¡§How Has Christ Changed You Life?¡¨
Luke 8:26-39
OPENING JOKE: ¡§Getting a Dress for the Revival¡¨ A poor country pastor was livid when he confronted his wife with the receipt for a $250 dress she had bought for a revival that was coming up. "How could you do this!" he exclaimed.
"I don’t know," she wailed, "I was standing in the store looking at the dress. Then I found myself trying it on. It was like the Devil was whispering to me, "Gee, you look great in that dress. You should buy it."
"Well," the pastor persisted, "You know how to deal with him! Just tell him, "Get behind me, Satan!"
"I did," replied his wife, "but then he said "It looks great from back here, too."
INTRODUCTION: Welcome to the first night of our Revival, I hope your all excited and plan to be here all of the nights of this event ¡V we are going to end on Wednesday evening
Tonight I am preaching on the subject: ¡§How Has Christ Changed Your Life?¡¨
It is amazing how much Jesus can change a life
„« He can take an old, poor, wretched sinner like me and put a desire in my heart for Him
„« And if you¡¦re saved tonight, He has done the same for you
In our text we see proof positive how Jesus can make a difference in a life
„« Here we have a man, totally under the control of a legion of evil Spirits
„« Running around naked in a graveyard, scaring folks and carrying on
„« Jesus comes to him and ¡¥immediately¡¦ his life is changed!
„« He goes from being the most crazy person in town to (likely) being the most righteous, because if we read on we see how the others in the town reacted coldly towards Christ
***Tonight we are going to learn about his change, and how it mirrors the change Christ makes in our lives when we come to Him in faith
I. Jesus gave him new clothes
a. Luke 8:35a ¡§Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed¡K¡¨
b. You will remember that he was naked while he was under the power of Satan
i. Verse 27 says ¡§he wore no clothes¡¨
ii. But here we see, after his encounter with Jesus, that he had clothes on
1. Question: Where did they come from?
2. Jesus had given them to him
c. Likewise, when we are saved, Christ gives us a new garment to wear
i. Isaiah 61:10 ¡§I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.¡¨
ii. Notice how Isaiah likens righteousness to a robe we would wear
iii. Christ¡¦s blood is the robe of righteousness that we put on
d. When Christ gives us His righteousness it is like a perfectly white garment that completely covers our sins
i. Illustration: ¡§Changing of the guard¡¨ In England they have the changing of the guard, where the men in the red coats all change for the day. It is an event that tourists all flock to see. One day as a man and his son watched, the father said, look at all those ¡¥red coats¡¦ son. The boy was confused. ¡§Those coats are white, dad¡¨ said the little boy. ¡§No son, your mistaken, they are red¡¨. ¡§But dad, I see white coats¡¨. Just then the father noticed that the window the boy was looking out of was tinted red, making everything red appear white.
ii. When God looks at our sins through the precious blood of Christ, we appear as white as snow
iii. God does not see our sins, because they have been ¡¥blotted out¡¦
iv. Acts 3:19 ¡§Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord¡¨
e. Some people are relying on their own righteousness to get into Heaven
i. They believe in their own minds that God judges us based on a scale of goodness
ii. And their good will outweigh the bad
iii. So they are relying on their own righteousness
f. Question: What does the Bible say about our righteousness?
i. Isaiah 64:6 ¡§But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags¡¨
ii. If we are relying on our own righteousness, we are relying on filthy rags
iii. God says that we are to be clothed with His righteousness ¡V which comes through faith in Christ
g. When we come to Christ in faith and repentance, He gives us a new garment ¡V the robe of righteousness
II. Jesus gave him a new mind
a. Luke 8:35b goes on to say the man was ¡§sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.¡¨
i. Not only had Jesus changed the man¡¦s outward appearance, but He had healed his thoughts as well
ii. He no longer had a mind tormented by a legion of demons, but he had a new mind given him by Jesus
b. We too, are given a new mind when we come to Christ is faith
i. I Corinthians 2:16 ¡§For "who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.¡¨
ii. This says we receive the mind of Christ
iii. Joke: I¡¦m so glad I got his mind and I don¡¦t have to rely on mine (D¡¦uh!)
c. Receiving the mind of Christ means He gives us new desires
i. It is almost as simple as saying I receive a new ¡¥want¡¦
ii. I used to ¡¥want¡¦ do this, but now I ¡¥want¡¦ do that
1. The Bible teaches that without God¡¦s drawing I wouldn¡¦t even have a desire for Christ
2. And once He draws me in and I yield to faith He gives me a new desire to do His will
d. This is the explanation of that verse that gets so misinterpreted by the ¡¥name it and claim it¡¦ folks
i. They say, ¡§The Bible says, ¡¥delight yourself¡Kin the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart¡¨
ii. And it does say that in Psalm 37:4
iii. But they use this to prove that God is nothing more than a ¡¥genie¡¦ in a bottle ready to grant our every wish ¡V a divine ¡¥wishing stone¡¦ to fulfill our every desire
iv. The key to this verse is ¡¥delight yourself in the Lord¡¦
1. When you delight yourself in the Lord, His desires become your desires
2. You receive HIS MIND and HIS DESIRES!!!
e. When you come to Christ in faith, He not only gives you a new garment, but He also gives you a new mind ¡V With the desire to do His will
III. Jesus gave him a new mission
a. Luke 8:38 ¡§Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you." And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.¡¨
i. Up until now this man was a poster child for satanic influence
ii. Now he was a picture of how Jesus could change a life
iii. And Jesus said to go and tell the world what God had done for him
iv. And the Bible says he did just that
b. We also, who know Christ as Savior, have been given a powerful mission
i. Matthew 28:19 ¡§Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit¡¨
ii. This is called the ¡¥Great Commission¡¦
iii. It is Christ¡¦s mission to us that we tell the world about Him and His saving power
c. This is by far the most neglected commandment Jesus ever gave
i. Statistic: The Barna Research Group states that only 2% of the Christians they polled actively share their faith (2%!!!)
ii. That means for every 100 Christians, only 2 are telling people about Jesus
d. And what is most people¡¦s biggest argument for not witnessing?
i. Not knowing what to say
ii. Well Jesus answers that right here when He is speaking to the demoniac
iii. He says go and ¡§tell what great things God has done for you.¡¨
1. If you are a Christian, God has given you the great gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, that is enough to tell them
2. You don¡¦t have to be a Bible scholar to tell what Jesus has done for you
a. Say it like the blind man ¡§I was blind, but now I see¡¨
b. Say it like Paul, ¡§Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief¡¨
c. Say it like Peter when he told the Pharisees ¡§Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved¡¨ than the matchless name of Jesus Christ
e. The message of Christ is not a hard one to preach
i. We just need to tell people what God has done for us
ii. Peter and John said that they could ¡§only testify to what they had seen and heard¡¨
iii. And that is the same with us
f. We have a mission to accomplish
i. It is not an easy one
ii. It is one that could cause us to be outcaste, lose friends and even be physically persecuted
iii. But it is our mission all the same
g. And when we think about the importance of fulfilling our mission, it becomes real
i. The Bible says ¡¥faith comes by hearing the Word¡¦
ii. If no one is preaching the word, or bringing their family and friends to church to hear the word, how then will these masses come to faith?
h. Listen to these powerful words God spoke to Ezekiel
i. Ezekiel 3:17-19 ¡§Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: When I say to the wicked, ’You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.¡¨
ii. Think about it: God said he placed Ezekiel to be like a sentry to warn the people of impending danger
iii. He has done the same with us ¡V He has appointed us as watchmen
1. If we share the Gospel and people respond ¡V Wonderful!
2. If they do not respond, we have still fulfilled God¡¦s will for us to go into the world and give His message
i. But woe to us if we share not the Gospel
CONCLUSION: If you have encountered Jesus in your life, you ought to be permeating with a desire to fulfill His will for your life
Many people often wrestle with a problem though¡K
They ask, ¡§What¡¦s God¡¦s will for my life¡¨
I can¡¦t tell you how many times I have heard that question from believers
I believe God¡¦s ultimate will is wrapped up in our story for tonight
„« He wants you to put on the righteousness of Christ
o If you are here tonight, and you don¡¦t know Jesus, and you think your own goodness will get you into Heaven, you are mistaken
o The Bible says that God only accepts perfection ¡V and because we are imperfect we must put on the perfection of Christ to attain Heaven
o If you feel God drawing you in tonight, I encourage you to put on His robe of righteousness tonight by yielding to faith in Him
„« If you are a Christian, He want you to have His mind
o He wants you to desire His will for your life
o And start looking at the world and at your sin the way He does
o Begin to make His desires your desires
„« And above all if you are a Christian, He wants you to tell others what He has done for you
I want to close with a story¡K
Illustration: ¡§Just missed it¡¨ A man walked into work and said to the receptionist, ¡§Hey Barbara, has Bill arrived yet?¡¨
¡§No Steve, he should be in any minute, how are you?¡¨
¡§Oh, I¡¦m fine¡Khey did you come to church last night?¡¨
¡§Yeah, I heard the preacher talking about how you shouldn¡¦t shove Jesus down people¡¦s throats, but just let them see your life and not talk about him and eventually they will come around¡¨ said Barbera.
¡§That was a good message¡¨, he said. ¡§I¡¦ve really been trying to do that with Bill. I don¡¦t want to scare him away with Jesus talk, so I just hang out with him and go where he wants and hope one day he will want to come to church with me. Sometimes I have to go to bars and clubs with him, but I¡¦m just trying to show him I¡¦m not a prude.¡¨
¡§That¡¦s the best way!¡¨ she said, ¡§Don¡¦t even mention Jesus, just make friends and let your influence rub off on them¡¨
¡§That¡¦s right¡¨ he said.
(Barbara¡¦s phone rings and she picks it up¡Kher face goes dim)
¡§Steve¡Kit¡¦s about Bill¡Khe was killed in a drunk driving accident last night on his way home from a bar¡¨
We have been appointed as watchmen ¡V not only to make friends with people ¡V but to share Jesus, the only way of salvation ¡V with the world
(Let us pray)
