![]() ![]() Another young man filled a syringe with his own blood and sprayed a literal cry of “Help” on his bedroom ceiling.Įverybody had given up on this tormented Gadarene man. Another desperate addict chained himself to a steam radiator to keep himself from going back to his habit. One tormented young man so hated his habit, he tried to burn away the needle tracks from his arm, using a white-hot pan. I’ve seen this happen with many of the addicts our ministry has taken in. And the Bible says, ‘Whoever destroys the temple, God will destroy him.’” No matter what you do to get free, nothing helps. And now you’re haunted by an inner voice that cries out, “You’re destroying your body, the temple of God. You’re driven daily to do things you hate. Deep in your soul, you’ve become a slave to uncleanness. If this describes you, then you know it’s something far more painful and agonizing than living in a physical tomb. Inside they cry out in torment like the Gadarene demoniac, “I’m hooked. They’re driven, addicted, possessed by an unclean lust, and its hold on them grows stronger every day. They can’t pass by a bar or get on the Internet without being drawn into sin. People who are bound by such spirits are no longer in control of their lives. When I use the phrase “unclean spirit,” I mean a spirit that is immoral or lewd, chaining someone to a lust. Somehow an unclean spirit has taken control of their lives and won’t let go. These could be men or women, teenagers or the elderly, choir members, anyone. You may have several such tormented people in your congregation. As Jesus taught the religious multitudes on the other side of the sea, he picked up the cry of this desperate, devil-driven man-and he stopped everything to go see him.Įvery week we sit next to many crying, tormented people in church. He lived in torment daily, “cutting himself with stones” (5:5) and scarring his body. He was literally out of control, running around naked, and “neither could any man tame him” (Mark 5:4). No one had been able to help this man in his awful condition-no physician, expert or religious leader. As he cried out day and night, his awful wails filled the air at all hours. The man actually made his home in one of those hewn tombs. This tormented soul lived in the city graveyard, among the many stone sepulchers that had been carved in the nearby hillside. The cry Jesus heard was from a demoniac, a man possessed by an unclean spirit. It was the tormented cry of a person hurting and in need of great help. ![]() Somehow our Lord had heard a wailing from across the sea. He pointed across the sea and told his disciples it was time to move out. “Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press ” (Luke 8:19). This urgent sense in the Lord was so pressing, he didn’t even stop to meet with his family, who had journeyed to see him. He quickly ended his discourse and dismissed the crowd. It literally stopped Jesus in his tracks. Then toward evening a strange urgency came over him. He taught the people patiently, illustrating his truths with many parables. The crowds were so large and pressing that the Lord had to get into a boat and speak to them from the water. Jesus was teaching a great multitude by the seashore. The Bible addresses this supernatural phenomenon and God’s response to it in Mark 4-5. Such things can only be comprehended as unclean spirits. There are people today battling things in their lives that are so deep and ferocious they can’t be explained. ![]()
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