The $1,000,000 Demon S31e111 Mt8:28

What world-view upheaval would have to happen to ask Jesus to LEAVE?  We'll see that it is about a $1,000,000 for some herdsmen. 

YOU are worth more than $1,000,000 of pigs.

Oh let us not be these people.  Let us invite Him IN not wave Him away. 

https://youtu.be/Dmhjr60UmOA

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

My brothers and sisters, today we're going to see a million dollars of pig value go up in smoke today. Actually, they get drowned. Now, this is going to be a big wake-up call for the people that witness this. And rather than responding as you might think you'd respond to Jesus, they ask him to leave. It's an amazing story. Today, Jesus is going to be met by two demon-possessed men. Now, these guys are fierce, they're threatening, they the demons know that Jesus is Lord, but they will not have him as authority over themselves. So rather than submitting to his authority, they lives the lives they live lives of disorder and rage. Now they know that Jesus has power. And at the end of the story, Jesus is going to reign spiritually. But there's going to be along the way this economic ruin of about a million, maybe even two million dollars. And so they beg him to leave. Now, what if Jesus came and insisted in our lives of moving things around? And what if Jesus came and cost us something? You know, a herd of pigs in the story. So what if Jesus cost you a herd of pigs? Would you have him stay, or would you ask him to leave? If Jesus costs you of uh a herd of pigs, what is the value of a human life? So Jesus is going to say one single word today. Listen for it in the story. The rest is kind of picture and illustration. This is from uh Matthew chapter 8. Uh and when uh and when he came to the other side, we're talking about the Sea of Galilee, so now he's on the southeastern side of the Sea of Galilee, in the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, that's where they lived, so fierce that no one could pass that their way. And behold, they cried out, What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before our time? Now a herd of pigs, Mark tells us there's two thousand of them, was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, saying, If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs. And he, Jesus, said to them, Go. So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. That's it. That's verse 34. So we're gonna miss the forest for the trees here, these people. You have this incredible epic battle of good and evil with demons. Um, and in a sense, remember, Jesus created the demons, not as demons. They didn't start as demons, they were good spiritual entities. My understanding, they were angels built for purpose, created to serve and protect and follow and yield to the authority of the Lord, be be good creatures, but but they rebelled and were cast out of heaven. So we find these guys living in the tombs, and they're so fierced that unpossessed people are being ruled geographically by the possessed people. And we find that they these these demons, demon-possessed people, they have the demons, I think, have volition, they have desire. They actually say to Jesus in the story, hey, put us over here into the into the pigs. They have inquiry, they have questioning, hey, what what what do you want to do with us? And they have finite, not infinite, knowledge. They don't know the future. They do know sort of the big end that they're gonna be ultimately punished for their rebellion. But uh, so thinking of the final judgment, and that's gonna be to eternal punishment, but they seem to be worried about the temporary torment and somehow to be resigned to the permanent punishment that's gonna come eventually. So this is the story for sure of Jesus' power over the forces of evil. You might note that Jesus only says one word in here. The word is go. He has absolute authority over the forces of evil, and almighty means almighty in power over demons here today. Now, people are of infinitely more value than pigs. I was thinking of Psalm 116, which says, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, and I think by extension is the life of his saints as well. Now, one of the curious things about this is that we have a herdsman, a herd of pigs. Now, we're just on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Now, this is still Israel. So perhaps this is just a Gentile area, and that's why they have pigs, but but they actually might be Jews. Now, nobody in Israel should be either A, eating bacon, or B making bacon. So perhaps they are not innocent Jewish, Jewish husbandmen living a life of deference and obedience to the law. So perhaps what we have here is rebellious herdsmen. And what we're doing is we're witnessing this putting away of rebellious demons and perhaps the con the confronting uh by rebellious people. Well, the ultimate result here today is they asked Jesus to leave. So here's the question: is what economic blow would have to happen for you to ask Jesus to leave? Now, how big of a blow? We know there's 2,000 pigs involved here. Uh minimally at not retail, even at wholesale, it's at least 500 bucks a head, maybe even a thousand bucks ahead of pigs in today's value. So today's value, this is a million dollars, maybe even two million dollars, worth of pigs. Now, who causes the million dollars of damage? Well, it's the demons, not Jesus. He's not in unsympathetic to the lives of 2,000 animals. Proverbs 12, 10 says, Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast. But he is more sympathetic to the life of people. Remember, you know the value of something by what is given in exchange for it. And Jesus is going to exchange his own life, his infinitely valuable life, for who? People, for us. All right, so here's a couple of conclusions. Number one, we are not alone on this planet. Yes, there are demons. Number two, they're not in charge, though they sure want to be, and they wreck havoc and disorder and rebellion and suffering and eek and economic loss. So we're not alone, but also we're not left alone. He is in charge. The Lord is in charge. So we can recognize the rule, the power, and the reign of Jesus. And our response here, that's what I wanted to get at finally. Our response is not to get Jesus to leave, but to be Lord. You're worth more than a thousand, a million dollars worth of pigs. You're also worth more than a thousand dollar pig. So when things get shaken up, let's invite the Lord, not ask him to leave. So, what worldview upheaval would have to happen to get us to ask Jesus to leave? Let us not be those people. Let's invite Jesus in. Let's wave him in, not wave him away. Thanks for listening.