Hope Church's Church
1.11.26 Sunday Morning Worship
  • All Sufficient Merit
  • Our Great Savior

      • Matthew 8:28-29ESV

      • Matthew 8:30-32ESV

      • Matthew 8:33-34ESV

  • Intro

    Todays we’re talking about demons. You didn’t know what you were getting into when you came to church today, but it is the next story in Matthew for us.
    The demonic realm is strange an uncertain, even through it gets a lot of attention in scripture.
    And it gets a lot of attention in secular culture today as well. It is a popular genre for movies and TV series. And more and more coming out include variant forms of the demonic realm. Sometimes, you might start a show, thinking it is normal, but they bring in demonic elements. Almost like humans know that the physical world we live in is not all there is.
    Ever been creeped out and have to leave a situation? One of the scarest places for me? Old Churches at night. It’s my least favorite place. If you are the only one, walking through a old church basement at night time, something I have done regularly, not a situation I ever enjoy being in. And if there is a sound that happens, I am running for the door.
    I was walking through a dark parking lot recently at night. And there was someone i followed out of the store with goat demons, skeletons, pentagrams, death all over their clothing. You know when you can go another way and avoid any contact? Apparently, we parked near to each other. Then he started to walk slower at a rate that i would have caught up to him, and it was cold. Guess what I did? Walked more quickly, averted him, got to my truck and blazed out of the parking lot faster than ever before.
    I’m not here to play ghost stories. We can look to the Bible today.
    Lets think about a few stories of the demonic from the Old Testament. I’m going to leave the NT alone since this is our first encounter with the demonic in the New Testament. Matthew’s audience would have known of the Old Testament passages.
    Something strange with fallen angels happens in Genesis 6, and some how creating half breed offspring, the Nephilim.
    In Leviticus, God calls the people to stop sacrificing to the goat demon.
    In Deuteronomy 32, Israel rebels against God, forgetting him, and offering sacrifices to demons.
    Psalm 106 says that people sacrificed their children to demons. If you don’t know, the Psalms are an ancient songbook. Are you ready to sin a worship song about that? Yikes.
    In Judges 9, a spirit, or demon, creates disloyalty and disunity to punish Abimelech for murder.
    King Saul has the Spirit of God removed from him, and an evil spirit, or demon, comes to torment him. The biblical text actually says the intension was to torment him. Later, he goes to necromancer or medium to have a seance to communicate with the realm of the dead. Something that God forbids in the Mosaic Law. God doesn’t say don’t do this because the occult doesn’t exist, he says don’t do it because the occult is real and you should stay away from it.
    Kings of Israel and Judah after Saul, and David, and Solomon begin building temples to demons.
    And then, if you want a really weird story, 1 Kings 22. YHWH the Lord, meets with a spiritual council. And an evil lying demon offers to go and lie to Ahab to accomplish the Lord’s plans. And God permits him to.
    And we won’t forget the story of Job where Satan himself, the leader of the demons is given permission by God to torment Job to test his faith in God.
    We preached through Daniel last year, and demons came up multiple times. Remember the angel sent to answer Daniels prayer was held back by the demon of Persia in some sort of spiritual battle.
    In Zechariah 3, Satan’s main purpose is to accuse the people of God, making then unfit to be used in God’s kingdom.
    Tormenting and trying to pull humans away from their faith and relationship with God is a primary goal of the demonic realm. Demons influence over people is to thwart the plans of God.
    Lest we think this is just an Old Testament issue, demonic issues come up multiple times in the New Testament also. But this is our first real encounter with it in the New Testament.
    That is the story before us today. Before we get into it, there are a few misconceptions that we might want to address with the demonic. And because it is demonic stuff, 6 seemed like an appropriate number. So there are 6 misconceptions.
    Misconception #1: Demonic activity is just an archaic and unscientific way to explain psychological and physiological issues.
    There are some that would want to say that the demonic activity in the Bible is simply a way of explaining strange medical and mental issues that would be unknown in the ancient world.
    But this is not what the scriptures present to us in the Old or the New Testament.
    Matthew has already said Jesus has been “healing the sick” and “casting out demons.” Two different ways Jesus was ministering to people. The text gives us examples of what healing the sick look like with the leprous man and the centurions servant. Now, Matthew is going to give us an example of how Jesus cast out demons.
    While demonic oppression may include physical ailments, All three synoptic Gospels show demonic possession as a different category than disease and illness.
    Misconception #2: Demonic activity doesn’t exist in America today.
    Another misconception is that demonic activity doesn’t exist in our world today. Erika and I were sitting in church one time and heard a pastor say that demonic activity in America doesn’t exist.
    We looked at each other in shock. This is a naive and uninformed and unbiblical statement. 1 Peter, Colossians, and Ephesians all tell us that the demonic realm is still active today and still something Christians fight and are aware of. Erika and I have personally seen and experienced what can only be described as demonic. Certainly demonic activity might be more active and prevalent in places completely unreached with the gospel. Go read some missionary stories. But demonic activity is also prevalent in America also.
    Misconception #3: Christians are safe from the demonic realm.
    A common misconception by Christians is that if you are a Christian, you are completely safe from the demonic world.
    We would say that in regards to oppression, someone who is saved and has the Holy Spirit living inside of them, cannot be possessed by a demon. But certainly they can be oppressed, or tormented by the demonic realm.
    Satan comes to Job and Joshua the High Priest. Two people that belong to God and God claimed were tormented by the demonic. I have personally seen the demonic realm torment people who are believers. Remember Peters warning to be aware because Satan walks about like a lion seeking who he can devour. This is not said to unbelievers, this is said as a warning to believers.
    Misconception #4: “Demons” are just negative parts of who I am.
    Another misconception is that demons are just bad things in our past, or negative parts of us. You might hear people say “the demons in the past are still affecting me now” or “I have to fight my demons” or “inner demons.”
    This is not how the Old or New Testament refers to demons. They are referred to as spiritual beings. They are personal beings, not negative parts of our psyche. From our story today, we learn that demons have the ability to communicate. They want to speak. They are fearful, remember the letter of James tells us this also. Demons have emotions like fear. They also have unnatural abilities beyond human abilities. Both in strength and in knowledge.
    Misconception #5: “The devil made me do it”
    Another misconceptions is that they are the cause of all problems. “The devil made me do it.” This is also not how the scriptures present sin and opposition to God. The scriptures teach that we ourselves are the ones who choose to be opposed to God and to sin. Our fleshly nature, chooses to sin. The devil does not make us do anything, but certainly we can be influenced in certain ways. But ultimately, we are responsible for our own actions and will stand accountable to God for them.
    Misconception #6: The church does not study demonology enough!
    #6. The church does not study demonology enough. This is not what we are to be about as a people. If we are Christians, our focus and goal is Christ and him crucified. I don’t need be well versed in every kind of demon and what they do. I need to be well versed in the Word of God and Christ. Now, if you do a one hour study on demons through the bible, more power to you. But if you decide to yourself, I’m going to do a 16 week series on demonology throughout history, we might point you back to Christ and his word.
    We don’t want this crazy fascination from alien life forces from another world or another dimension. Our focus is on Christ who rules them all. That’s what this story is about.
    The same pastor that said demons rarely, if at all, exist in America, also did a three week series on demonology. That will not happen from this pulpit.
    But with that said, I’m not uncomfortable about this talk. I say to you all the time, you can text me, call me, meet with me anytime, I'm an open book, ask me anything, even questions about the occult and demons.
    And this is where we get to the main point today. But our story today is not about demons who torment. It is about the Son of God who torments the tormenting demons. The Son of God who has all authority, not just over physical illness, not just over the wind and the waves of the nature world, but even over the supernatural.
    Main Point: Because Jesus has authority and power to free people to follow him, we prioritize faith in him.
    But today, we’ve already had a long intro on demonology, and we could just say “beware of demons” and talk about everything that is not relevant for us. But I want you to know today, this text is practical for us. Paul tells us that all of scripture is practical for our lives and trains us in knowledge and Christian living. Even a story about demons.
    Some of you in this room might have had encounters or experiences with the demonic. In your life or in the life of a loved one. This text is for you. If you have never had any experience with the demonic, and aren’t even sure of what that realm is, you can find hope, comfort, and a call to faithfulness in this text.
    From the text, we are going to see two points of grace, and two points of choice for us.

    I. Grace to You: Deliverance From Death

    First today, we see Grace to you: Deliverance from Death.
    From the verse 28, Jesus makes it to the other side of the lake after a terrible storm. And you would think that Jesus came all this way for great ministry, lots more healings, lots more preaching, lots more sermons and ministry. Goodness, he has gone through a terrible storm, Put the disciples through extreme fear an anxiety, near death experience, and they have gone through all of this for what? One event. This story that we are looking at today is it. The last few verses of chapter 8. The one event is an encounter with the demon tormented people.
    Matthew paints the story in a way that as soon as Jesus reaches this land, he is met with these two demon-possessed men.
    Now, for those of you who are curious and familiar with the story. This same story is given to us in the gospel of Mark and the gospel of Luke. Mark and Luke tell us that there was only one man. Some silly sceptics of the bible might want to say “ah ha! A contradiction in the bible!” But remember. These gospel writers have different purposes. Also, Luke and Mark were second hand witnesses, while Matthew was maybe a first account witness.
    If I come back from the story, and I tell my wife about running into Frank at the store, and the conversation I had with him about a trip to the beech. Maybe i didn’t mention that Laura was present also, and she didn’t say anything. But she was there. If you ask my kids who they saw at the store, they might say we saw Frank, and Laura, and Mary Alice. Both stories are true, but they have different purposes.
    These two men are fierce, scary, so much so that people avoid them and change their travel routes. Other people have tried to chain them the other gospel writers tell us, but they end up breaking the chains with their supernatural strength. They were violent, and savage, and dangerous. Other characteristics of demonic possession. They weren’t just violent to others, they were violent to themselves. Mark tells us of the self inflicted harm they would do to themselves.
    And notice the location of these men. Among the tombs. This scene is ominous. Tombs were two things to Matthew’s gentile audience: Death and uncleanness. Often, demonic oppression is obsessed with death and darkness and uncleanness. And certainly this is the case here.
    When I was going up, we would go to blockbuster and my mom would let us pick out a movie for the weekend. To you youngsters, this was a video renting store before streaming services like netflex and disney plus. And there was an entire genre of horror and demonic possession. And you could always tell what section it was because the color tone changed. Kid section was bright and contrasting color, My parents movies would be natural colors, and then the section of horror was always dark and black.
    This tomb dwelling is meant to be a symbol of a greater reality. Jesus comes to deliver us from death. This is the state we are in before Christ. Dead in our sins, no hope of escape from the coming judgement of God, Separation from God for all of eternity. But Jesus comes to change that.
    1 Corinthians 15:54–55 “54 Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?””
    We have victory because of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    I hope that you will be honest with your condition and the state of your soul today. You might not have demons, but your spiritual standing before God without Christ is dead. Hopeless. You can do no work to undue the state you are in. You need rescued by the deliverer.
    You might think that you have to live in bondage to Christ if you give your life to him. But let me tell you, giving your life to Christ will be the most freeing thing you ever do. Freeing for the rest of your life. Abundant life is only found in Jesus.

    II. Grace to You: Calm From Chaos

    Next, we see grace to you: calm from Chaos.
    The story continues in verse 29. The possessed men call out to Jesus. They say “What have you to do with us O Son of God? Have you come to torment us before the time?”
    “What have you do to with us” is a biblical way of saying “Mind your own business” or “Is this really something for you to be worrying about?” Jesus says this to his mom at the wedding of Canaan when she asks Jesus to step in and address the great problem of a wine shortage at a wedding.
    In 2 Samuel, David uses this same phrase about a guy yelling curses at him. Kind of a “Leave us alone, mind your business, don’t interfere.”
    Jephthah uses this phrase toward an Ammonite King in Judges telling him not to interfere with Israel.
    This is the sense in which these demons are using this phrase. “Jesus, leave us alone. Get back on your boat and go back to your own business in Israel, this is our turf. You can have Israel, we get the rest, leave us to do what we do.” The other gospels tell us they wanted to keep their control over the region. Jesus wasn’t supposed to be here. Deuteronomy 32 tells us that the earth were divided up and given to supernatural beings, but Israel is reserved for God. But here, Jesus expanding. The gospel is expanding into other regions.
    Some interesting notes here. Somehow, these men are able to recognize who Jesus is. They have been given supernatural knowledge that he is the true son of God and that he has authority over them. These demon possessed men end up being proclaimers of Jesus, calling him the Son of God. The disciples don’t even make this declaration until chapter 14.
    Do you remember what the disciples say about Jesus two verses earlier? Look at verse 27. They are asking what sort of thing, or what kind, or what Jesus is. Here, an answer comes from the unlikely source of the supernatural world of demons.
    The Bible is just great literature. The disciples who should know who Jesus don’t, and the demonic world, in opposition to Jesus, know who he is. Ah! The Irony.
    They are going to do battle with Jesus, they know their place and are submitted to his will. They are fearful of him.
    Another thing we learn about demons is that they know there end. For a time, they are able to be in the world, tormenting people, distorting creation, attempting to create chaos. But, they know this is temporary. They know that someday, they will be destroyed. They have a ticking time bomb attached to them and know it. They know Jesus will be the one to come and end them. They know that the arrival of Jesus is signalling the beginning of the end. Their end.
    This should bring us comfort. That Jesus is strong enough to defeat all evil, even the supernatural evil that we fear. The elements of our world that we can’t explain and we have to run from.
    When we look at the evil in the world around me, even the recent shooting this week in Salt Lake. Our nation is ravaged with constant violence and darkness. I don’t have to be discouraged by these things. I can know that evil itself knows that it will be ended. Jesus is coming to put all things under his feet.
    Then we get to verse 30 and see that a herd of pigs was feeding in the distance. This isn’t wild pigs, but a heard that was a source of income. Other gospels tell us this is about 2000 pigs. We are reminded that this is not Jewish land. There are no jewish pig farmers. No jewish imports of pigs.
    The demons know of this heard of pigs in the distance and ask Jesus if he will grant them to possess the pigs. They know that Jesus has come to remove them from these two men and give peace from the demon inflicted torment. But if they are to be removed, they want to inhabit pigs.
    This is a weird part of the story. And we have to ask why. Why does they want to inhabit pigs? But we learn a few things. First, the supernatural world submits to Jesus, who has the authority of God because he is God. They can only do what is permitted by Jesus.
    We also learn that demons want to have some sort of influence and a host to indwell. Even if it is pigs.
    We learn something else. This is not just Jesus healing phycological issues, or physical issues. If Jesus was healing mental illness, he would not need to send it into pigs. These are immortal being that need a host.
    But why indwell pigs? There is a swath of reasons across commentators.
    Here is a few answer.
    Because they are unclean demonic spirits, the unclean animals of pigs would have been a natural host. Jewish audiences would have thought “yes, that does make sense.” They may have even been humored by this outcome.
    The demons want to distort creation. This is what they do. They twart God’s plans and his creation into something he did not intend. Something that is meant to bring glory to God becomes an abomination. They want to create havic and disorder to what God has ordered. This shows how evil they are. They have to infect and torment something.
    They want to immediately destroy Jesus’s mission. It’s hard to say whether they led the pigs into the sea, or if they didn’t and that is just what happened. If they didn’t know the pigs couldn’t handle their possession and would drown, taking them into the sea, then it was Jesus’s judgement upon them. But if there intent was to drown the pigs, we see in the following verses how they attempt to stop Jesus’s mission and send him packing.
    And then we get to verse 32. Jesus uses one word to them showing his authority and power over them. “Go.”
    Jesus came to bring peace. He doesn’t come in the way we think though. It isn’t Jesus in soft robes in a gentle mild voice. It is Jesus strong enough to speak to a raging storm, and the demonic world.
    In ancient times, the sea was a symbol of choas. It still is today. Something that cannot be tamed. So Jesus sends the chaos of demons into the depths of the chaotic sea where they belong.
    This land that Jesus goes to is showing is growing kingdom. Even to the untamed wild savage areas, Jesus comes to bring calm.
    The point? Jesus comes to bring calm through all chaos. The chaos that is in your life, whether it is the overwhelming constant business, or the inner turmoil of chaos in your mind, the situations that seem hopelessly impossible, Jesus comes to bring calm to you.
    He is the prince of peace bringing us peace. Following Jesus may seem like a hard life choice, but there is peace in following him.

    III. Choice for You: Swine or Savior

    We’ve spent enough time considering the demonic, I want us to look at some practical application for these last two points.
    First, the choice for you is swine or Savior. What do i mean? Let’s look at the rest of the text together.
    Matthew 8:33–34 NET 2nd ed.
    33 The herdsmen ran off, went into the town, and told everything that had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
    The people end up rejecting Jesus. They know who he is and they don’t want him. It was inconvenient to follow Jesus.
    Not everyone will accept us as followers of Jesus. But we need to remember that they are not rejecting us, they are rejecting Jesus. Even our best intentions might be recieved negatively.
    Many of you know I learned very quickly not to snowblow my neighbor’s drive way. My act of kindness was rejected with the most vehement negativity. Sometimes when we share the love of Christ with people, we can expect to be rejected.
    The townspeople's response is not how we expect the story to end. The herdsmen were seem angry. The tell the entire town what has happened and they plead with Jesus to leave them. Just like he told them demon to leave the men, they ask Jesus to leave them. Their hearts were not open to him.
    And we should ask why?
    In choosing swine or Savior, they chose swine.
    The response that we would expect is gratitude and worship of Jesus, people desiring to follow him because he just showed them his authority and power.
    But they don’t. They did not like that Jesus upset their lives and livelihood. This wasn’t some granola white homestead couple keeping a few farm animals, this was a massive herd of bacon and ribs. They don’t want their way of life to be upset. They don’t want to give up what they believe to be important.
    Some of you may have made new years resolutions. Maybe you want to eat healthier, or work out more. But we are now in week two of that resolution. The charm of the idea of being healthier is starting to wear off and the reality of the hard work is starting to weigh in. You may have liked the idea of feeling thinner, but now you have to give up ice cream? Get up my sleep in or my me time to work out? Yeah, that fitness plan can take a hike..., and I’m not gonig.
    Some people come to Jesus for what they can get out of the relationship with him. Think of Jesus’s parable of the soils. Some might like Jesus initially, but they aren’t willing to follow him. They want happy feelings, good vibes, maybe even peace. They are looking for their lives to be #blessed. They know something from their life is missing.
    But they they learn and discover what Jesus is calling them to. Oh, you want me to do what? You want me to give up what is valuable to me? You want me to give up what I treasure and put you as the one thing I treasure? You are calling me to live my life not for my job and success, not for relationships and love, not for fun and laughs, but for you? Yeah, that’s to much Jesus. You need to go.

    IV. Choice for You: Pigs or People

    Last today, the second choice for you: Pigs or People.
    Not only did the townspeople choose swine over a savior, but they chose pigs over people. This is very off-putting. These two men who were a part of their community, but ostersized from the community because of their torment, were less valued than the swine.
    Remember I have said a few times that the sermon on the mount in chapters 5-7 and the narrative stories of chapter 8 are not disconnected. We are seeing what it looks like to value Jesus and what he has called us to. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus tells us to stop pursuing ourselves and our own treasures, and begin treasuring Jesus. To love others and treat them like we would want to be treated. For this fulfills the law.
    Here, Matthew is giving us a narrative outworking of how not to live out Jesus’s teachings in the sermon on the mount. This is how you do the opposite.
    The response we would expect is a celebration and a welcoming of these men back into community and fellowship with the town. Celebration that these two men are now at peace.
    But what do the town people want? Maybe some of them are thinking they wish Jesus would have left the demons in the men and left their pigs alone. Jesus should have left their industry and success and wealth alone.
    They valued pigs over people.
    Now, this may hit home for some of you animal lovers in the room. Who would maybe even say you love your pet more than you love people. In fact, given the choice, some of us might choose animals relationships over people relationships.
    But there is a greater truth here for us than choices between animal and human relationships. What do we value more than the people God has put in our lives?
    Jesus tells us in John 13:34–35 “34 “I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.””
    How will you show you are a disciple of Jesus? If you love one another. More than you love your own life.
    What things in our life are we spending more time doing than using our gifts, talents, and abilities to minister to people?
    When a need is presented, do we look forward to serving others and meeting a need, or are we held back by what we would have to give up, our time, our money, our success, our dreams?

    Beyond the Walls (Grace and Growth)

    We have kind of already looked at grace and growth a bit.
    Demonic oppression is real, both for unbelievers and believers. We have examples in the Old and New Testament. And empirically, we know it exists.
    It is hostile to people’s best interest, it is dark, it is violence, a culture of death, suffering of all kinds.
    But we serve the Savior who delivers from the underworld. He serve the one who authoritatively puts down tormenters. Who has authority now and will ultimate crush all evil someday, including the dark forces.
    One of the things I love about this story is Jesus’s compassion. Going across the sea for people that didn’t even know they needed Jesus. And he comes to them in their great need.
    Jesus comes to us the same way. In our deepest struggles, in our deepest pain, Jesus comes to release us from the bondage and chains of our sin so that we can follow him in freedom.
    If you are here today, maybe God is working in your heart to give up sin and follow him with your life. To know and believe that Jesus came to remove your sin with his work on the cross. Please come and talk to us.
    If you are a believer, Are you being confronted with this choice of swine or Savior in your life today?
    Yes it is good for us to seek peace found in Jesus. But in his grace and mercy, he is calling us to live our lives in a way that is different than what we have known. Maybe different than what we think we want.
    What in your life today does Jesus want you remove as an idol in your life and replace with him? Maybe it is lying? Maybe it is sexual sins? Maybe it is abusive language?
    And the final choice for us to consider. What is God showing you that you value more than people? What in your life is keeping you back from living for Jesus and serving others?
    Let’s take a moment to respond to the text together.
    Father, deliver us from the power of the evil one.
    Jesus, Help us to choose you over the things in our lives that we value.
    Spirit, show us how to minister to the people around us rather than our own wants.

      • Matthew 8:33–34ESV

  • Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
  • All Glory Be To Christ
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