Free

Welcome to this edition of Power Point with Jack Graham. A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's devotional, Moments in the Word.

But first here's the message, free. Jesus walked upon the earth and when He did He often engaged and encountered people at various levels of life. And He personally spoke with them regarding their spiritual condition. And as these became followers of Christ we learn today how we also are to follow Christ. And when we meet Jesus how our lives are changed. And today we're going to encounter a man, we're going to discover a man who met Jesus under the most dire and desperate circumstances.

A man who cried out not to God but who cried out first to Satan. And yet when Jesus entered his life he changed everything. We're going to take time to read an extended passage of Scripture.

In fact we're going to read the entire story that is given to us here in Mark's Gospel chapter 5, the first 20 verses. They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasites. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat immediately there met Him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit. 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 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 bruising or cutting Himself with stones. 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?

I adjure you by God, do not torment Me. For He was saying, that is Jesus was saying, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit. And Jesus asked Him, What is Your name? 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 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 2,000, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea. The herdsman 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 the legions sitting there clothed and in his right mind.

And they were afraid. And those who had seen it described it 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.

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. And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis, that is the ten cities, how much Jesus had done for him.

And everyone marveled. This man that we meet in Mark chapter 5, his story is also recorded in other gospels, was a tortured, suicidal, maniacal man who was filled with forces from hell. In other words, he was a demon possessed man, completely controlled by the power of Satan. When Jesus asked him his name, He said, My name is Legion, for there are many of us.

A Roman Legion consisted of approximately 6,000 soldiers. So here is an individual, demented, divided, demonized, desperate. We are told that this man lived in the tombs. He lived at the cemetery. And you could hear him howling at night. It was frightening of course to be near this man, his shrieking, his screaming, the beating and bruising and cutting himself with stones. Can you imagine him seeing this individual?

And the Scripture tells us in Luke's gospel that he was running naked without clothes. He was a wild man, living like an animal, his hair matted, blood caking his skin, infections and open sores. And then of course the psychological and emotional breakdown of this man's life. It seemed that he was in a helpless and hopeless condition.

No doubt today we would put this individual in a mental institution. Can you imagine what happened when Jesus met this demon possessed man who had been chained and yet would break the chains? He had supernatural strength and supernatural powers that had been given to him of the devil. This man who was addicted to forces and controlled by forces beyond himself. No one could stop this man. No one could control this man.

He couldn't control himself. But he was a man that Jesus loved. He was a desperate man. And the fact that Jesus met him there on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, that's no accident. Jesus often went out of his way to find people in the most desperate of conditions. A woman at the well, the hurt of this woman drew him there.

A little man who climbed up a tree by the name of Zacchaeus. Jesus said, I'm coming to your house today. Jesus spent his life reaching out and finding people who needed him.

So this was of course a divine assignment of our Lord. Because Jesus specializes in hopeless situations. And while we are telling the dark story that happened a long, long time ago, it is as current as your own life, as current as the morning newspaper or the evening news.

And I'm speaking to people today who are under the power, under the influence, under the seduction and the addiction of satanic forces in your life. And the world can only do so much. You see, society, the culture here, they tried to put this man in chains just to control him.

And sent him out into the tombs and there he is, a dead man walking, living in hell. He's breaking these chains. And when you find a person like that and at heart every person is without control and can't be contained by chains. But when you find a person like this, you realize that the culture can really not ultimately help us. The Bible teaches that we can change our behavior, but only God can change the heart. There's some things that we can do to help ourselves when we're dealing with habits or addictions or problems in our lives. There's some things we can do for ourselves. But there are some things that only Jesus Christ can do. Too many people never get that. They live and die with a heart stained with sin.

Now you can modify your life and you can modify your behavior through therapy and we're grateful for that when it assists us in finding our lives and support groups. And you can get better with sheer willpower. But what you can't do for yourself and what others cannot do for you, Jesus can. You see, you can't deal with the stain of sin in your heart. The prophet asks the question, can a leopard change his spots?

Or can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? And of course the question is, can a man change his own heart and in his own ways and in his own life? And ultimately the answer is no because the fundamental question is, how do we change our hearts?

Not just externally but internally. You can change your habits, but you can't change your heart. Only God can change your heart. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message free. When you set aside daily time to connect with God, he'll give you the ability to live a godly life and fulfill his plans for you in the coming year. And we'd like to help you walk even more closely with the Lord in the year ahead by sending you Pastor Graham's 180 day devotional Moments in the Word. It's our way to thank you for your gift today to help proclaim the gospel to more people around the world through PowerPoint. This is the last week of this offer, so call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is JackGraham.org. Now let's get back to today's message free. A person can be changed and only changed ultimately and finally by the power of Jesus Christ who alone can give us a new heart. For it's one thing to get all the demons out, but if you're still empty what does it matter? Jesus told an unusual parable about a man whose demons were exorcised.

They left and they swept the house and cleaned it. But then those demon forces came back and multiplied influence and power. You see if you just get empty of the disease or the demons or the sin itself, if you just sort of empty yourselves out and yet you're still empty, you're wide open to additional assaults from the attacks of the enemy. And that's why God doesn't just empty us of evil spirits and powerful demonic forces, but His Holy Spirit comes to live in us. And His Spirit therefore enables us to walk according to His statutes and live according to His Word and His wisdom.

And so what happened to this man was not only an exorcism when Jesus removed these terrible demons from his life, but he's now sitting clothed in his right mind at the feet of Jesus. You see the work of Jesus Christ is not superficial, it's supernatural. It is spiritual. It reaches into the depths of our being and changes us from the inside out. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature.

Old things are passed away and everything becomes new. And our love for sin is replaced by a love for God. Our love for sinful pleasures are exchanged for a love of holy pleasures.

Our desires to fulfill our passions and our emptiness with that which is wrong and disobedient is now filled with the power to live for Jesus Christ. These demon spirits begged in the presence of Christ to be cast into a herd of pigs. These demon spirits knew Jesus well.

They shrieked and shrunk from His presence. What if we have to do with you, oh Son of the Most High God? The Bible says the demons of hell believe and tremble in His presence. And while evil is powerful and wickedness in this world is damning and destructive, evil is no match to the power and the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the Son of the Most High God. And these spirits must obey Him and so when He said go into the pigs, they went into the pigs. What a scene that must have been.

I heard of about 2,000. They're now filled with these devils and they run to the bank and jump over and drown themselves. That's the first case of deviled ham right there. You know the great preacher R.G. Lee made the point in a message on this text that the devil's second choice is a hog. His first choice is a human being. But if you can't live in humans, he'll live in hogs.

And so these hogs are drowned. And when that happens of course the herdsmen go running away and they tell the boss man that how they've lost all these hogs no one seemed to believe it so they ran out there to see what happened. And that's when they saw this man who had, they all knew him.

He was this crazed maniacal individual living there in the wilderness and in the tombs. Now he's sitting there with peace and joy. He's got his clothes on. It wasn't just that Jesus put an old man in a new suit. He put a new man in an old suit.

That's what he does. And when they see him there, they're upset. And there's a sad postscript to this story because the townspeople and the business people of that community began to ask Jesus to leave. Now can you imagine that rather than rejoicing, rather than crying out to him for salvation themselves and revival breaking out in their community and across the ten cities of the Decapolis. Something within them resisted Christ. Was it because they were so interested in their money? They seemed to be more interested in their money than the man who had been delivered. They had no interest in spiritual things.

They were all caught up in material things. Could it be that Jesus was getting too close? That he was reminding them of their own sin and their own need of God? Why do men reject Christ? Because men love darkness rather than light. And sometimes when the light of Christ shows up, men want to go in the other direction.

It's like when you turn on a light in a dark room or maybe a place, a closet or a storage shed, something that's been sitting in darkness for a long time and you turn on the light and all kinds of critters begin to scurry away. So the light of Christ is in their country. And they invite Jesus to leave. Apparently Jesus was bad for business. And he may be if that business does not honor God. While Jesus may be bad for business in some cases he is good always for the heart and for the life.

So they ask Jesus to leave. How do you ask Jesus to leave your life? Sometimes it's something in your life you decided was more important than him, more important than God.

You made a series of choices. You decided that your way was more important than his way. Jesus was getting in the way. He was cramping your style.

He was ruining the party. So you said, Jesus, out of my life I'm going my own way. Or maybe just neglect. You didn't mean to do it.

You just were empty. And you turned away. And maybe you said something like, the next time Jesus comes by I'll get interested. I'll get engaged. I'll get involved with him. But not now.

I've got too much stuff going on in my life right now. But here's the interesting thing about this story. They asked Jesus to leave and he left.

He left. You need to be very, very careful about how you invite Christ out of your life. The Bible says my spirit will not always strive with man. Jesus spoke of a blasphemous sin, an unpardonable sin, of resisting the work of the Holy Spirit in your life.

And if you say no and no and no, go away, go away, go away enough times you get good at it. Your own heart is habitually hardened. That's why the Bible says today if you hear his voice do not harden your heart.

Just as calluses can cover your hands if you work with your hands, calluses can cover your heart. And you no longer hear the voice and you start hearing other voices like this man we meet in the story was hearing all of these voices from hell. But thank God he met Christ. He was changed and he was delivered. But these people, they invited Christ out of their lives. But just like Jesus in his love and in his grace, he left a witness behind. This man as Jesus was leaving came up and said let me go with you.

Let me be with you. And Jesus said no. What I want you to do is go home, tell your wife and tell your kids and tell your mom and tell your dad and tell the friends in your community and wherever you go I want you to tell people of the great things that God has done for you.

Can you imagine that day when Legion came walking home clothed and in his right mind somebody said Legion is coming. Lock the doors. Bat in the hatches.

The wild man is walking the streets. He goes to his own house. The young man answers the door to his son and says Daddy you look different.

What's changed? He walks in the house. He's no longer shoving his wife around and violently abusing her, screaming and shrieking. Now he's embracing her and loving her and asking for her forgiveness and the experience there together the grace of God. And for the rest of his life this man rather than walking in death he's walking in life. And for the people of this city who asked Jesus to leave he left a witness behind and it was this man who had been changed by the power of Jesus Christ.

If that's happened to you you need to spend the rest of your life telling people what great things God has done for you. To remember what it was like to be lost and how it feels to be free. Because you can be free indeed. If the sun will set you free you will be free indeed.

You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message free. Looking ahead to a new year can fill you with expectation but it can also fill you with desperation. What if things get worse?

What if the world gets crazier? What if you don't have the strength to face what comes your way? It's through spending daily time in God's word that we find the strength peace and hope we need. And we want to help you do that by sending you Pastor Graham's 180 day devotional Moments in the Word.

Moments in the Word is our special thanks for your gift this month. This is the last week of this offer so call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily e-mail devotional.

Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? In the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark we see a remarkable story about a mad man who was set free by the Lord Jesus Christ, set free from the evil that tormented his soul and his life and is such a great reminder of what Jesus has done for you and me. Without Christ, we were addicted to sin, broken and bruised, self-destructive, hurting ourselves, our family and our friends. But when we invite Christ into our lives, He doesn't just clean us up. He changes us. He breaks the chains that binds us.

He gives us a brand new heart. We read what God does for our hearts in Ezekiel 11. The Bible says, I will give them one heart and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh that they may walk in My statutes and keep My rules and obey them.

And they shall be My people and I will be their God. You see, being a Christian isn't about just getting cleaned up and trying to hang on for dear life. No, coming to Christ means you have the power of Jesus to overcome your habits, your addictions, your sins. You are no longer your own, nor are you in bondage to yourself. You are set free by the love of God.

The Apostle Paul reinforces this in 2 Corinthians 5.17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come. It's not just getting the evil out, it's getting the power of Jesus in.

That is what changes you. When Jesus comes to live in you, He will clothe you with His brand new righteousness, the righteousness of God. And then the love of sin is replaced for a love of God. The love of sinful passion and sinful pleasure is replaced with a love of holy purposes and passions that honor God.

The old you passes away and the new you takes its place. I pray that this glorious promise will encourage you today and that you will take the time to thank God for the incredible and powerful work He has done for you. And if you have never received Christ, invite Jesus into your life this very moment.

Pray and receive Christ and He will change you. I guarantee it by the Word of God. And that is today's Power Point. Remember when you give a gift to Power Point we'll send you Dr. Graham's 180 day devotional Moments in the Word as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word Power Point to 313131. Text Power Point to 313131. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can glorify God by stewarding your resources well. That's next time on Power Point with Jack Graham. Power Point with Jack Graham is sponsored by Power Point Ministries.