Luke 8:33 – Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.

Hey all, new blog today. Sin is mankind’s problem, it’s wont you hear preached on to you or to others, because it makes you and me uncomfortable to be confronted and rebuked for sin. The condemnation is that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. That’s why we are condemned, because we don’t need to go to hell, but we will, because we choose sin and darkness over light and Jesus Christ. The message of truth then enables fixing of our condition, but mankind doesn’t want his condition fixed. Even says in Job… what shall it profit me if I be cleansed of my sin?

You don’t need to be saved if you don’t have something to be saved from. That thing is sin… it started in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve sinned. And 6 thousand plus years later, it’s still the problem. The problem in your and my life is SIN. Sin is against God. You can tell a saved person from unsaved person by their attitude to sin. It’s that simple. We all sin, but a saved person hates their sin, and feels the weight of it against God, sin after all is against God first and foremost. That’s why David, although he had sinned against Uriah, Bathsheba, his wives, his body, Israel… said… against thee, and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight (to God he said this). Because sin stems from being against God. Because we are against God, we are thus against others. That’s how it works. If you are ungodly, you are against everything that is godly, so you will be against goodness, righteousness, justice, mercy, grace. Sin is against God above all else, it is against his character, his design, his way, his commands, his truth, his grace, his love… sin is HORRIFIC. Sin is so bad Jesus had to die on the cross for our sins, mankind so utterly wicked, that it took God himself intervening and sacrificing himself, his own precious, pure blood on the cross to satisfy the justice and penalty and wrath of holy God against sin. Sin is against God, it is terrible, it will destroy your life.

There was a man Jesus met one day. Jesus is come to seek and save the lost, and Jesus visited the land of the Gadarenes to save this man. He was possessed of many devils, in fact a thousand of them. He was a wild, violent, restless, sad, afflicted, tormented man… and that’s what we are all like in sin, under the cruel yoke of sin, the flesh, the devil, the world. Jesus came to save him, Jesus came to call not the righteous, but sinners to repentance. It is staggering who Jesus had mercy on, from adulterers, to devil possessed, to lepers, to murderers, to thieves. God’s grace is greatest on us wicked sinful humanity. And God’s claim to a soul trumps everything else. He came, and the devils went, in fact the devils BEGGED to go. The Roman centurion said to Jesus, just say the word. All Jesus needs to do in heaven today is just say the word and you will be healed. Its why prayer is powerful, both us and others, because we need to pray to Jesus for help, after all he is in heaven right now and dwells in believers through his Spirit sent forth into the earth to all who believe and receive him. He knows anyone and makes his abode with anyone that places their faith in his shed blood for forgiveness from their sins, who believes in their heart upon him.

Jesus cast the devils out of this man, he had been totally bonkers, mad, insane, so possessed and strong that no man could tame him or bind him, he’d snap the chains they chained him with. He was out of his mind, he needed to be healed. And it took Jesus Christ then, and today, to put us in our right mind. Once the devils were cast out the Bible says he was in his right mind, clothed, sitting at the feet of Jesus. What a change… only true change comes when Jesus Christ sets someone free. It takes the power of God, the Spirit of God. True change comes from a new spirit in a man, and that spirit is the Spirit of the Lord, who saves us and lives in us forever, utterly saving us and transforming us by his mighty working power, that same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

But today the blog is actually about those swine that the devils entered into. Because swine, pigs, are unclean animals, and that’s where devils have their field day. A saved person is not a swine, but we can certainly live like swine, and an unsaved person is just like those swine being plunged to their death and choked out in the sea. We must be cleansed from our sin, not just stop doing it, but be forgiven, be washed in the pure blood of Christ that flowed at Calvary. Satan is after you today, he is after mankind, and he will take your life and plunge it to such depths. Look at how cruel, how wicked humanity is… this isn’t a good, lovely, clean world, it is full of unimaginable evil. A life spent in sin, with sin as your master will plunge you to every depth, and ultimately to the pit of hell. Sin will choke you, it will drown you. Sin drowns us completely, it wrecks our life, our witness, our conscience, our purity, our light goes out, we are in complete abject darkness and hopelessness once sin has run its course. Sin is a spiral down and down. And as those swine plunged into the depths, so our lives are plunged into depths by Satan, by the world, by our flesh.

But people would rather not think about it, rather not confront it, they rather lies to truth. Why don’t people like being reproved of sin? Because their deeds are evil. Why don’t they like the light… the light is a friend. How many of us have been scared in the dark, and the turning on of a light brings such comfort and sight. Light should be welcomed, but this dark world doesn’t want it, because they have sin, that same sin that separated Adam and Eve and caused them to hide, makes us hide from truth and God today. After all, look what happened in this story. Jesus had just saved this man, the unsaveable man was saved… and the people of the land wanted Jesus to leave… Mark 5:17 – And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts... crazy!! People don’t want to be saved from their sin, they like it to much, even though it’s what will take them to hell. Would you rather be plunged into the depths, choked, drowned out in life… or would you rather be healed, clothed, in your right mind… sitting at the feet of Jesus Christ? Mark 5:15 – And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were. The word of life is held forth to you today, the invitation is to all, if you wish, if you desire, you may come to Jesus Christ and be forgiven your sin, cleansed and washed in his blood… but it’s up to you. Sin must be dealt with, and you will either pay for it, or let Jesus pay for it, because he died for the sins of the whole world, he died for your sin. And can save to the uttermost those that believe on him. That’s the gospel, and it’s for you today. Jesus word prevails, you just need to go to him, go to the Lord, seek him out, call upon him, he will save you from your sin.

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