Keith Battle - Miracles - Part 3

This is part three of our series entitled «Miracles: When God Does the Impossible.» Verse one in the New Living Translation says, «So they arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes.» Note that there’s somebody else on this trip with Jesus. But when Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from a cemetery to meet him. This man lived among the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with chains. Whenever verse four says he was put into chains and shackles, as he often was, he snapped the chains from his wrist and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Verse five says, «Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.» Verse six says, «When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him and ran to meet him and bowed low before him.» Jump down to verse fifteen: A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons; he was sitting there, fully clothed and perfectly sane in his right mind, and they were all afraid. I’m going to stop right there; you may be seated. My subject today is, «When Jesus Sets You Free.» Hallelujah!

This passage intrigues me, and I don’t want to jump right into it, but there are some things I want to say. I usually share more at this service because, you know, I don’t feel the need to save anything; I’m going to give you all I’ve got. This passage is intriguing to me because it is obvious that Jesus is here on purpose. He has come to this place among the Gerasenes, off this lake, for one mission: He has come to rescue this man. It is clear that He has come for that because once He was done, He left. In fact, He was asked to leave. He didn’t even change the condition of the environment; He came to save and rescue one person who had been in bondage and under demonic oppression for, I don’t know how long. It is also quite intense how deep the spiritual warfare was in this man’s life because, prior to their arrival, when Jesus told His disciples, «I want us to get in a boat and go to this location,» on the way there, they experienced something that only comes up once in the entire New Testament, and the word is called a «seismos.» It is literally a lake earthquake. The lake literally exploded while they were riding, and Jesus was sleeping. The storm was so bad that the disciples woke Jesus up and said, «Don’t you care that we’re dying? We’re about to die; don’t you care?» Jesus woke up, spoke to the wind, and the waves calmed the storm, and then asked them, «Where is your faith?» I think that the intensity of this storm is an indication of how important this moment and this meeting were going to be because the storm was a prelude to what was about to go down.

I believe that there are some people that hell is so committed to holding onto that it will do whatever it can to try to stop Jesus from getting to your loved one, but it won’t be able to stop Him. Once Jesus commits, once the devil’s time is up, Jesus will interrupt his work and set this person free. So I’m really encouraged by that, and I want you to see your own situation or your own loved one in this story. Now, there are some things I need to go back to part two to double down on, and the first one is that when you’re seeking God for a miracle, it is important to stay in faith. Everybody say, «Stay in faith!» Staying in faith doesn’t mean you’re in denial; it just means you’ve decided, «I’m going to trust God no matter what!» My trust in God does not depend on having all the data. I’m not in denial of the data; I’m just committed to trusting God, no matter how this turns out. You’ve got to stay in faith!

Remember when, in Mark 5:35, when Jesus was walking to Jairus' house, and the messengers came from Jairus' house and said, «You don’t need to bother the teacher anymore because now your daughter is dead, so leave Jesus alone; it’s over now.» Jesus told him in verse 36, «Don’t worry about it; just have faith.» Somebody say, «Stay in faith!» See, this is really about faith because if you’re talking about an understatement, this situation didn’t just go from bad to worse—it is an understatement. She was sick when he came to Jesus; she’s now deceased. What these messengers are saying is, «There’s no need to bother Jesus anymore; there’s no need to trouble Him anymore.» And I’m saying, when things get worse that you’re praying about—or when people get worse that you’re praying for—that’s the time to lean into Jesus even more.

To me, it is selfish to pull away when it looks like the miracle’s not going to happen, or when it seems like the miracle’s not going to happen, or when it sounds like the miracle’s not going to happen. It is selfish to say, «Alright, well, I don’t need you, Jesus, anymore; if you’re not going to do it, I don’t need you anymore.» No! This is when I need You more! This is when I need to lean into You more! This is when I need to trust You!