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[0:00] Back when I was a child in Fort Worth, Texas, I was involved in a group called Royal Ambassadors through the church.

[0:23] ! I remember one day, lots of things that happened during that time, but I remember one day that our teacher asked us a simple question.

[0:44] It was an open-ended question. He wanted lots of answers, whatever answer we could think of. What is a missionary? And we had all kinds of answers to that question, and I just want to read a couple of those to you because I thought some of them were good, and I think they're all pretty well true to an extent.

[1:05] But go to other countries. Missionaries go to other countries. They tell others about Jesus. They do mission work for a living. You know, that's something we often deal with, working for a living.

[1:16] They take care of people in need, physical needs. They teach people to better their lives, as some of those missionaries talking about literacy work and education and such. They find and provide clean and healthy sources for water.

[1:29] I think it was said another way, but that's what I remember. And they provide medical care of all kinds. They run orphanages. And the list can go on, of course.

[1:41] And missionaries do provide so many things. And there are lots of wonderful answers there, and there are actually some very good secondary answers, such as taking care of people in need.

[1:53] And so many missionaries find themselves in that boat when they're overseas, needing to care for physical needs of those around them. But there is one answer that rises above all of those answers.

[2:08] And it's true for all of us. As that one lady in the video said, we're all missionaries. This is work for all of us. We are to tell others about Jesus.

[2:20] Now, I love video like this because it really shows that these are, if you didn't know, these were career missionaries with the IMB. And they have retired as career missionaries for various reasons.

[2:35] So they were brought back to talk about their time on the field. And they really help us to understand and to realize that missionaries are a lot like us.

[2:46] We, you know, they, you know, have needs. They have medical needs. They have retirement needs. They have so many other needs that they have to take care of their family as we have.

[2:59] And there's so many similarities between missionaries and us. But there's a problem with what I just said. And maybe some of you caught on.

[3:10] Them and us. As what was said already, we're all to be missionaries. We're all to spread the gospel where we are.

[3:24] And the title for the message and really the title for the month, this missions month, is every day on mission. It is a reminder of understanding that our calling as ambassadors for Christ is a daily calling, is a constant calling.

[3:43] And that is something that we need to be on mission to do all the time. And the passage of Scripture is on the board there on the screen.

[3:54] Mark chapter 5, verses 1 through 20. And the main idea I want to take from this text and from this message, one task above all, to tell others about Jesus.

[4:12] That is, our task above all, is to tell others about Jesus. So, here's the reading of God's Word in Mark chapter 5.

[4:22] They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.

[4:36] He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been bound with shackles and chains.

[4:46] But he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

[5:00] And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?

[5:13] I adjure you by God. Do not torment me. For he was saying to him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit. And Jesus asked him, What is your name?

[5:26] He replied, My name is Legion, for we are many. And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside.

[5:39] And they begged him, saying, Send us to the pigs. Let us enter them. So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.

[6:01] The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind.

[6:21] And they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

[6:35] As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him, but said to him, Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.

[6:55] And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone marveled.

[7:06] Amen. Indeed. This is such an interesting and unique and compelling and captivating story in Scripture.

[7:21] It is sensational. It is one of those stories you could picture in your mind. It is so strange in many ways.

[7:36] At the same time, there are several points that we can bring from this. Several principles. And I want to give them to you right up front here. Number one is the destructive mission of Satan.

[7:51] I want to tell you about the missions of all of these different beings or entities. The destructive mission of Satan. Two, the delivering mission of Jesus.

[8:02] Three, the damning mission of sin. And then the final one is our devoted mission. Our devoted mission as true believers.

[8:13] And I'll give those to you one by one again as we go through this sermon. But the first one is the destructive mission of Satan. And in this text we see really where this is going.

[8:28] What is going on with this man who has been possessed with this legion of demons. Not just one demon, but many demons. And he is torn up.

[8:41] This passage of Scripture is also in Matthew and Luke. And there are some different things that are said in these passages of Scripture.

[8:51] But they do go together really well. And they actually give quite a picture of what is going on with this man. With this, really, the Matthew said two men.

[9:01] With these men that had these demons in them. And I just want to share these with you. It was fierce. They were fierce because of these demons.

[9:13] They had no clothes on, as the book of Luke says. And they didn't live in a house. They lived out of the tombs. And so outside of this city there were these caves.

[9:25] And they were places that they buried the dead. And, of course, you imagine anyone that lives in these tombs. That's just a strange way to live.

[9:35] That's for sure. And so unclean by Jewish standards. This was a Gentile area. So that didn't really matter. But unclean probably by everybody's standards to live in a tomb, I would think.

[9:46] At least in my opinion. It was in the Decapolis, which was on the east side of the Jordan River. And the east side of the Sea of Galilee. And so this was a Gentile area.

[9:59] A Hellenized Greek area. Run by the Roman Empire at this point. And so there was no binding him. They were able to put shackles on him and chains around him.

[10:10] And, you know, that should be able to bind plenty of people and hold them where they need to be. But there was no binding him. And he was able to break those chains and wander everywhere, crying out in agony.

[10:23] And he was wandering through the mountains and the desert and all over that Decapolis area. And possibly beyond that. And no doubt was scaring the living daylights out of everyone he came across.

[10:40] And then on top of that, not only crying out with agony over this pain of these legion of demons, but he was cutting himself with stones at the same time.

[10:51] So definitely we see how these demons were there to destroy this man. And if we have any doubt and need any other evidence, we just have to go later on in the passage and find that the demons have been cast out by Christ and into these herds of pigs.

[11:12] And, of course, the pigs ran off into the Sea of Galilee and drowned. They are definitely destroying.

[11:23] That is their point. And that is their mission. And that's their point. And the fact is, the Gospels in the book of Acts record 16 unique times, multiple times in places, but 16 different times there are people to be said to have been demon-possessed or possessed with an unclean spirit, as it says here in the book of Mark.

[11:48] And there are several ways that this is also said. In Luke 8.30, it said that the demon entered into this person that I was talking about. Or here in this passage, that they were to come out or to be cast out, as it says in a passage in Matthew.

[12:06] And it indicates that these demons are actually indwelling their victims. They are residing within their victims, and they are controlling those victims. Demon-possession, it is real.

[12:18] It's also another point that needs to be made here. It is not something that we can describe or explain, or at least fully explain, in physiological terms or psychological terms. There may be some physical evidence, or at least some physical symptoms, as it's stated here in this particular passage.

[12:36] But it is a supernatural experience, a supernatural phenomenon. And it is real. It's also worth noting that out of all the references of demon-possession in the Gospels and also in the book of Acts.

[12:51] That forgiveness of sin is never attached in the casting out of the demons. That Jesus never delivered a person.

[13:02] When he delivered a person from demon-possession, he never forgave their sins in that process. They came to repent afterwards.

[13:12] But not everybody, like this man here, not everybody repented and believed, at least as it's recorded in Scripture. And so there's an interesting idea.

[13:26] And after the Acts, or at least Acts of the Apostles, after the Apostles left the scene, and Jesus ascended to be with his Father and stood at the right hand, and the Apostles left the scene, after this apostolic age, demon-possession was no longer cured, at least, or at least healed in this sort of way, but it can only be forgiven through the saving faith in Christ, just like any other sinful thing.

[13:56] Only be delivered through saving faith of Christ. And also, looking at Scripture, it is quite rare outside of the Gospels and Acts of any demon-possession to happen.

[14:07] The only place in the Old Testament that we can even think to be, and this is relatively questionable, but it's Genesis chapter 6, when the sons of God came to be with the daughters of man.

[14:19] I mean, that is the only place in Scripture that we could even surmise a demon-possession in Old Testament, that is. And outside of the Gospels and Acts, there really isn't any other place in the New Testament.

[14:30] So, quite a rarity to see demon-possession outside of that. Now, there will be plenty of that, and it certainly alludes to it in Revelation and other places.

[14:41] We're talking about the end times, that there will be plenty of that coming on in the Tribulation, in the Great Tribulation. And so, that's something we need to understand.

[14:53] But we need to understand something, too, out of the demon-possessions in Scripture. These people that were possessed by demons were definitely sinners. I mean, we all are sinners. But that doesn't mean that they are more sinful than anybody who is not possessed by demons.

[15:11] I mean, in themselves. It doesn't mean that at all. They are just simply sinners. So, this was something that could happen at that time.

[15:23] So, consequently, because of saving faith in Christ today, believers cannot be possessed by demons.

[15:34] That just cannot happen. But that doesn't mean that we cannot be influenced by their schemes, by their tactics. The forces of hell have always been active.

[15:48] They are deceitful and prefer to work anonymously. 2 Corinthians 11, 14 says, For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

[16:00] What they offer looks great and desirable, but in the end, to say the least, not desirable. We need to recognize the ultimate mission of Satan and his demons.

[16:15] And we can look at a couple of verses, and we could probably spend the entire time on this topic. But it says in John 10, 10, Satan comes, or the thief comes, to steal and to kill and to destroy.

[16:28] It also says in 1 Peter 5, 8, Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

[16:40] Now, this is not how he starts out, as we can all envision, I'm sure. You know, Satan doesn't come to you, or the tempter doesn't come to you and say, Hey, I want to kill you.

[16:54] No, he tempts you in other ways. I mean, that wouldn't really be helpful, to say, I'm going to kill you. We know about the garden. We know about the serpent being crafty and cunning and going to Eve and Adam.

[17:07] And did God say that? Do you really understand what God said? You know, that fruit, that's beautiful fruit. You'll love it.

[17:19] And we all know the outcome, the eight of it. And they were kicked out of the garden for that. So, it was enticing.

[17:30] And that's part of what Satan does. To entice us. To lure us in. To his tactics.

[17:40] To his schemes. To his ultimate mission. To steal, kill, and to destroy. To destroy. Now, one way, one of many ways, that Satan works today is in the area of false teaching.

[18:02] And we have heard, the last several weeks, going through the book of 1 John, a clear presentation, clear presentations, of false teaching. Thankfully.

[18:13] And so, we have an idea of that. But false teaching abounds. And so, this is something that we need to be careful about.

[18:26] And to understand, when someone is teaching, that they are teaching what is right. Charles Spurgeon said, that our role, as Christians, as discerners, is not to tell apart between true and false.

[18:45] Or right and wrong. It is to know the difference between right and almost right. We've got to know that.

[18:57] Which means we've got to be tuned to this word. We've got to study this word. We've got to pray. We've got to keep in tune with the Lord's will. And the Lord's plans.

[19:08] And we need to do that on a daily basis. More often than that, even. Constantly. Constantly. So, there's also a couple other things that we need to understand as well about Satan and his tactics that this scripture talks about as well.

[19:29] he is not pursuing that you know, he is not and the demons are not pursuing their mission naively in any way. If you look at the Matthew passage from this account, it's Matthew chapter 8.

[19:45] You don't need to turn to that. But it says they say a couple of things. They say, are you going to send us out or cast us out before the time?

[20:00] Not only that, but in these passages they also say Jesus, Son of the Most High God. They know who Jesus is. They are not naive to who Jesus is.

[20:10] They know who Jesus is. They were there at the beginning of creation. I mean, they were angels in heaven. So, they know who Jesus is.

[20:21] They know. And the Son of Most High God is a divine term. It's not a term that is typically used. You know, like the Christ or the Messiah in a messianic way. It is a divine term.

[20:32] He's God. He's God's Son. But also, are you going to cast us out before the time? They know that there is a time when the Lord will punish them and that punishment will be permanent.

[20:45] They will be cast into the lake of fire ultimately and there will be other things that will happen before that point and we'll get to that later on in this message. But they're not pursuing that mission naively and so we do need to understand that.

[21:01] We also need to understand at this point too before we move on this question, what inroads are we allowing to exist for Satan to enter and accomplish his destructive mission in our lives?

[21:14] What inroads? And we'll talk more about that later on. But the second point, the delivering mission of Jesus.

[21:25] Let me say that again. The delivering mission of Jesus. His ultimate mission is to rescue, to save, and to deliver that which was lost.

[21:36] But in this particular situation, the mission is a two-part. That's one of them right there. That's half of it. Salvation for the elect of God by satisfying God's wrath through Christ.

[21:48] Sacrificial, substitutionary atonement. And that's just the start. We know that we are also justified by faith. And we are declared righteous in the sight of God because of that substitutionary atonement, because of that propitiation, satisfying God's wrath.

[22:03] We are adopted as sons and daughters into his family and kingdom. And we are set on a point and set on a process of sanctification for the rest of our lives here on this earth to be made holy and to be prepared for glorification in glory in eternity.

[22:27] And that is half of that mission of Jesus. But there's also another half that's important that this text really brings out. The complete and permanent punishment of Satan and his demonic forces.

[22:43] Revelation chapter 20 verse 10, it says, And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

[22:59] That is the ultimate punishment and permanent perpetual punishment of Satan and his demons. And they know that.

[23:11] But if we look on further in Scripture, we start in verse 6 and it says that basically these demons fell down before the Lord when they saw him, when they saw Jesus, they fell down before him and they basically begged because that's honestly all they can do.

[23:31] They know they're lost. They know they have lost this battle before it began. So all they're doing is begging, What have you to do with me? That's a protest, typical protest.

[23:42] And of course they say Jesus is the Son of the Most High God like that would have any effort in maybe appeasing him, which obviously it doesn't.

[23:53] I adjure you by God, do you torment me? And of course it's said right here in the book of Mark it said that in a more positive way or at least don't send me off out of this country basically.

[24:09] but it's really talking about don't send me off before the time. It's also saying something else in the book of Luke and something we need to understand as well. Don't send me into the abyss.

[24:22] And the abyss is an interesting term. There's several words in scripture talking about the abyss. Probably the one we hear more often is the word Hades. And this is the underworld, the place where Satan and his demons were sent when they rebelled in heaven.

[24:40] God created this place, a holding place before the final and permanent destruction for Satan and his legion, legions of demons apparently.

[24:53] There's already one legion in these guys, so there must be more. And so Satan and all these demons are sent in this place, really kind of a holding place, but it is a place that they, this is something that is important because our world teaches something so much different than this, Satan does not control this place.

[25:15] Now one of my favorite comic strips, and this will date me a little bit, is the far side. And one of some of my favorite far sides, because these are really funny, are the ones about hell. There's a couple of them, there's one place where there are several people that are looking in through a window, like it's an office window, and there's fire burning around them, and in this room there's the devil and the demons, and they have a suggestion box, and they're pulling out one of the papers and laughing at it.

[25:44] And there's another one where the couple people are looking at, are standing around, and of course, it's all hot and such, and they have a cup, and the guy says, the coffee's cold, they've thought of everything.

[26:01] That's not correct, that's not biblically accurate. It's funny, it's ironic as well, but it's not biblically accurate. Satan and the demons do not control any part of hell.

[26:14] Whatever is going on today, this abyss, or especially the final judgment, the final permanent punishment of hell, they are punished, just like anyone else who happens to be there.

[26:29] They're punished, and that's something we need to understand and to realize. But this place is a holding place, also known as Hades. Hades just simply means the underground, like the furthest you could possibly go.

[26:45] I mean, I don't know what that necessarily is, it's a philosophical thing, but it's the furthest you can possibly go down underneath. And so, it says in these places, in 2 Peter 2, verse 4, it says, God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains in gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment.

[27:10] So it's not talking about the final hell, it's talking about something before that. And then in the millennial reign, it comes up again. In Revelation 20, verse 2, then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain, and he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

[27:34] So, in case you're in doubt, even in that part, Satan will be bound. And so, that's a reality. He is punished, like anyone else who happens to be there.

[27:48] And then in eternity, then death and Hades, this place, the abyss, Hades, will be thrown into the lake of fire.

[28:00] This will be after the millennial reign. This is the second death, the lake of fire. So, it's a process to get to that perpetual punishment point, but it, there is a process to it.

[28:15] So, this passage of scripture, once again, here in Mark chapter 5, we see that there is a bit of a battle, even though I said it's already decided who the victor is going to be before it begins.

[28:31] And it's, it's Jesus and this legion of demons. Many demons, we don't know how many, could be thousands. If it's a legion like the Roman army legion, it could be 6,000 people.

[28:42] So, that's a lot of, you know, 6,000 demons, Roman army, 6,000 people. But, so it's, it's many, very many, and plenty more than two people need.

[28:55] That's for sure. I mean, you know, one demon is enough to possess a man, no doubt. So, this is, you know, they're definitely overkilling it, but nonetheless, there is definitely a battle in raging, raging on here, and at the same time, even the demons understand they have lost and all they are doing is begging, please do not throw us out of this area.

[29:17] Please do not throw us into the abyss. That's all they can do at this point. That's the only weapon they have. So much of a weapon that is. So, they saw this great herd of pigs.

[29:29] Another reason we know it's Gentile territory. And so, they saw this great herd of pigs and, and basically, well, they said, well, let me, let's go over there.

[29:41] Let's cast us into those herd of pigs. And so, Jesus said, okay, sure. I'm not going to tell you why he said, why he, why he was okay with that, because I don't totally know that. But at the same time, we do know, because of what happened to those pigs, that that was the intention of what they wanted to do with those men who they were possessing.

[30:01] And that is also an indication that it actually was a miracle that happened, a casting out of demons. It actually happened because, well, why would pigs run off the side of a cliff like that and run into the, into the sea nonetheless?

[30:18] I mean, you'd imagine that's not their first day on that hill. So, so that, that could be, you know, some indication, but nonetheless, beyond that, let's move on.

[30:30] Okay, so, and then also, this, this place here, it's about 2,000 pigs. And so, you'd imagine the uproar this is going to cause.

[30:43] You'd imagine, I mean, my father-in-law runs a cattle ranch in his retirement. It's just more of a hobby than anything else, but he does all right with it.

[30:54] And he doesn't have many places, many cattle. He has usually, I think, around about 50, 60 right now, maybe 70 head, including the calves. So, not many, but nonetheless, if he lost all of those calves, even in his retirement, even though he's able to support his family, that would still be quite a loss.

[31:14] So, 2,000 pigs are probably more than one person's pigs, and no doubt, quite the loss that is. And we can certainly understand that when we get to this next passage of Scripture.

[31:28] However, it's still sad. And that's where we get to point three, the damning mission of sin. Sin has a mission. Sin is not a person, but it does have a mission.

[31:42] And that mission is eternal damnation. And we don't have to look any further than the book of Romans to know that. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

[31:54] There is none righteous, no, not one. And then, in chapter 6, verse 23, the wages of sin is death. What you earn is death. And who's you?

[32:07] All. We're all affected by this. And that's the reality. So this is something we need to understand. These herdsmen fled into the countryside and into the city to tell the people what had happened.

[32:22] They were scared out of their wits. The people came. They were as confused as could be, as the text says.

[32:33] And they found a man in the book of Luke says, passage in Luke, verse 35, chapter 8, verse 35 says, he was sitting at the feet of Jesus, this formerly demon-possessed man, and he was clothed and in his right mind.

[32:49] Remember, he was naked before that, no clothes, although he probably, you know, probably couldn't tell necessarily. But he was clothed at this point. He was definitely in his right mind because he was obviously a maniac before that point.

[33:05] And there's also something we need to understand too. They knew who this guy was. I mean, this guy was wandering around all over the place, all over the Decapolis, all over the area, and he was scaring the wits out of people.

[33:21] They knew him. And I had no doubt they recognized this man. And also, at the same time, they had the herdsmen and the disciples and others that happened to be there telling them what had gone on, what had happened to this man, demon-possessed, what had happened to the pigs that ran off into the Sea of Galilee and drowned.

[33:47] And so, the saddest part happens. And this is definitely an effect of sin. They are blinded by what actually happened.

[34:00] And in verse 17, it says, and they began to beg Jesus to depart from the region. And then, in the first part of verse 18, as he was getting into the boat, he was getting into the boat to depart from that region.

[34:20] So, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the, he was here for an ultimate mission of salvation to the lost, to his elect.

[34:34] And here these guys were, not able to see that and send him off. what a tragedy that is. And such a tragedy that I think most of us could understand the feeling of that, understand the reality of that, because we see it happen all the time today.

[34:58] just one example that I saw last week, I think, one of my friends on Facebook from seminary played a video of a, of a town hall meeting that was run by a U.S. senator.

[35:20] And at the end of that town hall meeting, a chaplain got up to pray. Many chaplains have prayed in many town hall meetings for years and years. And at the Senate floor and Congress floor and that's a wonderful history in our American tradition.

[35:36] But yeah, a group of people at the same time were shouting out separation of church and state and all kinds of other things that I can't say here. And it was sad. And they were shouting the entire time.

[35:48] Now, this chaplain prayed in a valiant way. He still prayed. And he still said, you know, in Jesus' name which really got them irritated.

[36:01] But that's the world we live in today. The fact that a simple prayer cannot be allowed by a group of people. The fact that there are many entities in this world that are government run or maybe not even that.

[36:18] That you cannot express your faith in a free way. Even though the First Amendment says the free exercise thereof. It's sad. And that is America that we live in today.

[36:31] And of course, many other parts in the world have gone much further than that if they were ever in that place to begin with. So, it's a major concern that we have.

[36:45] And that is really what sin does. Sin shrouds that mind to see what the truth is. Sin hides the power of the truth.

[36:56] And the truth here is the truth of God's Word, the truth of God, the truth of salvation, and the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. And so many people are hidden to that truth in the world.

[37:12] And so, we have a mission. And that mission, when we fulfill that mission, and we carry out that mission, we need to understand that the world that we live in is going to fight us tooth and tongue on carrying out that mission.

[37:29] But, not only will they fight us out tooth and tongue, but will fight us tooth and tongue. Because we're also still tormented by that sin, our flesh is.

[37:42] It says in Romans 7, and maybe some of you have this memorized or at least know it well, this is the passage of I do not want to do this, but I do it anyway.

[37:53] Let me read part of that. Starting in verse 15, for I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Verse 18, for I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh, for I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

[38:13] And then verse 24, for I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

[38:31] Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Well, who? Thanks be to God who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[38:44] That's the next verse. And it is Jesus. And it is the victory through Jesus that this is accomplished. Not on our behalf. We just sang about it.

[38:56] The strength to follow His commands could never come from me. It has to come from true strength and the true power of Jesus Christ. Christ. So, sometimes it's hard for us to remember that we live in this culture that is so critical and so demanding of us to run away from Christian thought and run away from Christ.

[39:24] We live in a town or a city that almost honestly has a church on every block. I mean, it's amazing to me when I drive around and see, wow, it's a church, another church, another church, yes.

[39:38] I mean, it's not like that every other place. Many other places in America. But at the same time, there is so much lostness in Bartlesville. I mean, it's incredible how much lostness there is in Bartlesville.

[39:54] And we need to recognize that we are living in a post-Christian culture. And we may very well be a minority. We need to understand that the Congress and the government does not feel compelled to do what we want, does not feel obligated to follow the Bible.

[40:17] And that's just the world we live in today. And we need to recognize that and it needs to drive us to our knees in prayer. Also, we need to recognize the fact that there are myriad sources of entertainment at our fingertips.

[40:34] And literally, fingertips. You know what I'm talking about. Okay. Many of you have those right now. Many of us do. And there's so many sources there.

[40:46] And there's so much that can be brought in from those sources that are wonderful and great and God-honoring. And there's so much that's the absolute opposite of that. And we recognize that.

[40:56] And we've got to be understanding of the fact that our members of our body are raging war against the things of God and what has saved us and the truth that has saved us.

[41:10] And that is waging war. And, you know, the things that we allow to have into our lives are going to be fighting that battle along with it.

[41:21] And so we need to be careful with that and understand and be vigilant. Every day, I mean, like this said, every day on mission, our mission, we need to be vigilant at that.

[41:32] We need to understand that those things are available and out there on the internet, on TV, in the movies, when we go to the stores. So we need to be vigilant of that.

[41:46] And then the last point, and really it's the main point every day on mission, our devoted mission as true believers. Verses 18 through 20. Let me read this again.

[41:58] It says, as he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him, but said to him, go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.

[42:19] And that's what he did. He went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him and everyone marveled. So an amazing thought, an amazing truth that even though Christ had to leave that area with his disciples, and there's no place in scripture that says they went back to that area ever again, they did leave a missionary there.

[42:45] And so that's a wonderful thought. And he did, at least immediately, he fulfilled that mission cause by going around the Decapolis.

[42:57] Obviously, he's from that area because Christ told him to go home, and he was there, home. And so, he was able to share what Jesus had done to him, and certainly, they recognized him, and they marveled, as any of us would marvel, at a situation like that.

[43:14] And we would marvel at such a physical change, such as demon possession, and no longer demon possession, and what that would cost physically. We would marvel so much at that, but so much the more we need to marvel at our very own salvation.

[43:28] That the Lord saved a wretch like me. We need to understand, I was a wretch, and he saved me. Despite me being a wretch, he saved me.

[43:41] And we need to marvel at that so much, every day. And let that be a drive to witness, to tell people of the gospel, every single day.

[43:52] Our personal testimonies, they are of utmost importance, because our testimony is telling the world, and telling the people around us, what the Lord has done in our lives.

[44:05] It's telling them of great mercy that has been brought on us, and that we are benefiting from. And it is absolutely essential for us to be sharing that testimony.

[44:19] And it is essential for us to be sharing that testimony as often as we possibly can. But I'll be the first to tell you, I don't do that. And I'm ashamed of that.

[44:29] And we need to have the shame of when we understand that we don't do that. We don't do what God has called us to do. We heard it read this morning by Paul, right?

[44:43] I think Paul read that. Acts chapter 1, verse 8. You will be witnesses, and he's telling the apostles this in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the utmost parts of the world.

[44:54] And we need to be witnesses in Bartlesville, in Oklahoma, in the surrounding area, in all of these places, places that we don't even want to go to. We need to be witnesses into the uttermost parts of the world.

[45:09] And where do we start? Where you are. I mean, where do you witness? Wherever you happen to be. If you're here, right here, right now, you witness right here, right now.

[45:23] And so, whether you go to the other side of the world in China, you are on mission to carry out the good news. Or whether you're going on the other side of the Walgreens parking lot to the Chinese buffet, you are on mission to carry out the good news.

[45:42] Let us be on mission to carry out the good news. And do we do it only on Sundays? Do we do it only on Wednesday nights? No, we do it every single day.

[45:55] And we make it an effort every morning to commit to that. We need to do that. Because that is our mission.

[46:05] That is our objective in life as believers. Great things He has promised. Great things He has done. Oh, perfect redemption. The purchase of blood to every believer.

[46:18] The promise of God. To God be the glory. Praise the Lord. Do our lives reflect that? Thank you.