 There we are. We're in chapter 5 here in the, excuse me, the Gospel of Mark. So I'm going to begin by reading verse 1. We're going to be looking at the story of a man who was severely demon-possessed, a man that is referred to simply as a man of the Gadarenes. And so beginning at verse 1, in reading verse 1, here in chapter 5 of the Gospel of Mark, Mark writes, they came to the other side of the sea to the country of the Gadarenes. Now as is my normal methodology of teaching, I'll give to you a little bit of background, develop this for you, because this particular study is something that is a very powerful study as we look at it. I want you to have some background information in order for us to be able to understand what's going on here. We know that when Jesus began his ministry that Jesus demonstrated that he had authority and he did so in a variety of ways. He received baptism by John the Baptist and he identified with sinful man and he was anointed by the power of the Holy Spirit. And at that baptism his father spoke verbally, identifying Jesus Christ as the one that he was pleased with. So immediately after that he underwent severe temptations in the wilderness that lasted for 40 days. After victoriously withstanding Satan's temptations, he began to preach and he began to teach. And when he taught, the response to Jesus was one of admiration as well as amazement. The Bible teaches us and tells us that he taught the people with an authority that no other rabbi had ever exercised. And he showed his authority by the way that he taught and the way that he preached. He also revealed it in his works of power because Mark tells us that not only was he a fantastic communicator, but he also performed many healings. In chapter one of Mark verse 34 it says that he healed many who were sick with various diseases. But not only did he perform healings on those who were sick, but he also cast out demons because again in Mark 134 the second portion of that scripture goes on to say that he cast out many demons. So he healed many who were sick with various diseases and he cast out many demons. Various times Mark connects Jesus's healing of diseases with casting out demons. In chapter three verses 10 and 11 it says he healed many so that as many as had afflictions pressed about him to touch him. And the unclean spirits whenever they saw him fell down before him and cried out saying you are the son of God. Now why was Jesus casting out demons? Well he did so as evidence that he is the Messiah. In Luke chapter 11 it says if I cast out demons with the finger of God surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When it says if I cast out demons with the finger of God that's an actual Old Testament reference to the power of God found in Exodus chapter 8. So he revealed his authority over Satan when Satan tempted him in the wilderness. And after being tempted by Satan to fall down and worship him Jesus responded in Matthew 4 it says that Jesus said to him away with you Satan it's written you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve and went on to say the devil left him. So Jesus demonstrated his authority in what he preached and what he taught in his healings as well as his dealing with Satan himself casting out demons and resisting Satan. So when Jesus ministered on earth there was an unprecedented time of demonic activity. We know that Satan's kingdom erupted in activity while Jesus walked the earth and demons would cry out they would recognize him they knew his power they knew his authority again in Mark 1 24 they had said to him let us alone what have we to do with you Jesus of Nazareth did you come to destroy us and went on to say I know who you are the Holy One of God. So the demons knew who Jesus Christ was and James in chapter 2 verse 19 tells us that they know him and they fear and they tremble. Now why is it that Jesus came to the planet earth so very many reasons but one of the things we find in first John chapter 3 verse 8 is this the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil and so we see that we've seen throughout Mark that Jesus continually cast out demons and it's been pointed out that this is the most dramatic example of Jesus casting out demons that you find in scripture. Now as we begin we need to remember that the disciples have been working alongside of Jesus tirelessly they've been next to him as he's been performing his ministry and he's been teaching his man that ministry is work that ministry has no real sad hours and they needed to understand that their first priority was to minister the gospel to the lost there would be times and they would rest and Jesus would provide for this he understood that they needed to rest he would make provision later on in Mark in chapter 6 verse 31 he says to them come aside by yourselves to a deserted place rest a while and it goes on to say there were many coming and going and they didn't even have time to eat and yet we see that even when he said let's set apart some time well their rest was interrupted because it was after Jesus had said it's time to rest that he ended up feeding the five thousand so his men need to learn that ministry is ongoing and at this point they're learning that lesson now when we get to chapter 5 let's remember in chapter 4 these men who are with Jesus have just gone through a storm and the storm was so severe that the boat itself was that they were in as well as the small ships around them was beginning to fill with water they were afraid that they were going to swamp and die and so they're soaking wet they're cold and they've gone through this emotional turbulence in that storm and so they're physically and mentally exhausted at this point and they've been active they were active all day they were active into the night and into the early morning and here they are they're very cold and and the water has soaked them so they're they're very wet it's late in the evening and they need rest and they desire to arrive at their destination but there's more to come and so what we're going to see here is demon possession now let me develop this for for just a moment demon possession there are people today who wonder whether that's really true or whether that's just a fantasy a myth some kind of story you find in scripture that the bible talks about demonized people is it true does that really happen well it does what are demons well demons are fallen angels they're those who sided with lucifer when he rebelled against god the bible in revelation chapter 12 verse 4 says that his tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky flung them to the earth so these fallen angels are now referred to in scripture as demons they're evil spirits and we're going to be seeing how this takes place in the life of christ in the ministry that he has as he's going to be delivering a man who is severely demonized and so it's going to happen as it says in verse one on the other side of the sea it's going to happen in a country or the area that is called the gatherings and so what happens is they land their boat along with the other little boats and they exit onto the shores of gedera when you're looking at a map and if you look at the sea of galilee it's in the northern portion of israel and when you're looking at the map you can see in the center we'll say to the north and you go a little bit to the west that's where copernium is and so they come from copernium and they go south and to the east for a few miles and they end up on the shore of a place called gedera gedera is in a region that is called the decapolis the region in that area is the decapolis so where decapolis speaks of ten cities and so when you look into history and you do a little research on this gedera was mostly gentile in population they shared language culture and political status these people were in these ten cities the the decapolis were dependent on rome and that was an area that was the center of greek and roman culture that would help us to understand why they were raising pigs in that area so in that area near the eastern shoreline were caves that were used for burial the hills in the region descended to the sea of galilee to the edge of the water and it's from this hillside of tombs that this demonized man came out to meet them that was the welcome wagon of gedera if you will as he comes rushing out and so it says in verse two when he had come out of the boat immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit so you got a picture of this for just a moment you're tired you're exhausted from all that you've been doing and not only were you physically exhausted but you just came through a storm you came through a storm where you actually felt that you were going to drown and then you saw jesus do this amazing thing when he stills the storm but you're still wet i mean when jesus still the storm he didn't dry their clothes so they're still wearing this clothing that has just been soaked by the rain and the waves that were crashing into the boat you're tired because you've been fighting to try and stay afloat and all you finally make it to the shoreline you climb out almost stumble out i would assume from that that boat you're there on the shore now you have to picture this also in that area they don't have street lights it's not like they've got all this light it's pitch black and it's creepy you know and you have to consider for a moment that i'm pretty sure that the disciples being residents of that area would know that there are odd things that have taken place it may be that they may even be aware of the fact that somebody is there you'll see him in a moment that has a reputation for being very frightening and and also as they climb off the boat and they're kind of huddling together as you and i as we would you've gotten out the boat you hear this sound imagine it coming out of the dark coming out from from the from the burial grounds up there how frightening that would be i heard about a guy who was walking home from uh a night at the bar he decided to take a shortcut and he walked through a cemetery and he had been drinking more than he should a little drunk and he fell into an open grave and when he was in the open grave these it had been raining and he kept on trying to climb out but because it was wet with the rain it was he couldn't get a grip so he decided just to sit in the corner there and wait till the rain stopped and he's just there here comes another guy and the guy comes walking in the same area slips and falls into the open grave and when he falls into the open grave he's jumping up trying to get out and he can't get out and finally this other guy who was in the corner he didn't see says to him you'll never get out of here but he did i don't know why that came to mind it just did a whole dumb joke but you don't want to go through cemeteries you don't like you don't i have no fear of it believers don't but a lot of people do they're afraid of it they're they have a fear they don't want to go through cemeteries well they're in this area there's there's this crazy man he's coming out of these tombs and all of that can you imagine how you would have felt at that moment out of the pitch black here comes somebody rushing upon you and it has to be so frightening now when you read your bible matthew mentions that there were two men but mark as well as luke concentrate on just one of them and mark tells us that the man met him out of the tombs and that notice he had an unclean spirit now when you read that in verse two a man with an unclean spirit let me give you some insight into that an unclean spirit is a spirit a demon that possesses him that drives him to physical impurity this man was possessed by evil spirits that drove him to do evil and tormented him his body his voice his mind was under control of the demons now when you read your bible you'll see that satan is the prince of the power of the air and he's the one who influences the present world system in efficiency one through three it says and you he made alive speaking of god god made you alive who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath just as the others and so prior to coming to faith in christ the enemy has a toehold in us we have an evil nature that's that is subject to and succumbs to the temptations of this world of this age an age that is dominated by the lust of the of the flesh and the evil of our nature and so what he does is he uses his influences the the devil to construct a system that resists god and he produces a system of error and false belief in order to to hinder the work of the lord and again we just we just read how paul spoke and said that we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh well in first john john writes in chapter 2 verse 16 everything in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes the pride of life comes not from the father but from the world so he energizes a world system in opposition to god you see he wields a great influence over the world but demon possession is more personal through this he invades an individual's life and he tears it up and as we study this passage we can begin to wonder how this happened many wonder if possession still occurs and others wonder if they themselves can be possessed the answer is yeah possession continues to occur if a person's open to it demonic possession can and does occur somebody asks the question okay if demonic possession occurs can a christian be possessed and the answer is no you see when you're born again you become the temple of the spirit of god in 1 Corinthians 619 do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy spirit within you whom you have from god and you are not your own in first john chapter 4 verse 4 it says little children you are from god and how we'll overcome them for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world in first john 5 18 tells us the evil one does not touch us and so you know you cannot as a believer be demon possessed but this man is possessed now how would that happen he more than likely and it doesn't say in scripture so i'll simply say it this way he more than likely opened himself up to it and there that is one of the ways people have become possessed is by opening themselves up and actually inviting a demonic spirit to enter into them whatever the case is he is severely demonized notice verse 3 it says he had his dwelling among the tombs no one could bind him not even with chains now this this reveals to us some things about how deeply tormented this man was and and as we look at a few of these things because there's some descriptions that we'll look at for a moment and we can see how satan treats those who serve him now when Jesus was speaking of those who served him he said in john chapter 10 verse 10 he said that the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and destroy but he went on to say i've come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly if the thief comes to to kill to steal he comes to destroy that's what he comes to do and you can see this in this man's life it really reveals to us what would be called the fruit of following after satan and this is what happened to him noticed again in verse 3 he had his dwelling among the tombs what can happen when you follow the enemy what can happen when he's the person who energizes your life well you can end up living in a neighborhood you never thought you could live in this one lived in the tombs this was an area where graves are carved out of hillsides or cliffs this man had become comfortable living among the dead instead of living amongst the living now living in the cemetery reveals to us that this man is completely defiled in the old testament you have the law of moses and it taught that jews were not to come into contact with dead bodies in numbers 19 verse 11 it says whoever touches a dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days and so this is a man who is completely defiled not only that but luke 8 27 says for a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house something else that can happen when the enemy has gotten hold of you in that way this one's demonized you had an unclean spirit something else is you can lose all sense of morals this man roamed about completely naked which means that he lived a very shame filled life he lost all modesty he had no sense of shame he had for a long time lived naked he constantly was exposed to natural elements and he had gotten used to be naked it's interesting how when adam and eve sinned that they put on clothing to hide shame but this man had no shame and the unclean spirit revealed that he had sexual perversion here's something to for us to remember satan wants you to no longer feel embarrassment about anything satan wants people to lose all sense of shame we live in a time when i would say that's that's that's growing that's that lack of modesty is is a growing thing and a lot of people because they become you know slaves to fashion and all don't even realize that the way that they dress sometimes is pretty immodest now i realize that there are young people looking at me right now saying are you just some old goat what do you know nothing no what do you what do you know i'm sorry modesty is modesty you know uh i remember i went to visit somebody's house on one occasion and and one of the young girls who lived in the house lived there as her home was about to leave and she was about to walk out of the house and i was standing there marie and i were together and i was standing there when this young girl she was in her early teens came walking past me and she was wearing these shorts i don't know what they call them now they used to call them daisy dukes i had a few pairs you know but warm to the beach but she she she was walking by and you know her bottom was hanging out of her shorts and i still remember how she was pulling her shorts down as she walked by me you know and i turned to marie and i when she walked out i didn't want to embarrass her but i said it's interesting she's going out to the mall right now and she's going to be walking around like that in front of all of these people but she's aware of the fact that she's immodest because she's hiding herself from me how interesting that she would do that but that's true a lot of people do that they the and today it's it's even worse than it was many years ago and there's a lack of sense of modesty that some people have and whenever the enemy gets hold of your life that's one of the things that can go your sense of modesty it's interesting to me about how oftentimes uh if you go through social media there's guys wearing their pants real low with no shirt on you know and trying to look all muscular and this and that you know and and sometimes the women are doing these shots that that show that they've had a lot of work done on them and it's just interesting and you know why well what happens when you give in to the things of the world and this man had was demonically possessed it's not the same thing but it's an aspect of it when you give in to the ways of the world you can lose all shame and all modesty it really isn't something that is that difficult to do and what happens is the modesty is lost and as modesty is lost you can expose yourself to some things that end up maybe taking you places you don't want to go you see satan wants you to no longer have a sense of embarrassment in Ephesians 5 11 and 12 it says have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them for it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret see modesty is to be held in high regard because modesty reveals our understanding of our own dignity and with this in mind god used nakedness as a picture of shame and humiliation in israel 47 3 it says your nakedness shall be uncovered yes your shame will be seen revelation 16 15 behold i'm coming as a thief blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments blessed he walked naked and they see his shame so nakedness is a picture of shame so somebody says is that bad is that you know how do i know what is right to wear what is not right to wear here's an old thing for you want to take a note take this raise your hands and touch your toes if anything shows go change your clothes that's good that's old but that's good i like that modesty modesty well notice this man here had an unclean spirit it's dwelling place among the tombs no one could bind him not even with chains he'd often been bound with shackles and chains and the chains had been pulled apart by him shackles broken in pieces neither could anyone tame him so they couldn't bind him he had extraordinary strength he would watch for people who are walking down below him and he he was tormented and he and he was pushed to violence towards others in matthew in chapter eight verse 28 it says they were so violent that no one could pass that way people grew to have a tremendous fear they avoided going in that area which left him in isolation satan encourages anger and he encourages hatred towards other people he will never encourage us to have compassion or love for others and notice it at night night and day it says he was in the mountains and in the tombs his torment was constant there was no break in the action there was no time when he could rest he was constantly crying out notice in verse five and cutting himself with stones so the demons intend to harm and they're pushing him towards self-destruction when we get to mark chapter nine at verse 22 it speaks of a boy who was often thrown into fire or into water in order to destroy him if a demon can get you to kill yourself without christ in your life you are lost forever and he had been driven by an extreme incredible amount of torment he wanted to destroy himself his existence unbearable he's constantly cutting himself the people tried to control him but they couldn't free him there's nothing they could do it says in verse six when he saw jesus from afar he ran and worshiped him so here he comes running up to jesus and he fell on his knees before him they might have startled jesus's men and those who were with them but as he comes running in and falls on his knees this isn't an act of worship of a believer it is a recognition of an inferior to a greater he's not worshiping out of faith but out of fear because the master is before him you see what men could not do with chains jesus did by his mere presence and as he comes to him in verse seven it says he cried out with a loud voice and said what have i to do with you jesus son of the most high god i implore you by god that you do not torment me what do i have to do with you the obvious answer is nothing nothing one of the demons begins to speak for itself and for the others and says i implore you by god do not torment me before he had said come out of the man now there are many but one is speaking it's like the spokes demon if you will one is speaking and the demons are trying to soften their end they recognize christ and they're afraid they knew there was an appointed time they wanted to remain in that area they wanted to continue what they've been doing so as this is taking place and you can picture the disciples standing there watching this this confrontation that's prolonged jesus in verse nine says what is your name what is your name and he answered saying my name is legion for we are many my name is legion for we are many why did he ask him his name well it reveals the depth of evil that this man was in bondage to because by referring to himself by the name legion a roman legion had six thousand eight hundred twenty six soldiers so it's speaking of a horde of demons that had taken residence in this man and also shows the depth of authority christ has because it doesn't matter if it's one or many he still has authority but he asks him what is your name what kind of depth of bondage is this man in jesus and he is saying and he's commanding him to speak to him and to and to tell him in verse 10 also he begged him earnestly that he would not send them out of the country and a large herd of swine was was feeding there near the mountain so all the demons begged him saying send us to the swine that we may enter them they want to stay out of the what is called the abuso the abyss a place of of incarceration so they see a great herd of swine and they say allow us to go into them and in verse 13 at once jesus gave them permission then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine there were about two thousand the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea and drowned in the sea we've been to this place many times many times we'll have a bible study there and so many times people will um we've teased the the people who have gone with us to israel because when you read this and you're in that area your mind begins to work and you say wow this and the way the the scripture is being taught and the teacher very often will kind of prolong it you know and make you start thinking you know wow you're and then somebody always hides behind a rock or something and you gotta see the people they get so scared it's it's a lot of fun but it's so creepy what's taking place it is it is so eerie it's late these disciples are there watching this and then jesus says go and these herd of two thousand pigs go rushing off the cliff there are various areas you'll go there and uh you can see that there are still to this day two thousand years later there are there's a place where that could definitely have taken place where all of these swine would have rushed and would tumble tumbled over and hit the water and would have drowned now there's no reason given here for allowing this to take place he simply did perhaps they had hoped that that when the pigs were lost the the city would reject christ because they knew that people care much more for the material comfort than their spiritual health somebody says well you know this is the thing about jesus by the way is he took away took away these people's uh these people's uh means of living jesus didn't kill the pigs the demons did jesus's mission was to save the man and so the loss of pigs was of no comparison but there they go they go rushing over and they drown this is a picture of the authority of jesus christ as he commands them and they leave well when this takes place verse 14 those who fed the swine fled and they told it in the city and in the country and they went out to see what it was that had happened and they came to jesus and saw the one who had been demon possessed and had the legion sitting and clothed his right mind and they were afraid you see they knew this guy had awesome strength they knew that this was a violent man and to see him seated there and the way he was it caused them all to wonder many years ago we were at a pastor's conference and the sheriff the police actually up in the area the police came to the conference not to shut it down but look for help because a woman was at a church in the area it was at night and these officers were trying to control her and they couldn't do it and they knew that this was out of their pay grade so they knew that there was a pastor's conference taking place in twin peaks up there in the mountains and they came and spoke to somebody and that somebody went to chuck my pastor and chuck asked some of the guys he said guys and he called out some names mike mackintosh we're all a few of the guys well reason he said we've got a situation can you guys go so the rest of us began to pray well these men went and as they went there was a woman in the parking lot by a church and she was a little woman five foot five one thinly built and she was causing problems and the police took these men and said can you help this woman we can't help her there's something going on here that's not just a mental problem and and so mike says to the woman mike mackintosh says let's go over here and he takes her by the arm to move her away and he begins to enter into a small church because he was by a church and as he takes her by the arm and begins to walk her into the the lobby the foyer he says in the name of Jesus like that under his breath in the name of Jesus she hears him and goes crazy and she begins well she tries to hit hit mike and and it becomes crazy now those of you everybody here should know raw rice if you don't raw rice is a an eighth degree black belt and something called sansu kung fu um very ferocious and this is many years ago and so what happens raw tells us is he jumped on her he says i jumped on her from behind now she's like five feet five one a hundred hundred and five pounds very thin he says she began to swing me like i was a rag doll he said i was being swung everywhere holding on for dear life he said i finally was able to get her down and then they began to work and pray and seek the Lord on her behalf and they cast out a demon from this woman and after the demon had been cast out they had she is there seated in her right mind and they asked her what happened she she was a satanist is what it was and she had sacrificed her own baby to satan and had become severely demonized you ask the question is it possible this happens yes it does it continues to happen to this day this isn't fantasy this isn't made up this isn't a bible story this happens i've seen it myself somebody says how do you know that's a demon you'll know i promise you you will know because sometimes you think well maybe they're just a little crazy well there's a lot of crazy in this world that you'll know because i have been there and i have seen demonized and your blood will it turns ice cold in your veins it's not just a matter like gee i wonder it's a matter oh my god help me it's an entirely different thing than you've ever felt it's a fear that that comes over you because what you're seeing is something you've been familiar with all your life that has crystallized into a moment because all of us that we're all we live in an evil fallen world we know evil we hear it because it's on the news 24 7 we hear of the murders we hear of the robberies we hear of the vicious attacks we hear of these things we know it exists but it's like everything in just one second crystallizes into that moment and when you see it eye to eye you know it so no it's not a matter of like gee i wonder no it is real i have seen it and many of the cavalry passers have encountered this it is absolutely true and that's why these people didn't want to go buy were this these men there were actually two but this one in particular they didn't want to go buy because this they put chains on him and he would just bust them and they're going oh my goodness what are we going to do we can't we can't control this we we can't do anything we're trying to keep them from harming us and others and himself but we can't there's nothing they could do and when he comes russian there he is groveling before christ i know who you are jesus didn't sweat he didn't get a handkerchief throw it on him jesus said come out of him imagine that well what happens again verse 14 those who fed the swine fled and they told it in the city and in the country and they went out to see what it was that had happened it was so remarkable they had to go out they wanted to know what what it was what happened matthew 833 says those who kept them fled they went into the city and told everything including what had happened to the demon possessed man so in verse 15 it says they came to jesus and saw the one who had been demon possessed and the legion and had the legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind and that made them afraid imagine that they became afraid when they saw this man normal just sitting there with a cup of tea no why is they they're looking at that frightened them because they knew who he was and how would this how would this happen you know let me give you something practical this is what the lord can do in someone's life he removes torment he can remove the torment and produce transformation revelation 215 includes the idea when he says i make all things new god has a way of making all things new and there he is in his right mind there he is clothed there he is just listening to christ and it says in verse 16 those who saw it told him how how it happened to him who had been demon possessed about the swine notice the response for 17 they began to plead with him to depart from their region to their hurt the demons had asked if they could stay but the people wanted him to leave these people cared more about their money than their eternity so they want him to go and it says in verse 18 when he when Jesus got into the boat he who had been demon possessed begged him that he might be with him let me go with you i want to be with you i want to follow you you set me free let me go with you wherever you go i'll go whatever you do whatever you need me to do i will do i want to be with you please let me go with you let me get in the boat let me get out of here i want a new life notice what he does verse 19 Jesus did not permit him it said to him go home to your friends tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and and how he has had compassion on you and he departed and began to proclaim in the decapolis all that Jesus had done for him and oh marvel no you don't come with me you go to them you're a living testimony they know what you were this just happened you go to this ten cities you let them know his reputation obviously was far and wide you go and you let them know what happened this is how evangelism takes place guys tell him the marvelous things that god has done for you tell him how god has had compassion on you tell him you've got friends you've got family you got co-workers you have neighbors who may you may know you have opportunities if there's anything this nation needs right now it's for the church to wake up we're talking about people being woke it's time the church awoke it's time the church awoke and began to say this is what god has done for me you're lost you're lonely you're isolated you're harming yourself but jesus christ can set you free jesus can heal you jesus will be with that's the gospel that's the gospel jesus didn't need another guy in a boat he needed somebody going to cities and saying dust and so this is what god has done god has transformed my life you remember what i was like you remember how crazy i was you wouldn't even walk by where i was i remember chasing you several times but look at me now look at god has done there are so many in this room right now if i gave you an opportunity to stand up for just a minute and to say this is what god has done it would be an amazing moment of testimony i used to do the drugs but no more i used to be an alcoholic but no more he used to be violent but no more i used to steal anything you had i would take but no more i was sexually perverted but no more so many testimonies i was a liar but no more now i tell the truth all of us have a testimony all of us and some of our testimonies are so amazing and so extreme but here you are sitting and in your right mind because of what jesus christ did now isn't that something we ought to be blessed about absolutely absolutely and what did he do well he went out noticed in verse 20 he departed and began to proclaim into capitalist all that jesus had done for him and all marveled now in luke 839 jesus had said return home and tell how much god has done for you so the man went away and told all over town how much jesus had done it began with his family return home return home and next month i celebrate next month i celebrate my 51st anniversary of coming to faith in jesus christ next month 51 years and what was the first thing i wanted my friends and family to know jesus christ what was the first thing you wanted to do i was supposed to get high that day so i went across the street when i got home and i told my neighbors because i used to get high at this guy's house his mother was there he wasn't and i told her i want you to know and she knew what kind of kid i was i was there all the time smoking dope and all and so she said i said to her her name was mrs. nava i said mrs. nava and i talked to her her daughters a couple daughters and i said i said i just gave my heart to jesus christ and my life has been completely changed first thing i did second thing i did i went home and i went and i told my mom and my dad my sisters i said mom dad becky madeline praise the lord i love you and my sister madeline asked me what happened to you the first thing i did is i said i gave my heart to jesus my life has been changed forever i'm now born again i went i told my family and my sister that night told me she said david she says i put my head on the pillow that night and i said whatever you did for my brother do it for me she got saved the same day i did and then three weeks later i led my mom and my dad to faith in jesus christ by opening up a bible reading some verses and saying daddy you're a good man you're the best man i'll ever know but you will be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to christ i love you daddy and i don't want to go to heaven without you bow your head you're giving your heart to jesus right now and that's what my dad and my mom got saved because i was now forgive me for the emotion i was now in my right mind and i tell people about jesus christ and i've been doing it for almost 51 years and he is good he changed my life that's a testimony Psalm 66 verse 16 come and hear all you who fear god and i will declare what he has done for my soul that's what we do believer believers tell someone tell someone tell them about jesus there are people waiting to hear we're living in a world that keeps saying there's no truth the only reason it's saying that is because it's afraid of the truth so give the truth love people enough to tell them the truth you've got friends you've got neighbors co-workers people who go to school with you who are looking for something that's real you have it you have christ you have the forgiveness of sins you have the power of the holy spirit you have a transformed life you have been set free so take that which god has given to you and give it to someone else and watch what the lord will do watch what god will do i started this church in a home bible study with four or five people the lord has people just waiting to hear the message of the gospel what will god do through you if you just open up and say here my lord send me use me i want to be used by you because somebody's going to use you why not god why not allow god to use you for his glory so one day somebody will be seated seated in the right mind saying thank you for telling me about this one who sets captus free tell him about jesus father we ask that you