10, it talks about the devil being cast into the lake of fire. His angels are cast into the lake of fire. And it says there in Revelation 20 verse 10, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever in the lake of fire. The lake of fire is...

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Well, it's what we refer to when we talk about hell. It's that permanent place of judgment and torment. And it's real. And demons will experience it. But they're not the only ones. People who reject Jesus will also experience this torment. In Revelation chapter 20 verse 15, it says, "...anyone who is not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

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And so this lake of fire, this eternal place of judgment is real. There's real torment there. It's forever and ever. Final judgment is not that, you know, a person will just cease to exist. They'll just, you know, stop being alive. Their consciousness will just vanish. It's eternal torment. It's very real. And so this request for Jesus not to torment has this in mind, this desire.

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eternal reality of judgment. But here's the thing. Jesus does not desire to torment anyone. This is the real issue with this request. Saying, Jesus, do not torment me. Don't cast me into hell. It fails to recognize that Jesus does not desire to torment anyone. In fact, this request really accuses Jesus of desiring to torment. But Jesus came to provide forgiveness,

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grace, reconciliation with God, that restored relationship with the Lord. Jesus said he came to seek and to save the lost. In John chapter 10 verse 10, Jesus says, the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come, Jesus says, that they may have life, that they may have it more abundantly. Jesus's desire is not for torment for anyone. It

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but for life. He came to bring life. He came to bring grace and mercy and forgiveness and reconciliation with God. And so this request is off base because Jesus doesn't desire to bring torment. But again, the problem is there's not repentance that's connected to this request. And so again, I would ask you this morning, is this your request?

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See, the person who makes this request knows about Jesus, but will not surrender to him. They know about Jesus. They know what he says. They know who he is. But they will not surrender to him. They will not repent. They will not give their life over to him. They don't want to go to hell. Because, you know, who would volunteer for that when you understand what hell is? It's torment. They don't want to be tormented, but they don't want to surrender.

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surrender to Jesus. Listen, let me share this, and I mean it with all sincerity. There are many religious people who have this request. Many who are religious, who follow the rituals, who attend church. Their life is not surrendered to the Lord. They're not given over to God, but they're religious because their request is, Jesus, do not torment me.

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I'm not going to surrender and completely follow you. I'm going to continue to live my sinful life, but I'm also going to go to church and be religious because I don't want you to torment me. And their mentality is, if I go through these religious things, well, then I don't have to be tormented. I don't have to go to hell. And so it's the acknowledgement of the reality of God and the Lord and eternity, but at the same time, it's the refusal to repent.

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And to fully commit themselves to the Lord. There's many religious who have this request. And it's tragic. Because it's demonically inspired. There's no repentance. And so if this is your request, what do you do? You repent. And you need to give yourself completely to the Lord. Surrender fully to Him. Submit yourself to Him. In all ways, in all capacities. Completely, thoroughly, 100%.

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Well, the second request we find in verse 37, but we need to kind of work our way there. So join with me and look at verse 34 again. It says, When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what had happened and came to Jesus and found the man whom the demons had departed sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed and in his right mind and they were afraid. They also...

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who had seen it, told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear, and he got into the boat and returned. The second request we see today is the request for Jesus to depart. So what happens here is the, the, the, the

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swine, the pigs, run off the mountain. And then those who are watching the pigs, they go into the city, they go into country, they start telling everybody what happened, what just took place. We can't believe it. All of our pigs just ran off the cliff and died in the sea. And so now this multitude comes out to see what happened. No, that can't be. Are you serious? How could that? I never... Come on. And so they go out to see. They want to look over the cliff and see all the pig bodies in the Sea of Galilee.

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And they come to this site and now they see Jesus there and this man who is demon possessed. And it notes that this man was now clothed. He was in his right mind and he was sitting at the feet of Jesus. And it freaks the people out. Remember, this was a guy that they knew. They knew of this guy. In fact, in Mark, it tells us that no one could go by this area because of this man who is demon possessed. They all knew. He terrorized anyone who came through.

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But here he is in his right mind, clothed and sitting at the feet of Jesus. And so verse 35 tells us that they were afraid. In verse 36, it's explained to them. Those who are eyewitnesses explain how this guy was healed. And so verse 37, they asked Jesus to depart from them. This is interesting. Why would they ask Jesus to depart? I mean, this guy is healed. This guy who terrorized them. This guy who they all knew and loved.

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They couldn't bind him. Society was helpless to heal this guy. But now he's healed. And they say, get out of here, Jesus. Just leave us alone. Well, it doesn't tell us exactly what the reason was, but here's a couple suggestions. It could be that their priorities were all wrong. It could be that they were more concerned about pigs than people. I mean, they lost a good chunk of change here as these pigs ran off the cliff into the sea.

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And it's possible that they were more concerned about that. Their financial interests were more important than this man being healed and set free and delivered. They were not happy that this man was healed. And there's some challenging things. Just, if you want to be challenged, meditate on the attitude of the people here. Because, you know, there are times when we can have the same attitude.

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where people are very little value to us. It's not so important that, you know, some crazy weird guy was healed, restored, transformed. I mean, this is radical stuff and it's worth it to God. It needs to be worth it to us as well. So it could be that their priorities were all wrong. Another possibility is what we would maybe phrase it this way, ignorance is bliss.

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They look at the sight. They see the pigs are gone. They see this guy who tormented them and now he's in his right mind and it's freaking them out. They don't understand it. But it's easier for them to not understand it than to deal with it. They did not want to figure out who Jesus is. You know, some people are this way. They're content not knowing Jesus.

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They don't want to think about it. They don't want to talk about it because they'd rather just not know. It's kind of like us. I'll kind of speak on behalf of all guys here. We don't want to go to the doctor because we don't want to find out if something is wrong. Now logically, we can think and we understand if there's something wrong and there's something that can be done about it, it's better to know so that you can do something about it. But even though we know that logically...

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How many guys, you know, make their own doctor's appointments? Very few, right? Because we'd rather not know. I'd rather just, tomorrow I just don't wake up. Than to know today that tomorrow I'm not going to wake up. You know, we'd just rather not know. Ignorance is bliss. It's just, well, when it comes to spiritual things, that's a terrible condition to have. But that is the condition that some have.

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And so rather than try to understand who Jesus is and what he did and the power that he has and the great miracle that has taken place, the people say, just Jesus, we don't want to deal with this. Just get out of here. Leave us alone. So the request is for Jesus to depart. Is this your request? Is this your request? Again, it might be that you've never received Jesus as Savior and Lord because you'd rather just Jesus leave you alone. You don't want to deal with this stuff.

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But it also could be for you as a believer that you, well, you've received Jesus and yet at the same time, you've gone a little bit backwards. And you know you've gone backwards. And you know God wants to speak to you. But you just don't want to deal with it. I mean, how many times have we as believers stayed away from the scriptures because we know what God is saying to us and we don't want to hear it?

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How many times have we ditched church because we know what God is saying to us and we don't want to hear it? Or how many times have we kind of snuck in the back and then snuck out real quick hoping nobody talks to us because we know what God is saying and we just don't want to deal with it. We're saying, Jesus, just stay away. I just don't want to deal with it. I don't want to think about it. I don't want to talk about it. Is this your request? Sometimes people...

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religion and they think, well, this religion might be right or that one might be right. I don't know. It's all too confusing. And so they just say, just get away. I don't want to hear about that Jesus stuff. They're afraid of what following Jesus would mean, perhaps. But here's the thing. If this is your request, God says throughout the scriptures, one example is Jeremiah 29, 13. He says, you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. Listen.

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God invites you and commands you to seek Him, to find Him. He says, you will find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I know it's easier to just say, I just don't want to deal with it. I don't want to know. It's easier to not think about those things. But you need to because eternity is real. There is a real place of torment. You need to understand who Jesus is. And the great promise that we have is God says, I will reveal Myself to you if you seek Me with all your heart.

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So seek him. Find him. Jesus said, seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened. Seek him and you will find him. Well, the third request we find in verses 38 and 39. This is the request to be with Jesus. Verse 38 says...

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Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged him that he might be with him. But Jesus sent him away saying, Return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you. And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. This is the request to be with Jesus.

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This is the request that is the right request, the appropriate request of the three. Now again, I would emphasize, you and I, we fit into one of these. One of these is our request right now, that we're requesting for Jesus not to torment us. That is, we don't want to repent, we don't want to submit to him, but we also don't want to go to hell, so we're trying to do both. Be religious and live the life that we want to live.

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And that's demonically inspired. Or, the request for Jesus to depart. We just, like, I just don't want to deal with it. I don't want to talk about it. Just leave me alone. Other things are more important to me right now. I'd rather not know. Whatever the case may be, just get out of here. Don't talk to me about Jesus. Jesus, don't bring those things to me. I don't want to think about it.

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or the request to be with Jesus. The request to be with Jesus is a request that's made by those who have been delivered by Jesus. Have you been delivered by Jesus? Have you been redeemed and transformed like this man was? This man makes this request because of the radical work that God had done in him. That's the appropriate response when God does a radical work in us. Is this your request? Think about David.

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We sing the song sometimes. It's from Psalm chapter 27 verse 4. David says, David says,

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To be in the presence of the Lord. To see his beauty. To inquire in his temple. To have that relationship with him. One thing. That was the passion of his life. That was what he was devoted to. That's what his life was centered on. His one request was to be with the Lord. We also see that in the example of the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 3.

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Now Paul, of course, you know, was a man who was radically delivered, transformed by the Lord. And he says, look, I don't count myself to have apprehended. I don't think, hey, I've arrived, you know, I've got everything I need in the Christian life, that's it, I'm good. He says, no, no, I don't count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do. Here's his request. He says, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. What are the things which are ahead?

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Well, he goes on in Philippians 3.14 and he says, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Paul says, one thing that I do. I guess that's two things. One thing that I do. I forget the things that are behind and I push forward. I reach forward. I want to be with the Lord and I'm pursuing. Paul was passionate. He was devoted to knowing God.

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The power of his resurrection, he says in another place. It was the drive of his life. Is that your request? Do you have that same passion, that same fervency, that same desire to know the Lord, to be with the Lord, to enter into eternity with him? Is that your request? Do you want to be with Jesus in that same way? As John was concluding the book of Revelation in Revelation 22, several times in that chapter, it talks about Jesus coming quickly and

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And then in verse 20 of Revelation 22, he responds, Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. That was his desire, to be with the Lord. Think about what Jesus told his disciples in John chapter 14. You remember that discussion, right? Jesus says, look, I'm going away, but don't let your heart be troubled. Because I'm going to prepare you.

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A place for you. He says, in my Father's house are many mansions. If it weren't so, I would have told you. I'm going to prepare a place for you. And in John chapter 14 verse 3, he says, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, there you may be also. Jesus says, his request, his passion, his desire is to be with you. And he's preparing us a place for

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In His Father's house. So that He can come get us and bring us back. And then we will get to be with Him. And He will be with us. You see, that's His desire. That's His passion. That's what He lived for. Is that your request? Is that what you live for? Is that what your life is driven for? To know the Lord. To be with the Lord. To dwell in His house.

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Remember that heaven will be awesome because Jesus is there. What makes heaven so great? The fluffy clouds, the nice harp music, more serious, you know, the people who we love who've gone before us. Those things might be pretty great. But what makes heaven heaven is the fact that Jesus is there. When you're thinking about heaven and if you're thinking, oh, it's going to be so nice to be done with this life,

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You're thinking, oh, it's going to be nice to be done with this body. It's going to be nice to, you know, not have to pay the bills. You're missing the point. Heaven is heaven. Heaven is awesome because Jesus is there. And that needs to be the passion that drives you. That needs to be the devotion of your heart. Is that your request? I want to be with you, Jesus. That's His passion. Is it yours? Now, if that's your desire, if that's your request...

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Well, there's some instruction that goes along with this request. Jesus tells the man who has this request, return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you. Go home and tell the people what God has done. There's a great connection here. Those who desire to be with Jesus. We're not there yet. We do have the presence of the Lord. We do walk with the Lord. But we're not in eternity yet. So what do we do?

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Why are we here? If Jesus desires to be with us and us to be with Him, why are we here? Well, because there's instruction for us to follow. The same instruction given to Him. Because you need to go home. And you need to tell your family what God has done for you. You've been delivered. You've been redeemed. You've been transformed. You need to let your family know. Mark also says in Mark 5.19, go home to your friends. Your friends, your family. Again, your neighbors, your co-workers.

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Those who have this request to be with Jesus are those who go home and talk about the great things God has done. Again, I want to challenge you to consider. I know if you're just like me, you just want to say, yeah, the third one, that's my request, to be with Jesus. That's what I want. But again, is that real? Does your life demonstrate that?

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Are you at home talking about what great things God has done? Are you talking about how he's had compassion upon you? I was talking with Pastor Gil this last week and he was sharing about a new work that's going on in Bakersfield. You can be praying with him. But he shared a quote with me that I thought was just so interesting and powerful. It's from Oswald J. Smith. And Oswald Smith says, The light that shines furthest...

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shines brightest at home. You know, sometimes we think about getting the gospel out to the ends of the earth, right? The light that shines furthest shines brightest at home. And there's that necessity to share with your family, to share with your friends, that light, what God has done, the way that he has redeemed, transformed, and delivered you. What is your request today?

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The worship team is going to come up and close us in a song. As they do, I would ask you to seek the Lord on this. Let Him reveal to you what is your request? What is your desire? Is your request for Jesus to not torment you? Listen, that's demonically inspired. You need to repent if that's the case. If you're trying to live...

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continuing on in these sinful practices, but you go to church and you be religious to try to escape hell, it's not going to work, number one, and it's not of the Lord. And so you need to repent. There needs to be a full surrender of your life to God. You need to turn over to Him completely to submit to Him and say, everything God says, everything God wants, that's what I will do. And if He doesn't want it, I will not do it. You need to repent.

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If your request is the second one, for Jesus to depart, listen, don't let that continue. Don't let your heart continue in that way where you just, you have other priorities, other things are more important, you don't want to know, it's too much work to find out. Listen, we're talking about eternity. Torment is real. There is a real heaven. There is a real hell. You need to know. And God invites you to seek and to find, to know Him, and He will reveal Himself to you.

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Or is your request to be with Jesus, is that your desire? Is that the passion of your life? Is that what moves you? Is that what gets you up in the morning to know Him, to be with Him? And you can tell if it is by whether or not you're sharing at home, with your family, with your friends, the great things that God has done for you. So seek the Lord on what your request is as we worship Him together.

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We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.