Jesus! Stay With Us!

Matthew 8:28-34

Jesus has just delivered two men from the power of the devil. They were possessed with many devils and when you read Mark or Luke’s account of this, they spent all their time harming themselves and inciting fear on others. These two men ran to Jesus when he came ashore to seek deliverance from him. They somehow knew that only he had power over the devil and came to “destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8 He delivered them by casting the demons into a herd of swine and the swine ran down to the lake and drowned themselves. When it was all said and done, one of them was found clothed and in his right mind. Mark 5:15 You would think that this would bring peace, joy, and safety to this small town, but the response of the people was just the opposite, they wanted Jesus to leave!

We can identify with this attitude in America today. We now have a generation that doesn’t want to have anything to do with Jesus. They see him as a threat to their evil agenda of abortion, gay rights, environmentalism, secularization, and globalization. They want to embrace certain ideas of a Social Gospel where they embrace love, unity, harmony, equality, and peace, but really when it boils down to it they want a spiritually without holiness and a gospel without a Jesus.

The message from the Progressive/Liberal movement of today is that they are willing to put up with a little bit of death and violence to accomplish their agenda. They will riot and destroy towns and cities costing millions of dollars in theft and the destruction of small businesses. They are content with losing some lives and consider them martyrs for the cause. They will glorify the criminal and crucify the law abiding citizens and law enforcement. You see after taking all of this into account we are living in a culture the is eerily similar to the one here in our text.

The people wanted Jesus to leave because he was a threat to their pork industry. Their attitude was we can put up with a little evil for the sake of industry. But how has this played out in our day?

· We are willing to put up with violence in our schools if we can eradicate prayer and the Bible.

· We are willing to put up with the destruction of some parts of the cities in order to defund or do away with law enforcement that promotes law and justice.

· We are willing to sacrifice traditional marriage and purity in order to embrace sexual immorality and a billion dollar porn industry

· We are willing to let hundreds of thousands of people die of illegal drugs and control substances in order to promote illegal immigration, get votes, and fill the pockets greedy pharmaceuticals.

These are just a few things that happen when we run Jesus out of our society and way of life. Now the direct result of it all is that our government is crying out for a cure to their failed policies. “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?” Jeremiah 8:22

Yes there is a remedy! There is a cure! His name is Jesus and he is waiting to be let back into our lives, our churches, our homes, our schools, and in the policy and procedures of everyday government.

As a country we may have tried to run him out, but we have not run him off! He stands at the door and knocks and too anyone one who listens and opens up unto him, he will come in and sup with them.

Jesus did two things for one of these men. He clothed him and put him in his right mind. If there was ever a time that is ripe for Jesus and the Gospel in our country it is now. With all the lewdness and lunacy that is on display, we need the Gospel preached and Christ lifted up now more than ever so that he will draw all men unto himself.

Stay with us Lord! Don’t leave us! Deliver us from evil! Do this for your names sake and our country! Amen!

Pastor Robby