JUL 12 2020 | Sparking the Flames of Revival S1E7 | Deliverance

Sea Change Church · Sparking the Flames of Revival · "Deliverance" Pastor Adam Stadtmiller · July 12, 2020
Matthew 8:28-34
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

Hello, church. My name is Danielle Netteren. Thanks for being with us today. It's good to see all of you. I've been coming here for, I counted, I said three in the first service, but it's been four years now. Thanks to Surf Church originally, and yeah, now I pop around like high school kids camps, and I just, yeah, yeah. Good to see you all. The scripture today is Matthew 8, verses 28 through 34. When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him.

They were so violent that no one could pass that way. What do you want with us, son of God? They shouted. Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time? Some distance from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, if you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs. He said to them, go. So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.

Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town, and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region. The word of the Lord. I want us to see what is a Christian. What is a follower of Jesus Christ? I would like to use as a subject from which to preach this morning, remaining awake through a great revolution.

I'm not asking you tonight that you one night kneel down and make confession, and after that, your life was no change. Your lifestyle was no different. Your appetite was no different. Your prayer life was no different. Come on. Come on. I did make that video. I know I've said it, but it makes me happy every time I watch it. It's just some hardcore guys just going after it. I should have put a woman in there, too. There's some hardcore chicks as well.

We're talking about revival. We're talking about reviving. One of those re-words, repentance, revival, restoration. Pastor Jim loves those re-words. We talk about them all the time, and they're words that usually talk about getting you from one place to another. This is an incredible passage. I spoke about this passage at my Holy Spirit course on Tuesday night, Holy Spirit workshop. It's not a course because we get our hands into the clay, and like I said, the Holy Spirit workshop attendees are amongst you right now.

They have been released like a SEAL team into the church to pray for you, to prophesy, and to bring the kingdom of God to our lives as a church. We're excited to have them here, and you can join their ranks at any point, so if you want to do that. This passage I spoke about in regards to the Holy Spirit as an agent of deliverance to set about doing the thing that Jesus gave us, which is complete freedom. Jesus has given us freedom on the cross.

Jesus died on the cross, and we might have freedom. And the Holy Spirit is meant to lead us into capturing that freedom and to releasing that freedom throughout the rest of the world. We start that on four corners here at this church. And so we believe that the first corner is the corner of your heart. You'll see that behind me on the stage. That if you can give Jesus a corner of your heart, you give Jesus an inch, he'll take an eternity.

We want to see that corner just beautified. We want to see it restored and beautified at the corner of your heart, that your entire heart will be captivated by God. From that place, you can be part of a church community that models something that you can replicate. We never want to do anything here from the front that you cannot replicate. Now, granted, you can't replicate what Chris does. I mean, you know what I'm saying?

Like, that was legit, you know? But can you worship? Absolutely. We don't try to do things to make ourselves be further away, something you can't replicate. So we want you to come be a part of a community and cross the bridge from being a visitor at this church to some of the distinctives of being a family member. You're part of a volunteer group. You're part of a small group. You give regularly on a regular basis here at the church.

You pray for us. And perhaps you could even become a voting member if you want. These are some of the basics of crossing that bridge. That's the second corner. The third territory that we want to take is the corner in which you live. And this entire passage speaks a lot about territory. We're going to be speaking about territory and claiming those territories. The corner in which you live, the house in which you live, the sanctuary in which you live has a culture.

And you have the ability to bring the kingdom culture to that. Or we can allow other things to have leverage in our homes, in our houses. Even the way we use our words or the things that we allow. We'll see that in a moment. And then the final is the four corners of the earth. We want to take this to the four corners of the earth. One way we're going to do that is we're going to be partnering with St. Comely Church in Scotland, Edinburgh.

My friend Tim read the scripture. He's an elder on staff there. We are going to have a Zoom Holy Chaos prayer meeting where we're all going to show up on Zoom. All the people at their church and all of ours. We're going to be planning that in the next month or so. And we will have a Zoom call. Join in. We're going to pray across the seas. We're going to unite our hearts together. And we're going to take all the territory in between there and here.

Those are four territories that we want to see the Spirit of God dominate in your life. Now, in this passage, you have an entire city that is being held hostage by two angry, demon-possessed men. The entire city. And you would think that this city would be upset about that. You would think that this city would want Jesus or somebody or the Romans even to come and subjugate these two men. Now, this is also the same group, two men, that are in Mark chapter 5.

Although Mark chapter 5, verse 12, only speaks about the one man. It speaks about the man with a demon called Legion. Jesus asked him his name. He says, my name is Legion. That's a thousand demons were in that man. This is a synoptic understanding, but it doesn't mention that part of the story in this. But it is the same story. And you would think that this city would want even the Romans to come to open up the road to their city, to reopen the commerce, to reopen the access to the beaches.

All these things would be opened again, or at least to the lakeshore. You know, all these things would be opened. But what happens when Jesus actually comes and liberates them? They come down, and we find that perhaps the bondage that their city has been taken has more to do perhaps with their desire to live in bondage and away from God than it does with this blockage. It's very interesting, too, how a very small blockage can create so much havoc, an entire city being kept captive because of two people.

If you think about heart attacks, you will know, for the most part, that it is a blockage, about smaller than the size of my little pinky, that can kill you. Actually, it can be even smaller than that. What do they do is when they come in with an angiogram is they try to expand that territory so you can get life flowing back again. So Jesus here comes, and he acts as a life agent to remove this blockage. So for me, the thing that I think about regularly as I read this was, how many things do I consider just small blockages that in the end can just destroy the city that is my life?

Just a small little blockage. Two men, two angry men, two demon-possessed angry men that had stopped an entire city. This is about deliverance. It's about the deliverance of the territory. But I want to expand that thinking to make this very practical to you. The deliverance of the territory of your relationship with your children. The deliverance of the territory of your finances. And perhaps you're in agreement with financial decisions that are actually not benefiting you in the end.

Or the agreement with lies about yourself. Or emotional untruths that you have believed. And you are in agreement. And we will see in this passage that when you are in agreement with something, then it has access and legal authority before the throne of God to attack your life. See this in the story of Job. Satan wandering the earth. Because Satan has to wander the earth unless he has a place of agreement where he is given.

I'll tell you a little bit more about that in a moment. But this world was not built for the devil. And he has no right or territory in this place. And so he has to wander. And so you see him wandering. I'll show you some scriptures in a moment. He's wandering. And he comes up before God. And he says, I want to attack Job. But there's no open access. There's no agreement in Job's life. He can't attack Job's finances.

Because if Job were a liar or dishonest in his finances, then God could have gone up. Then the devil could have gone before God and said, He is lying. He's in agreement with dishonesty. And I can attack through that door. But all the doors of entry into the territory of Job's life were shut. And so the only way that the enemy can attack you is if God allows it, which God allowed, for our growth, which is the way you want to be attacked.

Because if you are attacked, then you're completely under God's sovereignty. That is the only way. Or that you open doors that allow the enemy to attack. But he has no ability to attack you unless there is agreement. We see a city that is in complete agreement. We'll talk more about that agreement as we look at it. But let me just talk about deliverance. Because I want to see us delivered. I want to see us delivered from addictions.

I want to see us delivered from sexual bondage, from emotional lies, the amount of lies people tell themselves on a regular basis. I'm no good. I'm not this. I'm not that. On a regular basis. To be delivered from those things. Delivered from all those things. So that the kingdom of God might come near in your life. That's what happens here. Here's deliverance. It's in your notes. Deliverance is ultimately a battle for territory.

Deliverance sets us free from spiritual bondages and barriers that hold us back from walking in the victory that Jesus won on the cross at Calvary. Jesus, we see, speaks regularly about even cities, let alone individuals, but cities, that have the ability, because of what they allow at the city, because of the groupthink of the city, that has the ability to shut off the kingdom of God because the majority of people in the city, or there is not a large enough group within the city that wants righteousness and wants freedom, have the ability to shut down God's kingdom in that city.

You see this regularly. Jesus talks about Chorazim. He says, woe to you, Chorazim. Woe to you, this thing. He speaks to cities. And I want to say, this is a New Testament teaching. And today, there are cities where the groupthink and the amount of call for righteousness is so diminished that you will see some of the results that come along with stepping out of desire or the welcoming of God in that city. Look around cities around the world.

Certain cities, you can actually even, if you have a gift of discernment, can actually feel it when you go there. Let's talk about Matthew real quick and give you a set this up a little bit about this battle for territory. All the time thinking about the territory in your life that you want back. You say, there's no more agreement in that for me. Matthew 13, 54 through 58. At this, they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.

And he did not do many deeds of power there because of their unbelief. There was an unbelief. And it zapped the power. It sucked the power dry out of that city. He did not do many miracles. And his miracles were miracles of healing. His miracles were miracles over disease, over the power of the demonic, setting people free. But he was not able to do it because of their unbelief. That's just in Matthew. Let's go to Luke 10.

Now look what happens when you're welcomed. Heal the sick who are there and tell them the kingdom of God has come near to you. So because of the welcome, the kingdom of God is released. And with that comes power and freedom. You want to be in a city that welcomes God and his kingdom. You can feel it in different cities as you go around. Or if you're not in that type of city, then we want to be that small remnant because Jesus shows regularly throughout, actually in the Old Testament a lot, when people cry out, just a small number of people can actually change a massive amount of the feeling of the culture of that city.

I read a statistic. We all know about statistics currently, right? But I read a statistic, none less, that said if 10% of people in a group believe deeply in their heart about something, like fully believe, it'll change the other 90%. We all know about statistics. But I have seen that if we band together and we want to welcome the things of God, we can see that the kingdom of God can perhaps be released. And so it says the kingdom of God has come near to you.

But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into the streets and say, real quick, I don't think you're supposed to go into the streets and say this. This was part of their culture. There was a lot of roving prophets back in the day. Usually when you see roving prophets today in America, they're going from AM to FM, okay? Usually, you know, mentally. You don't see that as much. This was part of the culture of the day.

People expected it. They expected prophets. And we need to work within the constraints of who we are as our culture. But there are still ways to do this. So just before you get an idea to go preach in the streets, which might be the right thing to do, God tells you, but let you know it was cultural. It says, but when you enter a town and are not welcome, go into the streets and say, even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you.

And warnings are grace, by the way. Yet be sure of this. The kingdom of God has come near. I tell you, it'll be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. So we see Jesus saying to his believers, and this includes you, because when he says in Acts 28, excuse me, Matthew 28, he commissions us. He says, go forward, make disciples, and do everything I've commanded you to do. Not just some of it. Everything I've commanded you to do.

And so we're looking as believers for places of welcome. One of the things Jesus doesn't do is chase people down who don't want him. I'm not going to spend all my time debating with people who don't want the kingdom of God in the end anyways. There's enough hurting and broken people in the world to fill your time adequately who want the kingdom of God. You will never run out of the supply. Go look for them. That's where we want to start.

And Jesus has commissioned us into that. But it's a territorial question. And the territory of our heart needs first to be the place where we let God take charge. As we move into this, I want to talk about chapter 8. Because this passage is steeped in chapter 8. It's steeped in deliverance. And it is deliverance over Jesus' authority, as you'll see in your notes, is a chapter dedicated to Christ's authority and power over nature, over disease, over death, and the demonic.

He heals a leper. He heals a centurion's servant from far away. The centurion comes and says, my servant is dying. Can you help them? And he heals them from far away. He heals Peter's mother-in-law. We were just at that house there on the Sea of Galilee in the last year. He calms storms. And then he has these two demon-possessed men. He's taking power over nature, over disease, over death, and the demonic. I've been challenged with my SEAL team of Holy Spirit people to actually believe and do what Jesus says to do.

So we currently have this disease running around rampant throughout the world, right? You can have your own political thoughts on it. You can have your own ideas on it. What I am not seeing Christians do a lot is say, I believe that Jesus has authority over disease. And you know, I want to curse that disease. And I want to pray that it actually, you actually destroy the disease and it ends tomorrow, today. I know, right?

Right? Dude, we don't believe that that'll actually happen. But what would happen if we actually prayed against it? Like I said, Jesus just ended in the name of Jesus. Do we believe that God has the power and authority over disease? Or do we not believe that? And are we going to start stepping into the things that Jesus says, I command you to do everything I taught you? Now, I'm not saying you have to go out and do a prophetic dance in the middle of La Jolla as you tell people COVID is going in the name of Jesus.

I'm not telling you to go, you know, act like Pan with a flute and a recorder. You know? I'm not saying that. But in your own, thank you, Joe. Because Joe does that. I love those hoof pants you have. Those are amazing. A little fur. It's so spot on. Just kidding. I'm not saying that. But I've begun to pray this way. Because for a while, I'm like, well, God, you know, can you pray for the people losing their jobs? And like, what if it just ended?

Like, what if we start believing that what Jesus said is actually true? I mean, and like, try it. Like, what's the worst case scenario? You know? Like, what's the worst case scenario? I'm not saying go out and prophesy on the streets. But what's the worst case scenario? And what if we just begin to pray, like in this city, no more COVID cases, Jesus. Done. End it. It's hard for me to pray that. It's funny how it's hard to pray for things.

I remember there was a woman on a prayer chain I was a part of, and she said, I'm a single mom, and I took my daughter to Disney World, and we've never had a vacation. And as a single mom, this was the vacation of a lifetime. I wanted to go to Disney World, and there was a hurricane coming. And so Disney World was canceled. And she put on the prayer chain, can we pray that the storm goes the opposite direction? And I remember somebody, I think they texted me.

It's like 10 years ago. Like, hey, like, are we really going to, like, pray for that? You know what I mean? Like, God's really going to open up Disney World because she wants to take her daughter to the thing? I'm like, absolutely. Why wouldn't I pray that? Here's what I will tell you. Let's say she was off the island of Haiti on a sailboat, and the hurricane was coming her way, and I posted 911 prayer alert. Friends with her daughter off the coast of Haiti, hurricane coming their way, can we pray?

Game on. I will tell you, it would be game on. Let's pray. Pray the storm away. Why do we just compartmentalize based on our own rationality of what God will do and what God might not do? Or are we into bringing deliverance in the power of the Holy Spirit, perhaps beyond our scientific understanding? It's not that you don't believe in science. We believe in science. We believe that God created science. But we also believe in the supernatural, that God can bend the science when he decides to bend the science.

And Jesus does that, and he commands us to go out, that we might bring deliverance in that name. So we want to start experimenting. I'm going to release you. Go. Experiment. Go do it. You know? Remember Ferris Bueller's do that? Go. Get out. No one remembers that at the end of the movie. Ferris Bueller didn't stay for that bit. Matthew chapter 8. It's a passage that is dedicated to Jesus' authority. I want to say, before we move to this final bit, about how to release these from this passage, these three things from this passage.

Power is following the teaching of God's word. Matthew 8 comes after, go figure, 5, 6, and 7. Matthew 5, 6, and 7. I did a big series on it about two and a half, three months ago. It's called Sermon on the Mount. Jesus preached the word. And then he went about fulfilling the word. And the word of God is fuel for the power of the spirit. And if you want to walk in the power of the spirit, and you really want to bring deliverance.

Because don't you want to be a deliverer? I mean, isn't that? I mean, I'm not talking to work for Amazon. You know what I mean? Like, actually, deliver. Like, show up and deliver. Spend time in the word of God. It is a double-edged sword. It is living. It is active. The word of God is true. Breaks down strongholds. Has this ability to fill yourself with the word of God, with the teaching of God. And then ask the Holy Spirit as you go out in power, God, let me bring deliverance to somebody today.

Deliverance. Five people. I've said this before. Five people have told me they did not commit suicide on a Sunday because they decided to come to church instead here in this building in the last seven years since I've been here. Five people. Deliverance. Deliverance. Do you want to bring deliverance? And what if you actually started believing? And we as a church, is this enough? Is there enough of us here between this and the first service and the few hundred, you know, I think there's four or five hundred people that are a part, we've kind of figured out recently, that are a part of this community.

Is that enough to bring change to the nation? Is that enough to bring change to the world? Maybe we can meet with another little tiny congregation over in Edinburgh and lock arms and lock shields across the Atlantic. And is that enough to bring change? Well, let's see. Deliverance. I want territory. Three things in this passage we're going to look at. One, getting free is removing the blockages. These two men were a blockage.

Number two, ending disobedience and then reclaiming territory. Galatians 5.1 says it's for freedom that Christ has set you free. Stand firm and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. You know the problem? Slavery is easier than freedom. It is. You ever see Shawshank Redemption? Remember Brooks? Couldn't handle freedom. Brooks was here. He wanted to go back to prison. Remember he tried to get himself to go back to prison?

And the Israelites, you want a biblical example of it? Israelites. Israelites. Moses up on the hill. He's gone too long. We're terrified. This is hard. We'd rather be back in Egypt. Slaves. Give us a leader that we might go back and be slaves in Egypt. Because it's easier to be a slave than it is to be free. So they met with somebody this week. I am going to get to the passage. You'll be home in time for lunch. Trust me.

I met with somebody this week. And they said, you know, I've been living this life and I'm no longer living this life. Awesome. Incredible story of deliverance. But since they stopped living the life, they were moving towards the opposite extreme, which would be legalism. Which is no freedom. Of like, just can't disappoint God. Can't disappoint God. Can't disappoint God. And a lot of times we love extremes because, you know, it's hard to live in balance and live in the tension.

And so I encourage them to step into freedom and to live in freedom. And to no longer have to worry if God, if you made a mistake and you went left when you should have gone right. But to live in freedom. Because I said, that is not freedom. And I said, that is going to kill you. And that is going to tire you out. And they said, you know what? I'm exhausted. I said, yeah, because it's death. Jesus came to set us free from the law of sin and death.

But here's what I did say to them. Living in freedom is going to be, in Christ, is going to be more difficult for you than it was to leave the bondage of the life that you were living. You know what? Living in Christ ended up being a lot harder for me. A lot more free than it was the previous life that I lived. Here we have two men that are creating this blockage. Let's look at verse 28. When he arrived at the other side of the region of the Gadarennes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him.

They were so violent that no one could pass by. Interesting that two men had the ability to shut down an entire city. Two men had the ability, like I said, like a heart blockage, to create a complete blockage in this city. This is the thing about blockages in our life that stopped, that actually stopped the entire thoroughfare. It actually was trying to stop Jesus from getting to that area. We have things in our lives that act as these blockages.

But the city, as you'll see in a moment, was actually in agreement with disobedient with God. And we know by the end of the chapter, after Jesus set them free, they didn't want Jesus. They didn't want it. What are the blockages that stop us? You know, anything that we see that we are in agreement with becomes a blockage in our life. Your phone can be a blockage in your life. Whatever you allow in, you are in agreement with.

And so our phone, whatever we allow, whatever we watch on TV, it isn't possible to watch something and say, well, I'm just going to agree and watch most of it, but that part I don't agree with. You have to decide, am I in agreement with something or am I no longer in agreement with it? And it doesn't mean that everything needs to be thrown out, but realize whatever you're in agreement with opens a door into your heart.

Whatever you're in agreement with, unforgiveness opens up a door to our heart and they become these little blockages that become massive in our lives. Unforgiveness can be one. Or the lies that sit and tell you that you're not worth anything or you've never been anything, you'll never amount to anything. All these things can build up these little tiny blockages that in the end lead to death. What are the blockages? And do you know what they are?

And are you willing to remove those blockages? Let's say the blockage was a symbol of a deeper agreement in a city as a whole. They were so violent, but it was a symbol of a deeper agreement. And we know it was a deeper agreement. Because they agreed with it, because even when Jesus set them free, they didn't want to be free. They didn't want Jesus in their town. You know, every time we agree with something, it's usually because there's a benefit for us.

I've shared this multiple times, but it's so interesting to me that when I'll be in a marriage counseling session, I don't do a ton of marriage counseling anymore, we brought professional people in, they're much better at it than I am. But somebody will say, one woman or a man will say, she's been doing this for 15 years. Or he'll say, the last seven years, he's nonstop. And what they're expecting me to do is do this.

Why have you done that for 15 years? You're horrible. You should really stop. See how righteous they are? See how virtuous they are? And for 15 years you've done this? It doesn't go that way normally. What I'll normally say is, why have you allowed that for 15 years? 15 years. I mean, really? I mean, hammer your thumb so much, you know, until at some point I'm going to make a difference. I'm going to make a change. Why have you allowed, oh, because, you know.

The question is, the reason is, is because there is some benefit from it. Some women, or men, let's say women, some women complain that their husband acts like a child, but the benefit is that they get to be a parent and make all the decisions. And they don't have to live in a relationship of equality. So you let your husband be a child. You complain that he's a child. But you get the benefit of being in charge and also complaining and getting to be a martyr on and on.

These are the reasons we make agreements. We don't want addiction in our life. But when it's been a stressful day, I've got something I can go to quick. And I'm in agreement. And when you're in agreement, it becomes a blockage. But it's not a blockage for the enemy. And it's not a blockage for death. It's a blockage to steal the territory of your life. How bad do you want to be free? My friend wrote a book. He said, do you, you know, how free do you want to be?

Jesus regularly asked people, do you want to be healed? Do you want to be healed? A small blockage. But it was stopping a whole city. And next we see that besides this blockage, there was a disobedience in the city. Well, how do you know that? The passage doesn't say there's a disobedience. They just didn't want Jesus. They're free to make their decisions. How do you know that this city was in disobedience? Well, it was a Jewish city.

And they were trading in the commerce of hogs. I don't know if you know much about Jewish cities or Jewish people or Orthodox Jews. But they don't eat bacon. Right? They don't eat bacon. They don't eat pork. And they don't have hogs. Well, maybe they were trading with another city. Which is also something they were not supposed to do at the time according to the law. This was a city that had decided to go against what the law had said.

Let me just read Leviticus 11.7. You'll see that in your footnotes. It says, Well, this city had decided that it was okay to have something that was unclean as long as it was a little further away from the city and up on a mountaintop. But they were allowing to have something unclean in their life. They were allowing for that which was unclean. Why? Well, there was some benefit. Either they had a trade going or because, like John Travolta said in Pulp Fiction, bacon's good.

You know? And he's true. Bacon is good. But they were called not to do that because there was an agreement of disobedience. And the agreement of disobedience went along and backed up the blockage. They had this blockage. Of course they didn't want to get free. Matter of fact, sometimes the blockages that we complain about because no one can pass by, no one could stop them. Sometimes the blockages that we complain about are really blockages that we back up with our lifestyle and are in agreement with.

How free do you want to be? Do you want territory? The territory of your heart. The territory of this church. The territory of this city. The territory of your home. The territory of the relationships in your lives. How free do you want to be? And are you willing to get rid of the herd of hogs? Because even though they're up on a hill a little further away from your house, they're still there. And when the wind blows, it still stinks.

You have to decide, do I want hogs in my life or will I live in obedience? And then the final thing. That was verse 30. It said, some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. Herd. Not just a pig or two. A herd. One guy had a thousand demons in him. That was a big herd, I bet. A thousand demons. They asked to go into the pigs. The next thing Jesus delivers, because Jesus actually, it's funny, the men get healed and go away praising God.

But the city is left for ruin. That's going to happen sometimes. It says that the demons begged Jesus. Because this is about territory. So Jesus set these men free. And I have to believe that they wanted to be free. Because Jesus, I don't see anywhere where he heals somebody who doesn't want to be healed. He doesn't chase people around to heal them. And so something shows me, when they came out of the tombs, there was something inside that was so tired of being in bondage.

Even though they were barely in their right mind, there was just one little shred of desire to know God. And that's all he needs. You give him an inch, he'll take an eternity. And they show up at his feet. And I have a feeling that that was just enough, because Jesus says, be gone. And those demons knew that they were on a short leash, because the first thing that they said is, send us not from out into the wilderness where we must wander, but send us into the pigs.

Because demons can only rest upon something. And if you want a deeper teaching on this, go to my Holy Spirit teaching from last weekend on Deliverance on last Tuesday night. It's on the website. It's on our Vimeo page. You can go into the theology of this. But they cannot be anywhere where they are not welcomed. Scripture is clear on that. I'm going to show you Matthew 12, 43 through 44. I think it's in your notes. It says, when an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest, but finding none.

Then it says, I will return to the person that I came. There's other scriptures that speak about when a demon leaves, because this world is not built for them, they have to wander. This is when Satan and Job comes before God. It says, where have you been? Wander in the earth. Wander in the earth. Because he has to be somewhere where there is agreement. And so, he's only going to be in your home. He's only going to be on your life.

The only thing is if there is a deep agreement. And the deeper the agreement, the more openness you have to attack in your life. The deeper agreement more. And he is there to take it all. So, you can't just give devil a little bit. He wants it all. He's very greedy. But so does God. And so, it says that if he leaves a person. And so, it says they go out. And the demons beg Jesus. If you drive us out, then send us into the herd of pigs.

I think this is classic. This is like a Twilight Zone episode where you ask for something. You think you're going to get something that you want. But in the end, you don't. So, he says, okay. You want to go to the pigs? Go into the pigs. And then it's like, off the cliff. Boom. All the pigs are gone. They're released back into the wilderness. And they wander in this place. And all of a sudden, these men are in their right mind.

And they are set free. Because they have stopped the agreement. And they've actually opened up an entire life in the kingdom of God to come and to flow back into that city. And you would think that if you were a city member, that when the blockage was taken away, and when the road was opened back up, that you would just be so joyous that this scourge has been released from your city. And that you can now live in freedom.

And that Jesus, who you've heard about, is coming. He's going to set the rest of you free and heal your diseases. You would want that so bad. So, they all rushed down. And they said, Jesus, thank you so much. This is amazing. Let's celebrate. We welcome you into our city. No. What does it say? Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region. Are you serious?

Like, you pleaded with Jesus to leave your region. Why? Because they wanted their life of bondage back. He had destroyed all the hiding places, all the darkness. He had brought life. And they didn't want it anymore. And this is the thing with territories. Jesus wants the territory of your life. But he wants to look at three things. He wants to first remove the blockages. What are the blockages? What are those small little things?

You're letting them hang out. Just like a herd of pigs. It's far up there. It's on the top of the mountain. It's far away. But it's disobedience. So, you have a blockage. And that blockage is backed up by a disobedience. It creates more of a blockage. And then Jesus comes and he wants to reclaim the territory. And you have to have a desire. Do I want the territory? And what are you willing to do to have freedom? What are you willing to do?

That is an individual question that every one of us must ask. What do we want to do? So, three things. Blockages. Disobedience. And territory. Let's stand if you would. I want to bless you as I challenge you to go out and become healers in a world that desperately needs deliverance. And that each day you would fuel yourself with the word of God. And then you would go out asking God, how can I bring deliverance? And bring deliverance to your beach, to your city, to your neighbor, to all those around.

And to your own heart. And say, I'm willing. No more. I'll do whatever it takes to have no more blockages in my life. If you can, extend your hands. I want to bless you if that's comfortable for you. Lord Jesus, I want to just surrender this church and its people to you. God, we want to lock arms now with a hundred years of believers behind us. Because we are the answer to their prayers. We're here. They prayed this church would be here.

And here we are, God. Even stronger than they've ever been before. With a stronger number than they've ever had before. We are the answer to those prayers. And I pray that you would release those prayers from all the way back in 1927 when this started upon this congregation. Prayers of hope, restoration, reconciliation, freedom. And God, that you would clear the hogs. You would clear the disobedience, Lord God. You would bless these people with your goodness, with your health, with your grace, with your power, with your enlightenment, Lord God.

And that they might seek you and seek your face. So, God, we thank you for them. May the sun shine upon them. May joy be upon their face. May they live from the inside out as opposed to the outside in. And, God, from this corner, that we bring change to the world. And as soon we're going to be locking arms with another group of believers on the other side of the ocean. And, God, we want to take all that territory. We want territory.

I pray that you would take territory wherever you step your feet. That you would claim that land for you. And that you would have no agreements with the enemy. That you might walk in freedom. Freedom of mind. And for those that have emotional illness. That you would be set free from the lies that hold you. Because Jesus can heal you from that. We bless you in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen.

We love you guys. Thanks for being here at church. Go present the kingdom to the world and social distance at the same time. We will see you soon. Bye-bye.